GENERAL AYUB KHAN

(1958-1969)
Lecture 12
SAADIA TOOR
PAKISTAN STUDIES
 FIRST MILITARY RULE
• General Ayub Khan declared Marital Law in October 1958 and made
himself president of Pakistan.
• Ayub Khan era is known as the era golden era of economic
development in Pakistan.
• Ayubs Khans era can be divided into two periods:
• First from 1958-1962 characterized by Martial Law
• Second from 1962 to 1969 following the 1962 constitution.
 FIRST ERA: 1958-1962
• Ayub Khans rule was based on the following:
• POLITICAL REFORMS
• AGRICULTURAL REFORMS
• ECONOMIC REFORMS
POLITICAL REFORMS
 SELECTIVE CO-OPTION ACT
• The selective co-option policy was intended to bring into government
those landlords and middle level land-owners who were willing to
cooperate to the administrative rulers.
• In order to remove the former political rulers and elite, the regime took 2
steps:
• First it enforced Elective Bodies Disqualification Order (EBDO) in 1959.
• With this around 7000 individuals, mostly politicians were tried for misconduct and
corruption and were barred to hold any elective office till 31st December, 1966.
• Second, the Basic Democracies (BD) System was introduced in 27th October,
1959.
• Those who were loyal to the government were selected at different levels of local
self-government.
 CONTAINMENT
• The political and religious elite were to be contained from getting
involved in the government.
• The regime de-politicized the masses by banning political parties and
activities.
• There were protests by these elites.
• The martial law targeted “antisocial practices”.
 PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS ORDINANCE
• Journalists were curbed by press laws, lawyers and judges by law
reforms, and academics by control over publication which had grave
implications for cultural and social development.
• The 1959 Martial law Ordinance that empowered the government to
take over the largest and most influential English and Urdu
newspaper like Pakistan Times.
• Trade organizations, unions, and student groups were closely
monitored and cautioned to avoid political activity.
• Imams at mosques were warned against including political
matters in sermons.
AGRICULTURAL REFORMS
 LAND REFORMS COMMISSION
• Appointed in October, 1958
• Submitted its report within three months
• Led to a number of reforms aimed at:
• Eliminating the monopoly of the big landowners and particularly
the absentee landlords, in the politics
• Providing security for tenure
• Providing fairer distribution and ownership of land
 AGRICULTURAL GROWTH
• An Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) was set up
which provided loans for the purchase of tractors, fertilizers and
installation of tube-walls.
• Three major dams were built to help irrigation.
• Green Revolution took place in late 60’s and agricultural production
boomed from 3.7% in 1959-1964 to 6.3% in 1965-1970.
• Also due to rural credit, programs, agricultural support prices and
higher budget allocations for agriculture.
• Wheat and rice production more than doubled.
• Land reforms were also introduced.
ECONOMIC REFORMS
 ECONOMIC REFORMS
• The Muslim communities in Punjab were skilful entrepreneurs.
• The Chamber of Commerce came into existence.
• The trader-merchant class was converted into financial-industrial
class.
• The regime also received capital and foreign exchange flow from the
U.S.
• It increased credit facility which led to the increase in industrial
growth.
• The Harvard Advisory Group (HAG) began operations and played a key
role In planning and promoting industrial activities.
 ECONOMIC REFORMS: INDUSTRIAL GROWTH
• Planning Commission was set up and it organised long term 5 year
development plans.
• Industrialization grew mainly because of the Pakistan Industrial
Development Bank (PIDC) set up several industries such as jute,
textile, sugar, fertilizers.
• He created an environment where the private sector was encouraged
to establish medium and small-scale industries in Pakistan.
• Policies of tax incentives, import substitution and the export bonus
scheme boosted industrial production.
 ECONOMIC REFORMS: PRICE STABILITY
• In October 1958, the government took several measures to check
inflation.
• Price controls covering a large number of consumer goods and
industrial raw materials were imposed
• These measures led to a fall in prices and improvement in supply
position of a large number of articles.
• Moreover, the government removed the constraints on profit margin
and prices.
• Government borrowing for financing fiscal deficits was reduced
sharply.
• Efforts to broaden the direct taxation system kept the indirect
taxation to minimum and hence prices of goods remained stable.
 ECONOMIC REFORMS: INVESTMENT AND
TRADE
• New industries were given tax holidays. This led to the inflow of
capital (from 13.20 Million in 1956 to 26.28 Million in 1966).
• Investment Promotion Bureau was set up in 1959
• Private investment growth in West Pakistan during 1960-1965
increased over three folds.
• Political stability, liberalization of investment controls and ample
availability of foreign exchange were key factors influencing a
pronounced acceleration in the pace of private investment.
• Open and free licenses were given for trade.
 SECOND ERA: 1962-1969
• A constitution was framed that ended martial law and Pakistan was
declared a republic with Presidential system in 1962.
• Elections for the Presidency were to take place in January 1965. Ayub
Khan was nominated by a new party, the Convention Muslim League,
which he had helped form.
• The opposition parties all agreed to support Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah.
• Ayub Khan got 64% of the votes whereas Fatimah Jinnah got 36%.
 SECOND ERA: 1962-1969
• The turning point in his rule was the Indo-Pak War of 1965.
• The Tashkent Declaration was a peace agreement between India and Pakistan
after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
• This agreement was perceived negatively by the people who started opposing him.
• Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto also turned against him and formed his own party, PPP, and became
the focal point of opposition.
• Ayub Khans policies led to the split between East and West Pakistan and led to the
resentment of Ayub Khan by Mujib-ur- Rehman, head of Awami Peoples League.
• Public frustration within the perception of unequal sharing of growth benefits began to
merge after 1965 as investment and industrial growth slowed down in West Pakistan.
• By November 1968, Ayub Khan had become immensely unpopular with the
masses.
 SECOND ERA: 1962-1969
• East Pakistanis were soon joined by West Pakistanis against the
opposition of Ayub Khan government.
• West Pakistan was opposing mainly due to the dominance of the
elite from economic policies and the fiery speeches of Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto.
• Bhutto gained support in Punjab for his strong nationalist views
against India, while Ayub Khan lost support even after the agreement
for the Indo-Pak War
 SECOND ERA: 1962-1969
• Mass demonstrations by students and labour unions led to the downfall of
Ayub Khan.
• Factory workers also joined the protests bringing the industry to a
standstill.
• By March, Ayub Khan realized that he did not have enough support to stay
in power.
• On 25 March 1969, he resigned and handed over power to the army (Yahya
Khan) and for the second time Pakistan experienced martial law.
• Yahya Khan became the president and chief martial law administrator.
 AYUB KHANS REGIME- AN ASSESSMENT
• There was a dramatic turnaround in investment and growth in both East
and West Pakistan due to Ayub’s strong commitment to development
• This development momentum was seriously disrupted by the 1965 war
with India. Reduction in foreign aid availability and increased defence
spending squeezed investment.
• Growth of GDP remained high both in East and West Pakistan in the second
half of 1960s but this was concentrated mostly in agriculture in West
Pakistan.
• Excessive reliance on external assistance.
• Concentration mainly on West Pakistan.
• East Pakistan was left without adequate defence spending during the war
with India, there was growing economic disparity