2. Introduction
The political instability in the country reached to an all time
high with the killing of the deputy speaker of east Pakistan
assembly and the CM of west Pakistan, Dr. Khan sahib was
assassinated in Lahore in March 1958
Pakistan was in the grip of severe economic crisis in 1958. The
scarcity of consumer goods, the rising prices, shortages of
food, large scale deficit financing and financial indiscipline
coupled with crop failure and industrial unrest. Black marketing,
hoarding and smuggling had penetrated deep into the economic
life of Pakistan
3. Introduction
The ruler of the state of Kalat announced secession from Pakistan
The politics of Pakistan was suffering from many evils like treasons,
corruption, nepotism and evil kind of Political provincialism
Parliamentary democracy became a farce due to the inability of political
leaders
The political system was destabilized by the then political parties and
Muslim League became so weak that it could integrated a part of the
country
4. Introduction
The constituent assembly delayed the constitution
making and it became a field for political bickering
The governor general Ghulam Muhammad and
Iskandar Mirza played vital role in derailing the
already fragile democracy
5. Introduction
It was under these circumstances that the military generals
of Pakistan, under the leadership of Ayub Khan prepared
a plan to impose Martial Law on 7, Oct,1958 by forcing
Iskandar Mirza to act
In the first Phase of ML the constitution of the country,
central and provincial legislatures, central and provincial
govts were dismissed and martial law regulations were
made in place. In the second phase President Iskandar
Mirza was deposed due to his previous involvement in the
political instability of the country
6. Introduction
The transition from civil to military regime was so swift that not a single bullet was
fired and military patrols were arranged in the streets and there was no opposition to
it, only 8 divisions of army brought discipline in the country
The chief martial law administrator issued laws continuation (in force) order to work
as the law of the state and the supreme court validated the martial law
Ayub Khan pledged to restore democracy along with the reformation of the society,
economy, politics and administration of the country
A single plot to dislodge the military govt was made on 14, august, 1959 by an ex-civil
servant and 8 others and student agitation in east Pak
7. Introduction
Ayub Khan appointed as many as 33 commissions
for a massive reformation. It included the
commission on constitution, education, social
reforms, administration, agriculture, industry, law,
police, power, finance and many other
Following reforms were introduced
8. 1. Checked corruption, hoarding and
smuggling
The army and police raided the suspected hoarders and smugglers and recovered
large amount of food grains, contraband goods, bales of cloth and imported luxury
goods of 62,625 £ and imported clothe 40 lakh £ were recovered
36,79,767 maunds of food grain including wheat and rice were declared surplus by
Oct, 31, 1958
The prices came down in the face of severe punishments and recovery of goods
To check the smuggling to India and Afghanistan effective measures were introduced
and international borders were sealed
9. 2.Foreign exchange reserves
The economic conditions of the country were aggravated by the illegal
possession of foreign exchange reserves and submission of false tax
returns, the evasion of taxes and the sale and purchase of import permits
The military authorities issued orders to surrender foreign exchange and
pay taxes in during the prescribed period
Resultantly the foreign exchange surrendered locally amounted to Rs. 41
million, and abroad Rs. 42 million and the govt collected Rs. 240 as tax on
excess income and hidden wealth of 1340 million and 10 years rigorous
imprisonment was put in place for sale and purchase of import permits
10. 3.Action against corrupt officials
A large number of screening committees were set up to look into
the past conduct of the central and provincial civil servant
On the recommendations of these committees the federal govt
took action against 1662 officials on the charges of misconduct,
corruption, reputation of being corrupt, inefficiency and
insubordination
0ut of these 1662, 823 were dismissed or forcefully retired, 194
reduced in rank, 475 put on special report, increment of 6 was
stopped, warnings were issued to 162, and govt displeasure was
shown to 2 officials
11. 4.PODO and EBDO
To eliminate the influence of politicians from the body-politic, Ayub Khan, issued
two orders namely Public Offices (Disqualification) Order (PODO) and Elective
Bodies (Disqualification) order
It applied to those who held public office and were found guilty of misconduct and
corruption. It was applied with retrospective effect from august 14, 1947
Three Tribunals were set up for the trial of ministers, deputy ministers, parliamentary
secretaries and the members of the legislative bodies. They had the option to
voluntarily retire from public life for a period of six years beginning form January
1960
Exact number of politicians disqualified is unknown, some say it was 5 to 6 thousand,
however the figure seem too much inflated
12. 5.Reformation of family laws
Family Laws Ordinance was implemented in 1961 on the recommendation of a commission
appointed in 1954 and west Pakistan conciliation ordinance(1962)
The ordinances provided that every marriage solemnized was to be registered with union council
on payment of tax, Nikah registrars were appointed
Nobody was allowed for second marriage without reference to union council and his first wife.
The permission for second marriage was on genuine reasons like no issue, death of first wife
Similarly an arbitration council was set up in case of divorce and if the council failed to reconcile
the couple the divorce was effective on the expiration of ninety days
Under family laws the grandson was made eligible for property left by his grandfather
13. 6.Law reforms
The martial law regime appointed Law Reforms
Commission in December, 1959 to suggest that as to
how justice may better and more speedily be done
and to end to examine the following
1. The hierarchy of the courts and their powers
2. The making of judicial appointments
3. The standard and contents of legal edu
4. The structure and discipline of the legal profession
14. Law reforms
5. The Law of civil and criminal procedure and the law of
evidence
6. The Jirga and the Panchayats system and their extension
to the suitable areas
7. The cost of litigation, and any other relevant matter
The govt issued ten ordinances during 1962-63 to
streamline the administration of justice and similarly the
govt also appointed company law commission in 1959
to re-enact the company existing company law
However the ideal of speedy justice was never realized
15. Law reforms
Many ordinances were issued to reform Labor Laws in the
country and to improve production, equitable distribution
of wealth, better working conditions for labors
Labor laws were reformed through the industrial dispute
ordinance, 1959 which setup an entirely new machinery
for resolving industrial disputes. Industrial courts were
setup. The west Pak industrial and commercial
employment (standing orders) act 1960 and the east Pak
industrial and commercial employment act 1965 made
labor conditions better
16. 7.Rehibilitation of refugees
About nine million people left their ancestral home and came to Pak. They constituted about 10
percent population of Pakistan
A large number of the refugees were living in the bamboo huts and they use as a political weapon
by the politicians to achieve their objectives
The military regime appointed Lieutenant General Azam Khan as refugee minister and Displaced
Persons (compensation and rehabilitation) Oder,1959 was issued.
By 1962 the military regime adjusted Rs 1230 million as property transfer and Rs 70 million as cash
compensation. 15000 dwellings Korangi Township (Karachi) was constructed for refugees.
The Karachi development authority built 18000 quarters in new Karachi and 7000 quarters were
provided in Malir extension scheme. East Pal govt built 23,900 houses, 2000 flats and 809 shops at
a cost of Rs 204.24 million
17. 8.Change of Capital
The federal capital commission suggested that the new capital
shall be constructed on the Potohar Plateau as Ayub Khan
wanted close contact with GHQ Rawalpindi
In February 1960 the new capital was named ISLAMABAD by
the presidential cabinet.
The commercial and industrial circles of Karachi were unhappy
with the shifting of capital because it caused them great
inconvenience. Secondly, a poor country like Pakistan was not
in the position to afford the building of a new capital
18. 9.Education reforms
Education commission was appointed in December 1958 and was entrusted with the
following responsibilities
To develop among the people a sense of duty, patriotism, and national solidarity, and
to inculcate in among them the habits of industry, integrity and devotion to service
To produce men of talent, character and ability for the development of the country
To obtain the diversion of students on aptitude and intelligence to appropriate
sectors like agriculture, technical field, and other vocational trainings
To suggest the role of education in the community
19. Education reforms
The military regime implemented most of the recommendations of the commission
Bachelor degree was extended to three years and a system of monthly tests of 25 percent marks
was introduced. But it was taken back on the agitation by the Bengali students
Engineering and agriculture universities along with polytechnic institutions were established
Primary and secondary education was made compulsory in two phases, first from class 1 to 5 and
second from class 5 to 10 by 1970
An aggressive scholarship program for poor but intelligent students was also introduced
20. 10.Scientific research
A scientific commission was appointed in 1959
The recommendations of the scientific commission were implemented
mostly after the withdrawal of Martial Law
The steps taken by the govt were the making of liberal grants to
universities for scientific research, setting up of separate division in the
central govt for scientific and technological research, and separate division
for defence related research
Medical council, nuclear institute, Pakistan national scientific and
documentation centre were established
21. 11.Economic reforms
Bonus voucher scheme: In order to boost export the
govt introduced bonus voucher scheme in January 1959.
The voucher was issued on the export of finished goods.
A person or organization was given a voucher on the
remittance or earning of foreign exchange reserve, it was
equivalent to a fixed amount of earned foreign exchange
reserves
This voucher could be used for special imports and could
also be sold in the open market. The scheme was
withdrawn by ZAB in May 1972
22. Economic reforms
Land reforms as early as 1949 an agrarian reform committee was formed by the Punjab govt and it recommended
that land holding shall not exceed from 150 and 500 irrigated and non-irrigated land respectively and all the jagirs
and inams shall be expropriated but these reforms were not implemented
In the Punjab and NWFP almost 50 percent, and in Sindh 80 percent land was in the possession of a few thousand
land lords
The military govt appointed a land reform commission by 1958. and upon the recommendation of the commission
these steps were taken
1. No person would own or posses more than 500 acres of irrigated or 1000 acres of unirrigated land and 150 acres
could be retained as orchard. In any case, a person could not own more than 36000 produce index units
2. The land in excess would be resumed on the payment of compensation in the form of interest-bearing bonds
redeemable in 25 years
23. Economic reforms
3. The resumed land would be offered to the existing
tenants for sale on installments and the land not
purchased by them would be sold to others
4. Occupancy tenants would become full owners
5. All jagirdaris were abolished without compensation
6. A guarantee of security of tenure to the tenants
24. Economic reforms
Out of 7.75 million acre land hold in access, nearly
2.40 million acre were resumed and distributed
among the tenants
It was pointed out that the land holding was on
individual basis not family base, therefore, the land
lords saved their land by transferring it to their family
members as gifts
25. Economic reforms
Agriculture reforms these reforms included
modern methods of farming, the use of better seed,
better credit facilities, improved market facilities, and
measures to check water logging and salinity
The agriculture development corporation was setup
in 1961 in both the wings of the country to provide
the farmers with technical knowledge
26. Economic reforms
It was pointed out by the critics that agrarian reforms
intensified disparity between the two wings of the
country, the agrarian reforms were concentrated in
the Punjab as 91.2 percent of the 75,700 tube wells
were located in Punjab, similarly out of 16,600
tractors in west ak in 1968, 13800 were in Punjab
27. Economic reforms
Development planning During 1947-58 political
instability hampered development planning, a
development board was established in 1948 which
formulated a six year development plan(1951-1957)
in 1950 and similarly a planning board was formed by
1953 to make more coordinated planning and five
year plan was formulated (1955-1960), however these
plans didn't give desired results
28. Economic reforms
The military govt raised the planning board to the status
of the planning commission and it was given the status of
a division in the president’s secretariat, with the president
as the chairman
The planning commission formulated and implemented
second five year plan (1960-65) with more resource
mobilization, rapid economic growth, increased in
national income, and improvement in the condition of the
people. The plan was a great success