Mohammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: Ù…Øمد ایوب خان; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), HPk, NPk, HJ, MBE, was a Pakistani military dictator and the 2nd President of Pakistan who forcibly assumed the presidency from 1st President through coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état of the country. The popular demonstrations and labour strikes which were supported by the protests in East Pakistan ultimately led to his forced resignation in 1969.
| Ayub Khan | |
|---|---|
| ایوب خان | |
Ayub Khan (1907–74)
| |
| 2nd President of Pakistan | |
| In office 27 October 1958 – 25 March 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Iskander Mirza |
| Succeeded by | Yahya Khan |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 28 October 1958 – 21 October 1966 | |
| Deputy | Defence Secretaries |
| Preceded by | Ayub Khuhro |
| Succeeded by | V-Adm. Afzal Rahman Khan |
| In office 24 October 1954 – 11 August 1955 | |
| Prime Minister | Mohammad Ali Bogra |
| Deputy | Akhter Husain (Defence Secretary) |
| Preceded by | Mohammad Ali Bogra |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Ali |
| Minister of Interior | |
| In office 23 March 1965 – 17 August 1965 | |
| Deputy | Interior Secretary |
| Preceded by | K. H. Khan |
| Succeeded by | Ali Akbar Khan |
| Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army | |
| In office 23 January 1951[1] – 26 October 1958 | |
| Deputy | Chief of General Staff |
| Preceded by | Gen. Douglas Gracey |
| Succeeded by | Gen. Musa Khan |
| Chief Martial Law Administrator | |
| In office 7 October 1958 – 27 October 1958 | |
| Preceded by | Post established |
| Succeeded by | Yahya Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Muhammad Ayub Khan 14 May 1907 Rehana, Haripur District in North-West Frontier Province, British India (now in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan) |
| Died | 19 April 1974 (aged 66) Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Cause of death | Cardiac arrest |
| Resting place | Rehana, Haripur, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan) |
| Citizenship |  British India(1907-47)  Pakistan(1947-74) |
| Children | Gohar, and Nasim |
| Cabinet | Ministry of Talents |
| Civilian awards |  Nishan-i-Pakistan Hilal-i-Pakistan Order of the Crown |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch |  British Indian Army(1928-47)  Pakistan Army(1947–58) |
| Years of service | 1928–58 |
| Rank |   Field Marshal(General of the Army) |
| Unit | 19/14th Punjab Regiment |
| Commands | Adjutant-General, Army GHQ GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, Dacca GOC 14th Infantry Division, Dacca |
| Battles/wars |
War in Waziristan (1936–39)
World War II
|
| Military awards |  Hilal-e-Jur |
After appointing General Musa Khan as an army chief in 1958, the policy inclination towards the alliance with the United States was pursued that saw the allowance of American access to facilities inside Pakistan, most notably the airbaseoutside of Peshawar, from which spy missions over the Soviet Union were launched. Relations with neighboring China were strengthened but deteriorated with Soviet Union in 1962, and with India in 1965. His presidency saw the war with India in 1965 which ended with Soviet Union facilitating the Tashkent Declaration between two nations. At home front, the policy of privatisation and industrialization was introduced that made the country's economy as Asia's fastest-growingeconomies. During his tenure, several infrastructure programs were built that consisted the completion of hydroelectric stations, dams and reservoirs, as well as prioritizing the space program but reducing the nuclear deterrence.
In 1965, Ayub Khan entered in a presidential race as PML candidate to counter the popular and famed non-partisanFatima Jinnah and controversially reelected for the second term. He was faced with allegations of widespread intentional vote riggings, authorized political murders in Karachi, and the politics over the unpopular peace treaty with India which many Pakistanis considered an embarrassing compromise. In 1967, he was widely disapproved when the demonstrations across the country were led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto over the price hikes of food consumer products and, dramatically fell amid the popular uprising in East led by Mujibur Rahman in 1969. Forced to resign to avoid further protests while inviting army chief Yahya Khan to impose martial law for the second time, he fought a brief illness and died in 1974.
His legacy remains mixed; he is credited with an ostensible economic prosperity and what supporters dub the "decade of development", but is criticized for beginning the first of the intelligence agencies' incursions into the national politics, for concentrating corrupt wealth in a few hands, and segregated policies that later led to the breaking-up of nation's unity that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.
Early years and personal life
Ayub Khan was born on 14 May 1907 in Rehana, a village in Haripur District in Hazara region of then North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). He hailed from the Tareen tribe of ethnic Pashtunssettled in Hazara region.
He was the first child of the second wife of Mir Dad, a Risaldar-Major (a regimental JCO which was then known as VCO) in the 9th Hodson's Horse which was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army.[citation needed] For his basic education, he was enrolled in a school in Sarai Saleh, which was about 4 miles from his village.[citation needed] He used to go to school on a mule's back and was shifted to a school in Haripur, where he started living with his grandmother.[citation needed]
He went on to study at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and while pursuing his college education, he was accepted into the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst by the recommendation of General Andrew Skeen; he did not complete his degree and departed for Great Britain. Ayub Khan was fluent in Urdu, English and his regional Hindko dialect as well as Pashto.
Ayub Khan was born on 14 May 1907 in Rehana, a village in Haripur District in Hazara region of then North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). He hailed from the Tareen tribe of ethnic Pashtunssettled in Hazara region.
He was the first child of the second wife of Mir Dad, a Risaldar-Major (a regimental JCO which was then known as VCO) in the 9th Hodson's Horse which was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army.[citation needed] For his basic education, he was enrolled in a school in Sarai Saleh, which was about 4 miles from his village.[citation needed] He used to go to school on a mule's back and was shifted to a school in Haripur, where he started living with his grandmother.[citation needed]
He went on to study at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and while pursuing his college education, he was accepted into the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst by the recommendation of General Andrew Skeen; he did not complete his degree and departed for Great Britain. Ayub Khan was fluent in Urdu, English and his regional Hindko dialect as well as Pashto.
Military career
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| Ayub Khan meeting with Governor-GeneralJinnah, ca.1947. |
According to some accounts, Ayub Khan's performance at the Sandhurst Military Academy in the United Kingdom was good, earning him awards and scholarships. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. on 2 February 1928 in the 1/14th Punjab Regiment (1st Battalion of the 14th Punjab Regiment) of the British Indian Army — it is now known as the 5th battalion of the Punjab Regiment of Pakistan Army. Amongst those who passed out with him was the future chief of army staff of the Indian Army, General J. N. Chaudhri who served as chief when Ayub was the President of Pakistan. After the standard probationary period of service in the British Army, he was appointed to the British Indian Army on 10 April 1929, joining the 1/14th Punjab Regiment Sherdils, now known as 5th Punjab Regiment.
He was promoted to Lieutenant on 2 May 1930 and to Captain on 2 February 1937.During World War II, he was promoted to the temporary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1942 and was posted in Burma to participate in first phase of Burma Front in 1942–43.:87–88 He was promoted to the permanent rank of Major on 2 February 1945.Later that year, he was promoted to temporary Colonel and assumed the command of his own regiment in which he was commissioned to direct operations on second phase of Burma Front; however he was soon suspended without pay from that command temporarily for visible cowardice under fire.
In 1946, he was posted back to British India and was stationed in the North-West Frontier Province. In 1947, he was promoted to a one-star rank, Brigadier, and commanded a Brigade in mountainous South Waziristan.When the United Kingdom announced the partition British India into India and Pakistan, he was one of the most senior serving officers in the British Indian Army who decided to opt for Pakistan in 1947. At the time of his joining, the Indian Army sent the military seniority list to Pakistan's Ministry of Defence (MoD) where he was the 10th ranking officer in terms of seniority with Service No. PA-010.
In the early part of 1948, he was given the command of the 14th Infantry Division as its GOC, (still ranked Brigadier) stationed in Dacca, East-Pakistan. In 1949, he was appointed as army commander of Eastern Command[citation needed] and decorated with the Hilal-i-Jurat (HJ) by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan for non-combatant service and called back to Army GHQ as an adjutant-general on November of same year.
Commander-in-chief
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| General Ayub Khan arriving to take command of the Pakistan Army in 17 January 1951. |
Lieutenant General Sir Douglas Gracey relinquished the command of the Pakistan Army on 23 January 1951, under pressure of calls for "nationalisation" of the army.The Pakistan government already called for appointing native commanders-in-chief of army, air force, navy and dismissed deputation appointments from the British military. The Army GHQ sent the nomination papers to Prime Minister's Secretariat for the appointment of commander-in-chief.There were four-senior officers in the race: Major-General Akbar Khan, Major-General Iftikhar Khan, Major-General Ishfakul Majid, and Major-General N.A.M. Raza, among these officers Akbar was the senior-most as he was commissioned in 1920.
Initially, it was Gen. Iftikhar Khan (commissioned in 1929) who was selected to be appointed as first native commander-in-chief of the army, but he died in an airplane crash en route to take command after finishing the senior staff officers' course in the United Kingdom. All three remaining generals were bypassed including the recommended senior-most Major-General Akbar Khan and Major-General Ishfakul Majid (commissioned in 1924).
Ayub's becoming the army chief marked a change in the military tradition of preferring native Pakistanis; it ended the transitional role of British military officers.Although the Pakistani government announced the appointment of navy's native commander in chief in 1951, it was Ayub Khan who helped Vice-Admiral M.S. Choudhri to be appointed as first native navy's commander in chief, also in 1953.93–94 The events surrounding Ayub's appointment set the precedent for a native general being promoted out of turn, ostensibly because he was the least ambitious of the generals in the line of promotion and the most loyal to civil government at that time.Ayub, alongside Admiral Choudhri, cancelled and disbanded the British military tradition in the navy and the army when the U.S. military's advisers were dispatched to the Pakistani military in 1955–57.British military traditions were only kept in the air force due to a British commander and major staff consisting of Royal Air Force officers.
In 1953, Ayub went on his first foreign visit Turkey as an army c-in-c, and was said to be impressed with Turkish military tradition; he met only with the Turkish Defence minister during his visit.Thereafter, he went to the United States and visited the US State Department and Pentagon to lobby for forging military relations. He termed this visit as "medical visit" but made a strong plea for military aid which was not considered due to India's opposition.
Three months before the end of his tenure as commander-in-chief of the army, Ayub Khan deposed his mentor, Iskandar Mirza, Pakistan's president, in a military coup – after Mirza had declared martial law and made Ayub Khan the chief martial law administrator.
In 1953, Ayub went on his first foreign visit Turkey as an army c-in-c, and was said to be impressed with Turkish military tradition; he met only with the Turkish Defence minister during his visit.Thereafter, he went to the United States and visited the US State Department and Pentagon to lobby for forging military relations. He termed this visit as "medical visit" but made a strong plea for military aid which was not considered due to India's opposition.
Three months before the end of his tenure as commander-in-chief of the army, Ayub Khan deposed his mentor, Iskandar Mirza, Pakistan's president, in a military coup – after Mirza had declared martial law and made Ayub Khan the chief martial law administrator.
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