Muhammad Ayub Khan (Leaders are not created; they are innately born that way.)
Rehana, a village in the Haripur District of the Hazara division of the then North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), British India, is the place of Muhammad Ayub Khan’s birth.
Born on 14 May 1907 President of Pakistan from 1958 to 1969 who passed away on April 19, 1974, close to Islamabad,
Early Life and Military Career
As the country’s second president from 1958 until his retirement in 1969, Muhammad Ayub Khan was a Pakistani military officer and politician.
Appointed as Commander-in-chief in 1951 became a powerful political figure.
After finishing his schooling at Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh, India, and the British Royal Military College, Ayub Khan was commissioned as an officer in the Indian army in 1928.
College at Sandhurst.
He led a battalion in India and served as second-in-command of a regiment in Burma (Myanmar) during World War II. He rose quickly through the ranks in the army of the nascent Muslim state of Pakistan following the partition of British India in 1947
, going from major general in 1948 to commander in chief in 1951. Ayub also briefly served as the defense minister in 1954.
Ayub khan era (1958 – 1969)
Pakistan was ruled by four heads of state and seven prime ministers between 1947 and 1958.
After a decade of political unrest, General Ayub made a stunning rise to power in 1958.
What happened in 1958 in Pakistan?
On October 27, the general, who was also the Chief Martial Law Administrator, elected himself the president of Pakistan.
The 1958 Pakistani military takeover began on October 7 when Iskander Mirza, the country’s first president, revoked the constitution and proclaimed martial law.
It lasted until October 27 when Mirza was overthrown by Gen. Ayub Khan, the Pakistan Army’s commander-in-chief.
Reforms Introduced by Ayub Khan.
legal reforms ( introduced the Muslim family laws on March 2nd, 1961).
In terms of foreign policy, Pakistan joined the US military alliance against the Soviet Union on a worldwide scale.
The economy improved but increased inequality in the distribution of wealth.
Relation with the Soviet Union and China, USA
relations deteriorated and improved again due to several events.in 1961 the Soviets agreed to begin exploring for oil and in 1963 the Soviet government loaned Pakistan 11 million pounds.
A formal visit was made in April 1965 to discuss trade and oil development.
In January 1966 the soviet union hosted a peace conference between Pak and Indo in Tashkent.
In 1963 talks between China and Pakistan to settle their border dispute announced a series of trade agreements and PIA began regular flights to China and 1964 China made
a statement supporting Pakistan’s policy in Kashmir.
China provided India with military support and political pressure during the 1965 conflict.
During a speech in 1958, General Ayub Khan called Pakistan “the most allied ally” of the United States. This demonstrates how Pakistan’s pro-Western sentiment increased during this time.
Ayub Khan was of the opinion that Pakistan could not advance unless the Kashmir issue was resolved, which required assistance from the Western bloc.
Shifting of capital and space program (SUPARCO),
Karachi was unsuitable for various purposes for location business Ayob extremely disliked Karachi’s climate both political and weather. He needed the backing of the army to stay in government.
He strongly desired to move the capital to Rawalpindi where he would be close to the army Headquarters and everyone agreed to build a new capital.
In 1967 ISLAMABAD officially made the capital. It’s a brand-new metropolis that’s been meticulously planned.
In 1961, President Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan, acting on the counsel of the organization’s founding director Abdus Salam, created it in its current form through an executive order.
The organization is a part of the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) of the Pakistan Defence Forces, which is currently governed by the Pakistan Army. Lieutenant-General Khalid Kadwai, a retired three-star general in the Army, is in charge of the SPD. The Chaklala Cantonment, which is under the jurisdiction of the Pakistan Air Force, houses SPD headquarters.
Elections 1965 in January 1965 Pakistan, however, did not have a national election in 1965. Ayub Khan, however, conducted a referendum in January 1965 to ask the populace to endorse both his presidency and his suggested new constitution.
The referendum received harsh criticism for being rigged in Ayub Khan’s favor.
Nuclear issue
The Pakistani civilian nuclear program started in 1956 under the government of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. When Ayob Khan imposed martial law in Pakistan, the Pakistani civilian nuclear program was frozen till 1972.
President Ayob Khan met briefly at the Hotel of London Dorchester on December 11, 1965, with Mr. Munir Ahmed Khan, a Pakistani nuclear engineer.
The meeting was arranged by the foreign minister of Pakistan, Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Munir Ahmed Khan estimated the cost of nuclear technology at that time was not more than $150 million dollars and Ayob Khan clearly refused munir ahmed khan’s offer and said that Pakistan was too poor to spend that much money and then start the nuclear program with January 1972 under former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Would General Ayub still be considering a voluntary abdication if it weren’t for his health issues? He had pneumonia that turned into a pulmonary embolism after contracting a viral infection in mid of January 1968.
His health had already gotten worse by the fall of 1968.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s struggle grew stronger at the same time. General Ayub declared he would not run for reelection 1970 on February 21, 1969, and gave up. General Yahya Khan assumed leadership as the Chief Martial Law Administrator in March.
Summary
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