defination A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military.

It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military. Like any dictatorship, a military dictatorship may be official or unofficial, and as a result may not actually qualify as stratocratic. Mixed forms also exist, where the military exerts a very strong influence without being entirely dominant.

First Military Rule

Since its independence, the democratic system has been disturbed by the Pakistan Army's generals. In 1951, the Military Intelligence foiled a conspiracy against the government of first Prime minister Liaqat Ali Khan. The M.I. under Major-General Syed Shahid Hamid arrested MajorGeneral Akbar Khan, along with other senior officers. Akbar was subsequently court-martialed was relieved from his service. On October 16th of 1951, Liaqat Ali Khan was assassinated by Afghan national Said Akbar, hired by the United States and Pakistan Army. After his death, the political turmoil further destabilized the country. In 1958, retired Major-General and President Iskander Mirza took over the country and deposed the government of Prime minister Feroz Khan Noon, and declared first martial law on October 7, 1958. President Mirza personally appointed his close associate General Ayub Khan as the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army. However, Khan ousted Mirza shortly when he became highly dissatisfied by Mirza's policies. It was said that, at that time when Khan took over the control, Ayub Khan had slapped Mirza and disrespected him and night to pack Mirza off to exile in England. Now as President and Commander-in-Chief Ayub Khan himself appointed him as 5-star Field Marshal and built up the relationship with the United States and the West. A formal alliance including Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey was formed and was called the Baghdad Pact (later known as CENTO), which was to defend the Middle East and Persian Gulf from Soviet communists designs. Ayub Khan used ISI and M.I. for the first time to keep an eye on Fatima Jinnah during the 1965 Presidential elections, his son Gohar Ayub Khan played a major and controversial role in elections. Khan also rigged the

elections by forcing Election Commission to announced him as a winner. After the indecisive war of 1965, Pakistani people accused Field Marshal Ayub Khan of betraying the cause of Kashmir and he was forced to resign. In 1967, Munir Ahmad Khan, a nuclear engineer who was the head of Reactor Division at the IAEA, notified Bhutto on the status of Indian nuclear programme. Sensing the seriousness, Bhutto arranged a meeting between Khan and Ayub Khan. However, Ayub Khan deferred to start the nuclear deterrence capability on economic ground bases as he said: "If we [Pakistan] ever need the [atom] bomb, we [Pakistan] will buy it off the shelf". After the meeting, Bhutto remained in touch with Munir Ahmad Khan and began to lobby for the nuclear weapons. Later, Bhutto used Abdus Salam to get the approval of first nuclear power plant, KANUPP-I, from Ayub Khan. This was approved by Ayub Khan against the wishes of his own military government. However, Ayub Khan began to vetoed other proposals made by Abdus Salam to strengthened the nuclear energy programme. After Ayub Khan's departure, Abdus Salam and Munir Ahmad Khan were safely silenced. However, Bhutto continued to maintain relationship with both Munir Khan and Abdus Salam at the mean time. As Bhutto began lobbying for nuclear development, Ayub Khan immediately removed Bhutto as his Foreign minister as a part of conspiracy, a conspiracy that was planned by Bhutto's rival Jurist Mushtaq Hussain. In return, Bhutto launched a People's Party of Pakistan and tapped a wave of anti-Ayub Khan movement in both West and East Pakistan. Pressured and demoralized, Ayub Khan handed over the control of the country to his younger brother and Commander-inChief of Pakistan Army General Yahya Khan in 1969. General Khan, designated himself as Chief Martial Law Administrator, installed a military government with in Pakistan. He also appointed Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan as Martial Law Administrator of East Pakistan. Khans' military government promised to hold on a general election within 2 years. Yahya Khan presided the country over the disastrous 1971 Winter War which resulted in the Pakistan Armed Forces being forced out of Pakistani politics and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto becoming the new civilian leader of Pakistan following an election.

Second Military Rule During the 1977 elections, there were rumors of wide spread voter fraud and as such the civilian government under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown in a bloodless coup of July 1977 (See Operation Fair Play) and the new ruler and Bhutto's own appointed Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq became Chief Martial Law Administrator in 1978. General Zia-ul-Haq was appointed by this position by Bhutto after Bhutto forced seventeen senior general officers to retire from the army. General Zia appointed Mushtaq Hussain, chief jurist for Bhutto's case. Mushtaq Hussain was famously known in the public as extreme hater of Bhutto, and played a controversial role in Bhutto's removal as Foreign minister in 1965. Mushtaq Hussain, now judge, disrespected Bhutto and his hometown, and further denied any appeals. Under Zia's direction and Mushtaq's order, Bhutto was controversially executed in 1979 after the Supreme Court upheld the High Court's death sentence on charges of authorizing the murder of a political opponent.[27] Under Zia's Martial Law military dictatorship (which was declared legal under the Doctrine of Necessity by the Supreme Court in 1978) the following initiatives were taken: Strict Islamic law was introduced into the country's legal system by 1978, contributing to current-day sectarianism and religious fundamentalism, as well as instilling a sense of religious purpose within the youth. Pakistan fought a war by proxy against the Communists in Afghanistan in the Soviet-Afghan War, greatly contributing to the eventual withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan. Secessionist uprisings in Balochistan were put down by the province's authoritarian Martial Law ruler, General Rahimuddin Khan, who ruled for an unprecedented seven years under Martial Law. The socialist economic policies of the previous civilian government, which also included aggressive nationalisation, were gradually reversed; and Pakistan's Gross National Product rose greatly. General Zia lifted Martial Law in 1985, holding party-less elections and handpicking Muhammad Khan Junejo to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who in turn rubber-stamped Zia remaining Chief of Army

Staff until 1990. Junejo however gradually fell out with Zia as his political and administrative independence grew. Junejo also signed the Geneva Accord, which Zia greatly disliked. After a large-scale explosion at a munitions store in Ojhri, Junejo vowed to bring those responsible for the significant damage caused to justice, implicating several times the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General Akhtar Abdur Rahman. President Zia, infuriated, dismissed the Junejo government on several charges in May 1988. He then called for the holding of fresh elections in November. General Zia-ul-Haq never saw the elections materialize however, as he died in a plane crash on August 17, 1988, which was later proven to be highly sophisticated sabotage by unknown perpetrators. Under Zia, real defence spending increased on average by 9 percent per annum during 1977-88 while development spending rose 3 percent per annum; by 1987-88 defence spending had overtaken development spending. For 1980s as a whole, defence spending averaged 6.5 percent of GDP. This contributed strongly to large fiscal deficits and a rapid build up of public debt.[28]

See: 1999 Pakistani coup d'tat Third Military Rule Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen reviews Pakistani troops during a ceremony honoring Mullen's arrival to Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb. 9, 2008. Mullen is visiting the country to discuss security issues with Pakistani military officials. Since 9/11, Pakistan and USA have established close military ties. Many people in Pakistan blamed Sharif for retreating from Kargil under American pressure. Growing fiscal deficits and debt-service payments mainly due to American sanctions after Pakistan tested its Nuclear Weapons in May 1998 as a response to India had led to a financial crisis. When asked about his reason for backing down from Kargil, Sharif said that Pakistan had only enough fuel and ammunition for 3 days and the nuclear missiles were not ready at that time. This comment made many Pakistanis brand Nawaz Sharif a traitor as Army doctrine called for having at least 45 days of fuel and ammunition and

to have stand by nuclear missiles ready. Fearing that the Army might take over, Sharif attempted to dismiss his own appointed Chief of Army Staff and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Pervez Musharraf and install an ISI director-general Lieutenant-General Ziauddin Butt as Chief of Army Staff. General Musharraf, who was out of the country, boarded a commercial flight to return to Pakistan. Senior Army generals refused to accept Musharraf's dismissal. Sharif ordered the Karachi airport to prevent the landing of the airline, which then circled the skies over Karachi. In a coup d'tat, the generals ousted Sharif's administration and took over the airport. The plane landed with only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and Musharraf assumed control of the government. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was put under house arrest and later exiled. The coup d'tat in Pakistan was condemned by most world leaders but was mostly supported by Pakistani populace.[60] The new military government of Pervez Musharraf was heavily criticized in the United States, Saudia Arabia, United Kingdom and when President Bill Clinton went on his landmark trip to South Asia, he only made a last minute stop in Pakistan for a few hours but spent more than five days touring and visiting India.[61] Pakistan was also suspended from the Commonwealth Natioansl while Musharraf pledged to clean corruption out of politics and stabilize the economy. On 18 August 2008, General Pervez Musharraf resigned from the post of President under impeachment pressure from the coalition government. Consequently, his website was removed since he was no longer President. He was succeeded on 6 September 2008 by Asif Ali Zardari, duly elected as Pakistan's 11th President since 1956.[62][63] [64]

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Martial Law Under Field Marshal Ayub Khan [1958-62] Field Marshal Ayub Khan

On October 7, 1958, President Iskander Mirza abrogated the Constitution and declared Martial Law in the country. This was the first of many military regimes to mar Pakistan's history. With this step, the Constitution of 1956 was abrogated, ministers were dismissed, Central and Provincial Assemblies were dissolved and all political activities were banned. General Muhammad Ayub Khan, the then Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, became the Chief Martial Law Administrator. The parliamentary system in Pakistan came to end. Within three weeks of assuming charge on October 27, 1958, Iskander Mirza was ousted by General Ayub Khan, who then declared himself President. General Ayub Khan gave himself the rank of Field Marshal. Corruption had become so widespread within the national and civic systems of administration that Ayub Khan was welcomed as a national hero by the people.

Muhammad Ayub Khan Muhammad Ayub Khan was born on May 14, 1907, in the village of Rehana near Haripur, in Hazara District. He was the first child of the second wife of Mir Dad Khan, who was a Risaldar Major in Hodson's Horse. According to Ayub, his father had the greatest influence on his character, outlook, and attitude towards life. For his basic education, he was enrolled in a school in Sarai Saleh, which was about 4 miles from his village. He used to go to school on a mule's back. Later he was shifted to a school in Haripur, where he started living with his grandmother. As a child he was interested in playing kabaddi, gulli danda, marbles and hockey. After passing his Matriculation Examination in 1922, Ayub was sent to Aligarh University where he spent four years. However, before appearing in his B. A. exams, he was selected for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He sailed for England in 1926. Ayub's performance in Sandhurst was exemplary and he won several scholarships. After the completion of training, he got commissioned in the Indian Army in 1928. He fought at different fronts during World War II, first as a Major and then Colonel. During the communal riots of 1947, he was assigned to assist General Pete Rees in the Punjab Boundary Force. At the time of Independence, Ayub Khan opted to join the Pakistan Army, where as a Brigadier, he was the senior-most Muslim officer. In 1951, he was raised to the status of a four-star General and was appointed as the first local Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army.

General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the one who enforced Martial Law for the third time in the brief history of Pakistan. Second child and eldest son of Muhammad Akram, a teacher in the British Army, Zia-ul-Haq was born on August 12, 1924, at Jalandhar. After receiving his early education from Government High School Simla, he did his B. A. Honors from St. Stephen College, Delhi. He was commissioned in the British Army in 1943 and served in Burma, Malaya and Indonesia during World War II. When the war was over, he decided to join the armored corps. At the time of Independence, like most of the Muslim officers in the British Army, Zia-ul-Haq opted to join the Pakistan Army. As a Major he got an opportunity to do a training course in the Commander and Staff College of United States of America in 1963-64. During the 1965 War, he acted as the Assistant Quarter Master of 101 Infantry Division, which was posted at the Kiran Sector. He remained posted in Jordan from 1967 till 1970, where he was involved in training Jordon's military. He was appointed as Corps Commander of Multan in 1975.

On April 1, 1976, in a surprise move the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, appointed Zia-ul-Haq as Chief of Army Staff, superseding five senior Generals. Bhutto probably wanted somebody as the head of the armed forces who would not prove to be a threat for him, and the best available option was the simple General who was apparently interested only in offering prayers and playing golf. However, history proved that General Zia-ul-Haq proved to be much smarter than Bhutto thought. When political tension reached its climax due to the deadlock between Bhutto and the leadership of Pakistan National Alliance on the issue of general elections, Ziaul-Haq took advantage of the situation. On July 5, 1977, he carried out a bloodless coup overthrowing Bhutto's government and enforced Martial Law in the country

General Pervez Musharraf [Born 1943] General Pervez Musharraf, the second of three brothers, was born in Delhi on August 11, 1943. His parents chose to settle in Karachi after the creation of Pakistan. He comes from a middle class family, his father having worked for the foreign ministry. He spent his early years in Turkey, from 1949 to 1956, owing to his father, the late Syed Musharrafu-ud-dins deputation in Ankara. Fluently he can converse in Turkish language and claims that Kamal Ataturk is his hero.

On return to Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf received his education from Saint Patrick's High School, Karachi, and then from F. C. College, Lahore. In 1961, he joined the Pakistan Military Academy and was commissioned in Artillery Regiment in 1964. He fought in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 as a young officer, and was awarded Imtiazi Sanad for gallantry. He also achieved the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) and the Tamgha-i-Basalat. He has been also on the faculty of the Command and Staff College, Quetta and the war wing of (the) National Defence College. He volunteered to be a commando, and remained in the Special Services Group for seven years. He also participated in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 as a Company Commander in the Commando Battalion. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------biographyyyyyyyyy The military history of Pakistan encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2,000 years and across areas including modern Pakistan, and the greater Indian subcontinent, but Pakistan as a nation-state dates only from 1947. The military holds a significant place in the history of Pakistan, as the Pakistani Armed Forces have played and still continue to play a vital role in the Pakistani establishment and shaping of the country since its inception. Although Pakistan was founded as a democracy after the independence of the India from British Raj, the military has remained one of the country's most powerful institutions and has on occasion overthrown democratically elected governments on the basis of mismanagement and corruption. Successive governments have made sure that the military was consulted before they took key decisions, especially when those decisions related to the Kashmir Conflict. Political leaders of Pakistan's fragile democracy know that the military has stepped into the political arena before at times of crisis through Coup d'tat to establish military dictatorships, and could do so again. Since independence, the military has fought three major wars with India and several minor border skirmishes with Afghanistan. It has also fought a limited conflict at Kargil with India after acquiring nuclear capabilities. After 9/11, the military is engaged in a protracted low intensity conflict along Pakistan's western border with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, as well as those who support or provide shelter to them. In addition, Pakistani troops have also participated in various foreign conflicts usually acting as United Nations peacekeepers. At present, Pakistan has the largest number of its personnel acting under the United Nations with the

number standing at 10,173 as of 31 March 2007.

Personal Information
The Pakistan president plays an important role in the administrative functioning of the country as his post marks the supreme authority. The president of Pakistan is chosen by an an electoral college and is expected to serve five years at a time, for a maximum of two consecutive terms. Though the President of Pakistan represents the supreme head of the nation, his powers are supposed to be limited and he could be removed from post by the existing electoral college. In case of criminal or legal offense, the President is subjected to the same legal formalities as any ordinary citizen.

The political history of Pakistan, since its independent existence after separation from India has been a record of army activities, or some reason or the other. Pakistan was born and got its independence from the British rule on the 14th of August, 1947. Her first president was Iskander Mirza. Pakistan is a free nation since the last 60 years and of these, 33 of the years has been under the rule of Military presidents. In fact, Pakistan's government is a semi presidential sort of a government. Of the eleven Presidents that Pakistan has been headed by, so far, four of the Presidents are military. The military take over of the administrative duties of the country has received both sides of criticism