Second Martial Law in Pakistan March 1969 - December 1971 Flashcards
31 March 1969
After 6 days of assuming power as CMLA, General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan became President on 31 March, 1969.
Distinct feature
A distinct feature of his reign was that he was highly dependent on his military fellow men and almost all the civil administrative seats were occupied by military officials.
Council of ministers
Yahya Khan founded a Council of Administration.
In August 1969, a Council of Ministers replaced the Council of Administration to give civilian look to the regime.
Yahya Khan’s attitude
He was not very interested in handling the matters personally and usually leave the matters to the people concerned. It was that very lack of devotion and interest that brought severe consequences for Pakistan in the form of its dismemberment.
Changes Yahya made
Since his reign was very short he could not bring drastic or lasting changes. Few of the reforms that he tried to bring were:
to reform administrative machinery and thus after a little inquiry 303 government servants were suspended. They were trialed by the army tribunals and were either dismissed or retired.
to put restrictions on the trade unions that did not prove fruitful
His political reign was marked by these significant features
a: Legal Framework Order 1970
b: Dissolution of One-Unit
c: Holding of Pakistan’s first free elections on adult franchise
d: Success of Pakistan Peoples Party in West Pakistan and of Awami League in East Pakistan that confirmed the drastic political differences between the two wings of the country.
e: The war of 1971 and the division of Pakistan into two independent states.
Weaknesses
He did not settle the issue of political autonomy before elections,
He postponed the meeting of the NA without realizing its would be impact.
Instead of finding a peaceful solution to that problem and planning himself he acted on his fellow military men’s advice and took to military action. That again led to more riots.
The work Yahya did
He really tried to reduce the grievances of the Bengalis:
For the first time, a Bengali was appointed as the Chief Secretary of East Pakistan.
He also doubled the recruitment of Bengalis in the Pakistan army.
The budget was also molded to help reduce economic disparities between the two wings of the country.
End of Yahya
Under strong public pressure he resigned and asked Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, president of the PPP to from government.
Yahya Khan died on 10 August 1980 in Rawalpindi.
