Everything is NOT Zia’s fault – here are 6 reasons why

[Sedqal]

One forgets that Pakistan was not the only country in the Subcontinent split with corrupt people. The only difference is that other nations got democracy.

I know but they don't like the comparison with India. What a pity though, Pakistan would have fared much better then India had the Mehdi-complex not been so common in the land of pure.

 

[FunkyGen]

Ah, some of my countrymen lack basic common sense..... what a grief!

 

[Owl of Abott]

during zia,s reign poverty was extremely low in pakistan,but under nawaz sharif and benazir,poverty increased rapidly and now 60% of our people live below the poverty line.benazir encouraged pakistan to interfere in afghanistan but who do we blame?zia.

 

[Psycho Pakistani]

Why Bhutto should not have been killed he murdered Qasoori Father he murdered father of Saad Rafique he murdered a JI leader he murdered few more of his opponents and even PPP leadership knows it in there hearts but would never admit it Zia was far better than this retard Bhutto who had major role in breaking of Pakistan too
@Aeronaut @Oscar @Fulcrum15 @WebMaster @Icarus @Xeric @Slav Defence

The case against Bhutto was weak from legal point of view, in the court one needs concrete evidence to deliver a death sentence to the accused. The courts were under pressure from military as the evidence was not strong enough to fulfill the legal requirements. And on top of that someone had told Gen. Zia that his military coup has dug "one grave" but there are two possible people one of whom has to be burried in that grave, Zia made the way for the Bhutto to rest in that imaginary grave.
That is why I believe that next military ruler whenever the coup happens this time will use the "model town killings" case to at least send them in the grave too. This case is much more stronger to get sharifs convicted than the case against Bhutto from legal point of view.

 

[genmirajborgza786]

Zia committed an illegal coup, funny how article doesn't discuss this crime.

true that. the author of this article, clearly doesn't know or does not wants to know geography.

zia lost siachen without firing a shot ! , which once our army & air force used to patrol in the summers, before we lost it thanks to zia, can we even think of that today ? , this guy made our northern areas smaller by losing siachen ! ,any person worth his/her salt can never forgive zia for that !
plus I want to ask this author, what's the use of all those high GDP's & pop music's if one cannot even protect ones land ?

We don't need a revolution, we need a decade of revolution-less and messiah-less democracy. Corruption is a part and parcel of society and is present in every power center from Madrassa to Parliament to GHQ.

well said

 

[Jf Thunder]

Zia was an awesome leader with a STRONG moral character, but made a few mistakes, no biggie, you wouldn't even exist if he hadn't done anything about the USSR, he also pumped the US $ into our Nuclear program. it was in his tenure that ISI became he strong intelligence agency that it is today

 

[Sedqal]

The case against Bhutto was weak from legal point of view, in the court one needs concrete evidence to deliver a death sentence to the accused. The courts were under pressure from military as the evidence was not strong enough to fulfill the legal requirements. And on top of that someone had told Gen. Zia that his military coup will result has dug "one grave" but there are two possible people one of whom has to be burried in that grave, Zia made the way for the Bhutto to rest in that imaginary grave.

It was Bacha Khan. Qabar aik hai aur murday do.

 

[batmannow]

I know but they don't like the comparison with India. What a pity though, Pakistan would have fared much better then India had the Mehdi-complex not been so common in the land of pure.

Comparing with india?
Why not with china? What the hell india got, with its so called damocrzitic rule, compare it with china, its nothing?
So then we, should move towards chinese form of true democracy? W e should hang those , in the power, doing crouption, turns over turns on the name of fake damocrazy?
& set up a patriotic,militry led social govt, of experts in their respective fileds!
Ohh no but, then where will your, noora,s would be , in ZAB, s grave!

 

[Sedqal]

the author clearly doesn't know or does not wants to know geography.
zia lost siachen with out firing a shot , which once our army & air force used to patrol siachen in the summers, before we lost thanks it to zia, can we even think of that today ? , this guy made our northern areas smaller ,any person worth his/her salt can never forgive zia for that ! I want to ask this author, what's the use of all those high GDP's & pop music's if one cannot even protect ones land ?

We have a record of never losing an inch of land during civilian rule. ALL the land we lost was during the blessed ages of Khaki messiahs.

But Bhutto was pretty khaki himself he really went after Badsha Khan and Baluch sardars with a vengeance. Zia shook hand with every person who was against Bhutto because of political compulsions but later on Khakis have followed Bhutto's doctrine to the last dot. Though Khakis being Khakis could never excel as Bhutto had.

Comparing with india?
Why not with china? What the hell india got, with its so called damocrzitic rule, compare it with china, its nothing?
So then we, should move towards chinese form of true democracy? W e should hang those , in the power, doing crouption, turns over turns on the name of fake damocrazy?
& set up a patriotic,militry led social govt, of experts in their respective fileds!
Ohh no but, then where will your, noora,s would be , in ZAB, s grave!

Comparison with India makes far more sense because both countries gained freedom at the same time, had the same problems and the same British legacy.

How the heck do you compare with China? It has a far longer history and iit has been a mostly homogeneous entity throughout centuries.

 

[Hyperion]

Read @Oscar's reply #11....... he is on point and very mild in his replies........... I tend not to be so enlightened when it comes to posts such as yours.


P.S. Rabid-Islamization (Sectarianism / Wahabo-Deobandi-Kool-Aid) had nothing to do with any political party of Pakistan / any past political leader of Pakistan...... it was, and still is the brain fart of Armed Forces of Pakistan.

Everything is NOT Zia’s fault – here are 6 reasons why
By Nzaar Ihsan Published: July 8, 2014

As of July 5, 2014, it has been exactly 37 years since he took charge and 26 years since he died, but we still blame him for most of the issues pertaining to the country today. PHOTO: AFP

In the 1980s, there was a grocery store in H-Block, Model Town Lahore, called ‘Blueberry Bakers’. Now that I think about it, I wish I had asked the owner, known to me only as ‘uncle’, why his establishment was named as such, especially since I am 100% sure the store did not have a bakery and neither did it ever offer any blueberries. Blueberry Bakers was one of my go-to points for Super Crisps and RC Cola.

While I might enjoy waxing nostalgic about where I bought junk food from as a 10-year-old, I’m guessing that’s of little interest to the readers.

What might, however, be of interest is one of my rather vivid memories at Blueberry Bakers; my mom and I were standing in the store, the TV in the store was on and a small crowd had gathered in front of it. All of a sudden (while I was eyeing a packet of Choco Chums for consumption), my mom grabbed my arm and shoved me out of the store.

“Jaldi ghar chalo!” she whispered into my ear.

(Let’s go home now, fast)

“Kyun Amma?!” I wailed.

(Why mother?)

Her response,

“General Zia marr gaya hai.”

(General Zia is dead)

“Toh kya farak parta hai?!” I protested (by this time I could already taste the Choco Chums melting in my mouth).

(So what difference does that make to us?)

“No,” she replied whilst dragging me out, “halaat kharab ho saktay hein.”

(The city’s situation might become bad.)

As a 10-year-old, I couldn’t understand why someone important dying in a plane crash in Bahawalpur would result in ‘halaat kharab’ 400km away in Lahore. It’s nice that children today are much more appreciative of the concept and realise the long arm of ‘namaloom afraad’.

Long story short, Ziaul Haq had died in a plane crash. Some mangoes may or may not have been involved. There were conspiracies abound about how the usual suspects had plotted against the citadel of Islam (USA, Israel, India) and the Reader’s Digest and Vanity Magazine accused a not-so-usual suspect: the Soviet Union. In the meantime Azhar Lodhi lost his job at PTV for crying on air at Zia’s funeral.

Fast forward a couple of decades and the country has experienced several rounds of stunted democracy, almost another decade of dictatorship, followed by a somewhat enduring democratic setup. Pakistan suffers from unemployment, lawlessness, an electricity shortage, sectarianism, religious extremism and a decline in the arts. As of July 5, 2014, it has been exactly 37 years since he took charge and 26 years since he died, but we still blame him for most of the issues pertaining to the country today.

It makes me wonder, has Ziaul Haq become a scapegoat that the media and public conveniently pin all our issues on? Let’s see…

1. GDP growth:

Pakistan had the highest ever rate of GDP growth rate during Zia’s era (stand alone as well as compared to the competition, India). During Pervez Musharraf’s much touted growth era(2000-2008), our average GDP growth rate was 4.7% while India grew at 6.7%. On the other hand, Zia delivered GDP growth (from 1978-1988) of 6.9% as compared to India’s performance of 4.7% during the same period. Our growth rate during this period is ranked 19th in the world (India is at number 46), ahead of 239 other countries.

2. Arts and culture:

Maula Jatt, an icon of Punjabi cinema, came out in 1979. Unforgettable TV shows like Tanhaiyaan, Dhoop Kinaray, Waris, and Fifty-Fifty all aired in the early 80s.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan entered the global spotlight in 1985 when he performed for an international audience in London.

Nazia Hassan sang Aap jaisa koi in 1980 and Disco Dewane in 1981.



Alamgir was all the rage in the 1980s.


Abida Parveen received the pride of performance award in 1984.

The Vital Signs released Do Pal Ka Jeevan in 1986. Ironically, the birth of the Pakistan pop music scene that we all enjoyed during the 1990s actually took place in General Zia’s time.

3. Extremism and militancy:

Flashback – the world’s most powerful army had invaded Afghanistan. If we did nothing, the worst case scenario was that the Soviets would annexe the Pakistan coastline to access the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf. Best case, we would have an Indian military ally on our western border. Neither option was acceptable.

Zia used foreign money and weapons to create a fighting force that defeated the powerful Soviet army, with virtually zero Pakistani casualties. We achieved ‘strategic depth’ in Afghanistan, created a second line of defence against any military threat and (as an added bonus) the Kashmiri jihad got the Indian army bogged down in a war of attrition. It was a brilliant solution that almost every Pakistani endorsed. Yes, it back-fired 20 years later. Could it have been managed better? Maybe we should pass the blame around equally on this one and not put everything on Zia.

4. Electricity shortage:

In Zia’s era, ‘load shedding’ took place for 15-30 minutes, once a day, for a few weeks a year.

Need I say more?

5. Conservatism and intolerance:

The objectives resolution first (con)fused religion and state in 1949. We became the ‘Islamic’ Republic of Pakistan in 1956. The first anti-Ahmadi riots took place in 1953 in Lahore. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s 1973 constitution made Islam the state religion, which Bhutto amended in 1974 to classify Ahmadis as non-Muslims.

And for those who wish they could have a Mojito at a bar in Karachi: it was ZA Bhutto who passed laws banning gambling, clubs and alcohol. Once again, it’s ironic that the ‘Islamisation’ of Pakistan that Zia took to great heights was actually born in Bhutto’s era.

6. Crime and lawlessness:

The Afghan refugees came in the early 80s. It’s been 30 years – the Kalashnikovs they brought have rusted! Lawlessness is driven by lack of economic opportunity, fostered by official support to militant and criminal organisations (be it the establishment continuing to support jihadists, or political parties supporting extortionists and gangsters). It’s too old a problem to pin on Zia now.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for Zia bashing on account of everything bad he did (killing Bhutto, Hudood Ordinance, encouraging militant sectarianism etcetera). However, it’s equally important that we stick to the facts in our zeal to badmouth the dictator and spread the blame (or credit) fairly.

Blueberry Bakers has since been sold and is now known as ‘Clifton General Store’. I’m sure if we think hard enough we can find a reason to blame that on Zia as well.

​

 

[Psycho Pakistani]

I have always been admirer of Gen. Zia's strong leadership qualities, he was well spoken, brave , articulate and very honest person. He was genuinely islamic in his credentials, used to pray 5 times a day. Whatever he did with regards to implementation of islam might be controversial but his intentions were legitimate because he genuinely believed in islam otherwise he could have also presented himself as "enlightened" moderation or such crap. He also selected top generals to take care of the security of pakistan like Gen. Akhtar abdur rehman which was the reason that even during highly volatile situation on its western front from 1979-1988 pakistan was absolutely peaceful and in order from every point of view.

 

[batmannow]

One forgets that Pakistan was not the only country in the Subcontinent split with corrupt people. The only difference is that other nations got democracy.

Such as only INDIA?
The only living example of democracy in asia?

 

[punit]

What Pakistan needs is a REVOLUTION that rids the country of this Corrupt Mafia infestation that has occupied the Halls of Power in Pakistan.

revolutions are very pricey . ask french the revolutionaries !

 

[Sedqal]

Look it your stupid noora logic?
India & pakistan has short history comparing china?

Go read history of china frist, stop living in your noora world, or stop looking this world in your noora republic?

This is exactly why Khakis should never be at helm of affairs

China started the process of nation building during the Qin dynasty (200 BC, that is 200 years before the birth of Jesus). Pakistan and India started it in 1947. Make a freaking comparison now

 

[Psycho Pakistani]

The only bad thing that pakistani military dictators have done bad in the history is that instead of banning politics completely like in other military dictatorships they always groom new political systems and politicians and then later on are stung by the same politicians that they believe would add some kind of legitimacy to their rule. This is the main stupid thing that military dictators have done in all tenures in pakistan. We don't see such illogical behaviour in other military dictatorships where during military dictatorships the politics is banned all together for decades.

It was Bacha Khan. Qabar aik hai aur murday do.

Murday nahi banday