Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
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Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was 6th president of of Pakistan (1977–1988). He was born in Jalandhar of Indian Punjab and migrated to Pakistan after partition of sub-continent in 1947. He was well known for his work to contain Soviets in Afghanistan and Islamization of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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Quotes[edit]
- Pakistan which was created in the name of Islam will continue to survive only if it sticks to Islam. That is why I consider the introduction of [an] Islamic system as an essential prerequisite for the country.
- Praising the Pakistan National Alliance, the opposition movement against the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government during Operation Fair Play. Pakistan Times (Lahore), July 8, 1977. Quoted in Ispahani, Farahnaz (2017). Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan's Religious Minorities. Oxford University Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-19-062167-4. and in Burki, Shahid Javed (2018). Pakistan: Fifty Years Of Nationhood, Third Edition. Routledge. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-429-97813-5.
- What is a constitution? It is a booklet with twelve or ten pages. I can tear them away and say that tomorrow we shall live under a different system. Today, the people will follow wherever I lead. All the politicians including the once mighty Mr. Bhutto will follow me with tails wagging.
- Speaking to an Iranian Newspaper in September 1977, as quoted in Pakistan, a Dream Gone Sour (1997) by Roedad Khan.
- I genuinely feel that the survival of this country lies in democracy and democracy alone.
- As quoted in "Mohammad Zia ul-Haq : Unbending Commander for Era of Atom and Islam", The New York Times (18 August 1988).
- Cricket can be a bridge and a glue... Cricket for peace is my mission.
- Quoted in Helen Exley Cricket Quotations (1992)[1]
About[edit]
- Zia's military dictatorship, once again fully backed by the United States, was the worst period in the country's history. Zia's men were dense, deaf and heartless. The new regime had decided to use Islam as its battering ram, and its bearded supporters, often incredibly stupid, were opportunist to the marrow of their bones. They combined religion with profanities of the vilest kind. Under Zia, despotism and lies mutilated a whole generation. Islamic punishments were introduced, public floggings and hangings instituted. The political culture of Pakistan was brutalised. It has still to recover. Washington and London watched from the sidelines as the country's elected leader was executed. Work on the nuclear programme continued, but Washington now chose to ignore the process because by now the pro Moscow Afghan left had seized power in Kabul.
- Tariq Ali - The Clash of Fundamentalisms, Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002)
External links[edit]
- ↑ Dictionary of Quotations, Chambers: Edinburgh, U.K, 2005, p. 937