Biography Of General Ayub Khan – Free PDF Download

Table of Contents

EARLY LIFE

Ayub Khan was born on 14 May 1907 in Rehana, a village in Haripur District in Hazara region of then North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan).
He was the first child of the second wife of Mir Dad, a Risaldar-Major.He went on to study at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and while pursuing his college education, he was accepted into the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.

MILITARY

Ayub Khan joined the Royal Military College, Sandhurst as a trainee in July 1926. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. on 2 February 1928 in Punjab Regiment of the British Indian Army.
After the standard probationary period of service in the British Army, he was appointed to the British Indian Army on 10 April 1929.
He was promoted to lieutenant on 2 May 1930 and to captain on 2 February 1937.During World War II, he was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1942. He was promoted to the permanent rank of major on 2 February 1945.Later that year, he was promoted to temporary Colonel.

THE RISING

When the United Kingdom announced the partition British India into India and Pakistan, he was one of the most senior serving officers in the British Indian Army who decided to opt for Pakistan in 1947.
In the early part of 1948, he was given the command of the 14th Infantry Division in the rank of acting major general as its GOC stationed in Dacca, East-Pakistan.
General Sir Douglas Gracey relinquished the command of the Pakistan Army on 23 January 1951, under pressure of calls for “nationalisation” of the army.

CHIEF OF PAKISTAN

Initially, it was Gen. Iftikhar Khan (commissioned in 1929) who was selected to be appointed as first native commander-in-chief of the army, but he died in an airplane crash.
The Defence Secretary Iskandar Mirza, at that time, played a crucial role in lobbying for the army post selection as presenting with convincing arguments to Prime Minister Ali Khan to promote the juniormost Major-General Ayub Khan.
Ayub’s papers of promotion were controversially approved and he was appointed as the first native Commander in Chief of Pakistan Army with a promotion to Lieutenant-general (acting full General), on 17 January 1951 by Prime Minister Ali Khan..

ARMY CHIEF OF PAKISTAN

In 1954, Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra’s relations with the military and Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad deteriorated on issues of the economy.
Pressure had been built up to reconstruct the Cabinet which eventually witnessed with General Ayub Khan becoming the Defence Minister and Iskander Mirza as Home Minister in 1954.
In 1954, the work on controversial program, the One Unit, began which would integrate the four provinces into one united political entity, known as West-Pakistan, as a counterbalance to EastPakistan.

ARMY CHIEF OF PAKISTAN

As an after of general elections in 1954 in East, the Awami League formed the government in East while the West was governed by the PML, but the PML government collapse soon after in West in 1956.
He was called on to join the Cabinet as Defence Minister by Prime Minister H.S. Suhrawardy and maintained closer relations with Iskander Mirza who now had become the first President of the country after the successful promulgation of Constitution in 1956.
In 1957, President Mirza promoted him from acting full general to the substantive rank of full general.In 1958, Vice-Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan, who was known to be confident of General Ayub Khan, was appointed as naval chief by President Mirza.

PRESIDENT

In a threat of being dismissed, Prime Minister H.S. Suhrawardy resigned and Prime Minister I.I. Chundiragar took over the post but in mere two months he too tendered resignation after losing confidence in running the government.
On the midnight of 7 and 8 October 1958, President Mirza ordered a mass mobilization of Pakistan Armed Forces and abrogated the Constitution after sending a letter to Prime Minister Feroz and the Constituent Assembly about the coup d’état.
President Mirza appointed General Ayub as its chief martial law administrator (CMLA) to enforce the martial law.

PRESIDENT

Ayub dispatched the military unit to enter in presidential palace on the midnight of 26–27 October 1958 and placed him in a plane to exile in England.
In 1960, a referendum was held.The voter turnout was recorded at 95.6%. Ayub Khan was elected president for the next five years and decided to pay his first state visit to United States.

POLICIES

He eventually altered the constitution.The Constitution reflected his personal views of politicians and the restriction of using religions in politics.
The new Constitution respected Islam but did not declare Islam as state religion and was viewed as a liberal constitution.
Industrialization and rural development through constructing modern national freeways are considered his greatest achievements and his era is remembered for successful industrialization in the impoverished country.
Strong emphasis on capitalism and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the industry is often regarded as “Great Decade” in the history of the country.

POLICIES

This opened up avenues for new job opportunities and thus the economic graph of the country started rising.During 1960–66, the annual GDP growth was recorded at 6.8%.
Several energy conservation programs were completed.Extensive education reforms were supposedly carried out and ‘scientific development efforts’ also supposedly made during his years.
These supposed policies could not be sustained after 1965, and the economy collapsed and led to the economic declines which he was unable to control.
Despite the increase in the GNP growth, the profit and revenue was gained by the famous 22 families of the time that controlled 66% of the industries and land of the country and 80% of the banking and insurance companies of Pakistan.

POLICIES

He drastically reduced funding of military in 1950s and prioritized less on the issue of nuclear weapons in 1960s.
In 1961, President Ayub started the nation’s full fledge space program that was established with the cooperation of the air force, and created civilian Suparco that launched unmanned space missions throughout 1960s.
After the Sino-Indian war in 1962, the military appointments in civilian institutions grew further and defence spending on budget hiked.The physical size of the Pakistan Army’s ground troops exponentially grew and the size of military budget grew from 5.79% (1960s) to 9.78% (1966) until being brought down to 6.1% (1967).

FALL

In 1964, President Ayub Khan had been confident in his apparent popularity and saw the deep divisions within the political opposition which ultimately led him to announce the presidential elections in 1965.
Jinnah targeted the Indus Waters Treaty and his overreliance on the United States and troubled relations with the Soviet Union.
Angry protesters took their demonstrations in streets in Sindh and slogans were chanted against President Ayub. Fatima Jinnah won the landslide voting but Ayub Khan won the elections through the Electoral College.

FALL

The controversial winning over Fatima Jinnah in presidential elections and the outcomes of war with India in 1965 brought devastating results for Ayub Khan’s image and his presidency.
In 1967, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto formed the socialist Pakistan Peoples Party and attacked Ayub administration’s economic, religious, and social policy while taking the nationwide tour.
Labour unions called for labour strikes against Ayub Khan’s labour legislation and dissatisfaction was widespread in the country from country’s middle class by the end of 1968.

FALL

Left-wing parties, allied with the conservative mass, began advocating for the Islamic parliamentary democracy system against his presidential rule.
The PPP also led very strong protests, street demonstrations, and riots against the Ayub Khan’s administration when the prices of food consumer products such as sugar, tea, and wheat, hiked up.
Elements in the military began supporting the political parties that brought the demise of Ayub Khan’s era, and on 25 March 1969, President Ayub Khan resigned from office and invited commanderin-chief of the army General Yahya Khan to take over the control of the country.

DEATH

Ayub Khan did not comment on East Pakistan’s Secessionist War in 1971 and died of heart attack on 19 April 1974 at his villa near Islamabad.
Major economic aid and trade from the United States and European Communities ultimately led Pakistan’s industrial sector to develop.