Question: What was the Pucca Quilla massacre? [4]
On 27th May the Sindh government launched a crackdown in Hyderabad the center of MQM power. A shoot on sight curfew was imposed and a police house to house search for the MQM agitators’ started. The Muhajirs projected against this treatment and fighting broke out. Thirty one women and children were killed leading to retaliations in Karachi and elsewhere and over 300 more people died.
Question: Why did Benazir Bhutto fall from office in 1990? [7]
She was criticized by many for the alleged corruption of her husband Asif Ali Zardari and PPP leaders were suspected of being involved; this tainted her own reputation.
She also faced nepotism charges, these charges badly affected her reputation and the opposition exploited them by asking the president to remove her from office.
Serious conflicts with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan over appointment issues of armed forces chief and judges if supreme court. This created tensions between them and weakened her power.
She came into confrontation with provincial governments especially as she had to work in a coalition with the MQM which was a party that represented Muslims who had migrated from India to Pakistan and settled in Sindh. This angered many PPP members in Sindh. Violent Protests throughout Pakistan led to the MQM leaving the coalition and joining with the opposition which meant that her majority was gone. Further violence and deaths led to her dismissal because she and her government were blamed for the breakdown of law and order.
Question: What problems did Nawaz Sharif face as Prime Minister during the 1990s? [4]
The PM failed to transport the Yellow cab scheme in which taxi drivers would get soft loans and instalments. This was a major failure because people didn’t pay the instalments (return the loan), causing a major economic crises to the government and inviting a lot of criticism from the opposition. This became a major reason for his dismissal.
State owned cooperative societies accepted deposits from members and gave them loans in time of need. But this was exploited by Nawaz and his family, they gained all this money of the people. This affected his reputation and people wanted to remove him because of corruption.
Conflict with President Ishap Khan in 1993, as he wanted to appeal the 8th amendment which would reduce the powers of the President. He also wanted to appoint General Abdul Waheed Kakar as the army chief and stop the President from appointing anyone else. This created tensions and clashes between them and it weakened the government
Lost USA aid
Question: Why did General Musharaff come to power in 1999? [7]
Sharif was giving support to the Taliban in Afghanistan and this damaged relations with the US, as he refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, suspected of bombing the US embassy in Kenya.
Pakistan also tested nuclear weapons, which angered a number of countries who halted aid to Pakistan and brought Sharif much criticism. This impacted the economy of the country
The plane conspiracy became an immediate reason for Musharraf coming into power. Musharaf was returning from an official tour to Sri Lanka his plane was not allowed to land. At this time Nawaz Sharif replaced Musharif with the ISI Chief Ziauddin Butt. The corps commanders did not accept this and took over the Karachi airport, PTV and the Prime Minister. This act angered the army, they retaliated and removed him from office.
Military started covert operation with the help of local fighters and captured the heights of Kargil and Drass region in India. Nawaz accused the military of hiding this operation from him. International pressure especially from US on him was the get the army to with draw. The withdrawal created serious difference between the military and the civil government, which led to a military coup
Question: What problems did Benazir Bhutto face as prime minister of Pakistan? [4]
During both her terms between 1988-90 and 1993-96 Benazir faced opposition from politicians who wanted her to fail. She was in conflict with Nawaz Sharif the opposition leader, her alliance with MQM had ended also. Husband Zardari accused of corruption badly affected her reputation. Divisions within her party (PPP), IJI criticized government of being close to USA. Confrontations with provincial governments, violent protests, and Coalition party MQM joined with IJI, Pucca Qila massacre.
Question: Why did Benazir Bhutto fall from office for a second time in 1996? [7]
She was opposed by her own party the PPP and especially from her mother and brother who wanted Murtaza Bhutto as head of PPP and successor to Bhutto. Therefore when Mir Murtaza was killed by police in Karachi the opposition blamed her for being involved in her brother’s killing.
Nawaz Sharif mounted a personal attack on Bhutto focusing on her business interests and political methods and also held rallies and demonstrations in several cities with her brother Mir Murtaza Bhutto. There was much violence, strike and killing which reflected badly on her government. She started to arrest her opposition leaders, this made her very unpopular and politically weak.
Pakistan’s economic problems led to a request for a loan from the IMF which led to strict financial controls that were blamed on the government.
Finally the government refused to carry out the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss 20 judges appointed by the government which caused a political crisis. The dismissal of the Chief Minister in the Punjab after he had upset the PPP also attracted much criticism of Bhutto’s handling of the matter.
Question: Why did Nawaz Sharif fall from office in 1993? [7]
He attempted to solve Pakistan’s unemployment problem by providing cheap loans to people to buy taxis that he had imported. Few of the loans were paid back but most were not repaid which put a strain on the economy. This was made worse when he tried to finance major investment projects that depended upon foreign aid especially from the USA. This aid was in decline and placed a severe strain on Pakistan’s finances..
The mismanagement of the Cooperative societies led to millions of Pakistanis losing their money and again the government was blamed. In particular his family’s association with loans that were made led to his image being harmed. Cooperative Societies accepted money from members and could give loans for purposes which could benefit of the society and its members. Mismanagement of these led to a major collapse in which millions of Pakistanis lost money by 1992. In Nawaz Sharif’s state of Punjab, 700,000 poor people lost all their savings when the societies went bankrupt. The societies had loaned billions of rupees to Nawaz Sharif’s family business. He repaid the loans but his reputation was damaged and was one of the reasons why he lost office the following year (1993).
Violence in Pakistan that related to drugs and the use of guns led to a strong response from Sharif but his actions were criticized by the opposition parties for being too repressive.
Sharif came into conflict with the President over the appointment of an army chief of staff and also with the 8th Amendment.
As a result of these policies Sharif and his government were blamed and he was dismissed from office.
Question: Describe the problems caused by family feuds which the Benazir Bhutto governments faced. [4]
Quarrelled with her mother Begum Nusrat Bhutto over control of the PPP, with Begum favoring Benazir’s brother Mir Murtaza as leader. As a result Begum was removed from a leading role in PPP. Murtaza went into exile and founded the Al-Zulfikar Organization. He used this to criticise Benazir. He also opposed her husband’s involvement in the PPP because of the allegations of corruption against him. Zardary was accused of paybacks on property and government deals and being involved in political murders. Known as Mr. 10%. Murtaza was arrested on his return to Pakistan on charges of terrorism in 1993. In 1996 he was killed in a police ambush and a judicial review of the incident found government involvement in it.
