1947
United State pledges military assistance following Soviet Union intervention in Afghanistan.
1983
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir Bhotto (born: 1953) returns from exile to lead PPP in campaign for elections.
1988
- June 3 -- the British Government
accepted the idea of partition of India.
July 18 -- The British Parliament passes the Indian Independence Act.
July 19 -- Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan (1895-1951) of Muslim League becomes the first Prime Minister.
August 14 -- Birth of Pakistan, consisting of East Bengal, a part of Assam (Sylhet), West Punjab, Sind, NWFP and Baluchistan.
Some 15 million people flee religious persecution, Muslim fleeing to East and West Pakistan, while Hindus flee to India. An estimated one million people are killed in widespread communal violence and millions are made homeless.
Under Section 8 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, the Government of India Act, 1935 (with certain adaptations) becomes constitution of Pakistan.
August 15 -- Quid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) of Muslim League becomes first governor-general and Liaquat Ali Khan (1895-1951) of Muslim League becomes the first Prime Minister of the new nation.
- September 11 --
Quid-e-Azam Dies and Kashmir Crisis Starts.
September 14 -- Cheif Minister of Bengal Khwaja Nazimuddin (1894-1964) of Muslim League becomes second governor-general.
The first war with India over Kashmir
- March 12 -- Objectives Resolution passes
moved by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan.
- October 16 -- Liaquat
Ali Khan assassinated in Rawalpindi.
October 17 -- Finance Minister Ghulam Mohammad (1895-1956) of Muslim League becomes the third Governor General.
Governor General Khawaja Nazimuddin of Muslim League becomes second Prime Minister.
- December 22 -- The second draft of
the Basic Principle Committee presents to the Constituent Assembly.
- April 17 -- Malik Ghulam Mohammad
dismisses the Khawaja Nazimuddin.
(Important note: This is this act of Ghulam Mohammad that sets an unhealthy tradition and precedent in Pakistan of Presidents removing ELECTED governments. This tradition is later carried on by various Presidents creating a continuous instability in the Pakistan.)
April 17 -- A not well-known leader of East Pakistan Mohammad Ali Bogra (1909-1963 ) of Muslim League, who was then Pakistani Ambassador to United State, becomes third Prime Minister.
-
May 1954 -- Governor General Ghulam
Mohammad appointed Iskander Mirza
(1899-1969) as Governor of East Pakistan. In order to
established the peace in East Pakistan, the first step he took as Governor was
to order the arrest of 319 persons, including Mujib al Rahman and Yusuf Ali
Choudhury. By mid June, the number of persons arrested had reached 1051,
including 33 assembly members and two Dhaka University Professors. So, in a
way Iskander Mirza had sown a permanent seed of hatred for the Central
government in the heats of East Pakistani people.
October 24 -- Malik Ghulam Mohammad dissolved the Constituent Assembly of Mohammad Ali Bogra and declares a state of emergency.
Pakistan signed an agreement with the U.S. saying that US will come to Pakistan's aid in a time of war.
- August 11 -- Bogra resigns and Chaudhary
Mohammad Ali (1905-1963)
of Muslim League becomes appointed forth Prime Minister.
October 6 -- Governor-General Ghulam Mohammad resigns.
October 6 -- Iskander Mirza (1899-1969) of Military becomes the fourth and last Governor General.
- March 23 -- Constitution take on and proclaims
Pakistan an Islamic republic. The Constitution consisted of 234 articles,
which divided into 13 parts and 6 schedules. The National Assembly (the only
house of the parliament) was consists of 300 members. The 300 hundred National
Assembly seats were equally divided between West Pakistan and East Pakistan
(note that the concept of one unit was there in constitution.).
March 23 -- Iskander Mirza of Republican Party becomes first president.
September 12 -- Chaudhry Mohammad Ali resigns and after the adoption of the constitution, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (1893-1963) of Awami League becomes the fifth Prime Minister.
- October 17 -- Suhrawardy resigns,
due to President's refusal to convene a meeting of the parliament to seek a vote
of confidence.
October 17 -- The Law Minister in the Federal Cabinet Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar (1897-1960) of Muslim League becomes sixth Prime Minister.
December 11 -- I. I. Chundrigar was Forced to resign since he failed to maintain the support of his coalition partners and thus becomes the only Prime Minister of Pakistan for less than two months.
December 16 -- Malik Feroze Khan Noon (1893-1970) of Republican Party takes over the office of Prime Minister and becomes the seventh prime minister.
- October 7 -- President Iskander Mirza
abrogates Constitution and with the help of Gen. Ayub Khan, the Chief Martial
Law Administrator, enforces the first martial law as a response to rebellions
in East Pakistan.
Military coup -- Chief of the army staff takes over and declares martial law.
October 24 -- Gen. Mohammad Ayub Khan (1907-1974) of Military becomes eighth Prime Minister and resign from the office of chief martial law administrator.
October 27 -- Iskander Mirza's Presidency ends and sent into exile.
October 27 -- Gen. (Mohammad Ayub Khan) of Military assumes presidency and becomes second president.
October 28 -- Ayub Khan resigns from prime ministership.
- Constitution Adopted (second time).
Gen. Mohammad Ayub Khan of Military becomes president.
- August -- Second war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir
- January 10 --
Gen Ayub Khan and
Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri signed the cease-fire agreement in
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, USSR.
The cease-fire agreement led to the resigning of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Ayub Khan's talented Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- March 25 -- Ayub Khan handed his place over to
Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan
(1907-1980), who promised return to civilian rule. He is the first chief
martial law administrator (March 25, 1969 through March 31, 1969).
Martial law declared by military chief Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan.
March 25 -- Gen. Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan of Military takes over and becomes the third president.
March 27 -- Gen Ayub Khan resigns from office of Prime Minister.
- First general elections.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Awami League acquires absolute majority in new National Assembly.
West Pakistan-dominated government headed by military chief Yahya Khan Declines to assemble assembly.
- East Pakistan attempts to break away.
Civil war begins in East Pakistan.
East Pakistan declares itself independent nation and becomes Bangladesh.
India intervenes on behalf of Bengali separatists.
Pakistani military surrenders to Indian armed forces.
December 7 -- Nurul Amin (1893-1974) of Pakistan People's Party becomes ninth prime minister.
December 20 -- Nurul Amin resigns.
December 20 -- President (military chief) Yahya Khan resigns.
December 20 -- Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (1928-1979) of Pakistan Peoples Party becomes fourth president of Pakistan.
- President
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
sign Simla agreement that adjusts cease-fire line between Pakistan and India and
creates new Line of Control.
- New constitution goes into effect (Third time).
August 13 -- Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto resigns from presidency.
August 14 -- Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan People's Party becomes tenth prime minister.
August 14 -- Fazal Elahi Chaudhry (1904-1982) of Pakistan People's Party becomes fifth President.
-
May - India tests its first nuclear
device at nation's nuclear testing grounds near Pokhran in southeastern India.
Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto's government begins nuclear program.
- Diplomatic ties established between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
- Riots erupt over allegations of
rigging of general election by Pakistan Peoples Party.
Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq (1924-1988) of Military declares martial law.
July 5 -- Gen. Zia ul-Haq of Military becomes eleventh prime minister.
- September 16 -- President Fazal
Elahi Chaudhry resigns
September 16 -- Gen. Zia ul-Haq of Military becomes sixth president.
- Islamic penal code introduced.
Gen. and president Zia ul-Haq of Military hangs First elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Z. A. Bhutto.
United State pledges military assistance following Soviet Union intervention in Afghanistan.
1983
- Gen.
and president Zia announces that he will lift the martial law but military will retain
the key role in future governments.
- Martial law and ban on political
parties lifted.
General elections held under military rule.
Controversial eighth Amendment is passes.
March 24 -- Military chief Zia-ul Haq resigns from prime ministership and Mohammad Khan Junejo (1932-1993) of Pakistan Muslim League become twelfth prime minister.
Gen. Zia ul-Haq of Military President.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir Bhotto (born: 1953) returns from exile to lead PPP in campaign for elections.
1988
- May 29 -- Military chief (president) Zia
dismisses Prime Minister
Mohammad Khan Junejo's government.
June 9 -- Gen. and president Zia becomes thirteenth prime minister.
Military chief , president and prime minister Zia orders new elections.
August 17 -- Military chief ,president and prime minister Zia, the US ambassador and top Pakistan army officials die in mysterious plane crash.
August 17 -- Ghulam Ishaq Khan (born: 1915) becomes seventh President. (Acting president to Dec. 12, 1988.)
Benazir Bhotto's Pakistan People's Party wins November general election.
Benazir Bhutto, the eldest child of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto sworn in as first woman Prime Minister of a Muslim nation. She becomes fourteenth prime minister.
December 14 -- Ghulam Ishaq Khan Khan becomes seventh President.
- May -- India test fires its Agni
missile, ballistic missile that can be able to deliver a nuclear warhead to any
target in Pakistan or southern China.
- August 6 -- Benazir Bhutto's
government dismissed on charges of incompetence and corruption.
August 6 -- Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi (born: 1931) of National People's Party becomes fifteenth Prime Minister (caretaker).
In National election, Benazir Bhutto's PPP lost to coalition of rightist parties.
November 6 -- Jotoi resigns and Mian Nawaz Sharif (born: 1949) of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz group) becomes sixteenth prime minister.
- Islamic Shariah law formally
incorporated into legal code.
- Nawaz Sharif's government launches
campaign to stamp out violence by supporter of Mohajir Quami Movement (MQM).
- April 19 -- President Ishaq Khan dissolves the National and Provincial Assemblies.
April 18 -- Ishaq Khan selects Mir Balakh Sher Mazari of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz group) as the seventeenth Prime Minister (caretaker).
May 26 -- Mazari’s tenure as a caretaker Prime Minister ended in May, when the Supreme Court of Pakistan invalidates the presidential order on May 26 and reinstated Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif as the Prime Minister. Nawaz Sharif becomes eighteenth prime minister.
July 18 -- the President, Ghulam Ishaq and the Prime Minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif both resign under pressure from military, thus dissolving all the Central and provincial Assemblies.
July 18 -- Wasim Sajjad (born: 1941) of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Group) selected as eight President (interim).
July 18 -- Moin Qureshi (born: 1930)selected as nineteenth Prime Minister (caretaker).
On October 6th and 9th General Elections were held.
Octorber 19 -- Benazir Bhutto (born: 1953) wins slim margin and took oath as Prime Minister. She becomes twenth prime minister.
On November 13, Presidential election was held.
Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari (born: 1940) of Pakistan People's Party candidate won by 274 to 168 votes against, the then acting President Wasim Sajjad.
November 14 -- Wasim Sajjad resign and Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari of Pakistan Peoples Party elected as eighth President.
- November 5 -- President Farooq Leghari dismisses Benazir
Bhutto accuses her government of
corruption and nepotism under the Article 58(2) b of the Eighth
Amendment.
November 5 -- Miraj Khalid (born: 1916) becomes twenty first prime minister (caretaker).
- Queen
Elizabeth II visits Pakistan
on 50th Anniversary of its Independence.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, right, meets Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II at the presidential palace in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Malik Meraj Khalid selected as Caretaker Prime Minister.
On February, National elections held.
February 17 -- Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif becomes twenty second Prime Minister.
February 18 -- Nawaz Sharif obtained a vote of confidence from the National Assembly on February 18.
Controversial Eighth Amendment is repealed, which empowered the president to dismiss the prime ministers.
Passing Thirteenth Am Amendment and the Ehtesab Act, 1997.
December 2 --Because of constitutional crisis, President Farooq Leghari resigned on December 2.
December 2 -- Wasim Sajjad of PML-N becomes tenth President (interim) (second time).
- January 1 -- Wasim Sajjad resigns
and
Mohammad Rafiq Tarar (born: 1929) of
PML-N becomes eleventh President.
May 28-29 -- Pakistan carried out its nuclear tests in response to Indian detonation of its three nuclear devices and becomes a Nuclear Power.
Nawaz Sharif's government proclaims an emergency on May 28, because of this, all fundamental rights of Pakistani people were suspended and all the foreign currency accounts in Pakistani banks were frozen.
A Ghauri missile (a modified SCVD ballistic missile similar to India's Agni ballistic missile).
Nawaz Sharif introduces the Fifteen Amendment on October 9.
The Fifteen Amendment, which is an effort by Sharif to acquire more powers, soon brought him into serious confrontation with military. This confrontation led to the resignation of General Jehangir Karamat on October 7.
Mohammad Rafiq Tarar (born: 1929) becomes an eleventh President.
- Feburary 20 -- Indian prime Minister
Vajayeee visits Pakistan.
In April, Benazir Bhutto and her husband convicted of corruption and given jail sentences.
April 11 -- India test an upgraded version of Agni missile on Wheeler Island in the Bay of Bengal.
The Kargil Offensive.
The Kargil crisis in its aftermath led to tense relationship between Nawaz Sharif and the military. It was this tense relationship, which culminated in the removal of the Nawaz government by successor of General Karamat (Musharraf ).
October 12 -- Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif overthrown in military coup led by military chief Pervez Musharraf (born: 1943), thus Military Comes to Power Again.
Pakistan is suspended from Commonweath due to widely condemned military coup.
October 12 -- military chief Musharraf becomes the Chief Executive of Pakistan. October 14 -- military chief and chief executive becomes twenty third prime minister.
- In April, Nawaz Sharif sentenced to
life imprisonment on hijacking and terrorism charges.
In December, Nawaz Sharif goes into exile in Saudi Arabia after being pardoned by military authorities.
- Agra Summit.
US Military invasion in Afghanistan.
June 20 -- Gen. Pervez Musharraf (born: 1943) of Military dissolved the parliament as a result the figurehead president, Rafiq Tarar vacated his position. Later in the day Gen Pervez Musharraf names himself president while remaining head of the military. He becomes twelfth the President.
US Military invasion in Afghanistan.
July, Gen Musharraf meets Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Agra summit. Talks fails (not even a joint statement).
September - Pakistan cut its diplomatic relation with the Taliban and becomes a major ally to U.S. campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
US lifts some sanctions imposed after Pakistan's nuclear tests, but retains those imposed after Musharraf's coup.
- January - Gen. Musharraf announces
that elections will be held on October 2002.
April - Gen. Musharraf of Military wins another five years in office in a referendum criticized as unconstitutional and fraught with irregularities.
May - Pakistani military fires three medium-range surface-to-surface missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.
August - President Musharraf of Military grants himself sweeping new powers, including the right to dismiss an elected parliament. Opposition parties accuse Musharraf of perpetuating dictatorship.
October - General election results in a hung parliament.
November 23 - National Assembly "selects" Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali (born: 1944) of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam Group), a member of a party close to Gen Musharraf of Military, as a twenty fourth prime minister and Musharraf resigns from prime ministership.