Zia ul Haq .
Thirdly the attack of the Soviet Union on Afghanistan had helped in the revival of Islam, and Zia Ul Haq wanted to take advantage of this situation to strengthen his rule.
Gen.Zia Ul Haq imposed martial law in 1977and he ruled for over a decade, after deposing Mr. Z.Ali.Bhutto .he was forced to do so even though he was a reliable confidant of Bhutto whom the latter had personally promoted to the position of Chief of Army Staff after ignoring many Generals senior to him.
When Zia Ul Haq took over, Islamization was a given a new boost. Islamic sentiments had always been fully alive in Pakistan. Various governments have used it to their benefits although on paper only. Whether Zia's love for Islam was to counter balance Bhutto's liberal socialist approach or whether he wanted to introduce Islam in its true sense is debatable and has been discussed by me in the beginning of this speech.
Before proceeding further I would like to enumerate the Islamic reforms introduced by Gen.Zia in 1973 constitution. They are as under:-.
(1) The central and the most manifest thrust of many religions is the defining of status of women in the society. No government had yet attempted to criticize or change the social position and productive role of the vast majority of women specially those living in the countryside. But Zia's Islamization program focused on the social role of the urban female and this was named "chadar and chardiwari" program which soon became the slogan of the advancing forces of Zia's ideologies.
(2) The most revolutionary part of this program was the Hadood Ordinance. Women consenting to fornication outside marriage were for the first time in the history of Pakistan was to be punished along with men. The penalties were severe including lashing, life imprisonment and in some cases, death by stoning. The law dealing with rape was modified which made it compulsory that for conviction for this crime an independent witness was required.
He also brought reforms to the Muslim family law ordinance. ... Since Islam emphasizes greatly and revolves around the structure of family, the religious traditionalists were against the imposition of the reformed Family and Marriage law. ... Traditionalists such as Maw Lana Ihstisham-Ul-Haq dismissed the legislative changes of the modernists by stating that they are trying to insult and ridicule Islamic law. ...
