inquiry. Then, it deconstructs each of those spheres; foundational,
contextual and individual
158
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
Maps
Map 1 Map of Pakistan, 2010
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
xvi
Maps
Map 2 Map of disputed territory of Jammu And Kashmir, 2006
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
Chronology of major political events
1906
Muslim League founded as forum for Muslim unity and
collective self-determination in the British Raj.
1940
Muslim League endorses idea of separate political entity for
the diverse Muslims residing in the British Raj.
1947
Independence from the British Raj. Most of the Muslim
majority provinces of the British Raj formed a new
nation-state called Pakistan. Several hundred thousand people
die in widespread communal violence and millions are made
homeless.
1948
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Pakistan Movement and
first head of state, dies.
Liaquat Ali Khan takes over as prime minister.
The first war with India erupts over the disputed territory of
Jammu and Kashmir.
1951
Jinnah’s successor Liaquat Ali Khan is assassinated.
1956
Constitution proclaims Pakistan an Islamic republic.
1958
Martial law declared and General Ayyub Khan takes over.
1960
General Ayyub Khan becomes president.
1965
Second war with India over Kashmir.
1969
General Ayyub Khan resigns and General Yahya Khan takes
over.
1970
Victory in general elections in East Pakistan for breakaway
Awami League, leading to rising tension with West Pakistan.
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
1971
East Pakistan attempts to secede, leading to civil war. India
intervenes in support of East Pakistan, which eventually
breaks away to become Bangladesh.
1972
Simla Peace Agreement with India sets new frontline in Kashmir.
1973
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister.
1977
Riots erupt over allegations of vote-rigging by Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). General Zia Ul-Haq
launches military coup.
1978
General Zia becomes president, launches campaign to introduce
Islamic law and usher in an Islamic system in Pakistan.
xviii
Chronology of major political events
1979
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto hanged.
1980
US pledges military assistance to Pakistan following Soviet
intervention in Afghanistan.
1985
Martial law and political parties ban lifted.
1986
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s daughter Benazir returns from exile to
lead PPP in campaign for fresh elections.
1988
August – General Zia, the US ambassador and top Pakistan
army officials die in mysterious air crash.
1988
November – Benazir Bhutto’s PPP wins general election.
1990
Benazir Bhutto dismissed as prime minister on charges of
incompetence and corruption.
1991
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif begins economic liberalisation
programme. Islamic shariah law formally incorporated into
legal code.
1992
Government launches campaign to stamp out violence by
Urdu-speaking supporters of the Mohajir Quami Movement.
1993
President Khan and Prime Minister Sharif both resign under
pressure from military. Election brings Benazir Bhutto back to
power.
1996
President Leghari dismisses Bhutto government amid corruption
allegations.
1997
Nawaz Sharif returns as prime minister after his Pakistan
Muslim League Party wins elections.
1998
Pakistan conducts its own nuclear tests after India explodes
several nucelar devices.
1999
April – Benazir Bhutto and her husband convicted of corruption
and given jail sentences. Benazir Bhutto stays out of the
country.
1999
May – Kargil Conflict: Pakistan-backed forces clash with the
Indian military in the icy heights around Kargil in Indian-held
Kashmir. More than 1,000 people are killed on both sides.
1999
October – General Pervez Musharraf seizes power in coup.
2000
April – Nawaz Sharif sentenced to life imprisonment on
hijacking and terrorism charges over his actions to prevent the
1999 coup.
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
2000
December – Nawaz Sharif goes into exile in Saudi Arabia
after being pardoned by military authorities.
2001
June – General Pervez Musharraf names himself president
while remaining head of the army.
2001
September – Musharraf swings in behind the US in its fight
against terrorism and supports attacks on Afghanistan. US lifts
some sanctions imposed after Pakistan’s nuclear tests in 1998.
2001
December – India, Pakistan prompt fears of full-scale war by
massing troops along common border amid growing tensions
over Kashmir following suicide attack on Indian parliament.
Chronology of major political events
xix
2002
January – President Musharraf bans two militant groups –
Lashkar-E-Toiba and Jaish-E-Mohhamad – and takes steps to
curb religious extremism.
2002
April – President Musharraf wins another five years in office
in a referendum criticised as unconstitutional and flawed.
2002
May – Pakistan test fires three medium-range missiles capable
of carrying nuclear warheads, amid rumours of impending
conflict with India.
2002
August – President Musharraf grants himself sweeping new
powers including the right to dismiss and elected parliament.
2003
November – Pakistan declares a Kashmir ceasefire; India
follows suit.
2003
December – Pakistan and India agree to resume direct air
links and to allow overflights of each other’s planes from the
beginning of 2004, after a two-year ban.
2004
February – Leading nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan
admits to having leaked nuclear weapons secrets, reportedly to
Libya, North Korea and Iran.
2004
June – Pakistan mounts first military offensive against
suspected Al-Qaeda militants and their supporters in tribal
areas near Afghan border. US begins using drone strikes to
target Al-Qaeda leaders in the area.
2004
April – Parliament app
roves creation of military-led national
security council, institutionalising role of armed forces in
civilian affairs.
2004
May – Pakistan readmitted to commonwealth.
2005
April – Bus services, the first in 60 years, operate between
Muzaffarabad in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Srinagar
in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
2005
Pakistan tests its first nuclear-capable cruise missile.
2005
Earthquake kills tens of thousands of people in
Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
2006
Government signs peace accord to end fighting with
pro-Al-Qaeda militants in Waziristan tribal areas near
Afghan border.
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
2007
Sixty-eight passengers are killed by bomb blasts and a blaze
on a train travelling between the Indian capital New Delhi and
the Pakistani city of Lahore.
2007
President Musharraf suspends Chief Justice Iftikhar
Mohammed Chaudhry, triggering a wave of protests across
the country.
2007
Security forces storm the militant-occupied Red Mosque
complex in Islamabad following a week-long siege.
xx
Chronology of major political events
2007
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returns from exile.
Dozens of people die in a suicide bomb targeting her
homecoming parade in Karachi.
2007
Musharraf wins presidential election but is challenged by
Supreme Court. He declares emergency rule, dismisses Chief
Justice Chaudhry and appoints new Supreme Court, which
confirms his re-election.
2007
November – Former PM Nawaz Sharif returns from exile.
2007
December – State of emergency lifted.
Benazir Bhutto assassinated at election campaign rally in
Rawalpindi.
2008
February-March – Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) nominee
Yusuf Raza Gilani becomes PM at head of coalition with
Nawaz Sharif ’s Muslim League Party, following parliamentary
elections in February.
2008
August – President Musharraf resigns after two main governing
parties agree to launch impeachment proceedings against him.
2008
September – MPs elect Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Asif
Ali Zardari – the widower of assassinated former PM Benazir
Bhutto – president.
Suicide bombing on Marriott Hotel in Islamabad kills 53
people. Soon after, government launches major offensive in
Bajaur tribal area, killing more than 1,000 militants.
2008
November – The government borrows billions of dollars from
the International Monetary Fund to overcome its spiralling
debt crisis.
2008
December – India blames Mumbai attacks in November on
Pakistani-based militants and demands Pakistan take action.
Islamabad denies involvement but promises to cooperate with
the Indian investigation.
2009
February – Government agrees to implement sharia law in
north-western Swat Valley in effort to persuade Islamist
militants there to agree to permanent ceasefire.
2009
March – After days of protest, government yields to demands
for reinstatement of judges dismissed by former President
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
Musharraf.
2009
April – Swat Agreement breaks down after Taleban-linked
militants seek to extend their control. Government launches
offensive to wrest control of Swat from militants.
2009
July – The Supreme Court acquits opposition leader Nawaz
Sharif of hijacking charges dating from 1999 army coup,
removing ban on his running for public office.
2009
August – The leader of Pakistan’s Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud,
is killed in US drone attack in South Waziristan. He is
succeeded by Hakimullah Mehsud.
Chronology of major political events
xxi
2009
November – President Asif Ali Zardari hands control of
Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, in
apparent attempt to ease political pressure.
2010
January – Suicide attack on volleyball match in north-west
kills more than 100 people.
2010
April – Parliament approves package of wide-ranging
constitutional reforms. Measures include transferring key
powers from office of president to prime minister.
2010
August – Worst floods in 80 years kill at least 1,600 people
and affect more than 20 million. Government response widely
criticised.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden found hiding in a suburban
compound in Pakistan.
2010
October – Rise in targeted political killings, bombings in
commercial hub of Karachi.
2011
January – A campaign to reform Pakistan’s blasphemy law
leads to the killing of two prominent supporters: Punjab Governor
Salman Taseer in January and Minorities Minister Shahbaz
Bhatti in March.
2011
March – The prime ministers of India and Pakistan meet to
watch a cricket match, an occasion seen as a chance for the
two nations to repair relations.
2011
April – The founder of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, is killed
by American special forces in Abbottabad.
2011
November – Pakistan shuts down NATO supply routes
after a NATO attack on military outposts kills 25 Pakistani
soldiers.
2011
December – Pakistan boycotts the Bonn Conference on
Afghanistan in protest at the NATO attack on a border
checkpoint.
The government comes under pressure over a leaked memo
alleging that senior officials sought US aid against a possible
military coup after the killing of Osama Bin Laden in April.
2012
January – Amid growing tension between government and
military over the ‘Memogate’ scandal, army chief General
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
Pervez Kayani warns of ‘unpredictable consequences’ after
PM Yousef Raza Gilani criticises army leaders and sacks a top
defence official.
Supreme Court threatens to prosecute Prime Minister Gilani
for contempt of court over government’s refusal to reopen
corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and other
political figures.
2012
May – A US senate panel cuts $33m in aid to Pakistan over
the jailing of Pakistani Doctor Shakil Afridi, who helped the
CIA find Osama Bin Laden.
xxii
Chronology of major political events
The arrest of Rimsha, a Christian girl, prompts protests
against blasphemy laws.
2012
June – Supreme C
ourt disqualifies Prime Minister Gilani from
holding office after he declines to appeal against a token sentence
in the President Zardari corruption row. Parliament approves
Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf as his successor.
2012
July – Pakistan agrees to reopen NATO supply routes to
Afghanistan after the US apologises for killing 24 Pakistani
soldiers in November.
2012
September – Muslim Cleric Khalid Chishti is arrested on
suspicion of planting burnt pages of the Koran on a Christian
girl briefly detained for blasphemy. Amid widespread
condemnation of the case against the girl at home and abroad,
a court drops it in November.
2012
October – Taliban gunmen seriously injure 14-year-old
campaigner for girls’ rights Malala Yousafzai, whom
they accuse of ‘promoting secularism’. The shooting sparks a
brief upsurge of anger in Pakistan against the militants.
2012
November – Taliban suicide bomber kills at least 23 people at
a shia Muslim procession in the Rawalpindi.
2013
January – Supreme Court orders the arrest of Prime Minister
Raja Pervez Ashraf over corruption allegations dating back to
his time as a minister in 2010. He denies wrongdoing.
The government sacks Balochistan Chief Minister over bomb
blasts in the provincial capital Quetta that kill at least 92 shia
Muslims. Sunni extremist group Lashkar-E-Jhangvi claims
responsibility.
Populist cleric and anti-corruption campaigner Tahirul Qadri
leads a nationwide march on Islamabad. The government
responds by agreeing to dissolve parliament early and to consult
Mr. Qadri over the formation of a caretaker government.
2013
February – President Zardari and Afghanistan’s President
Karzai agree to work for an Afghan peace deal.
Bomb attack targeting shia Muslims in Quetta kills 89 people.
Police detain Lashkar-E-Jhangvi militant group founder Malik
Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 18:26 09 January 2017
Ishaq after the group claims responsibility.
2013
March – Government appointed to oversee parliamentary
elections.
2013
April – A court orders the arrest of General Pervez Musharraf
over his attempt to impose house arrest on judges during
his military rule in March 2007. General Musharraf had
returned from British exile in March to contest parliamentary
elections.
2013
June – Parliament approves Nawaz Sharif as prime minister
after his Muslim League-N wins parliamentary elections in
Islam and Pakistan’s Political Culture Page 2