Pakistan

Operation Fair Play: PPP observes Black Day

The PPP observed a Black Day to mark the day that Ziaul Haq overthrew the the elected government in 1977.

Express July 05, 2011

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) observed a Black Day on Tuesday to mark the day that former General Ziaul Haq overthrew the the elected government in 1977.

Operation Fair Play was the code name for the coup d’état conducted at midnight on July 4, 1977 by the Pakistani military led by army chief Gen Ziaul Haq.

Near midnight on July 4, 1977 the army chief General Zia ordered the arrest of former PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, his ministers and other leaders of both the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan National Alliance.

In a nationally televised address, General Zia announced that the National Assembly and all provincial assemblies were dissolved, and that the Constitution of Pakistan was suspended. Bhutto was subsequently executed, in a judicial assassination, on the orders of the military junta.

The former prime minister of Pakistan, Bhutto said to journalists 10 days after the army staged a successful coup d’etat in the country on July 5, 1977 and deposed him from the office:

“I have been reading about Napoleon. I am also reading two books on Hitler. I wanted to see how Hitler controlled his generals and how I could not control mine”.

COMMENTS (7)

Shahzad Ali | 13 years ago | Reply It is written in Associated Press Of Pakistan that "The nation on Tuesday observed July 5 as a ‘black day’ to condemn the dictators for destabilizing democracy in the past". But what about "Democracy" which destroyed our country?

Faraz | 13 years ago | Reply @A R Azad: The Army and their injustice was the main culprit. Get your history straight.

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truepak | 13 years ago | Reply i personally favor an honest dictator who can improve the plight of the masses rather than his cronies over a democratically elected corrupt govt

truepak | 13 years ago | Reply has the zardari govt done anything else than celebrate birthdays,deatth anniversaries,coup anniversaries in their god forsaken tenure?look around,unthinkable are happening in daily basis eg no gas in summers, electricity shortages in winters etc.we are headed for the stone ages

Shahid Saeed | 13 years ago | Reply Another five years term for PPP before Bilawal come to power. And Bhutto's sons change this country to a modern Secular and developed Muslim state, Long Live Bhuttoism.

Xs | 13 years ago | Reply @Author & Express Tribune: Isn't the media supposed to be unbiased If so, then why use the term judicial assassination?

A R Azad | 13 years ago | Reply In my opinion ZAB was punished by natural law as he was main culprit in breaking Pakistan into two parts. What kind of that democracy was where majority holder Shiek Majeeb-ul-Rehman was not allowed to establish government in centre and minority holder Bhutto took the charge of the state matters. So as a nation Pakistanis should observe ZAB era as Black-Days of Pakistani history. Since long PPP is making poor Pakistanis fool in the name of "Roti, Kapra aur Makaan" at this juncture Pakistanis are deprived of even Roti let Kapra and Makaan aside.

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