PAKISTAN, pronounced PAK ih stan or pronounced pah kih STAHN, is a Muslim nation in South Asia.  The country's official name is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.  About 97 per cent of its people practice Islam, the Muslim religion.  Religion was the chief reason for the establishment of Pakistan as an independent nation.

During the 1800's and early 1900's, Great Britain ruled the region that is now Pakistan.  The region formed part of India.  When the British granted India independence in 1947, they divided the country according to the religion of its people.  Pakistan was created out of northwestern and northeastern India.  The two sections of the new nation were over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) apart.  The majority of the people of both regions of Pakistan were Muslims.  Most of the people of the remaining territory of India were Hindus.

The two sections of Pakistan were called West Pakistan and East Pakistan.  Although the people of both regions shared the same religion, many differences divided them.  These differences led to civil war in 1971 and to the establishment of East Pakistan as an independent nation called Bangladesh.

Cultural differences remain a problem in Pakistan today.  The population consists of a number of cultural groups, each with its own language.  The official language of Pakistan is Urdu, but large parts of the population speak only Baluchi, Punjabi, Pushtu, or Sindhi.  Such language barriers, plus other divisions among its people, have made it difficult for Pakistan to develop into a unified nation.

Most Pakistanis are farmers or herders with little or no education.  Many of them live much as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago.  Traditional attitudes and customs do not have so great an influence over everyday life among Pakistan's educated people.  Most of these people live in the cities.

Pakistan has towering snow-capped mountains, high plateaus, fertile plains, and sandy deserts.  Most Pakistanis live in the irrigated plains region of eastern Pakistan.  The greatest concentration of population is in the Punjab, a fertile plain in the northeast.  Islamabad, the nation's capital, lies in this area.  Much of the western part of the country is lightly settled because the area is too dry and barren for farming.

The history of the region that is now Pakistan started at least 4,500 years ago, when an advanced civilization developed in the Indus Valley.  This civilization lasted about 800 years and then declined and disappeared.  For the next several thousand years, a number of peoples invaded and settled in what became Pakistan.  Arabs, Greeks, Persians, Turks, and other invaders ruled the region before it came under the control of Great Britain in the 1800's.  The complex history of Pakistan helps explain the variety that exists among the country's population today.

PAKISTAN/Government

National Government.  Pakistan's Constitution was adopted in 1973.  A prime minister heads the country's government, and a president serves as head of state.  The prime minister appoints a Cabinet to help run the government.  The president's powers include the ability to dismiss the prime minister and Cabinet and to dissolve the National Assembly.  The parliament consists of a National Assembly and a Senate.  Most members of the National Assembly are elected by the people.  Most senators are elected by provincial assemblies.

Provincial Government.  Pakistan is divided into four provinces--Baluchistan, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Punjab, and Sind.  An elected assembly governs each province.

Local Government.  Elected and appointed officials govern cities, towns, and villages.  Islamabad, the nation's capital, is governed by the central government as a separate district called the Capital Territory of Islamabad.  Certain parts of Pakistan that border Afghanistan are called Tribal Territories.  The central government has authority over these territories, but members of the various tribal groups handle most of their own governmental affairs.

Court System.  The court system of Pakistan is made up of civil, criminal, and appeals courts.  The Supreme Court of Pakistan is the nation's highest court.  A High Court heads the court system in each province.

Armed Forces of Pakistan consist of an army of about 450,000 members and a small navy and air force.  All the people who serve in the armed forces are volunteers.

PAKISTAN/People

The earliest people of what is now Pakistan belonged to the same population group as the people of northern India.  Through the years, many invaders intermarried with the inhabitants.  These invaders included Arabs, Afghans, Greeks, Persians, and Turks.  All contributed to the mixed ancestry of present-day Pakistanis.

Cultural Groups and Languages.  A number of cultural groups live in various parts of Pakistan.  Each has its own customs and characteristics.  Differences among the groups have caused problems throughout Pakistan's history.  Some Pakistanis feel greater loyalty to their own cultural group than to the nation itself.

Language is the chief difference that divides the cultural groups.  Urdu is Pakistan's official language, but less than 10 per cent of the people speak it as their primary language.  Each cultural group has its own language or dialect (local form of a language).  Most Pakistanis who know Urdu use it only as a second language.

The Punjabis, who make up the largest cultural group, live mainly in the Punjab.  They speak various dialects of the Punjabi language.  Through the years, they have controlled the government, economy, and armed forces of Pakistan.  Other leading groups, in order of size, include the Sindhis, the Pushtuns, and the Baluchi.  The Sindhis form most of the population of Sind Province.  Their language is also called Sindhi.  The Pushtuns are divided into various tribes that occupy the North-West Frontier Province and the northern part of the province of Baluchistan.  The Pushtun language is called Pushtu or Pashto.  The Baluchi include many nomadic tribes that live near oases and along a few streams in Baluchistan.  They speak Baluchi, which has many dialects.

Another cultural group in Pakistan is made up of large numbers of refugees from neighboring Afghanistan.  These people fled to Pakistan in the 1980's after the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) invaded Afghanistan.

Rural Life.  About two-thirds of the people of Pakistan live in rural villages.  Most of the villagers are farmers or herders.  Many others who live in rural areas have jobs in nearby cities or towns.  Traditional customs and beliefs have a strong influence on life in rural Pakistan.  For example, men have far more social freedom than women do.  Women avoid contact with men outside their family, and they cover their face with a veil in the presence of strangers.  Women may help with farm work, but they do little else outside the home.

Housing and clothing vary from one region to another, depending on climate, local customs, and other factors.  Most of the rural villages consist of clusters of two- or three-room houses made of clay or sun-dried mud.  A typical home may have a few pieces of simple furniture, with straw mats covering the bare earth floors.  Few rural homes have plumbing or electricity.

The most common garment of both men and women is the shalwar-qamiz, which consists of loose trousers and a long overblouse.  Women may wear a dupatta (scarf) over their shoulders and head.  Outside the home, women usually cover themselves with a tentlike garment called a burqa.  In the Punjab, men may wear a skirtlike garment called a lungi instead of a shalwar-qamiz.  Turbans or various types of woolen or fur caps are popular head coverings among Pakistani men.

City Life.  Pakistan has 12 cities with more than 200,000 people.  Karachi, the largest city, has about 5 million people.  See the separate articles on Pakistani cities listed in the Related Articles at the end of this article.

Most city people in Pakistan are factory workers, shopkeepers, or craftworkers.  They have little or no education and live in small houses in old, crowded neighborhoods.  Their customs resemble those of the rural villagers.  Pakistan's urban population also includes educated middle- and upper-class people who have adopted many Western styles and ideas.  A well-to-do Pakistani family may live in a large, modern home.  Many middle- and upper-class women are active in politics, social work, and women's rights movements.

Religion.  About 97 per cent of Pakistan's people are Muslims.  Islam, the Muslim religion, is the chief link among the various cultural groups that make up Pakistan's population.  Most Pakistanis consider prayers and other religious rituals an important part of everyday life.  Muslim holidays are national holidays throughout Pakistan.  Christians make up about 1 1/2 per cent of the population.  Pakistan also has a small number of Hindus, Buddhists, and Parsis.

Food.  Wheat and other grains form the basis of the diet of almost all Pakistanis.  Rural villagers use wheat flour to make flat loaves of bread called chapatty.  Pilau, a dish served throughout Pakistan, consists of rice mixed with meat, vegetables, raisins, or nuts.  Most Pakistanis like foods flavored with curry, ginger, onions, peppers, or other spicy seasonings.  Popular meats include beef, chicken, goat, and lamb.  Chicken eggs are a common food in many parts of the country.  Islam forbids its followers to eat pork.  Fresh or dried fruit is a favorite dessert.

Education.  Only about a fourth of all Pakistanis 15 years of age or older can read and write.  Less than half the children of school age go to school.  Pakistan has a shortage of schools, teachers, and teaching materials, and no law requires children to attend school.

The school system consists of elementary school (grades 1 through 5), middle school (grades 6 through 8), and high school (grades 9 and 10).  After high school, students may go to intermediate college (grades 11 and 12), where they prepare for a college or university.  Pakistan has about 20 universities.  The three largest universities are the University of Karachi, the University of Peshawar, and the University of the Punjab in Lahore.

The Arts.  Each of Pakistan's cultural groups has its own folk literature, composed of stories and songs about legendary or historical figures.  Rural Pakistanis enjoy plays based on myths and legends.  In the cities, motion pictures are a favorite form of entertainment.  Islam has influenced traditional architecture and painting throughout Pakistan (see ISLAMIC ART).

PAKISTAN/The Land

Pakistan has five main land regions: (1) the Northern and Western Highlands, (2) the Punjab Plain, (3) the Sind Plain, (4) the Baluchistan Plateau, and (5) the Thar Desert.  The country has an area of 307,374 square miles (796,095 square kilometers).

The Northern and Western Highlands.  Mountains cover much of northern and western Pakistan.  K2, the second highest peak in the world, towers 28,250 feet (8,611 meters) above sea level in the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan.  Only Mount Everest is higher.  Mountain passes cut through the rugged peaks at several points.  The most famous of these mountain passes, the Khyber Pass, links Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Punjab and Sind Plains occupy most of the eastern part of the country.  These regions are alluvial plains (land formed of soil deposited by rivers).  In the north, the Punjab is watered by the Indus River and four of its tributaries--the Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers.  The combined waters of these four tributaries join the Indus River in east-central Pakistan.  South of this meeting point, the broadened Indus flows to the Arabian Sea through the Sind plain.  Extensive irrigation systems have made the Punjab and Sind plains fertile agricultural regions.

The Baluchistan Plateau is located in southwestern Pakistan.  Most of the plateau is dry and rocky and has little plant life.

The Thar Desert is located in southeastern Pakistan and extends into northwestern India.  Much of the desert is a sandy wasteland.  However, irrigation projects have made parts of the desert near the Indus River suitable for farming.

PAKISTAN/Climate

Most of Pakistan has a dry climate, with hot summers and cool winters.  Pakistan averages only about 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain a year.  But the amount of rainfall varies greatly from year to year.  Long dry spells may be broken by severe rainstorms that cause rivers to overflow and flood the countryside.

In general, most of the rain falls from July to September, when the summer monsoon (seasonal wind) blows across Pakistan.  The eastern part of the Punjab receives the most rain--more than 20 inches (51 centimeters) a year.  Southwestern Pakistan is the driest area.  Much of the Baluchistan Plateau receives less than 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain a year.
 
 

Average temperatures vary from one part of Pakistan to another.  The mountain regions have the coolest weather.  Summer temperatures in the north and northwest average about 75 degrees F. (24 degrees C) and winter temperatures often fall below freezing.  In the Punjab, temperatures average over 90 degrees F. (32 degrees C) in summer and about 55 degrees F. (13 degrees C) in winter.  Summer temperatures in the Baluchistan Plateau average about 80 degrees F. (27 degrees C).  Winter temperatures average less than 40 degrees F. (4 degrees C).  The southern coastal region has mild, humid weather most of the year.  Temperatures range from about 66 degrees F. (19 degrees C) in winter to about 86 degrees F. (30 degrees C) in summer.

PAKISTAN/Economy

Pakistan's economy is based chiefly on agriculture.  Most Pakistanis make a living by farming the land or by raising goats or sheep.  Pakistan had few factories when it gained independence in 1947.  Since then, it has worked to develop its manufacturing industries.

The government manages most of the nation's major heavy industries, such as oil refining and iron and steel production.  The government has drawn up five-year plans that set production goals for agriculture and industry and establish programs for economic development.  Many of Pakistan's development programs have been financed by aid from other countries and from international organizations.

Natural Resources.  Pakistan's rivers are its most important natural resource.  They supply the water that irrigates over 38 million acres (15 million hectares) of farmland.  They also provide hydroelectric power.

Large natural gas fields lie in central Pakistan.  The country also has deposits of petroleum, coal, iron ore, salt, gypsum, limestone, and chromite.

Agriculture employs about half of Pakistan's workers.  Many of the farmers own only a small area of land, which they work with simple tools and teams of oxen or buffalo.  Since the 1950's, the government has worked to modernize agriculture by encouraging farmers to use fertilizer, pesticides, and new types of seeds.  It also has sponsored programs to limit the size of farms and distribute the land among the poor.

Wheat is the chief crop of Pakistan.  The farmers also grow cotton, rice, sugar cane, chickpeas, oilseeds, and fruits and vegetables.  Cattle and water buffaloes are raised mainly for use as work animals, but they also provide meat, milk, and hides.  Many Pakistanis, especially in Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier Province, tend flocks of goats or sheep.  Poultry farms are common in most parts of the country.

Service Industries employ about a third of Pakistan's workers.  Service industries are especially important in the largest cities.  Wholesale and retail trade are the largest employer among service industries.  Other service industries include education, finance, government, health care, and transportation.

Manufacturing.  About a seventh of the workers of Pakistan are employed in manufacturing industries.  Cotton textiles and clothing rank as the nation's leading manufactured products.  Other important manufactures include food products, especially flour and sugar; fertilizer and other chemical products; steel; and cement.  Many craftworkers work in their homes or in small factories.  They make carpets, embroidered goods, pottery, woodenware, and other handicraft items.

Fishing is an important industry in the coastal regions of Pakistan.  Shrimp, sardines, sharks, and other fish are caught in the Arabian Sea.  Pakistan exports much fish and shellfish.

Foreign Trade.  Pakistan trades chiefly with Japan, the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and Saudi Arabia.  Its imports include petroleum products, machinery, transportation equipment, iron and steel, food products, electrical equipment, and chemicals.  Pakistan exports such products as textiles, clothing, cotton, rice, leather goods, and carpets.

Transportation and Communication.  Railroads carry more passengers and freight than do other means of transportation in Pakistan.  Roads link the chief cities of the country.  But Pakistan has an average of only about 1 automobile for every 300 people.  In rural areas, villagers use camels, cattle, donkeys, or horses for transportation.  Karachi is Pakistan's chief seaport.  International airports operate at Karachi, Lahore, and the Islamabad-Rawalpindi area.

Government-owned companies provide telephone and telegraph service.  The government owns Pakistan's radio and television stations.  Pakistan has an average of about 1 television set for every 50 people.  About 110 daily newspapers are published in Pakistan.

PAKISTAN/History

The Indus Valley Civilization.  About 2500 B.C., one of the world's first great civilizations began to develop in the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan.  Ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (also spelled Moen jo Daro), the two major cities of the civilization, show that both were large and well planned.  By about 1700 B.C., the Indus Valley civilization had disappeared.  Scholars do not know why it collapsed.

Invasions and Conquests.  During the next several thousand years, many peoples from southwest and central Asia came into the region that is now Pakistan.  About 1500 B.C., a central Asian people called Aryans came through the mountain passes to the Punjab region.  In time, they settled across almost all of India.

The Persians conquered the Punjab during the 500's B.C. and made it part of the huge Achaemenid Empire [The Achaemenid Empire]).  In 326 B.C., Alexander the Great took control of most of what is now Pakistan.  A few years later, the emperor Chandragupta Maurya made the region part of the Maurya Empire.

The Maurya Empire began to break up about 230 B.C. Greeks from the independent state of Bactria in central Asia then invaded the Indus Valley.  They established a kingdom with capitals near the present-day cities of Peshawar and Rawalpindi.  About 100 B.C., Scythians from Afghanistan came into Baluchistan and Sind.  In time, they conquered the Indus region.  The Afghans were replaced by the Parthians, who, in turn, were conquered by the Kushans of central Asia.

The Kushans ruled what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwestern India from about A.D. 50 to the mid-200's.  They controlled the trade routes from China to India and the Middle East.  Peshawar, the Kushan capital, became a major commercial center.

During the mid-300's, the Indus Valley became part of the Gupta Empire, which had expanded westward from northeastern India.  Huns from central Asia conquered the empire in the mid-400's.

The Coming of Islam.  In A.D. 711, Arab Muslims sailed across the Arabian Sea and invaded Sind, bringing Islam to the region.  Beginning about A.D. 1000, Turkish Muslims invaded northern Pakistan from Iran.  The Turkish ruler Mahmud of Ghazni established a Muslim kingdom that in time included the entire Indus Valley.  Lahore became the capital of the kingdom and developed into a major center of Muslim culture.

In 1206, most of what is now Pakistan became part of the Delhi Sultanate, a Muslim empire that included northern India.  The Delhi Sultanate lasted until 1526, when Babar, a Muslim ruler from Afghanistan, invaded India and established the Mogul Empire.

The Mogul Empire included almost all of what is now Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.  Under Mogul rule, a culture developed that combined Middle Eastern and Indian elements.  It included a new language, Urdu, which was influenced by both Hindi and Persian.  It also included a new religion, Sikhism, which drew beliefs from both Hinduism and Islam.  The Mogul Empire began to decline in the 1700's.  Several groups, including Persians and Afghans, then controlled the region that is now Pakistan.  Sikh kingdoms gained strength in the Punjab during the early 1800's.

The Rise of British Influence.  Beginning in the 1500's, European traders competed for control of the profitable trade between Europe and the East Indies.  A number of trade companies established settlements in India with the cooperation of the Mogul emperors.  By the 1700's, the British East India Company had become the strongest trade power in India.

In the 1740's, after the Mogul Empire began to break up, the East India Company gained political control over much of India.  The company fought a series of wars in the Punjab and Sind during the 1840's and added these territories to its holdings.

The British government took over control of the East India Company in 1858.  All the company's territory then became known as British India.  By 1900, as a result of wars and treaties with local rulers, British India included all of what is now Pakistan.

British Control.  Britain introduced a number of reforms in India, including the establishment of a Western system of education.  Many Hindus enrolled in the British schools, but most Muslims continued to attend their own schools, which stressed religious instruction.  By the late 1800's, Western-educated Hindus far outnumbered Muslims in India.  The Muslims had previously been outnumbered by the Hindus, who made up about three-fourths of the population.  But the Muslims' lack of Western education reduced their power even further.  Large numbers of Hindus gained positions in business and government, but the great majority of Muslims remained farmers and laborers.

In 1875, Syed Ahmad Khan, a Muslim leader, founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh (now the Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, India).  This school combined Muslim and Western methods of education.  Many of its graduates became leaders of India's Muslim community.

Muslim leaders were divided in their attitude about the Hindus.  Some believed the Muslims should cooperate with the Indian National Congress, a political organization led by Hindus.  But many Muslims thought that if the congress gained power, it would never treat the Muslims fairly.  In 1906, the Muslims formed a separate political organization called the Muslim League.

Independence Movements in India began to gain strength during the early 1900's.  The Indian National Congress and the Muslim League both sought greater self-government for India.  But at the same time, differences between the Hindus and Muslims increased.  Almost all the Muslims believed the Hindus would have too much power over them if India gained independence from Britain.  In the early 1930's, the Muslim League called for the creation of a separate Muslim nation.  Such a nation would have been formed from the parts of India that had a Muslim majority.  The president of the Muslim League, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, became a leading supporter of this proposal.  The name Pakistan, which means land of the pure in Urdu, came to be used for the proposed nation.

In 1940, the Muslim League demanded partition (division) of India along religious lines.  British and Hindu leaders rejected the idea, but the league refused any other settlement.  Riots occurred between Hindus and Muslims during the mid-1940's.  In 1947, Britain and the Hindu leaders finally agreed to the partition.

The New Nation.  On Aug. 14, 1947, Pakistan became an independent dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations.  India gained independence the next day.  Pakistan was created from the northwestern and northeastern parts of India, where Muslims made up the majority of the population.  More than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of Indian territory lay between the two sections, which were called West Pakistan and East Pakistan.  Muhammad Ali Jinnah, considered the founder of Pakistan, became the first head of government.

Fighting between Hindus and Muslims continued even after the partition of India.  About 10 million people fled from one country to the other, with Hindus and Sikhs fleeing to India while Muslims left for Pakistan.  Thousands of people died while migrating between India and Pakistan.

In 1948, India and Pakistan went to war over independent Kashmir.  Pakistan claimed Kashmir because most of the people there were Muslims.  After Pakistani troops invaded Kashmir, the region's Hindu ruler made it part of India.  Indian and Pakistani troops fought until 1949, when the United Nations arranged a cease-fire.

The Republic.  Pakistan became a republic in 1956, and Major General Iskander Mirza became the first president.  Military leaders controlled the government throughout the late 1950's and 1960's.

In 1956, Pakistan began its first five-year plan for economic development.  Most of the development projects took place in West Pakistan.  In 1967, completion of the Mangla Dam on the Jhelum River provided West Pakistan with flood control, irrigation, and electric power.  Construction of one of the world's largest dams, the Tarbela Dam on the Indus River, was completed in 1976.

The dispute over Kashmir led to renewed fighting between India and Pakistan in 1965.  Once again, the United Nations arranged a cease-fire.

Civil War.  The people of East and West Pakistan had been divided both geographically and culturally ever since the nation's creation in 1947.  They shared only one major characteristic--their religion.  Most East Pakistanis had different physical traits, cultural backgrounds, and traditions than West Pakistanis.  Many East Pakistanis objected to West Pakistani control over the nation's government, economy, and armed forces.

In 1970, a cyclone and a huge, destructive wave called a tsunami struck East Pakistan and killed about 266,000 people.  Many East Pakistanis accused the government of delaying shipments of food and relief supplies to the disaster area.

In 1971, the many differences and disagreements between East and West Pakistan erupted into civil war.  In 1970, Pakistanis had elected a National Assembly that was to draft a new constitution.  East Pakistan had about 56 per cent of the nation's population, and so a majority of the Assembly members were East Pakistanis.  The people of East Pakistan wanted a constitution that would give them some self-government.

In March 1971, President Yahya Khan postponed the first meeting of the National Assembly.  East Pakistanis staged demonstrations in protest against his action, and Yahya Khan ordered the Pakistani Army into East Pakistan.  The East Pakistanis resisted, and civil war broke out.  On March 26, 1971, East Pakistan declared itself an independent nation called Bangladesh.

In December 1971, India joined Bangladesh against West Pakistan.  The war then developed into a conflict between India and Pakistan, and the fighting spread into parts of West Pakistan and Kashmir.  On Dec. 16, 1971, two weeks after India entered the war, Pakistan surrendered.  More than a million people had died in the bloody fighting.  A few days later, Yahya Khan resigned.  Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, head of the Pakistan People's Party, succeeded him.

Recent Developments.  As a result of the war, Pakistan lost about a seventh of its area and more than half its population.  Its economy was badly disrupted.  Early in his presidency, Bhutto restored constitutional government and civilian rule to Pakistan.  In July 1972, Bhutto met with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India.  Gandhi agreed to withdraw Indian troops from all Pakistani territory.  But Kashmir remained a disputed territory, and India refused to withdraw its troops from Kashmir.

In 1973, Pakistan adopted a new Constitution providing for a president as head of state and a prime minister as chief executive.  Bhutto became the country's prime minister and continued to hold many powers.  Chaudhri Fazal Elahi was elected president.  In March 1977, parliamentary elections resulted in a victory for Bhutto's political party.  But many people accused the party of election fraud.  Widespread violence broke out between Bhutto's opponents and supporters over the election dispute.

In July, military officers led by General Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq removed Bhutto from office and declared martial law.  Elahi retained the title of president, but Zia ruled as chief martial law administrator.  In 1978, Elahi resigned and Zia declared himself president.  Zia's government convicted Bhutto of ordering the murder of a political opponent while serving as prime minister.  Bhutto was sentenced to death.  He was executed in 1979.

In 1985, Zia allowed the election of a new parliament and ended martial law.  In 1988, he removed the prime minister and the parliament from power.  In August 1988, Zia was killed in a plane crash.  Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the leader of the Senate, became acting president.

In November 1988, parliamentary elections were held.  As a result of the elections, Benazir Bhutto--head of the Pakistan People's Party and daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto--became prime minister and head of the government in December.  She was the first woman ever to head an elected government in an Islamic nation.  Also in December, the parliament and the four provincial assemblies elected Ishaq Khan as president.  In August 1990, President Ishaq Khan accused Prime Minister Bhutto's government of corruption.  He removed Bhutto from office.  In elections held in October, the Islamic Democratic Alliance, a coalition of political parties, won the majority of seats in parliament.  Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Moslem League--the chief party of the coalition--became prime minister.

In April 1993, President Ishaq Khan removed Sharif from office, but the Pakistan Supreme Court overruled this action.  In July, partly due to pressure by the military, Ishaq Khan and Sharif resigned their offices.  Parliament was dissolved.  A new parliament was elected in October.  Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party won the most seats, and she became prime minister again.  In November, Farooq Leghari, also of Bhutto's party, was elected president.