The Gang of Four was a quantified and common colloquial implicit term for a set of four military leaders in the Pakistan military who were central figures in the military dictatorships of Pakistan. Across two military dictatorships, wherein generals and admirals of the Pakistan Armed Forces had control over the country, it would coincidentially be found that four senior generals would be closest to the military dictator of the day. This specific quantified set was briefed in the classified intelligence matters by the executive branches of the government. It was first related to the President General Zia-ul-Haq, and staffers of his administration including General Akhtar Rahman, Khalid Mahmud Arif, and Zahid Ali Akbar. [1]
According to the military authors, these four generals were responsible on staging a military coup ďétat against Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977. The term was popularized by Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) in 1980s in political science sphere of Pakistan. [2] [3]
In 1999 and also in 2013, the term was used by military authors of Kargil War, implicating mastermind of Kargil misadventure and staging military coup d'état against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999. The term used to relate General Pervez Musharraf's four generals who staged the coup; General Ehsan ul Haq, General Aziz Khan, Mahmood Ahmad and Shahid Aziz; all four were the generals in Pakistan Army, first instrumental of launching the Kargil war and then staging a coup against Nawaz Sharif in 1999.
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was a Pakistani military Dictator and politician who served as the unelected Dictator 6th president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in 1988. He rose to prominence after leading a coup on 5 July 1977, which overthrew the democratically elected government of prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Zia subsequently imposed martial law, suspended the constitution, and served as chief martial law administrator before assuming the presidency. Zia served as the 2nd chief of the Army Staff from 1976 to 1988, a position he later leveraged to execute a coup in 1977, which was the second coup in Pakistan's history of coups; the first occurred in 1958 under Ayub Khan.
The Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N) or PML-N; Urdu: پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن)) is a centre-right, conservative liberal political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate and the largest in the National Assembly. The party was founded in 1993, when a number of prominent conservative politicians in the country joined hands after the dissolution of Islamic Democratic Alliance, under the leadership of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The party's platform is generally conservative, which involves supporting free markets, deregulation, lower taxes and private ownership. Although the party historically supported social conservatism, in recent years, the party's political ideology and platform has become more liberal on social and cultural issues; however, members have been accused of using Islamist populist rhetoric. Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP), it is one of the three major political parties of the country.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan, commonly known by his initials GIK, was a Pakistani bureaucrat, politician and statesman who served as the seventh president of Pakistan from 1988 to 1993. He previously served as Chairman of the Senate from 1985 to 1988 under president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, and was sworn in shortly after Zia's death.
The National Security Council is a federal institutional and consultative body chaired by the prime minister of Pakistan as its chairman. The NSC is a principal forum that is mandated for considering national security and foreign policy matters with the senior national security advisers and Cabinet ministers. The idea and inception of National Security Council was first conceived in 1969 under the President Yahya Khan, its functions were to advise and assist the president and prime minister on national security and foreign policies.
The 1999 military takeover in Pakistan was a bloodless coup d'état initiated by the military staff at the Joint Staff HQ working under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf. The instigators seized control of the civilian government of the popularly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on 12 October 1999. On 14 October, General Musharraf, acting as the country's Chief Executive, issued a controversial provisional order that suspended the Constitution of Pakistan.
General Muhammad Aziz KhanNI(M) HI(M) SBt TBt, better known as Aziz Khan, is a retired Pakistani four-star rank army general who served as the 11th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, appointed in October 2001 until his retirement in 2005.
The Pakistan coup attempt of 1995 or Operation Khalifa was a secretive plot hatched by renegade military officers and against the government of Benazir Bhutto, the prime minister of Pakistan. The plotters aimed to overthrow the constitutional government and establish military rule in Pakistan. The plot was foiled after intelligence agencies tipped off the Pakistan Army. Despite the failure, the coup attempt would weaken Bhutto's government considerably in the aftermath.
Lieutenant General Ali Kuli Khan KhattakHI(M) is a retired Pakistani three-star rank general officer and former field commander of X Corps.
The political history of Pakistan is the narrative and analysis of political events, ideas, movements, and leaders of Pakistan. Pakistan gained independence from the United Kingdom on 14 August 1947, when the Presidencies and provinces of British India were divided by the United Kingdom, in a region which is commonly referred to as the Indian subcontinent. Since its independence, Pakistan has had a colorful yet turbulent political history at times, often characterized by martial law and inefficient leadership.
The Muslim League was the original successor of the All-India Muslim League that led the Pakistan Movement to achieve an independent nation. Five of the country's Prime Ministers have been affiliated with this party, namely Liaquat Ali Khan, Khwaja Nazimuddin, Mohammad Ali Bogra, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, and Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar. The Muslim League was defeated in the 1955 elections to the Constituent Assembly by a political alliance known as the United Front. However, Prime Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Ali and later Prime Minister Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar were appointed to lead a minority government. The party was dissolved in 1958 after the declaration of Martial Law by General Muhammad Ayub Khan, the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army.
Raja Muhammad Zafar-ul-Haq, is a Pakistani politician and lawyer, who served as senator from the Punjab, being elected on 12 March 2009. He had been the leader of the opposition in Senate from 2018 to 2021. He is serving as the Chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), a centre-right party, since 20 February 2000.
The 1977 Pakistani military coup was the second military coup in the history of Pakistan. Taking place on 5 July 1977, it was carried out by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the chief of army staff, overthrowing the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Military coups in Pakistan began in 1958 when military officer Muhammad Ayub Khan overthrew and exiled president Iskandar Ali Mirza. Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has spent several decades under military rule. After their respective terms in office, each of the past five prime ministers of Pakistan has faced convictions or imprisonment. This trend highlights a significant aspect of Pakistan's political landscape: the prevailing rule that the Pakistani military exercises influence wherever it deems necessary, often persisting despite potential repercussions. Throughout Pakistani history, the military has played a prominent role in governance, with periods where it has directly ruled the country.
Sartaj Aziz was a Pakistani economist and strategist, who had previously served as the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan, member of the federal cabinet as the de facto Minister for Foreign Affairs, a Federal Senator as well as the National Security Advisor.
Ghulam Jilani KhanHI(M) SBt was a senior general of the Pakistan Army who served as the 14th Governor of Punjab Province and 11th Defence Secretary of Pakistan in the military government of President General Zia-ul-Haq.
Pakistan began a period of economic liberalisation in the 1990s to promote and accelerate economic independence, development, and GDP growth.
The family of head of state and government in Pakistan is an unofficial title for the family of the head of state or head of government of a country. In Pakistan, the term First Family usually refers to the head of state or head of government, and their immediate family which comprises their spouse and their descendants. In the wider context, the First Family may comprise the head of state or head of government's parents, siblings and extended relatives.
Conservatism in Pakistan generally relates to the traditional, social, and religious identities in the politics of Pakistan. American historian Stephen Cohen describes several political constants in Pakistan's conservatism: respect for tradition, the rule of law and the Islamic religion which is integral in the idea of Pakistan.
Abdul Majeed Malik was a lieutenant general in the Pakistan Army, World War II veteran, diplomat and later politician who served as minister of Kashmir Affairs & Northern Areas and minister of States & Frontier Regions from 11 July 1997 to 12 September 99. Prior to entering in the political race, he served as a director for military operations at general headquarters. Before the partition, he was a commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. He also drafted 1958 martial law, the first military coup of Pakistan.
