page_title: Ayub Khan (general)
section_title: Death and legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Ayub Khan (general) / Death and legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Ayub Khan (ex-president Pakistan) Deutsch: Muhammad Ayub Khan (1907–1974), Feldmarschall und elf Jahre von 1958-1969 Präsident von Pakistan.
context_page_description: Muhammad Ayub Khan, was a Pakistani army general and the second President of Pakistan who forcibly assumed the presidency from the first president Iskander Mirza through coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état of the country. The popular demonstrations and labour strikes which were supported by the protests in East Pakistan ultimately led to his forced resignation in 1969.
  Trained at the British Royal Military College, Ayub Khan fought in World War II as a colonel in the British Indian Army before deciding to transfer to join the Pakistan Army as an aftermath of partition of British India in 1947. His command assignment included his role as commander of the 14th Division in East-Bengal and elevated as the first native Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army in 1951 by then-Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in a controversial promotion over several senior officers. From 1953 to 1958, he served in the civilian government as Defence and Home Minister and supported President Iskander Mirza's decision to impose martial law against Prime Minister Feroze Khan's administration in 1958.
context_section_description: Ayub Khan did not comment on East Pakistan's Secessionist War in 1971 and died of heart attack on 19 April 1974 at his villa near Islamabad.
  Ayub Khan's presidency allied Pakistan with the American-led military alliance against the Soviet Union which helped Pakistan developed its strong economic background, long-term political and strategic relations with the United States. Major economic aid and trade from the United States and European Communities ultimately led Pakistan's industrial sector developed rapidly but the consequences of cartelization included increased inequality in the distribution of wealth. After 1965, he became extremely concerned about the arrogance and bossiness of the US over the directions of nation's foreign policy when the US publicly criticized Pakistan for building ties with China and Soviet Union; he authored a book over this issue known as Friends not Masters.
  Ayub Khan began his diary in September 1966, and ended his record in October 1972 because of his failing health. The diary covers events such as his resignation from office, assumption of power by Yahya Khan, the separation of East and West Pakistan and the replacement of Yahya by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. After his death in 1972, the diary was not released due to opinions which would have been detrimental to the reputation of powerful individuals at the time. The book thus was embargoed for thirty years before it was released to the public. Ayub Khan wanted the piece to be edited by one Altaf Gauher but because of his death Gohar Ayub khan entrusted Oxford University Press (OUP) to edit and publish the six year long diary. It was from there where it was annotated by Craig Baxter.
  Relocation of the federal capital was undertaken under Ayub administration from Karachi to mountainous but excessively planned city: Islamabad. Facilitated by the World Bank, Ayub administration became a party of the Indus Waters Treaty with archrival India to resolve disputes regarding the sharing of the waters of the six rivers in the Punjab Doab that flow between the two countries. Khan's administration also built a major network of irrigation canals, high-water dams and thermal and hydroelectric power stations.
  He subsidized fertilizers and modernized agriculture through irrigation development, spurred industrial growth with liberal tax benefits. In the decade of his rule, the GNP rose by 45% and manufactured goods began to overtake such traditional exports as jute and cotton. However, the economists in Planning Commission alleged that his policies were tailored to reward the elite families and major landowners in the country. In 1968, his administration celebrated the so-called "Decade of Development" when the mass protests erupted in all over the country due to an increasingly greater divide between the rich and the poor.
caption: Ayub Khan in East Germany in 1972.