Word: zia
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...temperatures and sunny skies. But the 10,000 people who gathered last week at a large open field next to the Central Government Hospital were not there to watch a cricket game or polo match. They had come to witness a demonstration of the Islamic justice that General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq had decreed for his country: the public flogging of prisoners convicted a day earlier in a 29-hour Summary Military Court session. In the audience-with considerable distaste-was TIME New Delhi Bureau Chief Marcia Gauger. Her report...
Several months ago, Zia had served notice that he intended to "hang the blighter," as he put it, but hope persisted that he would spare Bhutto's life if only to save his troubled country from another divisive emotional trauma. Thus reaction to the execution last week was one of shock and dismay. French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who had just drafted another appeal to Zia, expressed his "profound emotion" at the execution. Britain's Guardian editorialized: "Death came to Bhutto not with the due panoply of justice but like a thief...
...Liaquat Gardens, 5,000 grieving Pakistanis clashed with police, hurling glass and rocks at buses and cars. One bus was burned before police dispersed the crowd with tear gas. "We are fed up," said an office worker as he fled for shelter. "Our own leaders are the enemy. Zia should hang by the same rope...
...Bhutto's followers were accused of blatantly rigging the March 1977 elections to ensure his party an overwhelming victory. After months of rioting and turmoil, Bhutto agreed to void the election. A few days later, General Zia, whom Bhutto had named army Chief of Staff, overthrew the government...
There may have been some cold-eyed motives behind Zia's rejection of world opinion and his decision to ignore the Supreme Court's implied suggestion of clemency. Zia and his military supporters took a calculated risk-namely, that the long-term benefits of getting rid of a political nemesis outweighed the immediate law-and-order problem raised by pro-Bhutto demonstrations. Whether or not the generals win their gamble, the execution of this proud but flawed man was a dangerous event for an unstable country with pressing economic problems and a frustrated electorate...