MARTIAL LAW IN PAKISTAN: LAWS AND REGULATIONS DECLARED BY THE YAHYA KHAN GOVERNMENT

Yahya Khan's presidency oversaw martial law by suspending the constitution in 1969. Holding the country's first general election in 1970, he barred power transition to the victorious Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from East Pakistan, leading to mass protests in the provincial wing and a call for sovereignty. On 25 March 1971, Khan ordered Operation Searchlight in an effort to suppress Bengali nationalism, which led to the Bangladesh Liberation War. Khan is considered a chief architect of the Bangladesh genocide along with his deputies Hamid Khan and Tikka Khan. In December 1971, Pakistan carried out unsuccessful pre-emptive strikes against the Bengali-allied Indian Army, culminating in the start of the Third India–Pakistan War. The wars resulted in the surrender of Pakistani forces and East Pakistan succeeded as Bangladesh, after which Yahya Khan resigned from the army command and transferred the presidency to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Khan remained under house surveillance prior to 1979 when he was released by Fazle Haq. Khan died the following year in Rawalpindi and was buried in Peshawar.