Death and state funeral of Zia-ul-Haq

Death

General Zia-ul-Haq, the sixth president of Pakistan, died in an aircraft crash on 17 August 1988 in Bahawalpur near the Sutlej River. With him, several important people died, including his close friend Akhtar Abdur Rahman, a diplomat named Arnold Lewis Raphel, and many others.

Aftermath

The news of Zia's death was shared by Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. He then became the new president of the country.

State Funeral

A large gathering took place for Zia's funeral at the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. It is said that about a million people came to show their respect.

Background

On 17 August 1988, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and his team went to Bahawalpur. They met with two American Christian missionaries at a local convent. They also stopped at the Tamewali Test Range.

Later, President Zia and his group watched a live fire demonstration of the U.S. Army’s M1 Abrams tank. The event was led by Major-General Mahmud Ali Durrani, who was in charge of the 1st Armoured Division of the Armoured Corps. The M1 Abrams tank was planned to become part of the Pakistan Army.

Aircraft crash

On August 17, 1988, a plane carrying General Zia-ul-Haq took off from Bahawalpur Airport. The plane, a C-130, had 30 people on board, including Zia, the United States Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphel, and other important military officers.

The plane flew for a short time before it lost contact with the control tower and crashed. Everyone on board died in the accident. Many investigations tried to find out why the crash happened, but no clear reason was ever found.

Investigation

When General Zia-ul-Haq died in a plane crash, investigators from the United States Air Force helped find out what happened. The United States and Pakistan disagreed on why the crash occurred.

The United States thought the crash might have been caused by a common problem with the plane Zia was flying, called a C-130. They said similar problems had happened before.

Pakistan looked at the plane and found some unusual things. They thought it might have been sabotaged, but they did not find clear proof. They found some chemicals that could be used in small explosives.

A writer named Mohammed Hanif later tried to learn more about what happened but found it hard to get answers.

Theories

Many people have wondered about why President Zia-ul-Haq's plane crashed in 1988. Some thought other countries might have been involved. Others blamed leaders in Pakistan.

One idea was that the Soviet Union might have played a part because an important military leader who fought against them was on the plane. Others thought a foreign power, maybe the United States, was responsible because an American diplomat joined the flight last minute. Some even thought leaders in the Pakistan Army were unhappy with Zia. There were also suggestions that a group led by a political figure’s brother might have been involved. One former U.S. ambassador thought an intelligence agency from another country might have been responsible, but he had no proof.

Aftermath

The Government of Pakistan announced a state funeral for Zia-ul-Haq. He was buried with military honors in a special white marble tomb next to the Shah Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. The funeral took place on August 19, 1988. Many important leaders from around the world attended, including presidents from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, India, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

The ceremony had a special military salute with 21 guns fired. Many people gathered to honor Zia-ul-Haq. After his death, elections were held in 1988, and Benazir Bhutto became the prime minister.