The Tehreek Nizam-e-Mustafa or the Nizam-e-Mustafa () was a

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

, Islamist movement and a slogan which was started in Pakistan by the Jamat-e-Islami and the

Pakistan National Alliance The Pakistan National Alliance (Urdu: پاکستان قومی اتحاد, Acronym: PNA), was a populist and consolidated right and left political alliance, consisting of nine political parties of the country. Formed in 1977, the country's leadi ...

(PNA) in 1977, to overthrow the

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

government of

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

and establish an Islamic system in Pakistan, inspired from the

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

, the PNA, which had started this movement believed that the

1977 Elections The following elections occurred in the year 1977. Africa * 1977 Afars and Issas Constituent Assembly election * 1977 Algerian legislative election * 1977 Gambian general election * 1976–1977 Guinea-Bissau legislative election * 1977 Malagasy ...

of Pakistan had been rigged by Bhutto, and therefore, lacked any legitimacy.

History

The movement was started by an alliance of nine parties which also formed the

. The supporters of this movement carried out large protests across the country, demanding that Bhutto step down, after which law enforcement agencies opened fire on the protestors, and Section 144 was declared across Pakistan, which allowed the state to ban the people from carrying much of their outdoor activities. The political instability in Pakistan was followed by the

1977 Pakistani military coup The 1977 Pakistani military coup (codenamed Operation Fair Play) 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 govern ...

by the Chief of Army Staff,

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...

in 1977, as Zia-Ul-Haq made calls for a political retribution, and announced the introduction of Islamization reforms, the Nizam-e-Mustafa Movement soon lost its significance. The movement ceased to exist after the PNA was dissolved in 1978 when the allied parties started to diverge on their agenda.

Downfall

As the PNA launched a national campaign, dubbed the Nizam-e-Mustafa, against the Bhutto Administration, violence ensued, after several months of demonstrations and street violence, Bhutto attempted to negotiate with the alliance, but he was not met with any positive response. On 5 July 1977, Bhutto accused the United States of plotting a coup against him and indicated that this movement was fully funded by foreign powers. As a result, Bhutto tried to crush the power of this alliance, with the help of his agencies such as FSF and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, which was also considered the cause of Bhutto's execution by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

on 4 April 1979. In the

staged by General Zia, Bhutto was removed from office with majority of his colleagues. Following the declaration of martial law by Zia-Ul-Haq, the conservatives and Islamist fronts split and decided to fully support General Zia in his Islamization reforms, whereas the leftist members of the alliance decided to either oppose him, or stay neutral, and as Bhutto was imprisoned, the uneasy alliance started to quickly break, by 1978 it had completely dissolved.

Alliance members of the PNA

The Alliance which started this movement consisted of nine parties, each of which had an agenda, ideology, political goal and background different from each other. Many of the parties are now known by different names and have largely gone into irrelevance in Pakistani politics, with the exception of a few. However, during the peak of the Nizam-e-Mustafa Movement, the alliance consisted of the following members: * Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) * Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) * Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) * National Democratic Party (NDP) * Balochistan National Party (BNP) * Muslim League (Qayyum) (ML-Q) * Muslim League (Functional) (ML-F) * Democratic Party (PDP) * Tehreek e Istaqlal (TI)

References

{{reflist Islamism in Pakistan