The time when General Ayub came to power in October 1958, no one had any idea that his actions would create drastic social and economic reforms in the country. The Army, a fairly united instrument, which was basically drawn from the four districts of West Punjab and the two districts of the North-West Frontier, seized power from the shrewd and feuding politicians. The North West Frontier was split up in such a way that neither the Punjabi nor the Bengali politicians were loyal even to their regional factions. General Ayub did introduce several salutary changes such as land reforms, restored efficiency in the administrative machine, and took strong measures against evils like corruption, black-marketing, smuggling, etc. He can be credited as one of the very few Muslim leaders of this century who took strong measures to bring about changes in the Muslim matrimonial laws and customs so that polygamy might be checked and women given better protection and rights in the matter of divorce and property. But the martial law did not disturb the social and economic structure of the Pakistani society. Industrialists and traders were called upon to declare their foreign exchange holdings and pay their taxes and there was no confiscation of property. After the land reforms were announce, some of the generals themselves held lands in excess of the ceilings announced in the reforms.
Thus, it can be said that the Army revolution in Pakistan had been brought about by generals with a distinct bias towards the status quo so far as the economic set-up of the country was concerned.
Ever since he seized power, he has consistently argued that parliamentary democracy is not likely to work in Pakistan where literacy is so low and where the people are not informed or mature enough to use their votes to support certain national policies or programmes. Ayub attributes this failure and lack of character to the sort of education and the atmosphere which prevailed under foreign rule and he has singled out the lawyer-politicians, followed by traders and industrialists, for this serious breach of trust and responsibility. Ayub has repeatedly suggested that he would restore democracy in Pakistan but of a kind which the people could understand and operate.
Ayub has shrewdly used Islam to support the kind of authoritarian sys- tern that he has envisaged for Pakistan. Western democracy believes that policy or decision for the common good emerges from a dialogue or discussion between various groups. Islam believes in a well-knit community of believers from whom clear injunctions have been laid down in the Qur'an. The Commander of the Faithful merely needs an advisory council to assist him in the matter of interpretation of these principles. “For him, the Islamic type of constitution envisages a presidential system under which the President is advised by an Assembly or Parliament whose members expresses their opinions on national problems according to their free judgement and are not influenced by party or group considerations. Thus, in a new constitution (which was brought into being on June 8, i962) the Government of Pakistan has emerged, as Chaudhri Muhammad Ali has described it, as a Government of the President, by the President, and for the President. The President can exercise as effective a control over the Provinces as he does at the Centre.
It is in the field of foreign policy that Ayub has broken new ground. His regime has displayed increasing resentment towards the United States for offering military aid to India against China, on the plea that the Chinese danger was being overrated and that military aid would ultimately be used by India against Pakistan. Ayub's border pact with China, the recent air agreement with the same country, his mild overtures towards the Soviet Union, and his publicly expressed scepticism towards the military alliances with the United States has improved his image among the opposition circles.
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