ABSTRACT
Pakistan remained under military rule for nearly 14 years from 1958 to 1972. With the overthrow of the democratic government in 1958, power was assumed by General Iskander Mirza first, and then General Ayub Khan. In fact, the military-bureaucratic nexus had commenced dominating Pakistani political developments in the mid-1950s itself, after the assassination of Liaqat. The polity became disoriented from its ideological moorings. Its national identity was disrupted even before it could take the first faltering steps. The territorial inadequacies felt by the power structure of Pakistan in the beginning were compounded by incipient centrifugal pressures. The Pushtuns of the North West Frontier Province were not at ease at being part of the new country. Factors which resulted in this attitude were the domination of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and his elder brother Dr Khan Sahib in the politics of the North West Frontier Province. The Khudai Khidmatgar Movement had strong affiliations with the Indian National Congress. The Muslim League had not quite convinced the Pushtuns living in the North West Frontier Province and in the northeastern parts of Baluchistan about the virtues and advantages of the new Muslim homeland.
