ABSTRACT
The Pakistan Army was only then beginning a process of modernization and it was not yet prepared to interpose itself between the people and their civilian leaders. By 1958, however, the military establishment was not only ready to intercede, it felt it had to in order to preserve the integrity of the country. Ayub Khan was forced to give major consideration to groups that supported him, given the decision to bypass the enlightened middle class. In addition to the armed forces which dutifully followed his lead, Ayub forged strong links with the country’s professional bureaucracy. After a limited purge of high administrative ranks, Ayub enlisted the support of renowned administrators and an alliance of civilian and military figures resulted in the fabrication of a full-blown administrative state. Schooled in an imperial tradition, the civil-military bureaucrats stressed authoritative decision-making and frowned upon debate and controversy.
