View source for Movement for the Restoration of Democracy

{{Short description|Pakistani political alliance from 1981 to 1988}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Movement for the Restoration of Democracy
| logo = 
| colorcode = #FF0000
| colors = [[Red (color)|Red]]<br />{{color box|red}}
| leader = 
| president = 
| chairman = 
| general_secretary = 
| first_secretary = 
| secretary_general = 
| presidium = [[Rasool Bux Palijo]] ([[Awami Tahreek]])<br />[[Benazir Bhutto]] ([[Pakistan Peoples Party|PPP]])<br />[[Shaheed Fazil Rahu]] ([[Awami Tahreek]])<br />[[Jam Saqi]] ([[Communist Party of Pakistan|CPP]])<br />[[Khan Abdul Wali Khan|Abdul Wali Khan]] ([[Awami National Party|ANP]])<br />[[Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)|Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman]] ([[JUI(F)]])
| secretary = 
| spokesperson = 
| foundation = {{Start date|df=yes|1981|02|08}}
| dissolved = {{End date|df=yes|1988|08|24}}
| ideology = [[Left-wing populism]]<br />[[Socialism in Pakistan|Socialism]]
| position = [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]]
| headquarters = 
| international = 
| website = 
| country = Pakistan
| flag = [[File:Red flag II.svg|100px]]
}}

The '''Movement for the Restoration of Democracy''' ('''MRD'''; {{langx|ur|اتحاد برائے بحالی جمہوریت|Atehad Baraye Bahali Jamahuriyat
}}) was a political alliance in Pakistan founded in 1981 by the [[List of political parties in Pakistan|political parties]] opposing the [[Presidency of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|military government]] of [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq]], the sixth [[president of Pakistan]]. Headed by [[Benazir Bhutto]] of the [[Pakistan People's Party]], its objective was the end of [[Military coups in Pakistan|martial law]] and restoration of the [[Democracy in Pakistan|democracy]].

Formed in February 1981, the alliance was noted for its [[left-wing populism]]  orientation and had [[Pakistan Peoples Party|Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)]], [[Awami National Party|Awami National Party (ANP)]], Pakistan Muslim League (Khwaja Khairuddin group), [[Pakistan Democratic Party]], [[Tehrik-e-Istiqlal|Tehreek-e-Istiqlal]], [[Awami Tehreek]], [[Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam]], [[Mazdoor Kisan Party]] and [[Pakistan Muslim League Qasim Group led by Syed Kabir Ali Wasti]]. The alliance was rooted in rural areas of [[Sindh Province]] and remained mostly nonviolent, was strongest among supporters of the [[Pakistan People's Party]] (PPP). Though it launched one of the most massive nonviolent movements in South Asia since the [[Indian independence movement|time]] of [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Gandhi]], failure to expand beyond its southern stronghold combined with effective repression from the military led to its demise a year and half later. The alliance dissolved within a week after the [[Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|death of Zia]] which marked its way for [[1988 Pakistani general election|general elections]], outlined the return of [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] in [[Power (politics)|national power]].<ref name="Nonviolent Conflict Studies">{{cite web |last=Stephen Zunes |title=Pakistan's Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (1981-1984) |url=http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/movements-and-campaigns/movements-and-campaigns-summaries?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530033030/http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/movements-and-campaigns/movements-and-campaigns-summaries?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=24 |archivedate=30 May 2013 |accessdate=19 May 2013 |work=Stephen Zunes |publisher=Nonviolent Conflict Studies}}</ref>

==Formation==
In the 1970s, the events leading to the success of [[Islam in Pakistan|right-wing]] alliance, [[Pakistan National Alliance|PNA]], toppled and overthrow the government of left-oriented [[Pakistan Peoples Party|PPP]]. At the time of death of [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], nearly 3,000 PPP activists and supporters were jailed, many of whom remained imprisoned for the next decade. President General [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia-ul-Haq]] was particularly unpopular in the [[Sindh Province]], where support for the PPP remained relatively strong. In 1979, [[President of Pakistan|President]] General [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia-ul-Haq]] announced the implementation of [[Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization|Islamization program]] and pressed his [[Islamic conservatism|ultraconservatism]] policies in the country.<ref>Bin Sayeed, Khalid (1984). "Pakistan in 1983: Internal stresses more serious than external problems". Asian Survey, Vol. 24, No. 2, A Survey of Asia in 1983: Part II. Pp. 219 – 228.</ref> Following the invasive [[Russian invasion of afghanistan|Russian invasion]] of [[Afghanistan]], President Zia exercised more repressive policies to curb the [[Communism in Pakistan|communist influence]] in the country, whilst [[Operation Cyclone|escalating]] the [[Mujahideen#Afghanistan|insurgency]] in [[Pashtun people|Pashtun-domaniated]] [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Khyber province]] in [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Western Pakistan]].<ref>Shah, Mehtab Ali. (1997). The Foreign Policy of Pakistan: Ethnic Impacts on Diplomacy, 1971- 1994. I.B. Tauris & Co.: London.</ref> In response, the former rivals, [[Awami National Party|ANP]] and [[Communist Party of Pakistan|CPP]], decided to oppose President Zia's actions in the country, ultimately the left-wing sphere formed an alliance with the [[Pakistan Peoples Party|PPP]] which was the most influential of all left-wing parties.
[[File:4 year old Fraz Wahlah, with his father MS Wahlah behind him, holding Peoples Party flag & leading an MRD protest against General Zia's martial law shortly before his arrest making him youngest prisoner of the military dictator.jpg|thumb|4 year old Fraz Wahlah, with his father MS Wahlah behind him, holding Peoples Party flag & leading an MRD protest against General Zia's martial law shortly before his arrest making him youngest prisoner of the military dictator.]]

In 1980, PPP persuasively reached out to left-wing organizations in the country and started its political function after calling for the end of the [[Zia regime|military regime]] of President Zia-ul-Haq. Negotiations between PPP leaders and the political parties that had formed the Pakistan National Alliance in 1977 started in October 1980. They led to the formation of the MRD on 6 February 1981, at 70 Clifton, the Bhuttos' family house in Karachi. The alliance was dissolved on 24 August 1988. The alliance launched a struggle against the regime of Zia ul-Haq: in the first weeks, 1999 people were arrested, 189 killed and 126 injured.<ref name=":0">Talbot, Ian. (1998). Pakistan: A Modern History. Hurst: London. p. 253</ref>

The movement is generally thought of as two separate outburst, one in August and September 1983, and one in 1986. It was particularly strong in rural Sindh, where it was fueled by people's resentment against the state, and it finally took 3 army divisions and helicopters to bring the uprising down.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

Military force and repression was used against agitators and the movement was crushed.<ref>[http://thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ar&nid=397 Martyrs of MRD Movement 1983]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Frontier Post retrieved 29 September 2008</ref> Despite its set backs, the MRD was significant for mounting a political pressure on President Zia to hold the elections. Convinced that party-based elections would not bring the "positive results" he had been talking of, he decided to hold non-party elections in 1985.  But before doing so, he secured his election as president through a referendum.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

In 1984, Benazir Bhutto and the MRD notably boycotted the [[1984 Pakistani Islamisation programme referendum|1984 presidential referendum]], following making another call for [[Election boycott|boycotting]] the [[1985 Pakistani general election|1985 general elections]], to be held under [[President of Pakistan|President]] Zia-ul-Haq.<ref name="MRD and Zia">{{cite web|title=MRD and Zia|date=June 2003 |url=http://storyofpakistan.com/general-elections-february-1985/|publisher=MRD and Zia|accessdate=18 May 2013|display-authors=etal}}</ref>  Successfully boycotting the [[1984 Pakistani Islamisation programme referendum|1984 referendum]] and [[1985 Pakistani general election|1985 election]], proved to be a serious miscalculation despite confident of enjoying huge popular support.<ref name="MRD and Zia"/>  Contrary to MRD's expectations, the voters turned to these polls were in large numbers.<ref name="MRD and Zia"/> The MRD soon realized that it had miscalculated badly, that it should have fought the elections on Zia’s terms.<ref name="MRD and Zia"/>

The [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)|PML]], [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|''JeI'']], and [[Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London|MQM]] were the only parties which contested in the election, while the MRD boycotted the election. To a greater extent, the MRD's was hailing from [[Sindh Province|Sindh]] where the left-wing orientation was much stronger than any other provinces of the country. The Communist Party, with the support from [[Soviet Union|USSR]], began its political operations in Sindh and ultimately calling for civil disobedience against the military regime.<ref name=Palgrave>{{cite book|last=Nojumi|first=Neamatollah|title=The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan : mass mobilization, civil war, and the future of the region|year=2002|publisher=Palgrave|location=Houndmills, Balsingstoke, Hampshire|isbn=0-312-29402-6|edition=1st|chapter=Pakistan's leftists and the Soviets.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/riseoftalibani00neam}}</ref> In response, the communist party leader, [[Jam Saqi]], was brought to a [[Jam Saqi case|secret trial]] in [[Sindh High Court]], later directed to [[Judge Advocate General Branch|military courts]].<ref name="St. Martin's Press">{{cite book|last=Wirsing|first=Robert G.|title=Pakistan's security under Zia, 1977-1988 : the policy imperatives of a peripheral Asian state|year=1991|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=0-312-06067-X|chapter=The Inteventialist Imperatives}}</ref> The MRD had united the left-wing mass of the country and the most prominent leaders of the MRD were: [[Nusrat Bhutto]], her daughter [[Benazir Bhutto]], [[Rasool Bux Palijo]], [[Khan Abdul Wali Khan|Abdul Wali Khan]], [[Jam Saqi]], [[Syed Muhammad Kaswar Gardezi]], [[Syed Kabir Ali Wasti]] among others. Thousands of the activists were jailed across the country especially in Sindh.<ref name="Nonviolent Conflict Studies"/>

===MRD Composition===

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ MRD Convergence
|-
! Political parties !! Presiding leadership !! Position !! Color !! Fate
|-
| [[Awami Tahreek|Qaumi Awami Tehreek]] ({{color|#B22222|QAT}}) || [[Rasool Bux Palijo]] and [[Fazil Rahu]] || [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]]<br />[[Far-left politics|Far left]] || {{color box|#B22222}} || {{color|red|Public collapse in 1991}}
|-
| [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] ({{color|#FF0000|PPP}}) || [[Nusrat Bhutto]] and [[Benazir Bhutto]] || [[Centre-left]] || {{color box|#FF0000}} || {{Color|green|Formed Government in 1988}}
|-
| [[Awami National Party]] ({{color|#E62020|ANP}}) || [[Khan Abdul Wali Khan|Wali Khan]] || [[Left-wing|Left]] to [[Centre-left politics|Centre-left]]|| {{color box|#E62020}} || {{Color|green|In alliance with PPP in 1988}}
|-
|[[Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam|Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)]] ({{color|#696969|JUI(F)}}) || [[Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman]] || [[Right-wing politics|Right-wing]] to [[Far-right]]||{{color box|#696969}} || {{Color|green|In alliance with PPP in 1988}}
|-
| [[Communist Party of Pakistan]] ({{color|#CE2029|CPP}})|| [[Jam Saqi]] and [[Nazeer Abbasi]]  || [[Far-left politics|Far left]] || {{color box|#CE2029}} || {{color|red|Public collapse in 1991}}
|}
[[Pakistan Muslim League Qasim Group]]
({{color|#CE2029|CPP}})|| [[Syed Kabir Ali Wasti]] || [[Centre Left politics|centre Left]] || {{Green|#CE2029}} || {{color|green|Dissolved in PML Quaid e Azm }}
|}

==Reception==

===Controversy regarding the Foreign support===
{{Main|Pakistan-Soviet Union relations}}
The foreign policy historian of Pakistan noted that MRD's one of the two leading parties, [[Awami National Party|ANP]] and [[Communist Party of Pakistan|CPP]], had gained popular and financial support from the [[Soviet Union]] in the 1980s.<ref name=Palgrave /> Holding a press conference in 1983, [[President of Pakistan|President]] [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia-ul-Haq]] portrayed the MRD as an Indian-backed conspiracy to destabilize Pakistan was without merit, but gained credence among some Pakistanis when [[Indian Prime Minister]] [[Indira Gandhi]] endorsed the movement in an address to the lower house of the Indian parliament.<ref name="Nonviolent Conflict Studies"/>

Despite charges to the contrary, the MRD in Sindh was not attempting to secede from Pakistan but instead was focused on the restoration of the constitution. President Zia’s interior secretary, [[Roedad Khan]], later wrote that the regime was able to manipulate this perception to their advantage and prevent the MRD from gaining greater appeal on a nationwide level.<ref name="Nonviolent Conflict Studies"/>

===Aftermath of USSR Collapse===

In 1980, PPP persuasively reached out to left-wing organizations in the country and started its political function after calling for the end of [[Zia regime|military regime]] of President Zia-ul-Haq. Negotiations between PPP leaders and the political parties that had formed the Pakistan National Alliance in 1977 started in October 1980. They led to the formation of the MRD on 6 February 1981, at 70 Clifton, the Bhuttos' family house in Karachi. The alliance was dissolved on 24 August 1988. The alliance launched a struggle against the regime of Zia ul-Haq: in the first weeks, 1999 people were arrested, 189 killed and 126 injured.<ref name=":0" />

The movement is generally thought of as two separate outburst, one in August and September 1983, and one in 1986. It was particularly strong in rural Sindh, where it was fueled by people's resentment against the state, and it finally took 3 army divisions and helicopters to bring the uprising down.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130530033030/http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/movements-and-campaigns/movements-and-campaigns-summaries?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=24 MRD Movement]

{{Zia-ul-Haq}}

[[Category:1980s in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Awami National Party]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Defunct political party alliances in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)]]
[[Category:Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988)]]
[[Category:Pakistan People's Party]]
[[Category:Pakistan–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Pakistani democracy movements]]
[[Category:Political repression in Pakistan]]