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1906 |
Muslim League founded |
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1940 |
Muslim League adopts principle of a separate nation for India’s Muslims |
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1947 |
India partitioned creating East and West Pakistan. Around one million die in communal violence, millions more are displaced |
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1948 |
Pakistan army invades Balochistan. Dispute over Kashmir leads to first war between India and Pakistan |
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1952 |
Student uprising in East Pakistan protesting against Urdu as sole national language |
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1955 |
Pakistan joins the Baghdad Pact, later known as the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) |
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1958 |
Pakistan’s first military dictatorship: General Ayub Khan takes over |
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1965 |
Second war with India over Kashmir |
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1968 |
Mass movement triggered by students leads to overthrow of military dictatorship |
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1970 |
Pakistan’s first proper general election. Awami League wins in East Pakistan |
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1971 |
Army repression in East Pakistan leads to over a million deaths. Army defeated by India. East Pakistan becomes Bangladesh. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto takes office as president |
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1972 |
Mass strike in Karachi |
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1977 |
General Zia leads coup overthrowing Bhutto |
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1978 |
Zia introduces elements of sharia law |
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1979 |
Bhutto hanged |
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1980 |
Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan becomes key US ally |
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1988 |
Zia killed in plane crash |
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1988 |
Bhutto’s daughter, Benazir, becomes prime minister, holding office 1988-90 and 1993-6 |
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1988 |
First structural adjustment agreement with the IMF |
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1991 |
Nawaz Sharif takes office. Prime minister 1991-3 and 1997-9 |
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1998 |
India explodes nuclear devices followed by Pakistan carrying out its own nuclear tests |
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1999 |
Military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf |
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2001 |
Musharraf supports US attacks on Afghanistan |
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2004 |
Renewed insurgency in Balochistan |
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March 2007 |
Musharraf suspends Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Protest movement across Pakistan |
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July 2007 |
Chaudhry reinstated by Supreme Court |
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Nov 2007 |
Musharraf declares emergency rule |
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Dec 2007 |
State of emergency lifted. Benazir Bhutto assassinated |
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Aug 2008 |
Musharraf resigns |
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Sept 2008 |
Asif Ali Zardari, widower of Benazir Bhutto, elected president |
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April 2009 |
Army invasion of Swat: thousands killed, over two million refugees |
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Aug 2010 |
Monsoon floods kill over 1,600, 20 million people displaced |
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April 2011 |
Osama Bin Laden, found hiding in Pakistan, is seized and killed by American special forces |
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May 2013 |
General election. Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League declared victor. Widespread protests alleging vote-rigging |
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June 2014 |
Taliban attack on Karachi airport. Army launches Operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan |
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Aug 2014 |
PTI leader Imran Khan and cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri lead march on Islamabad followed by sit-in before Parliament House |
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Dec 2014 |
Taliban attack on Army Public School in Peshawar. 150 killed, mostly children. Islamabad sit-in called off |
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Jan 2015 |
National Action Plan established to tackle Taliban. Moratorium on use of death penalty lifted |
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Feb 2016 |
Eight day strike at Pakistan International Airlines after the military fire on demonstration killing two employees |