1970s: The elite class of Pakistan was now leading the country into the future. The majority were educated and brought up abroad. The 70s were a decade that portrayed Pakistan in different ways. For some, it was a part of the ‘swinging 70s’ one of the top places to stop along the ‘Hippie Trail’. Another was of a country still struggling to improve the standards of living for its people and unable to manage itself. One significant loss during this decade was that of East Pakistan, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.
Here’s a look at the 1970s, a decade that brought dramatic change to Pakistan.
1. Awami League and Pakistan People Party emerge as leading parties in the East and West Pakistan.
2. Pakistan wins the gold medal in Asian Games hockey, beating India
3. Karakoram Highway – Linking Pakistan and China is opened
4. East Pakistan falls and Bangladesh comes into being
5. 1971 – Z.A Bhutto takes over as President and Chief Martial Law Administrator
6. 1972 – Nuclear Weapons development programme launched in Pakistan
7. Inauguration of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP)
8. First woman to assume Sindh Governor Office – Begum Rana Liaquat Ali – 1973
9. 1976 – General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq becomes Chief of Army Staff
10. Samjhota Express starts – Lahore to Amritsar
11. Port Qasim foundation stone laid
12. 1977 – General Zia enforces Martial Law
13. 1979 – Dr. Abdus Salam, Pakistani Scientist awarded Physics Nobel Prize
14. Night Clubs in Pakistan – Karachi
15. Pakistan was on the Hippie Trail in the 1970s – Foreigners seen smoking hashish on a Peshawar hotel roof
16. Playing street cricket
