Pak has never had President from Balochistan, or a woman President

Even as Pakistan witnesses presidential poll today, there are two startling facts that come to ones minds, i.e. the country has never had a woman President; and that none of the 10 Presidents was from Balochistan, one of the four provinces in Pakistan.

Lahore, Sept 6 : Even as Pakistan witnesses presidential poll today, there are two startling facts that come to one's minds, i.e. the country has never had a woman President; and that none of the 10 Presidents was from Balochistan, one of the four provinces in Pakistan.

Of the total 10 Presidents and four governor generals Pakistan has had so far, six were from Punjab, six from Sindh and two from the NWFP, but none from Balochistan, reported the Daily Times.

Going by castes, Pathans topped the list with four, followed closely by three Syeds, besides two Arains and one each from Rajput, Kashmiri, Gujjar, Jutt and Baloch (Leghari) communities.

Of these, four have been military dictators, added the paper.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the first governor general of Pakistan. After his death on September 11, 1948, Khawaja Nazimuddin became the second governor general on September 14, 1948.

Khawaja Nazimuddin, a Kashmiri by caste, was born in 1884 in Dhaka and moved to Karachi in 1947. Then came Malik Ghulam Mohammad on October 19, 1951, who served the country for four years. He was born in 1895 in Lahore and was a Kakazai Pathan. He was followed by Syed Iskandar Ali Mirza, who abolished the post of governor general, replacing it with two separate posts of president and army chief.

Mirza was born at Murshidabad on November 13, 1899, the eldest son of Sahibzada Syed Muhammad Fateh Ali Mirza, a prince of Murshidabad and grandson of Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan, the last Nawab of Bengal. He was removed by then army chief Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan, who remained the president until March 25, 1969.

Ayub Khan was born in Rehana village, Haripur, NWFP. He was from the Tareen tribe, the first child of the second wife of Mir Dad Khan, who was a Risaldar-Major. He was the first president to complete his five-year tenure. His successor was General Yahya Khan. Yahya Khan was born on February 4, 1917, in Chakwal, Punjab. Yahya Khan imposed the second martial law in the country.

After Pakistan broke up in 1971, he handed over the presidency to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on December 20, 1971. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the founder of the Pakistan People's Party, was born in Larkana, Sindh. By caste, he was an Arain. And was president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Fazal Elahi Chaudhry was born in 1904 in Gujrat, and was a Gujjar by caste. He became president on August 14, 1973.

In 1978 Gen Ziaul Haq took over the government in the country's third martial law. He was a Punjabi Arain. Ghulam Ishaq Khan took over after Zia's death in a plane crash on August 17, 1988. Ishaq Khan was born on January 20, 1915 in Bannu, NWFP.

In 1993, Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari became president. He was born on May 29, 1940 in Choti Zareen village, Dera Ghazi Khan.

Justice (Retd) Muhammad Rafiq Tarar was born on November 2, 1929 in Hafizabad, Punjab. He was elected president of Pakistan on December 31, 1997. He remained in office until 2001, despite the toppling of the government by Gen Pervez Musharraf in 1999.

Pervez Musharraf was the third President to complete five years of presidency. He belongs to Sindh and is Syed by caste.

ANI