Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq - Early Life

Early Life

Zia was born in Jalandhar, Punjab state of the British Indian Empire, on 12 August 1924 to a middle-class family, as the second child of Muhammad Akbar, who worked as a staff clerk in the Army GHQ of India Command of British Armed Forces in Delhi and Simla, prior to the partition of Pakistan from British colonial rule in 1947.

He completed his initial education in Simla and then attended St. Stephen's College in Delhi for his graduate degree. After graduation from St. Xavier College, prior to his graduation, Zia joined the British Indian Army in 1943.

He married Shafiqa Jahan in 1950–51.

Shafiqa Zia died on 5 January 1996. Zia is survived by his sons, Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq, (born 1953), who went into politics and became a cabinet minister in the government of Nawaz Sharif, and Anwar-ul-Haq (born 1950) and his daughters, Zian (also Zain) (born 1972), a special needs child, and Rubina Salim, who is married to a Pakistani banker and has been living in the United States since 1980, and daughter Quratulain Zia who currently lives in London, and is married to Pakistani doctor, Adnan Majid.

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