Ayub Khan's era is known for the industrialization in the country. He created an environment where the private sector was encouraged to establish medium and small-scale industries in Pakistan. This opened up avenues for new job opportunities and thus the economic graph of the country started rising. He also tried to raise the education standards of the country by introducing educational reforms. He was the first Pakistani ruler who attempted to bring in land reforms but the idea was not implemented properly. Labor, law and administrative reforms were also introduced during his regime. Ayub Khan also initiated Family Laws in the country. He planned a new city and moved the capital from Karachi to Islamabad in 1962.
Every thing was moving in the right direction for Ayub Khan till the start of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. The performance of the Pakistani army was good but the war caused a rapid decline of the country's economy. He is also criticized his role at the Tashkent Declaration. Many believe that he negated the victory on the battlefield with a defeat at the negotiating table. His right-hand man, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also turned against him and launched his own party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, with the aim to remove Ayub from power. The Awami League under Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman started propagating his rule as pro West Pakistan and claimed that his policies had snatched away the Bengali's rights. The rest of the political parties formed an alliance, the Democratic Action Committee, with a one-point agenda, i.e. the removal of Ayub Khan's government.
In addition, Ayub's policies of concentrating political power in his own hands, his control over the press and media, imposing state of emergency in the country, and his interference in religion were also responsible for his downfall. Adding insult to injury, Ayub Khan decided to celebrate a decade of his rule in 1968 and made exaggerated claims about the development in the country.