During General Zia's regime he again played a key role in opposing the military regime. He helped establish Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), an alliance of opposition parties which included the Pakistan Peoples Party. He spearheaded a movement against the military government as the Chairman of MRD's "Pakistan Bachao "(Save Pakistan )Committee. The resulting agitation caused widespread commercial disruption in Sindh and parts of Punjab and but was brutally suppressed by the army at a cost of many lives. It was only after Zia's death did democracy finally return to Pakistan.