Establishment of Pakistan I from 1947-71

BY :

Waseem Sadiq

Waseem.sadiq53@gmail.com

Lecture Establishment of Pakistan I from 1947-71

Creation of Pakistan and Role of Muslim Leadership

• Role of Quaid-i-Azam

• Iqbal and Pakistan Movement

• Choudhry Rahmat Ali

• Prominent Leaders of the Pakistan Movement

• Role of Women of the Pakistan Movement

• Role of Ulema and Mushaikh

• Now today’s lecture:Establishment of Pakistan I from 1947-71 (34 years)

Early Problems of Pakistan

• The emergence of Pakistan, after a long and difficult freedom movement, was actually a great victory of the democratic idea of life. The Indian Muslims happily and boldly laid down their lives and properties to achieve a destination in which they saw the fulfillment of their dreams of living an independent life free from Hindu and British dominance.

• From its very beginning, Pakistan faced a large number of problems. Some of the initial difficulties were :

Choice of Capital and Establishment of Government

• The first problem that Pakistan had to face was tochoose a capital to form a Government and toestablish a secretariat. Karachi was chosen as thecapital of Pakistan.

• Quaid-e-Azam took the office of the GovernorGeneral, Liaquat Ali Khan was appointed as PrimeMinister and a Cabinet of experienced persons wasselected. Arrangements were to be made to bring theofficials who had opted for Pakistan from Delhi toKarachi.

Unfair Boundary Distribution

• A boundary commission was set up under a British Chairman, Sir Cyril Redcliff. He misused his powers and handed over Muslims majority areas like Gurdaspur, Ferozpur and Junagadh to India hence providing them a gateway to Kashmir. Quaid-e-Azam called it an unjust, incomprehensible and even perverse award.

The Massacre of Muslim Refugees in India

• On the birth of Pakistan, Hindus and Sikhs becamemore violent. In a planned move, Muslimsproperties were set on fire and they werecompelled to leave India for Pakistan with nothingbut their lives.

• Millions of refugees were killed before they reachedPakistan. Many migrants were looted and had to beprovided boarding immediately as they reachedPakistan.

Division of Military and Financial Assets

• In order to embarrass Pakistan financially, India did a lot of enmity in the matters of Pakistan which were concerned with its benefits. Pakistan was promised to get Rs. 750 million but the Indian Government refused to give.

• Pakistan received only 200 million. Pakistan also did not receive the due share of the military assets. This dishonest attitude put Pakistan into great difficulties.

Canal Water Dispute

• Most of the rivers flowing in Pakistan have their origin in India. In 1948, India stopped water supply to Pakistani canals to damage the Pakistani agriculture. However on 9th September, 1960 an agreement called Indus Basin Treaty was signed between the two countries.

Kashmir Dispute

• Kashmir dispute is the most important and unsolved problem. Kashmir is the natural part of Pakistan because at the time of partition 85% of the Kashmir's total population was Muslim.

• The Hindu Dogra Rule, who was secretly with the Government of India, declared Kashmir as a part of India. Pakistan has continuously insisted that Kashmir must get their right of self determination but due to non-cooperation of India, Kashmir issue still remain unsolved.

Annexation of Princely States • All Indian princely states were given the right to link up

with either of states. However, the fate of some statesremained undecided. The Muslim Nawab governingJunagadh favored in acceding to Pakistan. But IndianGovernment sent Army troops towards Junagadh andoccupied the State by force in November, 1947.

• Hyderabad Deccan was the largest and richest stateruled by Muslim leader Nizam who decided to remainindependent. But pressure tactics began to the appliedby Indian Government and Mountbatten. Indiaattacked Hyderabad on 13th September 1948 andforcibly annexed this state to India.

Economic Problems • When Pakistan came into existence, it mostly consisted

of economically backward and underdeveloped areas.The agricultural system was obsolete and outdatedwhich added to the economic backwardness of theareas forming part of Pakistan. Before partition theHindus, with the blessings of the British Government,had acquired complete monopoly in trade andcommerce.

• The entire capital was in the hands of the Hindus.Unfortunately, the banks and other financialinstitutions were located in Indian territory. The majorindustries were also in those areas which were part ofIndia.

Cont.

• Besides these factors the technical experts andlaborers, who operated the industries, were allHindus because the Muslims extremely laggedbehind in education and financial capabilities.

• The insufficient system of transportation andcommunication also made its adverse affect oneconomic development of the country. The railwaysystem and river transportation in East Pakistan wasin depleted condition.

Cont.

• The roads were in shabby and irreparable condition.The communication and transportation system inWest Pakistan, comparatively, was in betterposition. The power resources in the two wingswere rare and small which were insufficient to meetthe national requirement.

Administrative Problems

• Pakistan came into being under the most terribleconditions. The Government of Pakistan could not getenough time to set up workable administrativemachinery because of the great difficulties created byCongress. The Indian Government adopted delayingstrategies in transferring the Government servants andofficial record which aggravated the situation.

• Therefore the immediate task before the nation was toestablish a workable administrative and Governmentmachinery to run the affairs of the newly born state.

Cont.

• The biggest administrative problem facing Pakistan wasthe acute shortage of competent and experiencedemployees in the Central and Provincial Governments.

• Furthermore, there weren't enough chairs, tables oreven stationary and paper pins for administrativepurposes. However, Quaid-e-Azam paid his immediateattention towards setting up of administrativemachinery and took a number of steps to overcomethe administrative problems of the new state.

Constitutional Problem

• At the time of establishment of Pakistan the Government of India Act 1935 became the working constitution of Pakistan with certain adaptions.

• But the need of a constitution framed by the elected representatives of the people was necessary for free people. So the first constituent assembly was formed and was given the task to frame the constitution for the country. But the constituent assembly failed to frame a constitution even in eight years.

CONT.

• Lack of a permanent constitution created chancesof corrupt interference in democratic progress ofPakistan.

• On the other hand, the constituent assemblyconferred extra ordinary powers on GovernorGeneral which afterwards led to futureconstitutional crisis.

Power Problem

• Due to transfer of Muslim majority areas to India and of unfair demarcation, electricity system of West Punjab was disrupted, because all power stations were at Mundi, a predominantly Muslim majority area, gifted to Bharat.

First democratic era (1947–1958)

• The first government of Pakistan was headed by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and it chose the seaport of Karāchi as its capital. Jinnah, considered the founder of Pakistan and welcomed as the Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader), became head of state as Governor-General.

• The government faced many challenges in setting up new economic, judicial, and political structures. It tried to organize the bureaucracy and the armed forces, resettle the Mohajirs (Muslim refugees from India), and establish the distribution and balance of power in the provincial and central governments. Before the government could overcome these difficulties, Jinnah died in September 1948.

Cont.

• In foreign policy, Liaquat Ali Khan established friendlyrelations with the United States and visited USA in1950.

• Pakistan’s early foreign policy was one ofnonalignment, with no formal commitment to eitherthe United States or the Union of Soviet SocialistRepublics (USSR), the two major adversaries in the ColdWar.

• In 1953, however, Pakistan aligned itself with theUnited States and accepted military and economicassistance.

From 1948-54

• Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated in 1951. KhwajaNazimuddin, an East Pakistani who had succeededJinnah as governor-general, became Prime Minister.

• Ghulam Muhammad became Governor-General.Nazimuddin tried to limit the powers of the governor-general through amendments to the Government ofIndia Act of 1935, under which Pakistan was governedpending the adoption of a constitution.

• Ghulam Muhammad dismissed Nazimuddin andreplaced him with Muhammad Ali Bogra, Pakistan’sambassador to the United States, who subsequentlywas elected president of the Muslim League.

Cont.

• In the 1954 provincial elections in East Pakistan, theMuslim League was routed by the United Frontcoalition, which supported provincial autonomy.

• The coalition was dominated by the Awami League.However, Ghulam Muhammad imposed governor’s rulein the province, preventing the United Front fromtaking power in the provincial government.

• After the constituent assembly tried to control theGovernor-General’s power, Ghulam Muhammaddeclared a state of emergency and dissolved theassembly.

From 1955-58

• A new constituent assembly was indirectly elected in mid-1955 by the various provincial legislatures. The Muslim League, although still the largest party, was no longer dominant as more parties, including those of the United Front coalition, gained representation.

• Bogra, who had little support in the new assembly, was replaced by Chaudhri Muhammad Ali, a former civil servant in West Pakistan and a member of the Muslim League. At the same time, General Iskander Mirzabecame Governor-General.

Cont.

• The new constituent assembly enacted a bill, which became effective in October 1955, integrating the four West Pakistani provinces into one political and administrative unit, known as the One Unit.

• This change was considered to give West Pakistan equality with the more populous East Pakistan in the national legislature. The assembly also produced Pakistan’s first constitution, which was adopted on March 23, 1956.

Cont.

• It provided for a unicameral (single-chamber) National Assembly with 300 seats, evenly divided between East and West Pakistan.

• It also officially designated Pakistan an Islamic republic. According to its provisions, Mirza’s title changed from Governor-General to President.

• Unstable Parliamentary Democracy

Cont.• The new charter not bearing political instability

continued because no stable majority party emerged in the National Assembly.

• Prime Minister Ali remained in office only until September 1956, when he was unable to retain his majority in the National Assembly and was succeeded by Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, founder of the Awami League of East Pakistan.

• He formed a coalition cabinet that included the AwamiLeague and the Republican Party of the West Wing, a new party that was formed by rebel members of the Muslim League.

Cont.

• However, President Mirza forced Suhrawardy to resign after he discovered that the prime minister was planning to support Firoz Khan Noon, leader of the Republican Party, for the presidency in the country’s first general elections, scheduled for January 1959.

• The succeeding coalition government, headed by Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar of the Muslim League, lasted only two months before it was replaced by a Republican Party cabinet under Noon.

Cont.

• President Mirza, realizing he had no chance of being reelected president and openly dissatisfied with parliamentary democracy, proclaimed martial law on October 7, 1958.

• He dismissed Noon’s government, dissolved the National Assembly, and canceled the scheduled general elections. Mirza was supported by General Muhammad Ayub Khan, commander in chief of the army, who was named chief martial-law administrator.

• Twenty days later Ayub forced the president to resign and assumed the presidency himself.

First military era (1958–1971):The Ayub Years 1958-69

• President Ayub ruled Pakistan almost absolutely fora little more than ten years. Although his regimemade some notable achievements, it did noteliminate the basic problems of Pakistani society.

• Ayub’s regime increased developmental funds toEast Pakistan more than threefold. This had anoticeable effect on the economy of the province,but the disparity between the two wings of Pakistanwas not eliminated.

Cont.

• His regime also initiated land reforms designed to reduce the political power of the landed aristocracy. Ayub also publicized a progressive Islamic law, the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961, imposing restrictions on polygamy and divorce and reinforcing the inheritance rights of women and minors.

• He also implemented constitution of 1962

Presidential Republic (1962-1969)

• In 1959, soon after taking office, Ayub ordered the planning and construction of a new national capital, to replace Karachi. The chosen location of the new capital in the province of Punjab was close to the military headquarters of Rawalpindi which served as an interim capital. Islamabad officially became the new capital in 1967, although construction continued into the 1970s.

• Perhaps the most important of Ayub’s changes, was his introduction of a new political system, known as the Basic Democracies, in 1959

Cont.

• A new constitution promulgated by Ayub in 1962 ended theperiod of martial law. The new, 156-member NationalAssembly was elected that year by an electoral college of120,000 Basic Democrats from the union councils.

• The presidential election of January 1965, also determinedby electoral college rather than direct vote, resulted in avictory for Ayub, although opposition parties were allowedto participate.

• Ayub was skillful in maintaining cordial relations with theUnited States, stimulating substantial economic andmilitary aid to Pakistan.

Cont.

• This relationship declined in 1965, when another war with India broke out over Kashmīr. The United States then suspended military and economic aid to both countries.

• The USSR interfered to mediate the conflict, inviting Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri of India to meet in Tashkent. By the terms of the so-called Tashkent Agreement of January 1966, the two countries pull out their forces to prewar positions and restored diplomatic, economic, and trade relations.

Cont.

• The Tashkent Agreement and the Kashmīr war,however, generated frustration among the people andresentment against President Ayub.

• Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who opposedPakistan’s policy regarding war, resigned his positionand founded the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) inopposition to the Ayub regime.

• Ayub tried unsuccessfully to make compensations, Butpublic protests started and he declared martial law andresigned in March 1969.

Martial law in Pakistan : Yahya Regime from 1969 -1971

• Instead of transferring power to the speaker of the National Assembly, as the constitution dictated, he handed it over to the commander in chief of the army, General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, who was the designated martial-law administrator. Yahyathen assumed the presidency.

• This way Ayub period ended and Yahya regime started in 1969

Cont.

• In an attempt to make his martial-law regime moreacceptable, Yahya dismissed almost 300 senior civilservants and identified 32 families that were said tocontrol about half of Pakistan’s gross national product.

• To control their power Yahya issued an ordinanceagainst monopolies and restrictive trade practices in1970. He also committed to the return of constitutionalgovernment and announced the country would hold itsfirst general election on the basis of universal adultfranchise in late 1970.(Every adult rich or poor irrespective of theirreligion caste or education , religion , color , race , economic conditions isfree to vote. Universal Adult Franchise is based on the concept of equality.)

Cont.• Yahya determined that representation in the National

Assembly would be based on population. In July 1970he abolished the One Unit, thereby restoring theoriginal four provinces in West Pakistan.

• As a result, East Pakistan emerged as the largestprovince of the country, while in West Pakistan theprovince of Punjab emerged as the dominant province.East Pakistan was allocated 162 seats in the 300-seatNational Assembly, and the provinces of West Pakistanwere allocated a total of 138.

Civil War

• Yahya opened negotiations with Mujib in Dhaka in mid-March, but the effort soon failed. Meanwhile Pakistan’s army went into action against Mujib’s civilian followers, who demanded that East Pakistan become independent as the nation of Bangladesh.

• The Awami League leaders took refuge in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and established a government in exile. India finally intervened on December 3, 1971, and the Pakistani army surrendered 13 days later. East Pakistan declared its independence as Bangladesh.

Summary

• Early Problems of Pakistan• Choice of Capital and Establishment of Government • Unfair Boundary Distribution• The Massacre of Muslim Refugees in India• Division of Military and Financial Assets• Canal Water Dispute• Kashmir Dispute• Annexation of Princely States• Economic Problems

Cont.

• Administrative Problems• Constitutional Problem • Power Problem• First democratic era 1947–1958• History From 1947-48• From 1948-54• First military era:The Ayub Years 1958-69• Presidential republic (1962-1969)• Yahya Regime From 1969-71

Quotation

All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the

individual.Albert Einstein

Thank you