WHY DID EAST PAKISTAN SEEK AND THEN FORM THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF BANGLADESH

Introduction

The 1940 Lahore Resolution demanded:

•  Muslim majority regions as in the north-west and eastern zone of India should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.
• Now Bengali Muslims believed that when independence came there would be an autonomous state centre in Bengal
• In 1946, the word ‘states’ became ‘state’
• And in 1947, Bengal was partitioned again, Calcutta (the financial hub) was gone to India and East Bengalis were governed from Karachi which was over 1000 miles away.

Social and cultural disparity

• Urdu spoken by 6% of population, Bengali by 56%
• Some in West Pakistan considered their culture to be superior to that of East Pakistan

Economic disparity

• Trade with West Bengal had  been cut off since 1947
• Calcutta part of India now
• More than twice as much foreign aid and capital investment went to West Pakistan as East Pakistan
• Bengalis believed their earnings from trade in jute were used in West Pakistan
• Per capita income rose in West Pakistan, declined in East Pakistan; by 1970 East Pakistan was 40% poorer than West Pakistan
• Largest spending by the government was on defense to protect the border with India; mostly the border with West Pakistan
• Very less spending on health and education in East Pakistan

Political disparity

• East Pakistan was almost always ruled by West  Pakistani elites
• Less than 20% military officers  were  from East Pakistan
• High level posts in Dhaka were filled by West  Pakistanis or refugees from India who had become Pakistani citizens

General Yahya Khan

• Commander in Chief of the Army and the Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA)
• He announced: (a) Basic Democracy failed (b) There would be a properly elected government (c) One Unit System was a failure (so there should be a return of provincial government)

• One Unit Plan annulled (Pakistan’s 4 provinces re-established)
• The 1962 Constitution annulled
• Yahya was committed to bringing democracy to Pakistan based on ‘one man, one vote’
• From  January 1970 political activity resumed
• The proposed National Assembly was to have 300 members
• The Assembly would have 120 days (4 months) to draw up a new constitution
• 3 days after the National Assembly elections there would be provincial elections
• Elections were to be held in October 1970 (due to a natural calamity they were held on 7 December 1970)

The 1970 cyclone

• On 12 Nov 1970, East Pakistan was hit by the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded leaving 500,000 dead
• West Pakistan was slow to react
• This attitude made sentiments of people in East Pakistan very high against the West Pakistan
• Elections were held just weeks after the cyclone (it meant  election results would be influenced by this incident)

Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman’s Six Points

1. The Constitution should provide for a Federation of Pakistan in its true sense on the Lahore Resolution, and the parliamentary form of government with supremacy of a Legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise.
2. The federal government should deal with only two subjects: Defence and Foreign Affairs, and all other residuary subjects shall be vested in the federating states.
3. Two separate, but freely convertible currencies for two wings should be introduced; or if this is not feasible, there should be one currency for the whole country, but effective constitutional provisions should be introduced to stop the flight of capital from East to West Pakistan. Furthermore, a separate Banking Reserve should be established, and separate fiscal and monetary policy be adopted for East Pakistan.
4. The power of taxation and revenue collection shall be vested in the federating units and the federal centre will have no such power on the issue. The federation will be entitled to a share in the state taxes to meet its expenditures.
5. There should be two separate accounts for the foreign exchange earnings of the two wings; the foreign exchange requirements of the federal government should be met by the two wings equally or in a ratio to be fixed; indigenous products should move free of duty between the two wings, and the Constitution should empower the units to establish trade links with foreign countries.
6. East Pakistan should have a separate militia or paramilitary force.

Monetary policy is a modification of the supply of money, i.e. “printing” more money, or decreasing the money supply by changing interest rates or removing excess reserves. This is in contrast to fiscal policy, which relies on taxation, government spending, and government borrowing as methods for a government to manage business cycle phenomena such as recessions.

Problematic results

• Main parties: the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Pakistan people’s Party led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
• Awami League won: 160 of 162 seats for NA (all in East Pakistan)
• PPP won: 81 of 138 seats for NA (all in West Pakistan)
• The Awami League had contested the election on a manifesto calling for political and economic independence for East Pakistan. The League would have a (simple) majority in the National Assembly enough to form the government on its own. Yahya did not want to allow the traditional domination of West to be overturned
• Yahya and the West Pakistani politicians were not prepared to allow the Six Points to be put into action; Mujib believed they were negotiable. However, he had little chance to explain this.

The crisis deepens

• In February 1971, Bhutto announced that the PPP would not take up their seats in the National Assembly unless Mujib talked with the other parties and reached an agreement about power sharing
• On 1 March 1971, just 2 days before it was due to meet, Yahya was forced to postpone the opening of the Assembly without setting a new date
• The people of East Pakistan considered that they had been betrayed by Yahya and immediately began a campaign of mass civil disobedience, strikes, demonstrations and refusal to pay taxes
• When it became clear that the power of the central government had broken down in East Pakistan, Yahya recalled the provincial governor and appointed General Tikka Khan as Chief Martial law Administrator and the Governor (all it meant was a military solution to a political problem).
• From 15 to 25 March, Yahya and Bhutto met Mujib as the last resort, but no agreement was reached

Operation Searchlight

• Military operation began against the Awami League on 25/26 March; Bengali intelligentsia, academics and Hindus were treated with extreme harshness
• Mujib was arrested, thousands of Bengalis were murdered
• Press censorship was imposed, all political activity throughout Pakistan was banned
• On 26 March Bengalis announced in a secret radio broadcast from Dhaka the formation of the Sovereign People’s Republic of Bangladesh
• Yahya’s measures were supported by all political parties in West Pakistan and Bhutto claimed that Pakistan has been saved. Rather than being saved the reality was millions of Bengali refugees were fleeing across the border to India and civil war was now inevitable
• On 31 March India declared its support for the people of Bengal against West Pakistan

Pakistan versus India

• The Indian Army began to help and train a rebel Bengali Army, which called itself Mukti Bahini. As a result, relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated rapidly.
• By early April army had gained control of most of the major towns
• In August 1971, the Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce with India. All it meant was a Soviet promise of help for India if it went to war with Pakistan
• Pakistan’s own allies China and the USA were much less keen to be involved; they urge Yahya to negotiate an agreement with the Awami League
• Yahya believed that army could handle the situation and he could win any war with India
• On 21 November, the Mukti Baini launched an offensive on Jessore and captured the town.
• Yahya declared a state of emergency and told his people to be ready for war
• In response, the Indians began to build up their forces on the East Pakistan border.
• On 29 November, the Awami League announced the members of its provisional government

War with India

• On 3 December, Pakistan Airforce launched attacks on north India
• On 4 December India attacked East Pakistan from air, ground and sea simultaneously
• 2 days later (6 December) India official recognized Bangladeshi government
• Within 2 weeks the Indian forces had surrounded Dhaka
• The Pakistan Army tried to divert the Indian army from East Pakistan by launching attacks in Kashmir and Punjab, but they were not very successful
• Whilst the fighting was going on, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) had been trying to find a solution to stop the war
• Bhutto attended UNSC session on behalf of Yahya Khan, on 15 December but refused to accept any of the 2 proposals and left the session.
• On 16 December Yahya accepted defeat and ordered the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan to surrender
• In Dhaka Mukti Bahini carried out massacres of anyone suspected of having collaborated with the Pakistan Army
• It is also alleged that in the final days before surrender the Pakistan Army wiped out large numbers of professional Bengalis to weaken the new country and make it less of a rival to Pakistan
• 93000 soldiers were taken as prisoners of war in spite of being well supplied for at least a month

Consequences of the war

• Defeat brought disgrace for the army and for Yahya
• On 20 December he was forced to resign and the Pakistan Army placed Bhutto as the President and (the civilian) Chief Martial Law Administrator
• On 21 December 1971 the Republic of Bangladesh was officially declared an two weeks later Bhutto released Mujib from prison
• He returned to Bangladesh where on 10 January 1971, he became the country’s first Prime Minister.

• Why did Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman present his Six Points? [7]

The Awami League and its East Pakistani supporters believed their province was not politically and economically independent. They complained that although they were a majority in the Constituent Assembly, Governor Generals and Prime Ministers were nearly always from West Pakistan. This was also true of appointments to senior positions in the armed forces (less than 20% of officers were from East Pakistan), to senior government positions and to posts in the civil service. Even high level posts in Dhaka were usually filled by West Pakistanis or refugees from India who had become Pakistani citizens.

The Bengalis also believed that West Pakistan’s economic growth had taken place as a result of transferring resources from East to West Pakistan. They argued that the single largest Pakistani export was jute, which was grown in East Pakistan. Whereas perhaps the largest spending by the government was on defense to protect the border with India. Since most of the border between the two countries lay in West Pakistan, some East Pakistanis considered that spending on the army was really to protect West Pakistan. There was no major border dispute between East Pakistan and India.

With regard to these arguments, Sheikh Mujib wanted to resolve the political problem through a directly elected government (formed by an election using universal adult franchise (suffrage)). To stop the supposed flow of resources, he demanded separate financial policies, separate reserve banks, and maximum provincial autonomy to the extent of freedom to sign their own trade agreements with other countries. Sheikh Mujib’s 6 Points were also endorsed by the Lahore Resolution of 1940 which demanded two sovereign states in India rather than just one. Precisely, the Six Points were calling for a loose federation with East Pakistan as one of the federating units.

• How was the Awami League able to win such a huge victory in the 1970 elections? [7]

The Awami League was able to win support by proposing a programme which called for a fairer share of government spending and more power to the provinces. It was able to exploit the sense of frustration felt by the people in East Pakistan towards their Muslim countrymen in West Pakistan. It won their huge victory by campaigning on the basis of the Six Points.

Another credit of this victory goes to Gen. Yahya Khan who all of a sudden attempted to bring democracy back to the country by announcing elections on the basis of direct vote for the very first time in Pakistan since independence.

Apart from the social, cultural, political and economic disparity, the tropical cyclone of November 1970 also influenced election results. This cyclone claimed 500,000 lives. The slow response from the central government for relief operations further pushed East Pakistanis towards Sheikh Mujib’s agenda. Indian reaction to the catastrophe in terms of relief operations created a soft image of India in East Pakistan while anti-West Pakistan sentiments ran high.     

• Why did the victory of the Awami League cause a constitutional crisis? [7]

The reaction of the West Pakistani (military) establishment to the 1970 election results showed how incompetent and naïve they were in terms of politics and governance. When Yahya Khan allocated 162 seats to East Pakistan and 138 seats to West Pakistan, did he ever anticipate this situation in which East Pakistanis would be able to form a government on their own without sharing power with West Pakistanis in the Cabinet? Why had the Yahya Khan regime not presented a power sharing formula between East and West Pakistan when elections were announced for the country? Yahya Khan and Bhutto were struck by surprise when they saw the election results, which was so wrong. If no power sharing formula had been decided earlier, why it was being imposed upon Sheikh Mujib? If 6 Points were unacceptable why Mujib was allowed to contest the elections in the first place when he had made these points his election manifesto?

Yahya Khan had realized how big blunder he had made by announcing elections without any constitution to guide the formation of government. As per his plan the new Assembly would form the new constitution. This was very illogical rather nonsensical; because the new Assembly itself was going to become problematic.

No doubt, Mujib’s Six Points were scary and damaging to the federation of Pakistan. They were calling for political and economic independence for East Pakistan, in other words they were giving partial independence to East Pakistan, they were also going to begin a never ending tussle between both wings / provinces as they would weaken West Pakistan defense against India when East Pakistan was perhaps signing trade agreements with our archrival simultaneously. In other words, if Six Points were put into action, East Pakistan might have had good relations with India while India would still be unfriendly towards West Pakistan.

However, Yahya and West Pakistani politicians had not realized that Awami League could not have formed a constitution on its own with 160 seats in the Assembly. Therefore fears of a constitution which would allow separation of East Pakistan or weakening of federation were baseless. The most important reason was that they were not willing to accept a powerful Bengali Prime Minister and a Bengali Cabinet. Ayub and Yahya had ruled Bengal for 13 years but their comrades were not ready to live under Bengali rule for a single day!

• Why did civil war break out in East Pakistan? [7]

The most important reason was that there was an extremely incompetent leadership imposed upon Pakistan in the form of General Yahya Khan. Pakistan Army was directly responsible for this as it was providing the backing to this martial law regime.

Before Yahya Khan, there was another military general, Ayub Khan who did not allow the country to have democracy in 1958 when he illegally usurped power and imposed his own constitution which negated fundamental human rights to the people. Because of Ayub Khan’s recessive policies, election rigging in the 1964-65 elections, East Pakistan had been totally cornered. The martial law regime’s anti-East Pakistan measures fanned separatism among Bengalis which gave rise to Mujib’s 6 Points. Then Ayub’s mishandling of Mujib turned him into a national leader from a less popular figure.

Finally, when the military establishment and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto decided to reject election results of 1970 elections with an excuse of Mujib’s 6 Points and imposition of some power sharing formula, it made the people of East Pakistan believe that West Pakistan was not willing to give them their due rights. Operation Searchlight put the last nail in the coffin of united Pakistan. East Pakistanis were thus forced into a civil war, as they did not see a better option. At the same time, Indian role cannot be ignored; India fully exploited the situation against Pakistan by training a rebel force of Mukti Bahini as well as supplying necessary equipment for  full fledge civil war.

• Why did India want to go to war with Pakistan in 1971? [7]

There’s no doubt that India wanted to go to war with Pakistan because the relations between the two countries had been at low ebb and perhaps India wanted to take a revenge of what happened in 1965. Interestingly both times, in 1965 and 1971, Pakistan was under a military dictator. In other words, both military dictators worked to worsen the relations between the two countries instead of improving them. India supported the East Pakistani rebels because it was not a friendly nation.

India had also realized that Pakistan was led by weak leadership which had little acceptance among the people, especially in East Pakistan. Perhaps Indians had also identified the weak areas of Pakistan Army from the 1965 War that almost all Pakistani advance and defense was concentrated in the West Pakistan and East Pakistan was almost unguarded. Therefore when a full scale war began, India neutralized Pakistan Airforce and Navy in East Pakistan and when the army surrendered on 16 December 1971, it was just 90,000 strong, which is a question mark for military leadership in West Pakistan.

India was led by a shrewd politician, Indira Gandhi, who had outclassed Pakistani foreign policy makers by signing a treaty with the USSR against Pakistan and by making sure that China and USA were not coming to support Pakistan in an event of war.

In short, India was quite confident to win a war in 1971 against Pakistan as they believed Pakistan was ruled by incompetent and ineffective rulers who were bound to lose.

• Why did Pakistan Army surrender to Indian Army in 1971? [7]

First of all, we know that surrendering on 16 December 1971 was not the decision of the commander of the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan. Rather it was the decision of the Commander in Chief and the President of Pakistan who was based in West Pakistan. It meant that Yahya made this decision based on the reports coming from East Pakistan by the Pakistan Army sources. And Yahya making this decision also meant that he had lost hope for any success in the war.

He knew that Chinese and Americans were not willing to extend any help unlike India which was being aided by the Soviet Union diplomatically and with material support also.

Secondly, the public opinion in East Pakistan was in favour of the Awami League and against the West Pakistani establishment, army in particular. And it had happened because a political problem was mishandled by military generals who had no idea how to resolve such issues. Operation Searchlight had diminished all hopes of reconciliation with the Awami League. The military operation transformed a political movement into Bengali nationalist movement which forced the army to admit that it was not able to fight the people.

Thirdly, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s role was too negative and full of suspicions. It seems he did not want to resolve this issue. He probably facilitated the fall of Dhaka for his ambitions to come true as the ruler of West Pakistan. It was obvious that if East Pakistan had not broken off, Bhutto would never have become the most influential figure in the country. He’s the person directly getting benefited from the crisis and the tragedy!

Fourthly, there was a general incompetence on part of the army and its intelligence as well as the martial law administration. They did not know how to treat people and how to do politics. They just imposed themselves upon people by the backing of military and tried to dictate the masses with an iron fist like the British colonials did. They had forgotten in their arrogance that they were not equal to the British colonials of India in might and intelligence both.

• Do you agree that defeat in the war meant Yahya had to resign? [7]

Defeat in the war meant Pakistan Army had failed. It hadn’t only lost in the battlefield but it lost on the political front also. The army had been disgraced. It had no moral courage to face the nation. It had to go in the background and replace its leadership by some civilian figure, at least for a while. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the perfect choice for that.

Bhutto was basically trained as a politician by the quarters of military under Iskander Mirza and then Ayub Khan. He also seemed to be the favourite of Gen. Yahya Khan as he was sent to East Pakistan by Yahya to negotiate with Mujib. He was also sent to the United Nations Security Council in December 1971 by Yahya to represent Pakistan.

Defeat in the war also meant that there were 93000 prisoners of war in the Indian custody that needed to be brought home, as they were adding disgrace to the army and the country with every passing day. The army did not want to send a general to negotiate with Indians over this matter. They needed a civilian to do this job for them. It happened to be Bhutto who signed the Simla Agreement in 1972.

• Do you agree that Pakistan lost the 1971 civil war because of Indian intervention? Give reason for your answer. [14]

No doubt, the stated reason is very important as due to Indian intervention East Pakistani rebels were able to receive training and military equipment. However, it should also be noted that India got involved in this matter because of Pakistan’s poor relations with this neighbouring country. Military regimes in Pakistan since 1958 believed Pakistan could prosper by maintaining poor relations with India in the name of Kashmir, they were wrong. Events in 1971 proved that they were wrong. Had Pakistan and India had good relations, India would never have got involved in this issue.

Here we may ask a question. If India had not been involved in this matter, would the Awami League have been able to liberate East Pakistan? This is debatable. Theoretically, Pakistan Army would be able to maintain order in East Pakistan, rebellion would be crushed no doubt. Later on confidence building measures could be restarted. But the impact of denial of due rights to the east and that of the military operation would be long lasting. People of East Pakistan were gifted with political awareness and a passion of Bengali nationalism against Punjabi establishment. They would no more accept West Pakistani domination with an ease.

We could not also ignore the fact that people in East Pakistan had a sense of social, political and economic disparity with West Pakistan. They had started believing that they did not belong to West Pakistan at all. If religion was a uniting factor, then it existed with other parts in the world also in other Muslim countries. Religion alone was not enough to form a nation state in the modern world. The momentum and political heat in East Pakistan which began from Operation Searchlight was most likely to continue until a logical end was met.

On the battle ground there was an important factor going against Pakistan’s armed forces and it was the distance of over 1000 miles between east and west. This distance was affecting troop’s mobilization and their supplies. Fighting an armed resistance is not an easy job. It requires a strong economy to continue with such efforts in a civil war. Given the fact that Pakistan did not have an impressive economy in 1971, it was likely that Pakistan would lose the civil war in the end.

However, most importantly, it was Indian intervention which made things happen very fast, and Pakistan lost the war. Therefore I agree with the stated reason only partially that Indian intervention caused this failure.

• Operation Searchlight was justified. Do you agree? Explain your answer. [14]

Operation Searchlight was a military operation launched on 25 March 1971 which claimed lives of thousands of Bengalis who were considered a threat to the integrity of Pakistan by the then military government of General Yahya Khan.

From the perspective of the civilised world, it was totally unacceptable because of its legality, scale (thousands of people who were allegedly noncombatants killed), impact (it led to a civil war) and moral justification (a military force can’t be used against citizens of the same country). People targeted in the operation were considered traitors who were working on foreign (Indian) agenda. At this point, the question arises who gave the right to the military government for declaring who was loyal and who was not. If some people were involved in sedition, were they put on trial? If some of them were put on trial, would they be declared as Indian agents? Military operation against civilians also meant that there was no rule of law or the judicial system had failed. If it was true, did Yahya Khan’s government have any justification to exist any further? How come an incompetent and failed government decides that political opposition maybe handled with a military force?

We read that almost all West Pakistani politicians including Bhutto supported Operation Searchlight. The question is if approval from rival politicians could legalise oppression? Were rival politicians equal to judicial system?

Sheikh Mujib had won the election and achieved simple majority. He had all the right to form a government. Yahya’s and Bhutto’s efforts to stop him from doing so were not less than a crime.

The heated political atmosphere could be neutralized through a grand political dialogue between the East and West. West and East Pakistani politicians must have intervened and reached a workable solution to the crisis. Foreign ministry needed to be active and send their missions to talk to the Indian government, even the Soviet leadership so as to stop hostilities. Press and media censorship would be lifted so that common Pakistanis in both wings could be involved in peace keeping efforts. There would be no need of any military option then.

To give a fair analysis, I would also look at the possibility where this operation could be justified. This is true that Sheikh Mujib and his Awami League had publicly displayed themselves as separatists especially when Yahya Khan postponed the inauguration session of the elected Assembly. This behavior could not be expected from a seasoned politician like Mujib especially after winning such a landslide victory in East Pakistan. He must have given another chance and more time to the military government, as by law he deserved to be the Prime Minister of the united Pakistan. But he hurriedly cut off relations with the federation and began his campaign of noncooperation and civil disobedience which was bound to cause violence. Under these circumstances the military government was not left with many options.

If you ask my opinion, I shall never condone the use of military force against own countrymen. It was so unfortunate that East Pakistanis were treated as General Dyer treated Indians in the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre. Actually General Dyer did not kill his own countrymen but General Yahya/Tikka Khan did something worse, they killed their own countrymen after branding them as traitors.

How far did Pakistan achieve stability following the death of Jinnah?

What authority did the Governor General have under the Indian Independence Act?

Under the Indian Independence Act 1947, the Governor General (of Pakistan or India) was the representative of the Crown (British monarch) and he had control over the entire field of government activity, but under the control of the Cabinet which included the Prime Minister as well as other Ministers.

What authority did the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan have under the Indian Independence Act?

Under the Indian Independence Act 1947, the Constituent Assembly had complete legislative (law making) authority as well as the authority to make a new Constitution.

How was the Governor General able to assert more power in Pakistan?

What was the Basic Principles Committee? [4]

The Constituent Assembly had set up a team of 25 members out of 80 members   of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.  The Committee was to decide the principles on which the new constitution should be based. Its findings were contained in a document called the Objectives Resolution.

Explain why the Basic Principles Commission might have wanted to include each of the six points in the Objectives Resolution? [7]

The references to Islam were placed in the Objectives Resolution because of the ideology of this country which is the Two Nation Theory, which meant the country was created in the name of religion, Islam. It was also to counter the criticism of the ulama that the new government had not made Pakistan a proper Islamic state with a constitution based on shariat.

Religious freedom for all and protection of minorities is also guaranteed by Islam within an Islamic state. Besides, these were promised by Quaid-e-Azam also.

Before independence, people were denied many fundamental rights which the independent Pakistan must provide.

In a colonized nation or under a dictatorship, judiciary is under the influence of the government. The Basic Principles Commission ensured that Pakistan’s new constitution should provide independent judiciary.

What was PRODA? [4]

In 1949 the Public and Representative Office Disqualification Act (PRODA) allowed the government to disqualify persons found guilty of “misconduct,” a term that acquired a broad definition. It was often misused by the ruling elite to silence the voice of the opposition.

Was PRODA a good or bad law for Pakistan? [4]

PRODA would have been good if it had not been misused or at least it had been used by some independent state institution instead of personalities.

Problems arose when nominated (unelected) Governors and Governor Generals like Ghulam Muhammad used it inappropriately causing Constitutional crises. Pakistan suffered from political instability when Prime Ministers and other officials were dismissed through misuse of PRODA.

Prime Ministers like Nazimuddin and Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy were ousted.

Civilian dictatorship under PRODA led to military dictatorship which ended up breaking Pakistan in 1971.

Therefore I would say that PRODA was bad for Pakistan as it represented the colonial mindset which denied fundamental human rights and democracy to the people of Pakistan.

Why was much criticism made on the first report of the Basic Principles Committee? [7]

East Pakistan had a much larger population than West Pakistan and rejected the idea of equal representation in the National Assembly. The East Pakistanis also resented having to accept Urdu as the official language, at the expense of Bengali.

Provincial politicians objected to the power being given to the Head of State (President) and to the Federal (Central) Government.

Religious groups complained that the Constitution was not sufficiently Islamic.

What was Rawalpindi Conspiracy? [4]

Some army officers unhappy with the government began to plan a coup to take over the government in 1951. It is called the ‘Rawalpindi Conspiracy’. The perpetrators (conspirators) were arrested, tried and imprisoned. Amongst them was Major General Akbar Khan, Chief of General Staff, and 14 other officers.

How the revised Report of the Basic Principles Committee (in 1952) was a good chance of bringing the country to the right track? [7]

The Revised Report of the Basic Principles Committee in 1952 was introducing parliamentary democracy to the country which meant there were two houses (an upper and a lower house), the Cabinet was to be responsible to the National Assembly (the lower house), not the Head of State. According to the report, the official language issue would be settled by the Assembly.

If the Constituent Assembly and other politicians had agreed to these proposals, Pakistan could have got to the road to democracy at the right time. We could have avoided the negative roles of Governor Generals Ghulam Muhammad, Iskander Mirza and Commander-in-Chief Ayub Khan which led to the breakup of this country in 1971, and collapse of the economy too.

Democracy came too late in 1973; 26 years after independence.

Why did Khwaja Nazimuddin step down from Governor Generalship? [7]

After Liaquat Ali Khan’s assassination, Khwaja Nazimuddin, the then Governor General was asked to step down and assume the position of the Prime Minister which he accepted. Ghulam Muhammad, the Finance Minister in the Cabinet, replaced him and became the Governor General.

It is not clear why it happened. However, a general opinion is that Ghulam Muhammad was chosen for this post because he was more assertive and could exercise vice regal powers. Despite his unconstitutional and controversial decisions, he was not dismissed by the British monarch.

Why was Khwaja Nazimuddin dismissed as Prime Minister? [7]

From 1951 to 1953 there was a severed drought in Pakistan. This affected food production and in February 1953, severe food shortages led to rioting in most cities throughout Pakistan. The government was not well-placed to deal with these shortages.

During the Korean War, there had been increased demand for Pakistan’s jute and cotton, to supply the thousands of soldiers involved in fighting but by 1953 demand had declined. This meant that Pakistan making less money just when it needed to buy more foodstuffs.

The rioting also had a religious element. Some ulama had begun a campaign against the Ahmedis. It was only after martial law was imposed and numerous arrests were made that the rioting was brought under control.

On 17 April 1953, Ghulam Muhammad dismissed Khwaja Nazimuddin and three other members of the Cabinet, blaming them for not controlling the economy and the riots. He did this despite the fact that they had received a vote of confidence from the Assembly. However, Nazimuddin decided not to resist against this unconstitutional measure from Ghulam Muhammad.

Governor General Ghulam Muhammad was responsible for two constitutional crises that sabotaged Pakistan’s political environment. What were those?

The first Constitutional Crisis when he dismissed Khwaja Nazimuddin as Prime Minister in 1953 through an unconstitutional act, and the second when he dissolved the entire Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in 1954.

What was the impact of the 1954/55 Constitutional Crisis?

According to the Sindh High Court, the Constituent Assembly was a sovereign body and the Governor General had no power of any kind to dissolve it. But the higher (Federal) court supported Ghulam Muhammad’s action using the law of necessity which was not any part of the Constitution.

According to a historian, this decision of the Federal Court was devastating to the political structure of Pakistan, as it was referred to again and again by the military dictators while scrapping the constitution, declaring emergency and ruling the country at the gun point.

Because of this decision, Pakistanis were denied their fundamental rights, Pakistan was denied democracy, nation was used to serve the interests of the western countries, economy depended on western aid, and East Pakistan was suppressed and ultimately allowed to break off.

Why was there so much opposition to the One Unit policy? [7]

In Pakistan, the dominant politicians and administrators were from the West wing, in particular, from the Punjab. These leading lights in the Pakistan government feared that the East Pakistanis might soon gain influence at their expense if democracy was adopted. After all, there were 10 million more people in East Pakistan than West Pakistan. By dividing Pakistan into two wings (West Pakistan and East Pakistan) officially and ensuring equal representation in the Assembly, the One Unit Scheme prevented East Pakistan gaining a majority in the Assembly.

The scheme was highly unpopular in East Pakistan and also was opposed in the individual provinces of West Pakistan (other than Punjab). Such was the opposition that President Mirza had to dismiss the Chief Minister of Sindh and dissolve the state assemblies of Bahawalpur and Khairpur.

The scheme was opposed because it was unjustified, irrational and unrealistic, as well as detrimental to the integrity of the country.

What do you think made Ayub Khan take control in October 1958? [7]

First of all, the last two governor generals namely Ghulam Muhammad and Iskander Mirza involved him or more precisely dragged him into politics. He was chosen as a Cabinet Minister by Ghulam Muhammad and remained influential under Iskander Mirza. Unfortunately, the judiciary issued controversial decisions which allowed both the governor generals to act in an unconstitutional manner.

The two governor generals dismissed six prime ministers, and by doing so they caused political instability in the country. It happened because both of them were unelected personalities who were backed up by another unelected person in the government, General Ayub Khan.

Constitution making remained the toughest task until 1956 when a colonial style and undemocratic constitution was imposed by Iskander Mirza which gave wide powers to himself as the President. Using the same powers he dismissed the so called Parliament and imposed martial law. The Commander-in-Chief, Ayub Khan was picked as the Chief Martial Law Administrator. This made Ayub even more powerful than the President (Iskander Mirza). Ayub did not lose the opportunity to get rid of Iskander Mirza. He exiled him to Britain and took control as first military dictator of Pakistan.

Was the 1962 Constitution as per the wishes and desires of the founding fathers of this country? [7]

Just after the inception of Pakistan, the country was faced to extraordinary situations. There was a multitude of problems that Jinnah faced in the first year of independence. He died soon; and when it seemed that instability was being achieved, the first Prime Minister was assassinated and then some unelected personalities who were civil and military bureaucrats did not let the people of Pakistan taste the fruit of independence for which 1 to 2 million people had laid their lives and several millions became homeless.

Governor Generals Ghulam Muhammad, Iskander Mirza and the first Pakistani Commander-in-Chief Ayub Khan used manoeuvring, 6 Prime Ministers were dismissed within 7 years, general elections and democracy were denied to the people and Pakistan saw its first military dictatorship in 1958. The military dictator, Ayub Khan appointed his own experts who were unelected people to formulate a Constitution which suited nothing but his own dictatorship.

Since the 1962 Constitution was not created by any elected Parliament or a Constituent Assembly, it was made as per the desires of a military dictator to serve his own personal agenda, it may not be considered as a Constitution on technical and moral grounds. It was not only opposite to the spirit of the Pakistan Movement but it also denied democracy to the country as well as it changed the political order to presidential system which was apparently borrowed from the US who was a staunch ally of Pakistan’s military regime. 

Why did Pakistan and India fight a war in 1965? [7]

Pakistan’s decision to go to war against India in 1965 is a perfect case to prove that military rule is injurious to the integrity, diplomatic relations and prosperity of this country. It also proves that military dictators were devoid of political wisdom and leadership skills. From Ayub through Yahya, Zia and Musharraf, Pakistan suffered immensely in the long term.

In 1962, China fought against India over the positioning of the border between the two countries. Ayub Khan’s regime saw Indian weakness in this war but failed to realise the rearmament of Indian armed forces by the West. In 1965, Ayub regime forced the Indians to accept an independent tribunal to settle a border dispute over the Rann of Kutch on the Sindh/Rajasthan border. Ayub Khan’s ‘political wisdom’ and ‘military strategy’ made him believe that he could have applied the same pressure over Kashmir.

The military dictator began his offensive against India in the Indian Occupied Kashmir in 1965 which failed miserably due to intelligence failure or in short general incompetence. Once again, the military minds ‘believed’ that the war would be confined to the disputed territory. However, Indians used a ‘better’ strategy by attacking Pakistan in response across the international border near Lahore and later in Sialkot sector. So instead of continuing with our offensive, now we were forced to defend Lahore and Sialkot which was made possible only through a heroic act. Otherwise, Ayub Khan’s lack or political and military wisdom had almost doomed our defence.

There’s a possibility that Ayub Khan fought this war against India in an attempt to gain popularity that he had lost due to his alleged rigging in the presidential election of 1964 – 65 against Miss Fatima Jinnah.

Why did Ayub Khan sack Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from the post of foreign minister? [7]

What Ayub Khan did to Bhutto following the Tashkent Declaration was exactly what was followed by other military dictators most probably as a face saving tactic. It’s a well-known fact that military governments in developing countries like Pakistan follow colonial tactics against press freedom and are always up to news censorship. The next tool in a military regime is the use of propaganda through which it puts everything in good light.

When the war ended, Ayub Khan told the people that Pakistan had won the war. It meant that either Pakistan army had captured key areas of the occupied territory or some international tribunal was about to decide the Kashmir issue in Pakistan’s favour as in case of Rann of Kutch.

As a matter of fact the peace treaty at Tashkent contained no reference to how the Kashmir issue should be settled. Now instead of tending his own resignation for misleading the nation, Ayub sacked Bhutto the foreign minister by blaming him for the failings in the war. This behaviour was followed by other military officials following the defeat in 1971 and failure in the Kargil conflict when Bhutto was once again blamed for the fall of East Pakistan, though the country and the war were not led by Bhutto but the military. In 1999, the Army Chief, General Musharraf blamed the Prime Minister for the failure of Kargil Mission though it was army chief’s own illegal decision by going to war against India without government’s approval.

Why did Pakistan lose the 1965 War against India? [7]

The most important reason for this failure was the lack of political wisdom and military genius in the Ayub Khan regime. The democratic government in India had proved to be more effective than the self-acclaimed field marshal of Pakistan.

There was an open intelligence failure in the occupied territory because the guerrilla infiltrators from Kashmir had failed to begin an uprising. Ayub Khan’s intelligence team had not informed him that following the defeat in the 1962 war, India was pursuing rearmament with western support, and it was not as weak as the military officials had anticipated, actually on the battle ground, India proved to be more powerful than Pakistan.

Ayub Khan was also told by his ‘advisors’ that the war would be confined to the disputed territory (of Kashmir). The field marshal himself had no ability to oversee a danger and completely relied on ‘experts’ like Bhutto. Consequently India surprised the field marshal by attacking Lahore and Sialkot (by crossing the international border). Had there not been the heroic action of first line of defense, Pakistan most probably would have lost Lahore, Sialkot and even Azad Kashmir due to an immature and dangerous plan of Ayub Khan.

The situation got worse when Ayub Khan’s western allies placed an embargo on the sale and service of military equipment to both countries which hit Pakistan more severely as it had imported western military equipment. Thanks to the Chinese diplomatic help, that India agreed to a ceasefire.

Such was the failure of Ayub Khan’s foreign policy that all world powers including the USSR and western allies were not supporting Pakistan against India.

Why did Ayub Khan shift the capital from Karachi to Islamabad? [7]

Instead of focusing on his governance Ayub Khan started a brand new venture of building a new capital which cost more than we earned.

It happened because he probably believed that by moving the capital next to military headquarters would give his government a better support. This was because his government stood on coercion and backing from military instead of direct support from the people.

Karachi city was predominantly inhabited by emigrants who were mostly literate and supporters of democracy like the people of East Pakistan. In 1964 – 65 elections, this city voted for Miss Fatima Jinnah instead of Ayub Khan. Ayub was aware of that, that’s why shifting the capital to Islamabad seemed to have a person reason than any national or economic interest.

Some analysts claim that making a new capital was due to the fact that Karachi was unsafe and was exposed to a naval attack by India. However, if the country’s defence is weak and relations with neighbours are at low ebb, any city including Islamabad is unsafe.

Why did Ayub Khan step down as president? [7]

Following the 1965 War, relations between Americans and Ayub’s military regime worsened. It meant western countries would send less military and financial aid and this directly hit the economy.

After the war, Ayub lost his credibility among the masses; there were country wide protests against undemocratic and iron fisted dictatorship with numerous accusations of vote rigging in the elections for the Electoral College and the presidential elections as well as soaring food prices.

In 1968, Ayub Khan’s chief economist revealed that just 22 families controlled 66% of Pakistan’s industrial assets. The same families also controlled 80% of Pakistan’s banking and insurance companies. So a small, elite group of wealthy Pakistanis had almost complete control of Pakistan’s wealth, thanks to the capitalist economy borrowed by Ayub Khan from his US allies. It did not go unnoticed in East Pakistan that almost all these families were in West Pakistan. In other words, Ayub had focused on West Pakistan for economic growth and was ignoring East Pakistan.

Since Ayub Khan sacked Bhutto, he began campaigning against Ayub, his former benefactor. Staring his career in the undemocratic Cabinet of Iskander Mirza till his role in Ayub Khan’s Cabinet, Bhutto now became a ‘champion of democracy’; he founded Pakistan Peoples’ Party and gave a really tough time to his former President. In East Pakistan similar protests prevailed and by 1969, Ayub Khan had realised that he had not enough support to stay in power. However, instead of resigning as per his own Constitution and calling for new elections to choose another president, he handed over power to the army by imposing martial law.

How did Ayub Khan improve Pakistan’s economy? [7]

Ayub Khan was a military dictator who was in power due to a direct support from western countries especially the United States. Since Pakistan was siding with western powers against communist Soviet Union, it was getting enough aid and soft loans to build its economy.

Along with financial assistance, Americans and the allies provided technical assistance as well. There were foreign experts and advisors who took over planning and execution.

In the field of agriculture, green revolution began in countries like India, Pakistan and Mexico under direct US support which brought crop yields at an all-time record. It should be noted that much of the increased productivity was due to mechanisation which could generally only be afforded by big landowners. Land reforms introduced by Ayub regime also proved successful.

Rapid industrialisation took place in Karachi and Central Punjab which gave rise to the emergency of 22 richest families that controlled 60% of Pakistan’s industrial assets. This new wealth did little to benefit the large numbers of Pakistanis living near the poverty line.

So in reality the economic growth was artificial, as it crashed soon when western aid stopped coming and when East Pakistan got separated from the West.

What were Ayub Khan’s land reforms? [4]

A law was passed saying that no farm could be smaller than 12.5 acres or larger than 500 acres (irrigated) or 1000 acres (unirrigated). This meant that many smaller farmers found their land was redistributed. However, the resulting larger farms did produce a steady rise in food output. Big landowners raised productivity as the tenants and smaller farms were often more efficient than the larger, poorly run farms.

What was the Green Revolution under Ayub Khan? [7]

A law was passed saying that no farm could be smaller than 12.5 acres or larger than 500 acres (irrigated) or 1000 acres (unirrigated). This meant that many smaller farmers found their land was redistributed. However, the resulting larger farms did produce a steady rise in food output. Big landowners raised productivity as the tenants and smaller farms were often more efficient than the larger, poorly run farms.

Three major dams (Tarbela, Mangla, Warsak) were built to help irrigation. Farmers were also loaned money to build (tube) wells to reduce the need for canal irrigation.

These reforms revitalised agriculture and crop yields were at an all-time high. Ayub said that they had brought about a Green Revolution. However, it should be noted that much of the increased productivity was due to mechanisation, which could generally only be afforded by big landowners.

To what extent did Pakistan achieve a new constitution between 1949 and 1973? Explain your answer. [14]

(Two explanations, one on the achievements and one on another reason, are worth nine marks. Additional explanations awarded up to 13 marks)

Able to achieve

• The first attempt to set up a constitution was the Objectives Resolution in 1949, which set out a plan to enshrine Islamic principles in an eventual constitution;

• In 1952 a revised Basic Principles Committee made steps towards an Islamic constitution, stating that the Head of State should be Muslim and appoint a committee of Islamic specialists ensuring all legislation conformed to Islamic law;

• In 1956 the constitution emerged with the declaration that Pakistan was to be an Islamic Republic and that Urdu and Bengali would be the official languages, a conciliatory move towards the people of East Pakistan;

• In 1959 Basic Democracies were introduced by Ayub Khan which was a 4 tier structure of government, allowing elections at various levels. The success of these councils was such that martial law was lifted in 1962 after a new constitution was introduced;

• The 1973 Constitution revived the power of the National Assembly and as a result political parties became more important.

Unable to achieve

• The Objectives Resolution of 1949 was criticised by East Pakistan as Urdu, not Bengali was to be the official language despite its larger population. The death of Liaquat Ali Khan meant that constitutional change had to wait until a new leader could be found and had time to settle in;

• The Basic Principles Committee’s report was criticised because the official language issue was not settled and East Pakistan was determined to oppose the selection of Urdu. Political change meant that further discussions on a new constitution were put on hold until 1956;

• The constitution promised a parliamentary system of government but the President held the power to intervene or even suspend the Assembly;

• The 1962 constitution increased the powers of the ruling elite as the major landlords dominated the elections to the Basic Democracies.

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