West Pakistan
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West Pakistan مغر بى پاکستان পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947–1970 | |||||||||
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: "Unity, Discipline, Faith" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Qaumī Tarāna National Anthem | |||||||||
.svg) Area constituting West Pakistan shown in dark green; claimed but uncontrolled territory shown in light green. | |||||||||
| Status | Part the Dominion of Pakistan | ||||||||
| Capital | Karachi (1947–1955) Lahore (proclaimed) Islamabad (1965–1970) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Urdu (official) English (official) Balochi · Pashto · Punjabi Saraiki · Sindhi · Kashmiri | ||||||||
| Religion | Islam Hinduism Christianity | ||||||||
| Government | Parliamentary republic (1947–58) Presidential republic (1960–69) Military government (1969–70) | ||||||||
| Chief Ministers | |||||||||
• 1955–1957 | Abdul Jabbar Khan | ||||||||
• 1957–1958 | Abdur Rashid Khan | ||||||||
• 1958 | Muzaffar Ali Kizilbax | ||||||||
| Governors | |||||||||
• 1955–1957 | Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani | ||||||||
• 1957–1960 | Akhter Husain | ||||||||
| Administratora | |||||||||
• 1960–1966 | Amir Mohammad Khan | ||||||||
• 1966–1969 | Muhammad Musa | ||||||||
• 1969–1970 | Nur Khan | ||||||||
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly High Court | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 14 August 1947 | |||||||||
| 22 November 1954 | |||||||||
| July 1 1970 | |||||||||
| Currency | Pakistani rupee (M) | ||||||||
| Calling code | 92 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of |  Pakistan | ||||||||
| |||||||||
West Pakistan ([পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, Pôshchim Pakistan ] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help); Urdu: مغربی پاکستان Məghrābī Pākistān) covered the historical period of modern State of Pakistan when it was established by the One-unit program as an exclave state.[1]
After gaining independence from British colonialism in 1947, the State of Pakistan was physically separated in two exclave state with the Western contingent physically separated from Eastern contingent by the Republic of India. The western state was politically dominant and composed of three Governor's provinces (North-West Frontier, West-Punjab and Sindh Province), one Chief Commissioner's province (Baluchistan Province), and the Baluchistan States Union with several other independent princely states (notably Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dir, Hunza, Khairpur and Swat), the Federal Capital Territory (around Karachi) and the tribal areas.[1] The eastern wing of the new country – East Pakistan – formed the single province of East Bengal (including the former Assam district of Sylhet), which, despite having over half of the population, had a disproportionately small number of seats in the Constituent Assembly. This inequality of the two wings and the geographical distance between them were believed to be holding up the adoption of a new constitution. To diminish the differences between the two regions, the government decided to reorganize the country into two distinct provinces under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali on November 22, 1954.
During most of the timeline of the Cold War, Pakistan was a close ally of the United States, having an influential membership in Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), and at same time was also an influential member of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (NAM). Geographically divided into two wings, the western contingent, claiming the exclusive mandate for all of Pakistan, considered itself to be the reorganized continuation of the country in the United Nations. It adopted the stance that East Pakistan was indeed a provincial state, with the belief that West Pakistan was the true Pakistan. West Pakistan emerged as one of South Asia's largest economies and military powers. West Pakistan's economy boomed and at its highest peak it was called the "West Germany of East."[2] Its economic progress was only limited to the western side, and the majority of promised funds for East Pakistan were never issued. President Field Marshal Ayub Khan, who remained in office from 1958 until 1969, worked for a full alignment with the West rather than neutrality. He not only secured membership in SEATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed CENTO.
In 1970, a serious of reforms – territorial, constitutional and the military – were brought up by President General Yahya Khan. The provincial assemblies, state parliament, and current provisional borders of four provinces of Pakistan gained their current status. On 1 July 1970, West Pakistan was devolved and renamed as "Pakistan" under an executive order (see LFO Order No. 1970), which dissolved the "One Unit" and removed the term "West", simply establishing the country as "Pakistan".[1] The order had no effect on East Pakistan, which retained the geographical position established in 1955.[1] The civil war next year however result in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.
Political history
Independence after British colonial period
At the time of the state establishment in 1947, the founding fathers of Pakistan participated in the Boundary Commission conference. Headed by Cyril Radcliffe, the Commission was tasked with negotiating the arrangement, area division, and future political set up of Pakistan and India.
Pakistan was formed from two distinct areas, separated by a thousand miles and India. The western state was composed of three Governor's provinces (North-West Frontier, West-Punjab and Sindh Province), one Chief Commissioner's province (Baluchistan Province), the Baluchistan States Union, several other princely states (notably Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dir, Hunza, Khairpur and Swat), the Federal Capital Territory (around Karachi) and the tribal areas.[1] The eastern wing of the new country – East Pakistan – formed the single province of East Bengal, including the former Assam district of Sylhet.
West Pakistan experienced great problems related to the partitioning, including ethnic and racial friction, lack of knowledge, and uncertainty of where to demarcate the permanent borders.[3] East Pakistan, Balochistan, and the North-West Frontier Province experienced little difficulty, but Southern Pakistani Punjab faced considerable problems that had to be fixed.[3] Former East Punjab was integrated with the Indian administration, and millions of Punjabi Muslims were expelled to be replaced by a Sikh and Hindu population.[4] The communal violence spread to all over the Indian subcontinent. Economic rehabilitation efforts needing the attention of Pakistan's founding fathers further escalated the problems.[4]
The partition also divided the natural resources, industries, economic infrastructure, manpower, and military might, with India benefiting greatly by being the largest share owner.[5] Military forces were divided up with a ratio of 64% for India and 36% for Pakistan.[6] Pakistan was forced to accept a smaller share of the armed forces, as most of the military assets – such as weapons depots and military bases – were located inside India. In addition, facilities in Pakistan were mostly obsolete, and they had a dangerously low ammunition reserve of only one week.[6] Four divisions were raised in West Pakistan, whilst one division was raised in East Pakistan.[6]
Parliamentary democracy
From the time of its establishment, the State of Pakistan had the vision of a federal parliamentary democratic republic form of government. With the founding fathers remaining in West Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan was appointed the country's first prime minister, with Mohammad Ali Jinnah as Governor-General. West Pakistan claimed the exclusive mandate over all of Pakistan, with the majority of the Pakistan Movement's leading figures in West Pakistan. In 1949, the Constituent Assembly passed the Objectives Resolution and the Annex to the Constitution of Pakistan, paving the road to a Westernized federal parliamentary democratic republic. The work on parliamentary reforms was constituted by the constituent assembly the year after, in 1950.
The western section of Pakistan dominated the politics of the new country. Although East Pakistan had over half of the population, it had a disproportionately small number of seats in the Constituent Assembly. This inequality of the two wings and the geographical distance between them was believed to be holding up the adoption of a new constitution. To diminish the differences between the two regions, the government decided to reorganize the country into two distinct provinces.
Under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali on November 22, 1954, the four provinces and territories of Pakistan were integrated into one unit. The state of West Pakistan was established, created by the merger of the provinces, states, and tribal areas of West Pakistan. The province was composed of twelve divisions and the provincial capital was established at Karachi. Later the state capital moved to Lahore, and it was finally established in Islamabad in 1965. The province of East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan with the provincial state capital at Dhaka (Dacca).
A clash of ideology between East Pakistan and West Pakistan soon erupted, further destabilizing the entire country. The two states had different political ideologies and different lingual cultural aspect. West Pakistan had been founded on main basis of a parliamentary democracy (and had a parliamentary republic form of government since 1947), with Islam as its state religion. In contrast, East Pakistan had been a socialist state since the 1954 elections, with state secularism proclaimed. West Pakistan sided with the United States and her NATO allies, whilst East Pakistan remained sympathetic to the Soviet Union and her Eastern Bloc. The 1956 constitution validated the parliamentary form of government, with Islam as state religion and Urdu, English and Bengali as state languages. The 1956 constitution also established the Parliament of Pakistan as well as the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Ethnic and religious violence in Lahore, which began in 1953, spread all over the country. Muhammad Ali Bogra, prime minister of Pakistan, declared martial law in Lahore to curb the violence. This inter-communal violence soon spread to India, and a regional conflicts put West Pakistan and India in a war-threatening situation. The prime ministers of Pakistan and India had an emergency meeting in Lahore.
Military dictatorships
The One Unit program of Mohammad Ali Bogra was met with harsh opposition, civil unrest, and political disturbance. Support for the Muslim League and Pakistan Socialist Party in the upcoming elections threatened Pakistan's technocracy. The Muslim League and Socialist Party had gained momentum since the League's defeat in the 1954 elections, and the Socialist Party had been challenging for the constituencies of the Republican Party, President Iskandar Mirza's party. Relations with United States further deteriorated, with the U.S. assessing that democracy in both states was failing.
From 1947 to 1959, the government was only partially stable. Seven prime ministers, four governors-general, and one president were forcefully removed either by constitutional coup or by military coup.
A U.S.-backed military coup d'état was launched in 1958 by the army command. The Urdu-speaking class and the Bengali nation were forcefully removed from the affairs of West Pakistan. With the imposition of martial law led by then-Army Commander-in-Chief General Ayub Khan, the state capital was moved from Karachi to Army Generals Combatant Headquarters (The GHQ) at Rawalpindi in 1959, whilst the federal legislature was moved to Dacca. In 1963, Rawalpindi had become ineffective as a federal capital; a new city was planned and constructed, finally completing in 1965. In 1965, the state capital was finally re-located in Islamabad.
Foreign history
Relations with India
West Pakistan entered into war with India in 1947 over the issue of Kashmir. In 1947, the Pakistan army and air force attempted to annexed Kashmir, but were pushed back by the Indian army. Although the operation was a failure, it did occupy 40% of Kashmir, which later integrated into Northern Pakistan.
West Pakistan's problems with India continued.
In 1965, Foreign minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Defence minister Vice-Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan approached President Ayub Khan for approval of a covert operation codenamed "Operation Gibraltar." Operation Gibraltar was a mission to infiltrate Indian-held Kashmir using airborne troops from the Pakistan army (Special Service Group) and Pakistan air force (Special Service Wing). During nights in August 1965, airborne troops parachuted into Indian Kashmir whilst ground assault began by Pakistan Army's troops. The Pakistan Airborne troops managed to occupy much of Indian-held Kashmir and were only 6 miles (10 km) from Srinagar, but this was the closest Pakistan airborne troops ever got to capturing the city. In September 1965, India launched a counter-attack and the airborne troops were pushed back to Azad Kashmir Province. The operation brutally failed, and Indian Armed Forces attacked West Pakistan with full force. The Soviet Union intervened in the conflict in September 1965 (for fear of escalation), and the month–long war ended with no permanent territorial changes. West Pakistan and India signed the Tashkent Declaration in January 1966, but the ceasefire was criticized both in India and Pakistan, and public resentment against each other grew.
In West Pakistan, Ayub Khan deposed Bhutto as his Foreign minister, and Vice-Admiral Khan blamed Bhutto for the operation's failure. As an aftermath, Bhutto tapped into an anti-Ayub Khan movement and kicked off a storm of civil disobedience. Protests and spontaneous demonstrations broke out around the country, and Ayub Khan lost the control.
In 1967, another martial law was imposed by another Army Commander-in-Chief, General Yahya Khan, who designated himself as the Chief Martial Law Administrator.
Soviet Union
Soviet Afghanistan
The West Pakistan faced armed tribal incursions from Communist Afghanistan. In 1955, diplomatic relations were severed with the ransacking of Pakistan's embassy and again in 1961, when Pakistan Armed Forces had repelled a major communist revolt in Bajaur region of Pakistan.
United States
People's Republic of China
Domestic affairs
Position toward East Pakistan
During this episode, East Pakistan remained quiet and did not intervene in West Pakistan's conflict with India. East Pakistan's military government remained silent and did not send any troops to exert pressure on Eastern India. This line of action produced negative consequences and evidently contributed to resentment against the military government of East Pakistan. West Pakistan accused East Pakistan of not taking any action even, in fact, Eastern Air Command of Indian Air Force did attack East Pakistan's Air Force. However, East Pakistan defended only by an understrength infantry division, the 14th Infantry Division, sixteen fighter jet and no tanks or no navy was established in East Pakistan.
Days of disintegration
The One Unit policy was completely failed in West Pakistan, and the four provinces didn’t quite fit official definitions of a single nation.[7] The Sindhi and Urdu-speaking class in Sindh Province revolted against the One Unit policy.[8] The wide spread violence spread to Balochistan Province, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab Province, the survival of One Unit program was seen improbable.[8]
West Pakistan formed a seemingly homogeneous block but with marked linguistic and ethnic distinctions and the One Unit policy was regarded as a rational administrative reform which would reduce expenditure and eliminate provincial prejudices.[9] However with the military coup of 1958, trouble loomed for the province when the office of Chief Minister was abolished and the President took over executive powers for West Pakistan.[9]
Dissolution in 1970
On contrary perception, the provinces were not benefited with the economical progress, but it has strengthened the central government.[10] In West Pakistan, the four provinces also struggled hard for the abolition of One Unit which caused injustices to them as it was imposed on them.[11] The provisional powerful committees pressured the central government through the means of civil disobedience, violence on street, raising slogans against the martial law and attacks on government machines such as police forces.[10][11] For several weeks, the four provinces worked together and guided the "One Unit dissolution committee", towards resolving all outstanding issues in time set by the Yahya government.[10] Finally, the committee’s plan went into effect on July 1, 1970, when West Pakistan "One Unit" was dissolved, and all power was transferred to the provinces of Balochistan, the North West Frontier Province, Punjab and Sindh.[10] President General Yahya Khan issued the decree, simply removing the "West", and adding the word "Pakistan" on July 1, 1970.[10]
Influence of socialism
Due to West's close relations with the United States and the capitalist states, the influence of socialism had far more deeper roots in the West Pakistan population. The population favoured the socialism but never allied with Communism. The Pakistan Socialist Party had previously lost support in West due to its anti-Pakistan clauses during the time of the pre-independence movement. However, despite the initiatives were taken to improve the population during the Ayub Khan's government, the poor mass did not enjoy the benefits and reforms that were enjoyed by the middle and gentry classes of Pakistan.
After the 1965 war, the cultural revolution, resentment, hostility towards the Ayub Khan's government began to arise when the population felt that "Kashmir cause" was betrayed by the President Ayub Khan. Problems further mounted after deposing of Foreign minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by Ayub Khan. Bhutto vowed to take a revenge against Ayub Khan after gathering and uniting the scattered democratic socialist and Marxist mass into one single platform when he founded the Pakistan Peoples Party in 1967. The socialists tapped a wave of anger and opposition against United States allied President in West Pakistan alone. The socialists integrated in poor and urban provinces of West Pakistan, educating people to cast their vote for their better future, and the importance of democracy was widely sense in the entire county. The socialists, under Bhutto's guidance and leadership, played a vital role in managing labor strikes and civil disobedient when Khan's authority began to be challenged. The military government responded fiercely after arresting the senior socialists' leadership, notably Bhutto, Mubashir Hassan, and Malick Mirage. This sparked the gruesome violence in West and increased a pressure to Khan that he was unable to endure. Prompting, Khan managed and called for a Round Table Conference in Rawalpindi, but socialists led by Bhutto refused to accept Ayub's continuation in office and the East Pakistani politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Six point movement for regional autonomy.
Power struggle between East and West Pakistan
In 1969, Khan handed over the powers to Army Chief of Staff General Yahya Khan who promised to hold elections within two years. Meantime, Bhutto extensively worked to gather and unite the leftists organizations, and the leftists under Bhutto's leadership, participated with full force, becoming the vital players in country's politics. The democratic socialist leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, allied with left-wing parties, participated in General elections held in December 1970 saw the far left Awami League under Mujibur Rahman win an overall majority of seats in parliament (all but two of the 162 seats allocated to East Pakistan). The Awami League advocated greater autonomy for East Pakistan but the military government did not permit Mujibur Rahman to form a government. In November 1971, General Yahya Khan ordered Pakistan Army Corps of Military Police to led the arrest of both Bhutto and Rehman and ordered an action to be taken against the East Pakistan's military government.
On 25 March 1971, West Pakistan began a civil war to subdue the democratic victory of East Pakistanis. This began the war between the Pakistani military and the Mukhti Bahini. The resulting refugee crisis led to the intervention by India, eventually leading to the surrender of the Pakistani Army. East Pakistan suffered a genocide of its Bengali population. East Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971. The term West Pakistan became redundant.
Government
West Pakistan went through many political changes, and had a multiple political party system. West Pakistan's political system had consisted popular influential Left-wing sphere against elite Right-wing circles. Since the independence, West Pakistan was a parliamentary republic (even as of today, the parliamentary system is the official form of government of Pakistan) with Prime minister as the head of the government and President as head of state, although Presidential office is ceremonial office. The 1956 Constitution provided the country with Semi-Presidential system and the office of President was inaugurated the same year. The career civil service officer Major-General (retired) Iskander Mirza became the country's first President, but the system did not evolved for more than the three years, when Mirza imposed the martial law in 1958. Mirza appointed army commander General Ayub Khan as Chief martial law administrator who later turned his back on President and exiled the president to Great Britain after the military government was installed.
The office of Governor of West Pakistan was a largely ceremonial position but later Governors wielded some executive powers as well. The first Governor was Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani, who was also the last Governor of West Punjab. Ayub Khan abolished the Governor's office and instead established the Martial Law Administrator of West Pakistan (MLA West).
The office Chief Minister of West Pakistan was the chief executive of the state and the leader of the largest party in the provincial assembly. The first Chief Minister was Abdul Jabbar Khan who had served twice as Chief Minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province prior to independence. The office of Chief Minister was abolished in 1958 when Ayub Khan took over the administration of West Pakistan.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan was a judicial authority, a power broker in country's politics that played a major role in minimizing the role of West Pakistan parliament. The Supreme Court was moved to Islamabad in 1965 and Chief Justice Alvin Robert Cornelius re-located the entire judicial arbiter, personnel and high-profile cases in Islamabad. The Supreme Court building is one of the most attractive places in Islamabad, yet the most largely beautiful building in the state capital.
This provisional parliament had no lasting effects of West Pakistan's affairs but it was a ceremonial legislature where the law makers would gather around to discuss non-political matters. In 1965, the legislative parliament was moved to Islamabad after Ayub Khan built a massive capitol, renaming the assembly as the Parliament of Pakistan where only technocrats occupied the building.
The twelve divisions of West Pakistan province were Bahawalpur, Dera Ismail Khan, Hyderabad, Kalat, Khairpur, Lahore, Malakand, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, and Sargodha; all named after their capitals except the capital of Malakand was Saidu, and Rawalpindi was administered from Islamabad. The province also incorporated the former Omani enclave of Gwadar following its purchase in 1958, and the former Federal Capital Territory (Karachi) in 1961; the latter forming a new division in its own right.
In 1970, the Martial law office was dissolved by General Yahya Khan who disestablished the state of West Pakistan. On July 1, 1970, the provisional assemblies of Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Office of Prime minister, and much of the civil institutions were revived and re-established by the decree signed by General Yahya Khan. The four provinces and four administrative units retained their current status and local governments were constitutionally established in 1970 to manage and administer the provisional autonomy given to the provinces in 1970.
Governors of West Pakistan
| Tenure | Governor of West Pakistan[12] | Party Background | Form of Government |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 October 1955 - 27 August 1957 | Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani | Muslim League | Democratic Government |
| September 1957 - 12 April 1960 | Akhter Husain | Independent | Democratic Government |
| 12 April 1960 - 18 September 1966 | Amir Mohammad Khan | Muslim League | Democratic Government |
| Tenure Term | Martial Law Administrator | Type of Government | Service in effect |
| 18 September 1966 - 20 March 1969 | General (retired) Muhammad Musa | Military Government | Pakistan Army |
| 20 March 1969 - 25 March 1969 | Yusuf Haroon | Civilian Government | Civilian Authority |
| 25 March 1969 - 29 August 1969 | Lieutenant-General Attiqur Rahman (first term) | Military Government | Pakistan Army |
| 29 August 1969 - 1 September 1969 | Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan | Military Government | Pakistan Army |
| 1 September 1969 - 1 February 1970 | Air Marshal Nur Khan | Military Government | Pakistan Air Force |
| 1 February 1970 - 1 July 1970 | Lieutenant-General Attiqur Rahman (second term) | Military Government | Pakistan Army |
| 1 July 1970 | Province of West Pakistan dissolved |
Chief Ministers of West Pakistan
| Tenure | Chief Minister of West Pakistan[12] | Political Party |
|---|---|---|
| 14 October 1955 - 16 July 1957 | Dr Khan Sahib | Pakistan Muslim League/Republican Party |
| 16 July 1957 - 18 March 1958 | Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan | Republican Party |
| 18 March 1958 - 7 October 1958 | Nawab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash | Republican Party |
| 7 October 1958 | Office of Chief Minister abolished |
See also
- East Pakistan
- Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
- List of Speakers of the West Pakistan Legislative Assembly
- Partition of India
References
- ^ a b c d e f Story of Pakistan. "West Pakistan Established as One Unit [1955]". Story of Pakistan (Note: One Unit continued until General Yahya Khan dissolved it on July 1, 1970). Story of Pakistan, West Pakistan. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ^ Sirohey, Admiral Iftikhar Ahmad. "Crisis of Leadership". Pakistan Tribune. Pakistan Tribune. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ a b SP. "Post Independence Problems". Story of Pakistan. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ a b KHK. "Refugees in West Pakistan". Story of Pakistan (Part II). Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ SoP. "Division of Resources". Story of Pakistan (Part III). Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ a b c Talbot, Ian (September 15, 2005). Pakistan: A Modern History. U.S.: Palgrave Macmillan (September 15, 2005). pp. 448 pages. ISBN 978-1-4039-6459-5.
- ^ Rehman, Asha’ar (9 August 2011). "One Province leads to many". Dawn Newspapers, 9th August, 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ a b Amar Jaleel (March 28, 2004). "An unforgivable front". Dawn Newspapers, March 28, 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ a b SoP. "Story of Pakistan (West Pakistan Established as One Unit [1955] )". Story of Pakistan (West Pakistan Established as One Unit [1955]). Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Shahid Javed Burki (August 6, 2002). "Those eventful years". Dawn Newspapers, August 6, 2002. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ a b Editorial (December 31, 2005). "Punjab vs other provinces". Dawn Newspapers, December 31, 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ a b Ben Cahoon, WorldStatesmen.org. "Pakistan Provinces". Retrieved 2007-10-03.