1. PROBLEMS FOR PAKISTAN ON INITIAL STAGES:
1. Choice of Capital City and Establishment of Government
The first problem Pakistan had to face was choosing an
administrative Capital city to form and establish a government.
Quaid-e-Azam as Governor-General chose Karachi. Pakistan
had to build its administration from the start and officers were
brought in specially from Delhi. Upon arrival, there were no
offices so interim offices were set up in barracks and public
buildings just to kick things off.
2. 2. Unfair Boundary Distribution – Radcliffe Award
The boundary commission set up under Sir Cyril Radcliffe proved to be a treacherous
one for Pakistan. Lord Mountbatten’s influence and incline towards India helped as
Gurdaspur, Ferozpur, Jullandar and Kashmir were sided with India – even though all
these were Muslim majority areas.
3. 3. The Massacre of Muslim Refugees In India
The worst and most cruel issue was the division of Punjab – as half the majority was Sikh.
Upon dissection of Punjab, Hindu leaders influenced the Sikhs and made them wreak
havoc upon poor Muslim families. Massacre after massacre was the result in Punjab.
Infants killed, women raped – the streets of Punjab were full of Muslim blood and
amputated limbs. 600,000 Muslims were said to be killed in 7 days! Communial
Agreement, Press Pact.
4. Rehabilitation of Refugees Who Reached Pakistan
Upon arrival of the Muslim refugees in Pakistan – there was no base of accommodation for
the refugees. Again, the leadership had to resort to public buildings and barracks – refugee
and aid camps were set up and sustenance was given to the refugees. Quaid-e-Azam
told the refugees: “Pakistan has to come stay and it will stay!”
5. Division of Military and Financial Assets With India
In order to embarrass Pakistan financially, India held against its promise and instead of
providing Pakistan with Rs.750 million, in a treacherous act again, only gave Rs.200
million. Also, the division of military assets was unfair and Pakistan had to go with the flow
instead of waging war from the weapons that were inevitably to be Pakistan’s.
4. 6. Electricity and Water Issues
With the division of Punjab in a chronic manner, the Muslim majority areas fell to India – and the
electricity of West Punjab was disrupted because all the power stations were at Mundi (an Indian area)
– along with that, before the Indus Water Basin Treaty, Pakistan was buying water from India
because of the way the boundaries were commissioned. India took full advantage and wanted to throw
Pakistan into an economic crisis as most of our economy were through agriculture.
7. The Scandal and Problems Of The Princely States (565)
When Junagarh, a small area 300km away from Karachi, wanted to accede to Pakistan – the Indians
waged a sharp attitude and denied accession to Junagarh and another small Princely state called
Manavaders. The act was a violation of the basis that states be let to decide their future.
8. Lingual Problems With East Pakistan (Bengal)
Language Controversy 1952
the language controversy was on forefront during this era,in January 1952 Prime Minister Khawaja
Nazimuddin while visiting East Pakistan, announced that Urdu will be the national language of
Pakistan. However East Pakistan Assembly passed a resolution to make Bengali the national language
along with urdu. The issue was to continue simmering for another two years, when in 1954 the
constituent assembly declared Bengali the second national language.
5. 9. Leadership Vacuum After Quaid-e-Azam and Liaquat Ali Khan
After Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah passed away due to his deteriorating health – all the
burdens of the country fell on the shoulders of Liaquat Ali Khan – who gave us the Objective
Resolution. The Anti-State Actors could not see Pakistan prospering and Khan was shot dead.
This created a vast leadership vacuum in Pakistan – nobody seemed good enough to step in either
one’s shoes.
10. Political Riots And Lingual Riots
With the Bengalis storming the State still their main issue being the lingual bias of Pakistan, East
Pakistan was on fire most of the time. Along with this, the Shia-Sunni sectarian violence was on the
high, and NWFP was simmering for a change in ministry. The Anti-Ahmedi riots lead Lahore into
Pakistan’s first Martial Law.
Pakistan came into being as a free Muslim state in quite unfavorable conditions. It had
no resources and it had to build up administrative machinery from scratch. However, supreme
efforts were made by the Muslims who exhibited a strong stance under Quaid’s leadership. In his
last message to the nation on 14th August, 1948 he told the nation: “The foundation of your state
have been laid and it is now for you to build and build as quickly as you can”
6. The One Unit Scheme
One-Unit was the title of a scheme launched by the federal government of Pakistan to
merge the four provinces of West Pakistan into one homogenous unit, as a
counterbalance against the numerical domination of the ethnic Bengalis of East
Pakistan The One Unit policy was announced by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali
Bogra on 22 November 1954. On 5 October 1955 Iskander Mirza (Acting Governor
General of Pakistan) passed an order unifying all of West Pakistan in what became
known as the 'One Unit Scheme'.
The West Pakistan Act
it was passed on 30th sept 1955 giving constitutional cover to the one unit scheme.
Chief minister of new west Pakistan was Dr. Khan Sahib and Lahore was as Provincial
Capital.
7. 1956 constitution:
After assuming charge as Prime Minister, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali along with his
team worked day and night to formulate a constitution for Pakistan. His efforts led
to the first constitution that was enforced in the country on March 23, 1956.
Pakistan’s status as a dominion ended and the country was declared an Islamic
Republic of Pakistan. Thereupon the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan became
the interim National Assembly and Governor General Iskander Mirza was sworn in
as the first President of Pakistan.
The Constitution of 1956 consisted of 234 articles, which were divided into 13
parts and 6 schedules. One of the main features of the Constitution was its
Islamic character. The Islamic provisions were contained in the directive principles
of the state policy. Along with other Islamic provisions in the Constitution, the
president, who was required to be a Muslim of at least 40 years of age, was to set
up an organization for Islamic research with the aim of establishing a true Islamic
society. The Objectives Resolution was, however, only made the preamble of the
Constitution and not included in its main text.
