Establishing the Nation, 1947–48

Establishing the nation, 1947–48

The new state

Pakistan came into being on 14 August 1947, in two parts, West Pakistan and East Pakistan, separated by about 1,600 km of Indian territory. It was the largest Muslim state in the world by population. It faced huge problems from the first day.

The Radcliffe Award

• The Radcliffe Award (announced on 17 August 1947) divided the Punjab and Bengal. Pakistan believed that it was unfair: parts of the Muslim-majority districts of Gurdaspur (and the tehsils of Ferozepur and Zira) went to India, giving India a land route to Kashmir and control of the headwaters of canals. It also gave Calcutta to India, though it was the centre of the jute trade, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts (a mostly non-Muslim area) to Pakistan.
• Reactions. The Pakistan government was bitter. India claimed that it was fair. Sikhs were angry because the Punjab was divided and their holy places left in Pakistan (such as Nankana Sahib).
• Impact on Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. As the boundary was only announced after independence, millions did not know which side they were on. Massacres broke out in the Punjab on both sides; hundreds of thousands were killed (estimates vary, from about 200,000 to 1 million or more), women were abducted, and about 14 million people were displaced in one of the largest migrations in history.

The refugee and accommodation crisis

• About 6–7 million Muslim refugees (muhajirs) came to Pakistan, mainly to the Punjab and Karachi (and Sindh), and about the same number of Hindus and Sikhs went to India.
• They arrived with nothing, often sick and hungry. The new government had to provide food, shelter, medical care, jobs and land. Camps were set up. Local people helped (the Ansar–Muhajir spirit). The Evacuee property left behind by Hindus and Sikhs was given to refugees, which led to disputes.
• It caused economic and social strain, a housing shortage, problems in Karachi, and later ethnic tension.

The division of assets

• It was agreed that India would give Pakistan a share of the cash, military equipment and stores of British India (Pakistan's share of the cash balances was set at about 17.5%, or 750 million rupees).
• India delayed: only 200 million rupees were paid at first, and then it withheld the remaining 550 million, because of the war in Kashmir, and refused to release the military stores and equipment. India eventually released the money in January 1948, after Gandhi fasted in protest.
• Pakistan started with very few resources and had to build a capital (Karachi), government offices, and an army from nothing.

The division of military assets. The army, navy and air force were divided, with Pakistan getting roughly a third, and troops chose between the two countries (mostly Muslims to Pakistan). Problems: Pakistan needed about 4,000 officers but had far fewer trained Muslim officers, so some British officers were kept on for a time; all the ordnance factories of British India were in India, so Pakistan had to buy or build its own, and India agreed to pay compensation instead of handing over any; and much of the equipment sent was old or damaged.

The Canal Water Dispute

• The rivers that irrigate the Punjab flow through Indian-controlled land, and the headworks at Madhopur (on the Ravi) and Ferozepur (on the Sutlej) went to India.
• On 1 April 1948 India stopped the flow of water in the canals going to Pakistan, harming the crops in the Punjab (just as the sowing season began).
• Resolution. An Inter-Dominion Agreement (May 1948) restored the water in return for payments, but it was only temporary. The dispute was settled in the Indus Waters Treaty (1960) (mediated by the World Bank), under which India was given the three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) and Pakistan the three western (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab).

The princely states and Kashmir

There were about 560 princely states, which were free to join either dominion, according to the geography and the wishes of the people.

Kashmir. The Maharaja delayed the decision. A revolt broke out in Poonch (the Muslims were unhappy), and in October 1947 tribesmen from the NWFP entered Kashmir. The Maharaja asked India for help, and signed the Instrument of Accession to India on 26 October 1947. Indian troops were flown to Srinagar. Pakistan did not accept the accession and said it was forged by force. The first Indo-Pakistan war (1947–49) followed. A part of Kashmir (Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan) came under Pakistan's control.

The role of UN mediation. In January 1948, India took the Kashmir dispute to the UN Security Council. The UN set up the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), which passed resolutions calling for a ceasefire and a plebiscite (vote) to let the Kashmiris decide. A ceasefire began on 1 January 1949; the Karachi Agreement (July 1949) fixed the ceasefire line. The plebiscite was never held, as India refused to withdraw its troops first, and the issue remains unresolved.

Economic, social and administrative problems

• Administration: the government had to start from nothing. Most of the civil service and officials were Hindu and went to India. There was no capital: Karachi had few offices; furniture and stationery were short. The army (the state's best-organised body) helped.
• Regional differences: the new state was made up of five main groups with different languages and customs: Pashtuns, Baloch, Sindhis, Punjabis and Bengalis, which made national unity hard.
• Power supply: some of the sources that supplied electricity to the Punjab were in areas that went to India, so power was short.
• Economy: Pakistan inherited only about 10% of the industrial units and a small share of skilled workers and power capacity (figures vary by source); there were no large industries (most were in India), but raw materials such as cotton, jute and wheat were produced. East Pakistan grew most of the jute (but processing mills were in Calcutta). There was a shortage of capital, banks, trained people and a State Bank (established July 1948).
• Social: education and health services were poor; and the new country had to absorb millions of refugees.
• Defence: the army was small and had little equipment because India withheld the military stores.
• The language issue: in March 1948 Jinnah announced in Dhaka that Urdu would be the state language. Bengalis, the majority, protested (see chapters 5 and 13).
• Political: a Constituent Assembly had to write a constitution (it was under the 1935 Act as the interim constitution).

Pakistan joins the United Nations (September 1947)

Pakistan became a UN member on 30 September 1947 (Afghanistan voted against its admission). Why it joined: to be recognised as a sovereign state by the world; to have a platform to raise Kashmir, Junagadh and Hyderabad; for security against a larger neighbour; to support peace, self-determination and an end to colonialism; and to gain help from the UN agencies.

India's reactions and later significance

India delayed assets, stopped canal water, occupied Junagadh and Hyderabad, and held on to Kashmir. Many Pakistanis felt that India was trying to destroy the new state (some Indian leaders openly expected it to fail). These issues led to the wars of 1965 and 1971 and a continuing mistrust.

Jinnah's role as Governor-General

Quaid-e-Azam became the first Governor-General (15 August 1947) and President of the Constituent Assembly. He:

• inspired confidence and worked tirelessly, though he was seriously ill (with tuberculosis and lung cancer, kept secret);
• called for unity, faith and discipline and said that the minorities would have equal rights (his address of 11 August 1947 to the Assembly);
• helped refugees, visited camps, and urged calm;
• set up the State Bank (1 July 1948) and encouraged industry and trade;
• supported the Kashmiri Muslims: in October 1947 he ordered the acting British army chief, General Gracey, to send troops into Kashmir, but Gracey refused without the approval of the Supreme Commander, Field Marshal Auchinleck;
• visited Balochistan and Dhaka (March 1948) and argued for Urdu as the state language, which was resented in the East.

He died on 11 September 1948 at Karachi, only 13 months after independence. His death was a great loss, and the country lacked a leader who could unite it.

Outline. Successes: the state survived; the refugees were absorbed (with great suffering); a government and State Bank were set up; the army and administration were built; the Canal dispute was settled for the time. Failures: Kashmir unresolved; unfair Radcliffe Award; economic weakness; the language issue in East Pakistan; the loss of Jinnah. Judgement: the survival of the state against such odds was a significant achievement, though many problems remained.