Stability after Jinnah's Death

Stability after Jinnah's death

Timeline of leaders, 1947–71

Between 1947 and 1958 Pakistan had seven Prime Ministers and several Governors-General. There was political instability.

The achievements of the ministries, 1948–58

Liaquat Ali Khan (1947–51)

• Achievements: helped the country survive its first years: settled refugees, set up the army, built the government; the Objectives Resolution (1949); and he made foreign visits (to the USA in 1950).
• Other measures: the Liaquat–Nehru Pact (April 1950) to protect minorities in both countries after riots; the Public and Representative Offices (Disqualification) Act, PRODA (1949), to remove corrupt officials; and work on the constitution through the Basic Principles Committee (reports of 1950, 1952 and 1954).
• Foreign policy: stayed neutral between the superpowers at first, visited the USA in 1950 (accepting an invitation before the USSR's), which began the US connection.
• Failings: he did not call elections; the Muslim League was weakened by quarrels; he faced the Rawalpindi Conspiracy (1951); he was assassinated in Rawalpindi on 16 October 1951 (at a public meeting) by a man named Said Akbar, who was shot at once; he is remembered as Shaheed-e-Millat.

Khwaja Nazimuddin (1948–53)

• Governor-General after Jinnah, then Prime Minister (1951–53). He was a Bengali and was respected, but he was weak and could not control the Punjabi civil and military leaders.
• Problems: the Language Movement in the East (1952), food shortages, and Ahmadiyya riots in the Punjab (1953). He was dismissed by Ghulam Muhammad in April 1953, even though he had the Assembly's support.

Ghulam Muhammad (1951–55)

• A former civil servant; as Governor-General he dismissed Nazimuddin (1953) and in October 1954 dissolved the Constituent Assembly, which was about to limit his powers. This was a turning point: the Federal Court upheld him (the Maulvi Tamizuddin case, 1955), which weakened democracy in Pakistan. He joined SEATO and the Baghdad Pact.

Constitutional proposals and One Unit (1953–55)

• The Bogra Formula (October 1953) proposed two houses: a lower house based on population and an upper house with equal representation for the units, to balance East and West.
• One Unit was announced in 1954 and came into force in 1955: the provinces and states of the West were merged into a single West Pakistan to match East Pakistan, so that the two wings were equal ("parity").
• The crisis of 1954–55: the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (October 1954) and the court case that followed (see above) delayed the constitution until 1956.

Iskander Mirza (1955–58)

• A former soldier and civil servant. He was Governor-General and then the first President (1956). He made and unmade Prime Ministers, and on 7 October 1958 he abrogated the 1956 Constitution, declared martial law and appointed Ayub Khan as chief martial law administrator. Ayub removed him on 27 October 1958 and sent him to exile in England.

Others (1953–58)

Muhammad Ali Bogra (1953–55), Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (1955–56; the first constitution, and the One Unit plan, merging West Pakistan provinces into one, 1955), Suhrawardy (1956–57), Chundrigar (1957), Noon (1957–58; he bought Gwadar from Oman in 1958).

The Objectives Resolution (1949)

Origin. Presented by Liaquat Ali Khan and passed by the Constituent Assembly on 12 March 1949.

Reasons. To state the aims of the new state and give principles for the future constitution, by making clear that Pakistan was founded in the name of Islam.

Main principles.

• Sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to Allah; the people are trustees, exercising authority within limits set by Him;
• the state will be run by the chosen representatives of the people (democracy);
• principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice as taught by Islam;
• Muslims to be able to live their lives according to Islam (the Quran and the Sunnah);
• minorities to be able to practise their religions and develop their cultures;
• the fundamental rights, an independent judiciary, and a federation with autonomous units.

Reactions. Most Muslim members welcomed it. The non-Muslim members (mostly Hindu) opposed it, fearing that they would be second-class citizens. It has been included in the Constitution's Preamble (the 1956, 1962 and 1973 Constitutions, and as a substantive part in 1985 (Article 2-A)).

The constitutions

Ayub Khan and the "Decade of Progress" (1958–69)

Coup. Ayub took over in October 1958. He was an army general who had ruled as a Field Marshal and later as President after the 1960 referendum and the 1965 election (against Fatima Jinnah).

Domestic reforms.

• Basic Democracies (1959): a system of 80,000 Basic Democrats (elected local councillors) who formed the electoral college for the President and assemblies.
• Land reforms (1959): limited the holdings of landlords to 500 irrigated acres (1,000 non-irrigated).
• Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (1961): controls on polygamy and divorce, and the registration of marriages.
• Industry and agriculture: big growth in industry (the "22 families" got richer), the Green Revolution (new seeds and fertiliser), tubewells, and dams: Mangla and Tarbela (after the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960).
• Capital: Islamabad began as the new capital (Rawalpindi as temporary capital, 1959).
• Education: a new education commission and a growth in colleges.

More detail on Ayub's rule.

• 1962 Constitution: a presidential system; the President chose the cabinet and the governors and could stop laws; both Urdu and Bengali were national languages; the Assembly would meet in both Dhaka and Islamabad.
• Basic Democracies: four tiers of councils from the Union Council up; the 80,000 elected councillors also formed the electoral college that gave Ayub his vote of confidence (1960) and later elected him.
• 1965 election: Ayub won by about 64% to 36% against Fatima Jinnah (the Combined Opposition); the opposition claimed that the electoral college system was rigged in his favour.
• Economy: growth of about 6–7% a year; new industry (for example an oil refinery at Karachi and the Mineral Development Corporation), but 22 families were said to control most industry, banking and insurance, and the profit went mainly to the West.
• Fall: after Tashkent, protests spread in 1968; Ayub was the target of an assassination attempt at Peshawar; in January 1969 the opposition formed the Democratic Action Committee; a round table conference at Rawalpindi in March 1969 failed; Ayub resigned on 25 March 1969.

Foreign policy. Joined SEATO and the Baghdad Pact (CENTO) (US allies); later improved relations with China (boundary agreement of 1963), the USSR and Iran, and the RCD (1964). The 1965 War with India over Kashmir (Operation Gibraltar and the Rann of Kutch) ended with the Tashkent Declaration (January 1966), which angered many Pakistanis and led to Bhutto's break with Ayub.

Why it ended. The "Decade of Development" celebration of 1968 coincided with protests: economic inequality (the "22 families"), regional disparities (East Pakistan), the Tashkent Declaration, press controls, and demands for democracy. Bhutto (PPP) and Mujib (the Six Points) led opposition. In March 1969 Ayub resigned, handing over to General Yahya Khan.

Yahya Khan (1969–71)

• Imposed martial law (25 March 1969), abolished One Unit (1970), and issued the Legal Framework Order (LFO) for elections, held in December 1970: one man, one vote for the first time.
• The elections were fair, but the transfer of power failed (see chapter 13). He resigned in December 1971 after the defeat of Pakistan's army in East Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh.

Outline. Objectives Resolution (1949); the Basic Principles Committee reports (1950, 1952 and 1954); the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (1954); the 1956 Constitution (first); its abrogation (1958); the 1962 Constitution under Ayub (presidential); the 1973 Constitution (parliamentary, Islamic). Comment: it took nine years to write the first constitution because of disagreement over East–West representation, the role of Islam, and the powers of the centre.