Chapter 11 - Establishment of an independent nation 1947-1948

Problems facing the newly formed Pakistan:

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  • Pakistan had to make an efficient government in 1947.

    • There was a %%shortage of the state buildings, office equipment and devoted and experienced politicians.%%
    • Also, %%there were not many experienced officers and civil servants to run the state affairs.%%
    • Except for Jinnah, Liaqat Ali Khan and few others, most of the %%politicians were either inexperienced or insincere.%%
    • %%India, on the other hand, had a huge team of skilled politicians with Lord Mountbatten as its 1st Governor General.%%
    • Therefore, Pakistan found it %%difficult to build a strong political base.%%
    • The %%process of making a constitution was also delayed%% as there were not many experts in the Constituent Assembly.
    • Due to a shortage of state buildings, %%military barracks were temporarily used as offices.%%
    • Above all, %%Jinnah’s deteriorating health and his death only one year after the creation of Pakistan worsened the political problems.%%

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  • %%Division of military and financial assets%% was also a major dispute.

    • %%Pakistan needed funds and military equipment to run the state affairs%% and ensure its defence.
    • India unwillingly gave damaged and worn out weapons to Pakistan under the %%agreed ratio of 36% of military assets for Pakistan.%%
    • So, Pakistan was forced to build an arms manufacturing factory, the %%POF (Pakistan Ordinance Factory) at Wah.%%
    • Only the %%division of the troops went smoothly%% as majority of Muslim troops opted for Pakistan and majority of non-Muslims for India.
    • Similarly, %%out of a total of 750 million rupees, the Indian government first gave only 200 million rupees%% to Pakistan.
    • Then the war on Kashmir broke out and %%India withheld the remaining payment saying Pakistan would buy weapons with that money.%%
    • %%On Gandhi’s insistence, another 500 million rupees were given to Pakistan%%. The %%remaining 50 million rupees were never paid.%%

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  • Another big problem was the %%accommodation of refugees%% coming from India.

    • After partition of India, Muslims living in the Indian Punjab and the neighbouring districts were forced to migrate to Pakistan.
    • The migrating families were attacked in an organized way by the militant Hindus and Sikhs.
    • Pakistan began to receive trains loaded with the dead and the injured.
    • The government of Pakistan had little to provide shelter, medical care and food to millions of refugees on urgent grounds.
    • They were accommodated in refugee camps and military barracks without appropriate facilities of living.

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  • Then there was the %%issue of the division of the canal water.%%

    • In April %%1948%%, India closed the two headworks Madhupur and Firozpur that controlled the waters of Ravi and Sutlej rivers of Pakistan.
    • This created a serious shortage of water threatening the crop production in the affected areas of Punjab.
    • This issue was finally %%solved under the mediation of the World Bank through Indus Water Treaty in 1960.%%

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  • %%Division of the princely states%% was also a problem.

    • India had a total of %%462 princely states%% and these states were given choice of accession either to India or to Pakistan after the partition.
    • %%459 states%% joined either state on the basis of their location and population composition quite smoothly. Problem arose in the states of Hyderabad, Junagadh and Kashmir.
    • %%Hyderabad and Junagadh had Muslim rulers ruling the non- Muslim majority states.%%
    • India occupied the two states using its military.
    • State of Jammu and Kashmir had a Muslim majority but was ruled by the Maharaja of the Dogra Dynasty.
    • Much to the disappointment of the Kashmiri Muslims, the Maharaja continued to delay the announcement of accession to Pakistan.
    • This led to protest and violence in Kashmir. The Maharaja invited the Indian army to help him, and this %%resulted in the 1st Pak-India war in the start of 1948%%.
    • A ceasefire was reached with the help of the UN and a temporary boundary line, the LoC (Line of Control) was drawn between the IHK (Indian Held Kashmir) and Azad Kashmir.
    • It %%still remains an unresolved issue between the two states.%%

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  • %%East and West Pakistan were separated by a 1600 km long Indian territory.%%

    • This created difficulties of communication between the two wings of Pakistan.
    • People living in the two wings were often ignorant of the problems of each other.
    • This geographical gap was exploited by India to create difficulties for Pakistan.
    • During the Pak-India war, the Indian government would deny its territory to the Pakistani aeroplanes flying between East and West Pakistan.
    • Moreover, the cultural differences between the two wings and within West Pakistan also created political and social problems.
    • Various cultural communities of Pakistan had little in common except for %%Islam.%%

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