Chapter 11 - Establishment of an independent nation 1947-1948

Problems facing the newly formed Pakistan:

• 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.%%

• %%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.%%

• 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.

• 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.%%

• %%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.%%

• %%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.%%