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.