COMSATS INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(Pakistan Studies)
Title: Initial Difficulties Instructor: Amjad Qaisrani

1. Creation of Pakistan was the logical result of the arduous struggle of the Muslims
of Sub-Continent under the inspiring and dynamic leadership of Quaid-i-Azam. The
British and Hindus, at last, had to surrender before the exemplary struggle of the Muslims
of India. The Hindus and Congress, however, did not accept the partition and emergence
of Pakistan from the core of their heart. They always looked for opportunities to create
problems for the newly-born state of Pakistan. They had accepted the partition in the
hope of undoing it soon and re-establishing their hegemony over the whole of the Sub-
Continent. According to Brecher, “Most of the Congress leaders and Nehru among them,
subscribed to the view that Pakistan was not a viable state – politically, economically,
geographically or militarily – and that sooner or later the areas which had ceded would be
compelled by force of circumstances to return to the fold. “With these sentiments the
Congress leaders had accepted Pakistan. But the Quaid-i-Azam declared, “Pakistan had
come to exist for ever and it will, by the grace of God, exist for ever.”
Congress Reaction on the Establishment of Pakistan
2. The Congress leaders did their utmost to damage Pakistan. They adopted
measures with the connivance of the British, and particularly with the blessings of
Mountbatten, to pile problems for Pakistan so that it should not survive as an
independent and sovereign State. The Indian Government adopted every possible means
to strangle Pakistan’s economy. Due to these conspiracies and mischievous, by the
Congress leaders, Pakistan had to face great difficulties which are given below:
Formation of Government Machinery
3. Pakistan came into existence under the most appalling conditions. The Indian
Government adopted delaying tactics in transferring the government servants and official
record which aggravated the situation. The immediate task before the nation was to
establish a workable administrative and government machinery to run the affairs of the
newly-born State. The biggest administrative problem facing Pakistan was the acute
shortage of competent and experienced personnel in the Central and Provincial
Governments. There were serious deficiencies in cadres of general administration as well
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as in the technical services. Quaid-i-Azam paid his immediate attention towards setting
up of the administrative machinery. He himself became the first Governor-General of
Pakistan. He had full authority on civil as well as armed forces of Pakistan. He formed his
Cabinet with Liaqat Ali Khan as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. Special arrangements
were made to bring officials who had opted for Pakistan. Quaid-i-Azam took a number of
steps to overcome the administrative problems of the new State. Central Secretariat was
established at Karachi. Government officials began working with zeal and zest and
sentiments of sacrifice. There was no office equipment, no furniture, no official record and
no stationery to pull the official routine. The Government officials, full with national
sentiments, did not care for the inadequacies and set to face the challenge under the
dynamic leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam. An agreement with TATA Air Company was
concluded for the transportation of the Government officials and their families.
4. In order to put the administrative machinery on smooth sailing, the civil services
were re-organized in the light of the formula given by Chaudri Muhammad Ali. The Civil
Services rules were drafted. Accounts and Foreign Services were introduced and the first
Pay Commission was set up in February 1948. Headquarters of Army, Navy and Air
Force were set up at different places. Quaid-i-Azam advised the Government officials
to work with sincerity and devotion. He made it clear to the Government officials that they
were not the rules but were the servants of the people. Quaid-i-Azam addressed the
Government officials on 11 October 1947 and said, “This is a challenge for us. If we were
to survive as a nation we will have to face these difficulties with a stern hand. Our people
are disorganized and worried because of the problems they are facing. We have to
encourage them to pull them out of despair. It has put great difficulty on the
administration and the people look to you for guidance”.
Division of Armed Force and Military Assets
5. On its creation, Pakistan faced acute threats to its security. For the security and
safeguard of its territory, Pakistan needed armed force and military equipments. The
question of division of armed forces and army equipment became a sensitive issue for
Pakistan which demanded the immediate division of army assets and personnel. On the
other hand the British C-in-C Field Marshal Auchinleck was in favour of maintaining the
unity of the armed forces and was opposed to the division of army assets. On the
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insistence of Muslim League, however, the Government had to accept the demand for the
division of military assets. On 3 June 1947, Field Marshal Auchinleck was entrusted with
the job of dividing the armed forces and army assets.
6. Congress and Indian Cabinet Ministers created many hurdles in the division of the
military assets. The assets were to be divided with a ratio of 36% and 64% between
Pakistan and India respectively. All the Ordinance Factories, sixteen in number, were
located in the Indian union. The Indian leaders were stubbornly opposed to the transfer of
any Ordinance Factory to Pakistan. They were not even prepared that even a single
piece of machinery may be given to Pakistan. A programme for the transfer and division
of army assets was chalked out. It was decided that the army soldiers and men, who
opted either for Pakistan or India, should report in their countries of choice by the 15
August, 1947. It was also decided that until the completion of division of armed forces
and military assets, the armed forces would remain under the control of one Commander.
The armed forces personnel were given full liberty to opt for any country Indian leaders
created many difficulties in the division of military assets and equipments. The
equipments which were given to Pakistan were mostly in shabby condition. The
machinery was obsolete and out of order. A financial settlement was arranged and
Rupees 60 million in lieu of Pakistan’s share of Ordinance factories was given to
Pakistan. With this amount the Ordinance Factory at Wah was established.
Massacre of Muslim Refugees and their Influx in Pakistan
7. During the Struggle Movement, the Hindus and Sikhs with the blessings and
connivance of the British rulers, had on many occasions, slaughtered the Muslim masses
in India. At the time of creation of Pakistan, the problem of refugees became a serious
and difficult issue for the Government. The Hindus and Sikhs had chalked out a
systematic programme for the massacre of Muslim refugees migrating to Pakistan. The
massacres in Punjab planned by the Sikhs were not only on a much larger scale these
also differed in kind from all previous disorders. These had explicitly defined political
objectives, and to gain it, violence and terror was cold bloodedly unleashed. Sikhs
organized military offensive on the refugees that would end only when the objective was
accomplished. They had at their disposal the trained and armed forces of Hindu and Sikh
states and had planned the massacres at a time when the Government of East and West
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Punjab were busy in the re-organization and, therefore, least capable of paying an
effective attention to any other matter.
8. The Hindu and Sikh rulers of States played the most inhuman and ignoble role in
this horrible tragedy in the history of mankind. They fully co-operated with the Hindus and
Sikhs in the ruthless slaughter of the Muslim refugees. In the Punjab the state troops of
the States of Patiala, Kapurthala, Alwar and Bharatpur, joined with Hindus and Sikhs
bands in the systematic extermination of the Muslim Population. The State troops were
employed in the massacre of Muslims with Hindus and Sikhs were allowed to kill and
mutilate Muslim men, women and children. The States of Kapurthala and Patiala
provided secret bases to raiding Sikhs and Hindus to operate. Arms and ammunition
were also provided by the State Governments to Sikhs and Hindus for killing the Muslims.
9. The Muslim massacres were not only confined to the countryside, worse things
were happening in the cities. On August 15, 1947, the day of Indian liberation was
celebrated very strangely in the Punjab. A Sikh mob paraded a number of Muslim women
naked through the streets of Amritsar, raped them on the roads and then cut some of
them to pieces with Kirpans and burnt the other alive. In this way the revenge for the
partition of India was taken from the Muslims. Sikhs were clearing East Punjab of
Muslims, butchering hundreds daily, forcing thousands to flee and burning Muslim
villages. Sikh Jathas always attacked the Muslim migrants on their way to Pakistan.
These raiding Jathas were given full protection by the authorities. The Sikhs slaughtered
the poor men, women, young and old in the cold blood. The minor children were killed in
a ruthless manner in the presence of their helpless parents. Women were raped and
young girls were abducted.
10. Some migrants undertook their journey to Pakistan in trains under the protection of
police and army. They also met the same fate. The trains were stopped at certain places
and Hindus and Sikhs, armed with deadly weapons, will suddenly appear and begin
killing the helpless refugees. They looted everything and left the trains in most miserable
and horrible conditions. The trains reached Pakistan with large number of dead bodies
and wounded persons to tell the tales of terrible atrocities committed by Hindus and
Sikhs.
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11. The first and the immediate problem, which invited attention of the Government,
was the rehabilitation of the refugees who had to leave their homes to begin a new life in
Pakistan. The refugees, in miserable conditions, were pushed in Pakistan to create
difficulties for the Government of Pakistan which was busy in establishing itself. Millions
of mutilated persons, with no sustenance, were made to leave their hearth and homes for
Pakistan simply to create economic problems for the newly-born country and for its
Government. Quaid-i-Azam met this challenge with courage and determination. He
moved his headquarter to Lahore to give his personal attention to the grave problem of
refugees. Quaid-i-Azam Relief Fund was established in which rich and wealthy people
were asked to donate generously for the rehabilitation of poor refugees.
12. The Quaid-i-Azam handled the situation arising out of the influx of refugees with
vision, courage and wisdom. He made stirring speeches to revive faith and confidence in
the distressed refugees. He said, “Do not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.
There are many examples in the history of young nations building themselves up by
sheer determination and force of character. You have to develop the spirits of Mujahids,
you are a nation whose history is full with tales of heroism and bravery. Live up to your
traditions and add to another chapter of glory.”
Division of Financial Assets
13. The Indian leaders adopted every possible means to strangle Pakistan’s economy
so that the newly-born State should not survive as an independent State. At the time of
creation of Pakistan there was a cash balance of Rs. 4 billion which was lying in the
Reserve Bank. This amount was to be divided proportionately amongst the two States by
a Committee. When the division was decided Pakistan was to get 750 million of rupees.
The Indian authorities refused to transfer the amount on one pretext or the other. The first
installment of Rs. 200 million was paid. The rest of the amount was stopped on the
advice of Sardar Patel who threatened that the amount shall not be paid until Pakistan
recognized India’s right over Kashmir. Mr. Gandhi intervened by a threat of going to
hunger strike if the amount was not paid to Pakistan. On Mr. Gandhi’s insistence Indian
Government gave another installment of 500 million to Pakistan. The remaining amount
of 50 million has not ever been paid.
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Canal Water Dispute

14. The water dispute had its origin in the partition of Punjab. It came into limelight on
1 April 1948, when India cut off the flow of canal waters to West Punjab in Pakistan,
causing dire threat of famine and loss of crops in West Punjab. The stoppage of canal
waters was a dangerous move on the part of the Indian leaders to satisfy their ignoble
designs of damaging Pakistan’s economy. West Pakistan was a fertile soil but with hot
and dry climate. The rainfall is scanty and undependable. Agriculture, the mainstay of
Pakistan’s economy is, therefore, dependent almost entirely upon irrigation by canals
drawn from the Indus and its five tributaries. The three western rivers, the Indus, the
Jhelum and the Chanab, flow into Pakistan from the State of Jammu and Kashmir and
the eastern rivers, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej, enter Pakistan from India.
15. It was decided at the time of partition that the canal Headwork’s would be given to
India which enabled India to cause a serious shortage of water. It also built dams over
those rivers which flow into Pakistan from India. Before partition India planned to build
Bakhara dam on the river Sutlej with a storage capacity of 4 million acre feet. But before
it could be completed, the downstream province of Sindh complained that the operation
of Bakhara dam would adversely affect the functioning of its link canals. India, only after
six months of partition, stopped the waters of the rivers Ravi and Sutlej which was a
grave blow to the agriculture of West Pakistan. Pakistan, however, managed to overcome
its problem arising out of blockade of water with the assistance of the World Bank.
Pakistan also purchased water from India on payment to avoid economic disaster. The
canal water dispute remained the main source of trouble between the two countries and
had adversely affected their mutual relations. On September 19, 1960, an agreement
was concluded between the two countries which is known as Indus Basin Water Treaty.
President Ayub Khan represented Pakistan while India was represented by her Prime
Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. According to the treaty the waters of the river Beas,
the river Ravi and the river Sutlej would be used by India while the waters of the river
Chenab, the river Jehlum and the river Indus would be given to Pakistan. It was also
decided that to make the best use of the waters of these rivers, two dams, 5 barrages
and 7 link canals would be built. India would pay 200 million rupees of the total cost of
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this project while the remaining amount would be paid by the friendly countries of
Pakistan. Pakistan to a greater extent overcame its irrigation problems by this Treaty.
Political Problems
16. Immediately after partition, Pakistan had to face great problems in the political
sphere. Of the many political problems, the issue of provincialism was the most alarming
issue for the stability and solidarity of the new country. The linguistic agitation added fuel
to the fire in airing sentiments of provincialism. Geographically East Pakistan is situated
at the farthest end of the Sub-Continent which furthered its mental alienation from the
rest of the country. Due to its geographical location the local cultures of other parts of the
Sub-Continent could not make their roots in the cultural aspect of East Pakistan.
Consequently anybody coming from other parts was taken as a stranger and looked upon
with suspicion and a feeling of hatred. A sense of insecurity and deprivation developed
amongst the people of East Pakistan especially because the capital was situated in West
Pakistan. They always felt alienated which gave rise to the feelings of separation and
provincialism. The western part of the country was a more developed region even before
the partition. It naturally had acquired strength in the different Government departments.
The monopoly of West Pakistanis in the Government Departments too strengthened the
apprehensions of the people of East Pakistan that they were be in ignored of their right s
in the national progress’s They held the people of West Pakistan responsible for the
usurpation of their rights. The Quaid-i-Azam warned the people about this grave
tendency of provincialism. He addressed the nation and said, “In unity lies strength. So
as long as we are not united we shall become weak and disgraced. We are all Pakistanis.
None of us is a Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Pathan or Bengali. Every one of us should
think, feel and act as a Pakistani and we should feel proud of being Pakistani alone.” The
Quaid-i-Azam made personal tours of various provinces to attend to the problem. He
aroused hope in the people of the country and reminded them of their responsibilities as
members of a free and independent nation.
Economic Problems
17. India always adopted every possible means to strangle Pakistan’s economy
besides creating other problems like massacre of refugees, accession of princely States.
In order to destroy Pakistan’s economic conditions, India denied Pakistan equitable share
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in the financial and military assets. False propaganda was made about Pakistan’s viability
in the economic sector in order to create doubts among the people about Pakistan’s
unstable economic conditions. When Pakistan came into existence, it mostly consisted of
those areas which were economically backward and under those areas which were
economically backward and under developed. These areas were mostly producers of raw
material which could not be utilized locally because related processing industries were
located elsewhere. The geographical location of Pakistan too, created economic
problems for Pakistan. Pakistan was divided into two parts each located one thousand
miles away from each other with India’s territory lying in between them. The tow wings of
the country had no geographical links between them.
18. Before partition, the Hindus, with the blessings of the British Government, had
acquired complete monopoly in trade and commerce. The entire capital was in the hands
of the Hindus. The bank and other financial institutions were established in those areas
which were located in Indian Territory. The major industries were also located in the areas
which are now part of India
20. Pakistan also suffered heavily because of Calcutta being awarded to India by
Radcliff. All major jute factories were located in Calcutta which was produced and
cultivated in East Pakistan and was the most precious crops of the province. The only
seaport of East Pakistan, Chittagong, was not capable of handling export of the jute to
the other countries as yet. Pakistan, therefore, had no other alternative than to export her
jute through Calcutta or sell it to India at a low price offered by her.
Linguistic Riots
19. Urdu played an important role in the demand of Pakistan during freedom
movement. The Muslims, in view of the importance and the role played by Urdu in the
freedom struggle, genuinely believed that Urdu would be the national language of
Pakistan after independence. The Muslims, therefore, found themselves associated and
attached with the Urdu language and diligently worked for its promotion and safeguard.
20. After the establishment of Pakistan the Quaid-i-Azam had declared on several
occasions that Urdu would be the national language of Pakistan. He declared that the
regional languages would also be promoted at the regional or provincial level but Urdu
would be the medium of communication on the national level. The separatist elements,
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which were silenced by the Quaid-i-Azam, did not stop their subversive activities against
Urdu language; consequently the linguistic riots erupted in East Pakistan against the
enforcement of Urdu as a national language of Pakistan. The unwise and narrow minded
political leaders involved the student community in these riots resulting in the death of a
number of student sin the police firing.
The Accession of Princely States
21. The Indian princely States, numbering 565 comprised of 1/3 of the Indian Territory
and a quarter of population. It was envisaged in the partition plan that states will be given
the right to join either India or Pakistan keeping in view the geographical location and the
wishes of their people. By 15 August 1947, all princely States except Janagarh, Kashmir
and Hyderabad had announced their accession with either India or Pakistan. These
States were to fall victim to Indian aggression later on.
a. Junagarh. Junagarh was a small maritime State, 300 miles down the
coast from Karachi. It had an area of 3,337 square miles and a population
of about 700,000. It was ruled by a Muslim ruler while the majority of
population comprised Hindu and non-Muslim residents. After independence
the State announced its accession to Pakistan because it could maintain its
links with Pakistan by sea. The Muslim ruler of Manawadar, a smaller State
contiguous to Junagarh, also acceded to Pakistan. The accession of
Junagarh and Manavadar were accepted by the Government of Pakistan
and the Indian Government was accordingly informed. The Governor
General of India Lord Mountbatten telegraphed to the Governor General of
Pakistan and said; “Such acceptance of accession by Pakistan cannot but
be regarded by the Government of India as an encroachment on Indian
sovereignty and territory and inconsistent with friendly relations that should
exist between the two dominions. This action is in utter violation of
principles on which partition was agreed upon and effected”. With these
protests the Indian Government took steps to solve the problem by force.
Junagrah was surrounded by the Indian troops. On November 7, 1947, the
liberation army of 20,000 men with armoured cars and other modern
weapons entered Junagarh. Two days later India assumed control of the
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entire State. The Government of Pakistan strongly protested on illegal

occupation of Junagarh by Indian army and urged the Indian Government to
withdraw its forces. The Government of India paid no heed and held a
referendum after two months under the supervision of its armed forces.
Majority of voters cast their votes, as expected, in favour of accession to
India. Pakistan took up the matter with the UNO which is still undecided.