Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.

31
ID: 1721365042

A. What were the political and administrative reforms and measures

undertaken by General Ayub Khan during his undemocratic regime of
ten years? How far was he successful, in terms of achieving national
integration and nation-building in Pakistan?

Answer:

General Ayub Khan undertook various political and administrative reforms and measures during
his undemocratic regime of ten years. These reforms and measures are described below in details
along with the analysis about how successful they were:

Administrative Reforms:
Basic Democracy was a local government system introduced during the Ayub regime in the early
1960s. Ayub Khan introduced the concept under the Basic Democracies Order, 1959 having
made an attempt to initiate a grass-root level democratic system.
It’s a five-tier arrangement which included union councils, thana councils (East Pakistan), tehsil
councils (West Pakistan), district councils, divisional councils, provincial development advisory
council. However among these councils, only the union and district councils had specific
functions while the other councils mostly had coordinative functions. The most important feature
of this basic democracy system was that it formed the national Electoral College consisting of
80,000 members from East and West Pakistan (40,000 from each) for the elections of President,
members of national assembly and of the provincial assemblies. In the referendum for
presidential elections held on 14 February 1960 the basic democrats voted for Ayub Khan.

Political Reforms:
The Constitution of 1962 was formed and enforced during the rule of General Ayub Khan. On 17
February 1960 Ayub Khan appointed a commission headed by the former Chief Justice of
Pakistan, Muhammad Shahabuddin. The report of the Constitution Commission was presented to
President Ayub on 6 May 1961. In January 1962, the Cabinet finally approved the text of the
new constitution. It was promulgated by President Ayub on 1 March 1962 and finally came into
effect on 8 June 1962. The Constitution contained 250 articles divided into twelve parts and three
schedules. With the enforcement of this Constitution after 44 Months, Martial Law came to end.
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

This constitution made significant provisions to the existing rules. In this constitution, Pakistan
was named as Republic of Pakistan. Islam was given prominence but not declared state religion.
It also provided for a federal system. It introduced central legislature which had one house
known as the National Assembly with 157 members. The constitution provided for a presidential
form of government, as opposed to the parliamentary form of government under the 1956
Constitution. This constitution also stated that the President has to be elected by the electoral
college of 80,000 basic democrats.

Analyzing the success of Ayub Khan’s various political and administrative reforms in terms of
achieving national integration and nation-building in Pakistan:
Although Ayub Khan brought many changes to the political and administrative structure of East
Pakistan, most of the changes failed to eliminate the disparity and sense of distance between the
two groups of people. The changes failed to counterbalance the lack of counter elite participation
as it concentrated power rather than creating it. By refusing to share or distribute the limited
available power, it alienated various groups from its system. The changes created high rate of
economic growth but the development and distribution strategy created more problems of
integration. At the end, during the military regime, Pakistan faced an integration crisis because of
the lag between political development and economic growth.

In conclusion, we can say that Ayub Khan’s various political and administrative reforms in
terms of achieving national integration and nation-building in Pakistan were large unsuccessful
as the disparity between the two groups grew even further.

C. How do you explain the unprecedented landslide victory of Awami

League and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the National and
Provincial Elections of 1970? Briefly state the nature of problematique
that emerged due to this unprecedented outcome of the 1970 elections.

Answer:

There were several underlying reasons behind the unprecedented landslide victory of Awami
League and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the National and Provincial Elections of
1970. The main reasons behind this landslide victory are described below:
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

Before the election, the Six-points and 11-points Programs had their mass appeal which made
the general populace more eager to vote for Awami League. The charismatic leadership of
Sheikh Mujib also played a role in this. The Election Manifesto of the Awami League was
something that the general populace was looking forward to as it aimed to shorted the disparity
and abolish the corruption. The election and Awami League was broad-based enough to mobilize
widest possible support for them.
Apart from this, Yahya Khan’s miscalculations also played a vital role in their victory. Declaring
One Unit in Pakistan was expected to remove WP support for autonomy in East Pakistan as
Yahya thought representation on the basis of population would not secure absolute majority in
the National Assembly. He thought votes in East Pakistan would be distributed among AL,
Jamat-i-Islami, and NAP (Bhashani), threfore, Mujib would require a coalition. However,
Yahya was made to understand that the right wing political parties of West Pakistan had mass
support. He failed to evaluate properly the political situation in East Pakistan which in turn
resulted in the land slide victory for Awami League.
Along with these reasons, complete failure of the West Pakistan intelligence agencies was also to
blame. There was a natural disaster (November 12, 1970) in East Pakistan and poor response of
the central government disappointed the general population which made them vote for Awami
League even more.

The landslide victory of Awami League and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the
National and Provincial Elections of 1970 had created a nature of problematique in the whole
Pakistan.
The overwhelming victory of Awami League meant the implementation of the 6-points and 11-
points. The army in Pakistan was panic-stricken. Yahya Khan (the army) and Bhutto joined
forces against Sheikh Mujib and two plans of action were decided upon. Firstly to minimize the
political strength of Awami League in the Assembly by getting Mujib to share power with
Bhutto and secondly to discredit Mujib by bringing charges of conspiracy against him. On 20
December 1970, Bhutto declared that his party PPP would not accept the position of opposition
in the Assembly. On 24 Dec., Bhutto declared that the two major parties of Pakistan should share
power in the government. To discredit Awami League, it was said that the supporters of the
Awami League were Hindus and the Party “had more Hindu leanings than Islamic”. Mujib
undertook the strategy of winning the support of the smaller political parties in West Pakistan. In
addition, Sheikh Mujib was successful in securing the support of at least 30-35 elected
members of the National Assembly of Sind, NWFP and Baluchistan. On 14 January, Yahya
stated that Sheikh Mujib was going to be the future Prime Minister of Pakistan;
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

But Bhutto strengthened his position by securing support of Punjabi generals like Hamid, Umar,
Tikka Khan and Pirzada and informed Yahya that he was the leader of the whole of West
Pakistan and he would never accept a position under Sheikh Mujib in the administration of the
country.
Bhutto however, agreed to meet Mujib in an effort to settle the deadlock. Meeting between
Bhutto and Sheikh Mujib was held during 27-30 January, 1971, However, Bhutto made it clear
that if all the points of 6-points and 11-points are included in the Constitution, he would not
agree. After this, the hijacking an Indian plane was done and the situation slowly spiraled out of
control which developed the military involvement in the situation.

In conclusion, landslide victory of Awami League and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in
the National and Provincial Elections of 1970 invoked the nature of problematic situation as the
ruling Pakistan Government did not expect to lose and thus began their plot to undermine the
election and Sheikh Mujib. This situation slowly developed into the liberation war and played a
vital role in the independence of the East Pakistan.

Short Questions:

1. Write briefly, what was the significance of the formation of East

Pakistan Awami Muslim League (EPAML)?

Answer:

The significance East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (EPAML) is vast and long lasting in the
scope of history of East Pakistan. Some of the most important significances are as described in
short in the passage below:

East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (EPAML) adopted 41 point program and emerged as the
foremost political party. It became a party of the common people as opposed to Muslim Leagues’
elitist nature. It went against the communal character of Pakistan emphasizing secular and
democratic nature of the country. It also contributed to the emergence of young East Pakistan
leadership which in turn spearheaded the demand for autonomy and eventually independence for
East Pakistan. In earlier period, East Pakistan Awami Muslim League was the one to put forward
and raise the demands from East Pakistan to have Bangla as state language, to implement
universal suffrage, meaning the right to vote for all eligible adults, and also for the removal of
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

disparity among states and people.

2. Why the United Front won in the 1954 Provincial Elections of

Pakistan?

Answer:

The United Front won a landslide victory with 223 seats out of 237 of the Muslim seats in the
provincial election of 1954. They had sufficient reasons behind their victory in this election. The
most relevant reasons are listed below:
The provincial 1954 election was held on the basis of Universal Adult franchise, which gave the
right to vote all adult citizens. This gave the general populace got an opportunity to reject
Muslim League which was deemed anti-people by most. Via this election, people also voiced
their opposition against Punjabi domination. Voting for the United Front was a reflection of the
people’s aspirations for full regional autonomy of East Bengal. Benglis also voted for United
Front as the impact of language hegemony made them feel alienated culturally and this election
was a way to vent the frustration. Housewives also voted against the prices of daily necessities
such as salt, kerosene and mustard oil going up. Economic distress of the people of East Bengal,
failure to form the constitution and the Cabinet being confined among the Muslim League
leaders also played a role to pave way for United Front’s Victory. Along with these reasons, the
absence of charismatic leadership for opposing parties while United Front having charismatic
and highly acclaimed leader such as AK Fazlul Huq, Bhasani and, the overall prevailing
oppressive rule and corruption played a key role in the victory of United Front in the election of
1954.
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

3. What were the major drawbacks of the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan?

Answer:

The first Constitution of Pakistan was adopted on 29 February and enforced on 23 March in
1956. However it had several glaring drawbacks. The drawbacks of 1956 Constitution of
Pakistan are as follows:

In this constitution, devolution of power was not given constitutional recognition. This also
created two distinct entities – East and West, which in turn further consolidated regional
loyalties. The constitution of Pakistan allowed too much interference by the Center which
impeded the politicians and they failed to observe constitutional provisions. Even after this
constitution was enforced, unconstitutional forces were active and political conflict had been a
common phenomenon. Governor General Ghulam Muhammad and President Iskander Mirza
failed to uphold the Constitution in several occasions. Provincial autonomy was not given which
had been a fervent desire of many. From observing these points we can say that the constitution
of 1954 indeed had severe drawbacks.

5. What was ‘Basic Democracy’ as devised by General Ayub Khan?

Answer:

Basic Democracy was a local government system introduced during the Ayub regime in the early
1960s. Ayub Khan introduced the concept under the Basic Democracies Order, 1959 having
made an attempt to initiate a grass-root level democratic system.

It’s a five-tier arrangement which included union councils, thana councils (East Pakistan), tehsil
councils (West Pakistan), district councils, divisional councils, provincial development advisory
council. However among these councils, only the union and district councils had specific
functions while the other councils mostly had coordinative functions. The most important feature
of this basic democracy system was that it formed the national Electoral College consisting of
80,000 members from East and West Pakistan (40,000 from each) for the elections of President,
members of national assembly and of the provincial assemblies.
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

6. What were the main provisions newly adopted in the 1962

Constitution of Pakistan?

Answer:

The 1962 Constitution of Pakistan contained 250 articles divided into twelve parts and three
schedules. It adopted many new provisions and the most significant ones among them are
described below:

In this constitution, Pakistan was named as Republic of Pakistan. Islam was given prominence
but not declared state religion. It also provided for a federal system. It introduced central
legislature which had one house known as the National Assembly with 157 members. The
constitution provided for a presidential form of government, as opposed to the parliamentary
form of government under the 1956 Constitution. This constitution also stated that the President
has to be elected by the electoral college of 80,000 basic democrats.

These were the main provisions newly adopted in the 1962 Constitution of Pakistan.

8. What were the implications of 6-point program that was proposed by

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1966?

Answer:

On March 23, 1966 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman unveiled the Six-Points program in a pamphlet
titled, “Our Right to Live”. It was a document prepared by the university teachers, senior
government officials and the economists. The implications of the six point program were far
reaching. The most prominent ones among them are as follows:
The six point program went deeper than any other political demands before. It had more concrete
and concerted demands than any other demands before this. It gave the federal government only
defence and foreign affairs, not currency, thus restricting their influence. It also demanded
parliamentary government on the basis of universal adult franchise. It attracted massive support
of the people from all over the Province.
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

It was also formally adopted as party manifesto of East Pakistan Awami League. People of East
Pakistan had been demanding autonomy and democracy for 16 years and six-points program
provided crystallized their demands. This six point program also paved the way for Sheikh Mujib
as it was a demonstration of charismatic leadership of Sheikh Mujib for the first time for the
populace.

9. What were the differences between the 6-point and 11-point

programs?

Answer:

Differences the 6-point and 11-point programs are as follows:

While the 6-points program was mainly focused on securing regional autonomy, 11-points
widened its ambit. It also covered the interests of the communist parties such as the workers and
peasants. It was anti-imperialist in nature. 11 point program as able to bring all section of the
people under a single umbrella which 6-point program failed to achieve completely. Restoration
of parliament democracy, creation of Sub-Federation of in West Pakistan, tax reduction of
farmers, proper labor wage and so on were also covered in the 11-point program which 6-point
program did not cover.

In conclusion, while 6-point program set the foundation for people’s demands and autonomy, 11-
point program expanded that to cover all aspects of the system. But the 11 points program would
not be there without the 6-point program to start it off, so both of them are almost equally
important in our history.
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

10. What was the Agartala Conspiracy Case?

Answer:

The Agartala Conspiracy Case was a ploy by the then Pakistan Government as the six point
program was not well received them as they did not want to share their political and economic
power with East Pakistan.

In accordance to this scheme, Sheikh Mujib was arrested along with Tajuddin Ahmed,
Khandokar Mushtaq Ahmed, Mansoor Ali and others under the Defense of Pakistan Rules (DPR)
on May 8, 1966. Latter in January 1968, Sheikh Mujib along with 35 others – including some
Bengali members of Pakistan Civil Services and armed forces – were charged with the infamous
Agartala Conspiracy Case, plotting to bring about the secession of East Pakistan with Indian
help.

A press-note was issued by the Pakistan Home Ministry that claimed that this group of 36
persons was maintaining close link with the Deputy High Commissioner of India in Dhaka and
some of them visited Agartala, had meetings with Colonel Mishra, Major Menon and other
Indian officials. It was also alleged that a large amount of money and arms were collected to
make the plan a success. This whole situation is known as Agartala Conspiracy Case in history.
The Agartala Conspiracy Case transformed the movement for autonomy into a mass movement
and made Sheikh Mujib the undisputed leader of East Pakistan.

13. What was the Legal Framework Order (LFO) promulgated by Yahya
Khan on 30 March, 1970?

Answer:

The Legal Framework Order, 1970 (LFO) was a decree issued by then-President of Yahya Khan
that laid down the political principles and laws governing the 1970 general election, which was
the first direct elections in the history of Pakistan. It was promulgated on 30 March 1970, along
with the Province of West Pakistan (Dissolution) Order. According to the LFO of 1970, several
points were made such as-
Name: S.M. Istiak Ahmed Course: His103.31
ID: 1721365042

Pakistan was to be a Federal Republic. Islamic ideology which is the basis for the creation of
Pakistan shall be preserved. It also stated that the Head of the State shall be Muslim. It ensured
that fundamental principles of democracy shall be maintained by providing direct and free
elections to the Federal and Provincial Legislatures on the basis of population and adult
franchise.

The LFO laid down the composition of the National and Provincial Assemblies, principle of
election, date of polling, and rules of procedure. The National Assembly of Pakistan was to
consist of 313 seats: 300 directly elected on the basis of adult franchise and 13 seats reserved for
the women. However, women were not barred from being elected to a general seat. The numbers
of seats to the National and Provincial Assemblies were allocated on the basis of the Populations
Census of 1961.

14. What were the results of the National and Provincial Assemblies’
Elections in 1970?

Answer:

The results of the National and Provincial Assemblies’ Elections in 1970 are described below:

The results of the National and Provincial Assemblies’ Elections in 1970 took everyone by
surprise and paved the way for autonomy and self-determination for East Pakistan. In this
election, Awami League secured 160 out 162 and all reserved seats (07) of women totalling 167
of 169 in the National Assembly and 298 out of 310 in the Provincial Assembly. The two seats
lost in National Assembly were one to PDP leader and another to an independent candidate from
Chittagong Hill Tracts.
PPP won 88 (83 direct and 05 women) out of 313 in the National Assembly and none in the
Provincial Assembly of East Pakistan.
Awami League secured 38.3 % votes cast all over Pakistan while PPP secured only 19.5 %.
Although Awami League emerged with the largest majority but did not win a single seat other
than East Pakistan and PPP did not win a single seat in East Pakistan. This result of the election
was ground for secession in the overall political picture of Pakistan.