Major General Iskandar Mirza as Governor General
Background
• Major General Iskandar Mirza was one of the 5 members selected for Ghulam Muhammad Ali’s Cabinet
• He was not the member of Assembly
• He was from military background and had served in British Army
• He was Governor of East Pakistan
• When Ghulam Muhammad Ali resigned Major Iskandar Mirza became acting Governor General
• He was committed to take necessary actions required for Pakistan’s development
• Drafting a constitution was amongst top of his priorities
Work and Major Developments: 1956 Constitution
• 1956, 1st constitution was adopted by 2nd Constituent Assembly• It was enforced on 23rd of March
• Islamic Republic of Pakistan was official name of Pakistan in the Constitution
• It was a compromise between two major political parties of Pakistan, Muslim League and United Front
• Neither of the political party was satisfied
• United Front dropped its objection to equal seats in Assembly and no longer demanded provincial autonomy
• Bengali was accepted as official language
• The post of Governor General was replaced by President
Challenges faced
• The constitution lasted for only two years• Major General Iskandar Mirza declared martial law and scrapped the new constitution
The One Unit Policy
• 1954, Muhammad Ali Bogra suggested that 4 provinces and 10 princely states should be joined together to form West Pakistan• 1955, Mirza passed an order unifying West Pakistan referred as One Unit Scheme
Reasons for unification:
• It will bring greater efficiency and rapid development
• A significant step towards united country
Critical Reasons behind Unification:
• In Pakistan, dominant politicians were from West Pakistan and mainly from Punjab
• The feared that East Pakistan will soon get influence as there were 10 million more Pakistanis in East Pakistan than in West Pakistan
• By dividing Pakistan into two wings officially and ensuring equal representation in the Assembly, the One Unit Scheme prevented East Pakistan gaining majority in the Assembly
Criticism of One Unit Scheme
• This scheme was highly unpopular in East Pakistan• It was opposed by provinces of West Pakistan
• When the situation worsened Mirza dismissed Chief Minister of Sindh
• He dissolved the state assemblies of Bahawalpur and Khairpur provinces
Major Developments
Modernization
• Mirza started industrialization and rural development programs
• Karachi Airport was completed
• Modernization of Pakistan Railways continued
• Telephone system was expanded
• Mirza introduced government provision in health and education
East Pakistan
• East Pakistan had always remained poor• They had no say in government decision making
• The problems in East Pakistan worsened with flood and food shortages
• When Muhammad Ali Bogra resigned Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy, politician from East Pakistan became Prime Minister of Pakistan
Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy Prime Minister of Pakistan
Background
• When Muhammad Ali Bogra resigned Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy, politician from East Pakistan became Prime Minister of Pakistan
• He hoped giving the most important Cabinet post to politicians from East Pakistan would help to win support from there for this government
Challenges
• He remained in office for one year
• He had conflict with Mirza over authority
Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar Prime Minister of Pakistan
• 1957, Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar was appointed as next Prime Minister
• His team members had a great disagreement on major issues
• He proved to be a weak Prime Minister and soon got removed from Mirza
Feroz Khan Noon Prime Minister of Pakistan
• After Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar, Feroz Khan was appointed as next Prime Minister
• His government was even more divided than Ibrahim Ismail’s
• He formed a large cabinet comprising of 26 members out of 80 in the Assembly
• The main aim was to bring all shades of opinion in the cabinet
Removal of Iskandar Mirza’s rule
• With the above developments Mirza became more and more unpopular• According to new constitution elections were supposed to be held in 1957.
• Mirza was reluctant to announce elections as he knew he will lose
• Further, he was alarmed that Suharwardy was uniting major politicians from Punjab and Bengal against him
• Using constant disagreement with government as his excuse he proclaimed Martial Law with himself as President
• He asked the Commander in Chief, General Ayub Khan to take the charge as Martial Law Administrator
• He appointed Ayub Khan as Prime Minister of Pakistan
• Earlier, General Ayub Khan had declined offers of taking over government by Ghulam Muhammad Ali but he realized now it was necessary now
• General Ayub Khan forced Mirza to resign and was exiled to London
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