The Initial Problems of Pakistan 1947-48

This handout covers the problems that faced Pakistan at independence and how Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah dealt with them as Governor-General. It opens Section 3 of the syllabus, nationhood 1947-99.

Key dates

Date	Event
11 August 1947	Jinnah addresses the Constituent Assembly and promises freedom of religion
14 August 1947	Pakistan becomes independent; Jinnah is Governor-General
17 August 1947	The Radcliffe Award is published; mass migration and violence grow in Punjab
September 1947	Pakistan joins the United Nations; the ruler of Junagadh accedes to Pakistan
October 1947	Fighting begins in Kashmir; the Maharaja accedes to India and Indian troops are flown in
November 1947	Indian forces take control of Junagadh
January 1948	India refers Kashmir to the United Nations; Gandhi's fast leads India to release more of Pakistan's share of the cash balances
March 1948	Jinnah visits East Pakistan and states that Urdu will be the national language
1 April 1948	India stops the flow of water in canals entering Pakistan
1 July 1948	Jinnah opens the State Bank of Pakistan
11 September 1948	Death of Jinnah; shortly afterwards Indian troops enter Hyderabad

The problems

1. Geography

Pakistan was made up of two wings separated by about a thousand miles of Indian territory. East Pakistan had more people; West Pakistan had the capital and most of the army and officials. Their languages and ways of life differed, and communication and defence were difficult from the start.

2. Refugees

Partition was followed by one of the largest migrations in history. Millions of Muslims left India for Pakistan and millions of Hindus and Sikhs moved the other way. The worst violence was in Punjab, where trains and columns of refugees were attacked. Estimates of the dead range from several hundred thousand to about a million. Those who reached Pakistan had usually lost everything and needed food, shelter and medical care at once. The camps were overcrowded and the new government had very little money to help.

3. The division of financial and military assets

Money. It was agreed that Pakistan would receive 750 million rupees from the cash balances of British India. India paid a first instalment of 200 million and then held back the rest, arguing that Pakistan would use it to pay for the war in Kashmir. After Gandhi fasted in protest in January 1948, India paid a further 500 million. The remaining 50 million was never paid.

Armed forces. The army and its equipment were to be divided roughly in the ratio 64 to 36 between India and Pakistan. Pakistan's problems were:

• There were too few trained Muslim officers, so British officers had to be kept on for some years.
• All the ordnance factories were in India. India would not move any of them and in the end agreed to pay money in compensation. Pakistan later built its own factory at Wah.
• Much of the equipment that was sent arrived late, incomplete or in poor condition.

4. The canal water dispute

The Radcliffe Award had cut across the irrigation system of Punjab. The headworks at Madhopur and Ferozepur, which controlled canals flowing into Pakistan, were in India. On 1 April 1948 India shut off the supply. Crops in West Punjab were threatened. A temporary agreement in May 1948 restored the water while Pakistan looked for other supplies, but the dispute was not finally settled until the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

5. The princely states

The rulers of the princely states were to join India or Pakistan. Three cases caused disputes.

State	Ruler and people	What happened
Junagadh	Muslim ruler, Hindu majority	The Nawab acceded to Pakistan in September 1947. India sent in troops in November 1947 and later held a vote that favoured India.
Hyderabad	Muslim ruler (the Nizam), Hindu majority; the largest and richest state	The Nizam wanted to remain independent. Indian troops invaded and took over the state in September 1948.
Jammu and Kashmir	Hindu ruler (Maharaja Hari Singh), Muslim majority	The Maharaja delayed. After a revolt and the entry of tribesmen from Pakistan in October 1947 he acceded to India, and Indian troops arrived. Fighting continued until a United Nations ceasefire in January 1949.

Pakistan argued that India used opposite arguments in different cases: the wishes of the people in Junagadh and Hyderabad, but the decision of the ruler in Kashmir. The United Nations called for a plebiscite in Kashmir, which has not been held. Kashmir remained divided.

6. Administrative problems

India inherited the capital, Delhi, with its ministries and records. Pakistan had to create a central government in Karachi from nothing. There were few experienced senior officials. Offices were set up in barracks and hired buildings, and there was a shortage of furniture, typewriters and even paper.

7. Economic problems

The areas that became Pakistan were mainly agricultural and had little industry. East Pakistan grew most of the world's jute, but the mills that processed it were in Calcutta, now in India. West Pakistan grew cotton but had few textile mills. There was no central bank, and the cost of refugees and defence took most of the small budget.

8. Social and language differences

Pakistan contained Bengalis, Punjabis, Sindhis, Pashtuns and Baloch, as well as the newly arrived refugees. There was a danger that people would put their province before the country. The choice of a national language was a particular difficulty, since Bengali was spoken by more than half the population.

How Jinnah dealt with the problems

1. Refugees. He set up the Quaid-e-Azam Relief Fund and appealed to the public to give money, clothing and shelter. He spent time in Lahore to oversee the relief work in person.
2. Unity and minorities. He urged people to think of themselves as Pakistanis first and warned against provincialism. In his speech of 11 August 1947 he said that citizens were free to follow their own religion, and he called himself the Protector-General of the minorities. To give the country a single language he declared that Urdu would be the national language.
3. Government. He was Governor-General and also presided over the Constituent Assembly. The Government of India Act 1935 was used as a temporary constitution. A Civil Service was organised. Pakistan joined the United Nations in September 1947.
4. The economy. He opened the State Bank of Pakistan on 1 July 1948 so that Pakistan could control its own currency and banking. An Industrial Policy Statement in 1948 set out plans to build up industry. His government pressed India for Pakistan's share of the cash balances and reached the temporary agreement on canal water.
5. Defence and Kashmir. The armed forces were built up with the help of British officers who stayed on. Jinnah wanted to send the army into Kashmir in October 1947, but the British commander was unwilling to do so at that time. Regular Pakistani troops were sent in 1948.

How successful was Jinnah?

Successes

• Pakistan survived. Many observers in 1947 expected it to collapse within months.
• A working government, a civil service, a central bank and a currency were created in about a year.
• Millions of refugees were received and given basic relief.
• His personal authority held the country together and gave people confidence.

Limits

• Kashmir was not won, and Junagadh and Hyderabad were lost to India.
• The canal water question was only postponed.
• The decision on Urdu was resented in East Pakistan and became a lasting grievance.
• No constitution had been written by the time he died.
• He was seriously ill and died on 11 September 1948, after only thirteen months in office. So much depended on him that his death left a gap in leadership.

Judgement

Jinnah could not solve problems that depended on India, such as Kashmir and the canal water. Within Pakistan he was largely successful. He gave the new state a government, a financial system and a sense of purpose at a time when its survival was in doubt.

Key terms and people

• Governor-General: head of state of a dominion; Jinnah held the post from August 1947 to September 1948.
• Accession: the formal act by which a princely state joined India or Pakistan.
• Headworks: the dam and gates that control the flow of water into canals.
• Ordnance factory: a factory that makes weapons and ammunition.
• Maharaja Hari Singh: the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947.

Exam practice

1. Describe the canal water dispute of 1948. [4]
2. Why was the division of assets a problem for Pakistan in 1947-48? [7]
3. "The refugee crisis was the most serious problem facing Pakistan in 1947-48." How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [14]

Outline answers

1. The partition of Punjab left the headworks at Madhopur and Ferozepur in India. On 1 April 1948 India stopped the water in canals flowing into Pakistan. Crops in West Punjab were put at risk. A temporary agreement was made in May 1948; the final settlement was the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

2. Three explained reasons: (i) India held back most of the 750 million rupees due to Pakistan, so the new government was short of money when it had refugees to feed and an administration to build; (ii) the ordnance factories were all in India and the military stores sent were late or in poor condition, so the army was weak during the Kashmir conflict; (iii) there were too few trained officers, so Pakistan had to depend on British officers.

3. Agree: millions arrived with nothing; the cost and the human suffering were huge; the violence damaged relations with India; the towns of Punjab and Sindh were put under strain. Other problems: Kashmir led to war and lasting hostility; the canal dispute threatened food supply; lack of funds and of military equipment; no administration or central bank; two wings a thousand miles apart. Judgement: the refugee crisis was the most urgent, but it was dealt with in time, while Kashmir was never resolved and so may be judged the most serious in the long term.