Pakistan Sports Board was established under the Ministry of Education through the Sports (Development and Control) Ordinance, 1962 as a corporate body for the purposes of promoting and developing uniform standards of competition in sports in Pakistan comparable to the standards prevailing internationally, and regulating and controlling sports in Pakistan on a national basis.
Subsequently, in July, 1977 with the creation of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the administrative control of the Pakistan Sports Board was transferred to it.
The Board has a General Body, with its Headquarters at Islamabad. The General Body consists of 35 members. It lays down the policy and 12 members Executive Committee implements this policy.
Pakistan Sports Board being the supreme body of sports monitors the activities/affairs of National Sports Federations affiliated to it and ensure proper utilization of annual and special grants given by the Board. The annual grants are released to the National Federations to meet their day to day expenses whereas special grants are meant for participation and holding of international sports events. These grants are allocated/approved by the Executive Committee of Pakistan Sports Board keeping in view the popularity of games, achievements of international level and activities of the Federations. At present, 40 National Sports Federations are affiliated with the Board. Each Federation is responsible for promotion and development of its respective game/sports.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The State Emblem
The State Emblem of Pakistan, which was approved by the Central Government in 1954, symbolises Pakistan's ideological foundation, its cultural heritage, the guiding principles and the basis of its economic strength.
The four ingredients of the Emblem are:
* The crescent and star crest at the top is a traditional symbol of Islam
* The shield in the centre, with four partitions, shows main crops of Pakistan which signify the strong agriculture based economy
* The wreath surrounding the shield is a reproduction of the floral designs used in traditional Mughal art. Its inclusion in the design reminds of the nation's cultural heritage
* The scroll supporting the shield carries the Urdu version of Quaid-e-Azam's famous motto --- "Faith", "Unity", Discipline. These three words articulate the guiding principles for the nation
Unlike other heraldic devices which are emblazoned with symbols representing mythological, historical and geographical features, Pakistan's state emblem gives due recognition to the country's source of inspiration, strength and tradition.
The four ingredients of the Emblem are:
* The crescent and star crest at the top is a traditional symbol of Islam
* The shield in the centre, with four partitions, shows main crops of Pakistan which signify the strong agriculture based economy
* The wreath surrounding the shield is a reproduction of the floral designs used in traditional Mughal art. Its inclusion in the design reminds of the nation's cultural heritage
* The scroll supporting the shield carries the Urdu version of Quaid-e-Azam's famous motto --- "Faith", "Unity", Discipline. These three words articulate the guiding principles for the nation
Unlike other heraldic devices which are emblazoned with symbols representing mythological, historical and geographical features, Pakistan's state emblem gives due recognition to the country's source of inspiration, strength and tradition.
Pakistan Flag
The National Flag of Pakistan is dark green in colour with a white bar, a white crescent in the center and a five-pointed star. The significance of the colour and symbols used in the Pakistan Flag is as follows:
* The white and dark green field represents Minorities & Muslim majority,respectively.
* The crescent on the Flag represents progress.
* The five-rayed star represents light and knowledge.
* The white and dark green field represents Minorities & Muslim majority,respectively.
* The crescent on the Flag represents progress.
* The five-rayed star represents light and knowledge.
National Anthem
The National Anthem of Pakistan approved by the Government in August 1954, is a harmonious rendering of a three-stanza composition with a tune based on eastern music but arranged in such a manner that it can be easily played by foreign bands.
The Anthem is evocative in spirit, extolling Pakistan as the centre of faith and freedom, a land of beauty and strength drawn from the people and the country. The words touch upon the various facets of national life, with an invocation for integrity o Pakistan.
The Verses of the Anthem have been composed by a renowned poet of Pakistan, Abul Asar Hafeez Jullundhri; while the tune has been composed by Ahmed G. Chagla, the well known musician and composer.
The Anthem written in Urdu is a unique poetical composition, as in spite of its brevity it is a lyrical exultation for the quintessence of Pakistan its Islamic foundation, ideology,
ethos, aspirations and its intrinsic strength.
Urdu
Translation in English
Blessed be the sacred Land
Happy be the bounteous realm
Symbol of high resolve
Land of Pakistan
Blessed be thou citadel of faith
The order of this sacred land
Is the might of the brotherhood of the People
May the nation, the country, and the state
Shine in glory everlasting
Blessed be the goal of our ambition
This Flag of the Crescent and Star
Leads the way to progress and perfection
Interpreter of our past, glory of our present
Inspiration of our future
Symbol of Almighty's protection
The Anthem is evocative in spirit, extolling Pakistan as the centre of faith and freedom, a land of beauty and strength drawn from the people and the country. The words touch upon the various facets of national life, with an invocation for integrity o Pakistan.
The Verses of the Anthem have been composed by a renowned poet of Pakistan, Abul Asar Hafeez Jullundhri; while the tune has been composed by Ahmed G. Chagla, the well known musician and composer.
The Anthem written in Urdu is a unique poetical composition, as in spite of its brevity it is a lyrical exultation for the quintessence of Pakistan its Islamic foundation, ideology,
ethos, aspirations and its intrinsic strength.
Urdu
Translation in English
Blessed be the sacred Land
Happy be the bounteous realm
Symbol of high resolve
Land of Pakistan
Blessed be thou citadel of faith
The order of this sacred land
Is the might of the brotherhood of the People
May the nation, the country, and the state
Shine in glory everlasting
Blessed be the goal of our ambition
This Flag of the Crescent and Star
Leads the way to progress and perfection
Interpreter of our past, glory of our present
Inspiration of our future
Symbol of Almighty's protection
Pakistan's Historical Background
HISTORY IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Pakistan emerged on the world map on August 14,1947. It has its roots into the remote past. Its establishment was the culmination of the struggle by Muslims of the South-Asian subcontinent for a separate homeland of their own and its foundation was laid when Muhammad bin Qasim subdued Sindh in 711 A.D. as a reprisal against sea pirates that had taken refuge in Raja Dahir's kingdom.
The advent of Islam further strengthened the historical individuality in the areas now constituting Pakistan and further beyond its boundaries.
Stone Age: Some of the earliest relics of Stone Age man in the subcontinent are found in the Soan Valley of the Potohar region near Rawalpindi, with a probable antiquity of about 500,000 years. No human skeleton of such antiquity has yet been discovered in the area, but the crude stone implements recovered from the terraces of the Soan carry the saga of human toil and labor in this part of the world to the inter-glacial period. These Stone Age men fashioned their implements in a sufficiently homogenous way to justify their grouping in terms of a culture called the Soan Culture. About 3000 B.C, amidst the rugged wind-swept valleys and foothills of Balochistan, small village communities developed and began to take the first hesitant steps towards civilization. Here, one finds a more continuous story of human activity, though still in the Stone Age.
These pre-historic men established their settlements, both as herdsmen and as farmers, in the valleys or on the outskirts of the plains with their cattle and cultivated barley and other crops.
Red and buffer Cultures:Careful excavations of the pre-historic mounds in these areas and the classification of their contents, layer by layer, have grouped them into two main categories of Red Ware Culture and Buff Ware Culture. The former is popularly known as the Zhob Culture of North Balochistan, while the latter comprises the Quetta, Amri Nal and Kulli Cultures of Sindh and South Balochistan. Some Amri Nal villages or towns had stone walls and bastions for defence purposes and their houses had stone foundations. At Nal, an extensive cemetery of this culture consists of about 100 graves. An important feature of this composite culture is that at Amri and certain other sites, it has been found below the very distinctive Indus Valley Culture. On the other hand, the steatite seals of Nal and the copper implements and certain types of pot decoration suggest a partial overlap between the two. It probably represents one of the local societies which constituted the environment for the growth of the Indus Valley Civilization.
The pre-historic site of Kot Diji in the Sindh province has provided information of high significance for the reconstruction of a connected story which pushes back the origin of this civilization by 300 to 500 years, from about 2500 B.C.. to at least 2800 B.C. Evidence of a new cultural elements of pre-Harappan era has been traced here.
Pre-Harappan:When the primitive village communities in the Balochistan area were still struggling against a difficult highland environment, a highly cultured people were trying to assert themselves at Kot Diji, one of the most developed urban civilizations of the ancient world which flourished between the years 2500 and 1500 B.C. in the Indus Valley sites of Moenjodaro and Harappa. These Indus Valley people possessed a high standard of art and craftsmanship and a well developed system of quasi pictographic writing, which despite continuing efforts still remains undeciphered. The imposing ruins of the beautifully planned Moenjodaro and Harappa towns present clear evidence of the unity of a people having the same mode of life and using the same kind of tools. Indeed, the brick buildings of the common people, the public baths, the roads and covered drainage system suggest the picture of a happy and contented people.
Aryan Civilization: In or about 1500 B.C., the Aryans descended upon the Punjab and settled in the Sapta Sindhu, which signifies the Indus plain. They developed a pastoral society that grew into the Rigvedic Civilization. The Rigveda is replete with hymns of praise for this region, which they describe as "God fashioned". It is also clear that so long as the Sapta Sindhu remained the core of the Aryan Civilization, it remained free from the caste system. The caste institution and the ritual of complex sacrifices took shape in the Gangetic Valley. There can be no doubt that the Indus Civilization contributed much to the development of the Aryan civilization.
Gandhara Culture: The discovery of the Gandhara grave culture in Dir and Swat will go a long way in throwing light on the period of Pakistan's cultural history between the end of the Indus Culture in 1500 B.C. and the beginning of the historic period under the Achaemenians in the sixth century B.C. Hindu mythology and Sanskrit literary traditions seem to attribute the destruction of the Indus civilization to the Aryans, but what really happened, remains a mystery. The Gandhara grave culture has opened up two periods in the cultural heritage of Pakistan: one of the Bronze Age and the other of the Iron Age. It is so named because it presents a peculiar pattern of living in hilly zones of the Gandhara region as evidenced in the graves. This culture is different from the Indus Culture and has little relations with the village culture of Balochistan. Stratigraphy as well as the artifacts discovered from this area suggest that the Aryans moved into this part of the world between 1,500 and 600 B.C. In the sixth century B.C., Buddha began his teachings, which later on spread throughout the northern part of the South-Asian subcontinent. It was towards the end of this century, too, that Darius I of Iran organized Sindh and Punjab as the twentieth satrapy of his empire.
There are remarkable similarities between the organizations of that great empire and the Mauryan empire of the third century B.C., while Kautilya's Arthshastra also shows a strong Persian influence, Alexander of Macedonia after defeating Darius III in 330 B.C. had also marched through the South-Asian subcontinent up to the river Beas, but Greek influence on the region appears to have been limited to contributing a little to the establishment of the Mauryan empire. The great empire that Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, built in the subcontinent included only that part of the Indus basin which is now known as the northern Punjab. The rest of the areas astride the Indus were not subjugated by him. These areas, which now form a substantial part of Pakistan, were virtually independent from the time of the Guptas in the fourth century A.D. until the rise of the Delhi Sultanate in the thirteenth century. Gandhara Art Gandhara Art, one of the most prized possessions of Pakistan, flourished for a period of 500 years (from the first to the fifth century A.D.) in the present valley of Peshawar and the adjacent hilly regions of Swat, Buner and Bajaur. This art represents a separate phase of the cultural renaissance of the region. It was the product of a blending of Indian, Buddhist and Greco-Roman sculpture.
Gandhara Art: in its early stages received the patronage of Kanishka, the great Kushan ruler, during whose reign the Silk Route ran through Peshawar and the Indus Valley, bringing great prosperity to the whole area.
Advent of Islam: The first followers of prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), to set foot on the soil of the South-Asian subcontinent, were traders from the coast land of Arabia and the Persian Gulf, soon after the dawn of Islam in the early seventh century A.D.
DAWN OF ISLAM
The first permanent Muslim foothold in the subcontinent was achieved with Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest of Sindh in 711 A.D. An autonomous Muslim state linked with the Umayyed, and later, the Abbassid Caliphate was established with jurisdiction extending over southern and central parts of present Pakistan. Quite a few new cities were established and Arabic was introduced as the official language. At the time of Mahmud of Ghazna's invasion, Muslim rule still existed, though in a weakened form, in Multan and some other regions. The Ghaznavids (976-1148) and their successors, the Ghaurids (1148-1206), were Central Asian by origin and they ruled their territories, which covered mostly the regions of present Pakistan, from capitals outside India. It was in the early thirteenth century that the foundations of the Muslim rule in India were laid with extended boundaries and Delhi as the capital. From 1206 to 1526 A.D., five different dynasties held sway. Then followed the period of Mughal ascendancy (1526-1707) and their rule continued, though nominally, till 1857. From the time of the Ghaznavids, Persian more or less replaced Arabic as the official language. The economic, political and religious institutions developed by the Muslims bore their unique impression. The law of the State was based on Shariah and in principle the rulers were bound to enforce it. Any long period of laxity was generally followed by reinforcement of these laws under public pressure. The impact of Islam on the South-Asian subcontinent was deep and far-reaching. Islam introduced not only a new religion, but a new civilization, a new way of life and new set of values. Islamic traditions of art and literature, of culture and refinement, of social and welfare institution, were established by Muslim rulers throughout the subcontinent. A new language, Urdu, derived mainly from Arabic and Persian vocabulary and adopting indigenous words and idioms, came to be spoken and written by the Muslims and it gained currency among the rest of the Indian population.
URDU IS THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF PAKISTAN
Apart from religion, Urdu also enabled the Muslim community during the period of its ascendancy to preserve its separate identity in the subcontinent.
Muslim Identity -- The question of Muslim identity, however assumed seriousness during the decline of Muslim power in South Asia. The first person to realize its acuteness was the scholar theologian, Shah Waliullah (1703-62). He laid the foundation of Islamic renaissance in the subcontinent and became a source of inspiration for almost all the subsequent social and religious reform movements of the nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. His immediate successors, inspired by his teachings, tried to establish a modest Islamic state in the north-west of India and they, under the leadership of Sayyed Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi (1786-1831), persevered in this direction.
British Expansionism and Muslim Resistance: Meanwhile, starting with the East India Company, the British had emerged as the dominant force in South Asia. Their rise to power was gradual extending over a period of nearly one hundred years. They replaced the Shariah by what they termed as the Anglo-Muhammadan law whereas Urdu was replaced by English as the official language. These and other developments had great social, economic and political impact especially on the Muslims of South Asia. The uprising of 1857, termed as the Indian Mutiny by the British and the War of Independence by the Muslims, was a desperate attempt to reverse the adverse course of events.
Religious Institutions: The failure of the 1857 War of Independence had disastrous consequences for the Muslims as the British placed all the responsibility for this event on them. Determined to stop such a recurrence in future, the British followed deliberately a repressive policy against the Muslims. Properties and estates of those even remotely associated with the freedom fighters were confiscated and conscious efforts were made to close all avenues of honest living for them. The Muslim response to this situation also aggravated their plight. Their religious leaders, who had been quite active, withdrew from the mainstream of the community life and devoted themselves exclusively to imparting religious education. Although the religious academies especially those of Deoband, Farangi Mahal and Rai Bareilly, established by the Ulema, did help the Muslims to preserve their identity, the training provided in these institutions hardly equipped them for the new challenges.
Educational Reform: The Muslims kept themselves aloof from western education as well as government service. But, their compatriots, the Hindus, did not do so and accepted the new rulers without reservation. They acquired western education, imbibed the new culture and captured positions hitherto filled in by the Muslims. If this situation had prolonged, it would have done the Muslims an irreparable damage. The man to realise the impending peril was Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1889), a witness to the tragic events of 1857. He exerted his utmost to harmonize British Muslim relations. His assessment was that the Muslims' safety lay in the acquisition of western education and knowledge. He took several positive steps to achieve this objective. He founded a college at Aligarh to impart education on western lines. Of equal importance was the Anglo-Muhammadan Educational Conference, which he sponsored in 1886, to provide an intellectual forum to the Muslims for the dissemination of views in support of western education and social reform. Similar were the objectives of the Muhammadan Literary Society, founded by Nawab Adbul Latif (1828-93), active in Bengal, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's efforts transformed into a movement, known as the Aligarh Movement, and it left its imprint on the Muslims of every part of the South-Asian subcontinent. Under its inspiration, societies were founded throughout the subcontinent which established educational institutions for imparting education to the Muslims.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was averse to the idea of participation by the Muslims in any organized political activity which, he feared, might revive British hostility towards them. He also disliked Hindu Muslim collaboration in any joint venture. His disillusionment in this regard stemmed basically from the Urdu Hindi controversy of the late 1860s when the Hindu enthusiasts vehemently championed the cause of Hindi to replace Urdu. He, therefore, opposed the Indian National Congress when it was founded in 1885 and advised the Muslims to abstain from its activities. His contemporary and a great scholar of Islam, Syed Ameer Ali (1849-1928), shared his views about the Congress, but, he was not opposed to Muslims organizing themselves politically. In fact, he organised the first significant political body of the Muslims, the Central National Muhammadan Association. Although, its membership was limited, it had more than 50 branches in different parts of the subcontinent and it accomplished some solid work for the educational and political advancement of the Muslims. But, its activities waned towards the end of the nineteenth century.
The Muslim League: At the dawn of the twentieth century, a number of factors convinced the Muslims of the need to have an effective political organization. Therefore, in October 1906, a deputation comprising 35 Muslim leaders met the Viceroy of the British at Simla and demanded separate electorates. Three months later, the All-India Muslim League was founded by Nawab Salimullah Khan at Dhaka, mainly with the objective of safeguarding the political rights and interests of the Muslims. The British conceded separate electorates in the Government of India Act of 1909 which confirmed the Muslim League's position as an All-India party.
Attempt for Hindu Muslim Unity: The visible trend of the two major communities progressing in opposite directions caused deep concern to leaders of All-India stature. They struggled to bring the Congress and the Muslim League on one platform. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) was the leading figure among them. After the annulment of the partition of Bengal and the European Powers' aggressive designs against the Ottoman Empire and North Africa, the Muslims were receptive to the idea of collaboration with the Hindus against the British rulers.
The Congress Muslim League rapprochement was achieved at the Lucknow sessions of the two parties in 1916 and a joint scheme of reforms was adopted. In the Lucknow Pact. as the scheme was commonly referred to, the Congress accepted the principle of separate electorates, and the Muslims, in return for `weightage' to the Muslims of the Muslim minority provinces, agreed to surrender their thin majorities in the Punjab and Bengal. The post Lucknow Pact period witnessed Hindu Muslim amity and the two parties came to hold their annual sessions in the same city and passed resolutions of identical contents.
KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
The Hindu Muslim unity reached its climax during the Khilafat and the Non-cooperation Movements. The Muslims of soothsayer, under the leadership of the Ali Brothers, Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali, launched the historic Khilafat Movement after the First World War to protect the Ottoman Empire from dismemberment. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) linked the issue of Swaraj (self-government) with the Khilafat issue to associate the Hindus with the Movement. The ensuing Movement was the first countrywide popular movement.
Although the Movement failed in its objectives, it had a far-reaching impact on the Muslims of South Asia. After a long time, they took united action on a purely Islamic issue which momentarily forged solidarity among them. It also produced a class of Muslim leaders experienced in organizing and mobilizing the public. This experience was of immense value to the Muslims later during the Pakistan Movement The collapse of the Khilafat Movement was followed by a period of bitter Hindu Muslim antagonism. The Hindus organized two highly anti Muslim movements, the Shudhi and the Sangathan. The former movement was designed to convert Muslims to Hinduism and the latter was meant to create solidarity among the Hindus in the event of communal conflict. In retaliation, the Muslims sponsored the Tabligh and Tanzim organizations to counter the impact of the Shudhi and the Sangathan. In the 1920s, the frequency of communal riots was unprecedented. Several Hindu-Muslim unity conferences were held to remove the causes of conflict, but, it seemed nothing could mitigate the intensity of communalism.
Muslim Demand Safeguards: In the light of this situation, the Muslims revised their constitutional demands. They now wanted preservation of their numerical majorities in the Punjab and Bengal, separation of Sindh from Bombay, constitution of Balochistan as a separate province and introduction of constitutional reforms in the North-West Frontier Province. It was partly to press these demands that one section of the All-India Muslim League cooperated with the Statutory commission sent by the British Government under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon in 1927.
SIMON COMMISSION
The other section of the League, which boycotted the Simon Commission for its all-White character, cooperated with the Nehru Committee, appointed by the All-Parties Conference, to draft a constitution for India. The Nehru Report had an extremely anti-Muslim bias and the Congress leadership's refusal to amend it disillusioned even the moderate Muslims.
Allama Muhammad Iqbal: Several leaders and thinkers, having insight into the Hindu-Muslim question proposed separation of Muslim India. However, the most lucid exposition of the inner feeling of the Muslim community was given by Allama Muhammad Iqbal(1877-1938) in his Presidential Address at the All-India Muslim League Session at Allahabad in 1930. He suggested that for the healthy development of Islam in South-Asia, it was essential to have a separate Muslim state at least in the Muslim majority regions of the north-west. Later on, in his correspondence with Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he included the Muslim majority areas in the north-east also in his proposed Muslim state. Three years after his Allahabad Address, a group of Muslim students at Cambridge, headed by Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, issued a pamphlet, Now or Never, in which drawing letters from the names of the Muslim majority regions, they gave the nomenclature of "Pakistan" to the proposed State. Very few even among the Muslim welcomed the idea at the time. It was to take a decade for the Muslims to embrace the demand for a separate Muslim state.
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah: Meanwhile, three Round Table Conferences were convened in London during 1930-32, to resolve the Indian constitutional problem. The Hindu and Muslim leaders, who were invited to these conferences, could not draw up an agreed formula and the British Government had to announce a `Communal Award' which was incorporated in the Government of India Act of 1935. Before the elections under this Act, the All-India Muslim League, which had remained dormant for some time, was reorganized by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who had returned to India in 1934,after an absence of nearly five years in England. The Muslim League could not win a majority of Muslim seats since it had not yet been effectively reorganized. However, it had the satisfaction that the performance of the Indian National Congress in the Muslim constituencies was bad. After the elections, the attitude of the Congress leadership was arrogant and domineering. The classic example was its refusal to form a coalition government with the Muslim League in the United Provinces. Instead, it asked the League leaders to dissolve their parliamentary party in the Provincial Assembly and join the Congress. Another important Congress move after the 1937 elections was its Muslim mass contact movement to persuade the Muslims to join the Congress and not the Muslim League. One of its leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, even declared that there were only two forces in India, the British and the Congress. All this did not go unchallenged.
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah countered that there was a third force in South-Asia constituting the Muslims. The All-India Muslim League, under his gifted leadership, gradually and skillfully started organising the Muslims on one platform.
Towards a Separate Muslim Homeland: The 1930s witnessed awareness among the Muslims of their separate identity and their anxiety to preserve it within separate territorial boundaries. An important element that brought this simmering Muslim nationalism in the open was the character of the Congress rule in the Muslim minority provinces during 1937-39. The Congress policies in these provinces hurt Muslim susceptibilities. There were calculated aims to obliterate the Muslims as a separate cultural unit. The Muslims now stopped thinking in terms of seeking safeguards and began to consider seriously the demand for a separate Muslim state. During 1937-39, several Muslim leaders and thinkers, inspired by Allama Iqbal's ideas, presented elaborate schemes for partitioning the subcontinent according to two-nation theory.
Pakistan Resolution: The All-India Muslim League soon took these schemes into consideration and finally, on March 23, 1940, the All-India Muslim League, in a resolution, at its historic Lahore Session, demanded a separate homeland for the Muslims in the Muslim majority regions of the subcontinent. The resolution was commonly referred to as the Pakistan Resolution. The Pakistan demand had a great appeal for the Muslims of every persuasion. It revived memories of their past greatness and promised future glory. They, therefore, responded to this demand immediately.
Cripps Mission: The British Government recognized the genuineness of the Pakistan demand indirectly in the proposals for the transfer of power after the Second World War which Sir Stafford Cripps brought to India in 1942. Both the Congress and the All-India Muslim League rejected these proposals for different reasons. The principles of secession of Muslim India as a separate Dominion was however, conceded in these proposals. After this failure, a prominent Congress leader, C. Rajgopalacharia, suggested a formula for a separate Muslim state in the Working Committee of the Indian National Congress, which was rejected at the time, but later on, in 1944, formed the basis of the Jinnah-Gandhi talks. Demand for Pakistan
PAKISTAN MOVEMENT
The Pakistan demand became popular during the Second World War. Every section of the Muslim community - men, women, students, Ulema and businessmen - were organized under the banner of the All-India Muslim League. Branches of the party were opened even in the remote corners of the subcontinent. Literature in the form of pamphlets, books, magazines and newspapers was produced to explain the Pakistan demand and distributed widely. The support gained by the All-India Muslim League and its demand for Pakistan was tested after the failure of the Simla Conference, convened by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, in 1945. Elections were called to determine the respective strength of the political parties. The All-India Muslim League election campaign was based on the Pakistan demand. The Muslim community responded to this call in an unprecedented way. Numerous Muslim parties were formed making united parliamentary board at the behest of the Congress to oppose the Muslim League. But the All-India Muslim League swept all the thirty seats in the Central Legislature and in the provincial elections also, its victory was outstanding. After the elections, on April 8-9,1946, the All-India Muslim League called a convention of the newly-elected League members in the Central and Provincial Legislatures at Delhi. This convention, which constituted virtually a representative assembly of the Muslims of South Asia, on a motion by the Chief Minister of Bengal, Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, reiterated the Pakistan demand in clearer terms.
Cabinet Plan: In early 1946, the British Government sent a Cabinet Mission to the subcontinent to resolve the constitutional deadlock. The Mission conducted negotiations with various political parties, but failed to evolve an agreed formula. Finally, the Cabinet Mission announced its own Plan, which among other provisions, envisaged three federal groupings, two of them comprising the Muslim majority provinces, linked at the Centre in a loose federation with three subjects. The Muslim League accepted the plan, as a strategic move, expecting to achieve its objective in not-too-distant a future. The All-India Congress also agreed to the Plan, but, soon realising its implications, the Congress leaders began to interpret it in a way not visualized by the authors of the Plan. This provided the All-India Muslim League an excuse to withdraw its acceptance of the Plan and the party observed August 16, as a `Direct Action Day' to show Muslim solidarity in support of the Pakistan demand.
Partition Scheme: In October 1946, an Interim Government was formed. The Muslim League sent its representative under the leadership of its General Secretary, Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, with the aim to fight for the party objective from within the Interim Government. After a short time, the situation inside the Interim Government and outside convinced the Congress leadership to accept Pakistan as the only solution of the communal problem. The British Government, after its last attempt to save the Cabinet Mission Plan in December 1946, also moved towards a scheme for the partition of India. The last British Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, came with a clear mandate to draft a plan for the transfer of power.
After holding talks with political leaders and parties, he prepared a Partition Plan for the transfer of power, which, after approval of the British Government, was announced on June 3,1947.
Emergence of Pakistan: Both the Congress and the Muslim League accepted the Plan. Two largest Muslim majority provinces, Bengal and Punjab, were partitioned. The Assemblies of West Punjab, East Bengal and Sindh and in Balochistan, the Quetta Municipality, and the Shahi Jirga voted for Pakistan. Referenda were held in the North-West Frontier Province and the District of Sylhet in Assam, which resulted in an overwhelming vote for Pakistan. As a result, on August 14,1947, the new state of Pakistan came into existence.
Pakistan emerged on the world map on August 14,1947. It has its roots into the remote past. Its establishment was the culmination of the struggle by Muslims of the South-Asian subcontinent for a separate homeland of their own and its foundation was laid when Muhammad bin Qasim subdued Sindh in 711 A.D. as a reprisal against sea pirates that had taken refuge in Raja Dahir's kingdom.
The advent of Islam further strengthened the historical individuality in the areas now constituting Pakistan and further beyond its boundaries.
Stone Age: Some of the earliest relics of Stone Age man in the subcontinent are found in the Soan Valley of the Potohar region near Rawalpindi, with a probable antiquity of about 500,000 years. No human skeleton of such antiquity has yet been discovered in the area, but the crude stone implements recovered from the terraces of the Soan carry the saga of human toil and labor in this part of the world to the inter-glacial period. These Stone Age men fashioned their implements in a sufficiently homogenous way to justify their grouping in terms of a culture called the Soan Culture. About 3000 B.C, amidst the rugged wind-swept valleys and foothills of Balochistan, small village communities developed and began to take the first hesitant steps towards civilization. Here, one finds a more continuous story of human activity, though still in the Stone Age.
These pre-historic men established their settlements, both as herdsmen and as farmers, in the valleys or on the outskirts of the plains with their cattle and cultivated barley and other crops.
Red and buffer Cultures:Careful excavations of the pre-historic mounds in these areas and the classification of their contents, layer by layer, have grouped them into two main categories of Red Ware Culture and Buff Ware Culture. The former is popularly known as the Zhob Culture of North Balochistan, while the latter comprises the Quetta, Amri Nal and Kulli Cultures of Sindh and South Balochistan. Some Amri Nal villages or towns had stone walls and bastions for defence purposes and their houses had stone foundations. At Nal, an extensive cemetery of this culture consists of about 100 graves. An important feature of this composite culture is that at Amri and certain other sites, it has been found below the very distinctive Indus Valley Culture. On the other hand, the steatite seals of Nal and the copper implements and certain types of pot decoration suggest a partial overlap between the two. It probably represents one of the local societies which constituted the environment for the growth of the Indus Valley Civilization.
The pre-historic site of Kot Diji in the Sindh province has provided information of high significance for the reconstruction of a connected story which pushes back the origin of this civilization by 300 to 500 years, from about 2500 B.C.. to at least 2800 B.C. Evidence of a new cultural elements of pre-Harappan era has been traced here.
Pre-Harappan:When the primitive village communities in the Balochistan area were still struggling against a difficult highland environment, a highly cultured people were trying to assert themselves at Kot Diji, one of the most developed urban civilizations of the ancient world which flourished between the years 2500 and 1500 B.C. in the Indus Valley sites of Moenjodaro and Harappa. These Indus Valley people possessed a high standard of art and craftsmanship and a well developed system of quasi pictographic writing, which despite continuing efforts still remains undeciphered. The imposing ruins of the beautifully planned Moenjodaro and Harappa towns present clear evidence of the unity of a people having the same mode of life and using the same kind of tools. Indeed, the brick buildings of the common people, the public baths, the roads and covered drainage system suggest the picture of a happy and contented people.
Aryan Civilization: In or about 1500 B.C., the Aryans descended upon the Punjab and settled in the Sapta Sindhu, which signifies the Indus plain. They developed a pastoral society that grew into the Rigvedic Civilization. The Rigveda is replete with hymns of praise for this region, which they describe as "God fashioned". It is also clear that so long as the Sapta Sindhu remained the core of the Aryan Civilization, it remained free from the caste system. The caste institution and the ritual of complex sacrifices took shape in the Gangetic Valley. There can be no doubt that the Indus Civilization contributed much to the development of the Aryan civilization.
Gandhara Culture: The discovery of the Gandhara grave culture in Dir and Swat will go a long way in throwing light on the period of Pakistan's cultural history between the end of the Indus Culture in 1500 B.C. and the beginning of the historic period under the Achaemenians in the sixth century B.C. Hindu mythology and Sanskrit literary traditions seem to attribute the destruction of the Indus civilization to the Aryans, but what really happened, remains a mystery. The Gandhara grave culture has opened up two periods in the cultural heritage of Pakistan: one of the Bronze Age and the other of the Iron Age. It is so named because it presents a peculiar pattern of living in hilly zones of the Gandhara region as evidenced in the graves. This culture is different from the Indus Culture and has little relations with the village culture of Balochistan. Stratigraphy as well as the artifacts discovered from this area suggest that the Aryans moved into this part of the world between 1,500 and 600 B.C. In the sixth century B.C., Buddha began his teachings, which later on spread throughout the northern part of the South-Asian subcontinent. It was towards the end of this century, too, that Darius I of Iran organized Sindh and Punjab as the twentieth satrapy of his empire.
There are remarkable similarities between the organizations of that great empire and the Mauryan empire of the third century B.C., while Kautilya's Arthshastra also shows a strong Persian influence, Alexander of Macedonia after defeating Darius III in 330 B.C. had also marched through the South-Asian subcontinent up to the river Beas, but Greek influence on the region appears to have been limited to contributing a little to the establishment of the Mauryan empire. The great empire that Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, built in the subcontinent included only that part of the Indus basin which is now known as the northern Punjab. The rest of the areas astride the Indus were not subjugated by him. These areas, which now form a substantial part of Pakistan, were virtually independent from the time of the Guptas in the fourth century A.D. until the rise of the Delhi Sultanate in the thirteenth century. Gandhara Art Gandhara Art, one of the most prized possessions of Pakistan, flourished for a period of 500 years (from the first to the fifth century A.D.) in the present valley of Peshawar and the adjacent hilly regions of Swat, Buner and Bajaur. This art represents a separate phase of the cultural renaissance of the region. It was the product of a blending of Indian, Buddhist and Greco-Roman sculpture.
Gandhara Art: in its early stages received the patronage of Kanishka, the great Kushan ruler, during whose reign the Silk Route ran through Peshawar and the Indus Valley, bringing great prosperity to the whole area.
Advent of Islam: The first followers of prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), to set foot on the soil of the South-Asian subcontinent, were traders from the coast land of Arabia and the Persian Gulf, soon after the dawn of Islam in the early seventh century A.D.
DAWN OF ISLAM
The first permanent Muslim foothold in the subcontinent was achieved with Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest of Sindh in 711 A.D. An autonomous Muslim state linked with the Umayyed, and later, the Abbassid Caliphate was established with jurisdiction extending over southern and central parts of present Pakistan. Quite a few new cities were established and Arabic was introduced as the official language. At the time of Mahmud of Ghazna's invasion, Muslim rule still existed, though in a weakened form, in Multan and some other regions. The Ghaznavids (976-1148) and their successors, the Ghaurids (1148-1206), were Central Asian by origin and they ruled their territories, which covered mostly the regions of present Pakistan, from capitals outside India. It was in the early thirteenth century that the foundations of the Muslim rule in India were laid with extended boundaries and Delhi as the capital. From 1206 to 1526 A.D., five different dynasties held sway. Then followed the period of Mughal ascendancy (1526-1707) and their rule continued, though nominally, till 1857. From the time of the Ghaznavids, Persian more or less replaced Arabic as the official language. The economic, political and religious institutions developed by the Muslims bore their unique impression. The law of the State was based on Shariah and in principle the rulers were bound to enforce it. Any long period of laxity was generally followed by reinforcement of these laws under public pressure. The impact of Islam on the South-Asian subcontinent was deep and far-reaching. Islam introduced not only a new religion, but a new civilization, a new way of life and new set of values. Islamic traditions of art and literature, of culture and refinement, of social and welfare institution, were established by Muslim rulers throughout the subcontinent. A new language, Urdu, derived mainly from Arabic and Persian vocabulary and adopting indigenous words and idioms, came to be spoken and written by the Muslims and it gained currency among the rest of the Indian population.
URDU IS THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF PAKISTAN
Apart from religion, Urdu also enabled the Muslim community during the period of its ascendancy to preserve its separate identity in the subcontinent.
Muslim Identity -- The question of Muslim identity, however assumed seriousness during the decline of Muslim power in South Asia. The first person to realize its acuteness was the scholar theologian, Shah Waliullah (1703-62). He laid the foundation of Islamic renaissance in the subcontinent and became a source of inspiration for almost all the subsequent social and religious reform movements of the nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. His immediate successors, inspired by his teachings, tried to establish a modest Islamic state in the north-west of India and they, under the leadership of Sayyed Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi (1786-1831), persevered in this direction.
British Expansionism and Muslim Resistance: Meanwhile, starting with the East India Company, the British had emerged as the dominant force in South Asia. Their rise to power was gradual extending over a period of nearly one hundred years. They replaced the Shariah by what they termed as the Anglo-Muhammadan law whereas Urdu was replaced by English as the official language. These and other developments had great social, economic and political impact especially on the Muslims of South Asia. The uprising of 1857, termed as the Indian Mutiny by the British and the War of Independence by the Muslims, was a desperate attempt to reverse the adverse course of events.
Religious Institutions: The failure of the 1857 War of Independence had disastrous consequences for the Muslims as the British placed all the responsibility for this event on them. Determined to stop such a recurrence in future, the British followed deliberately a repressive policy against the Muslims. Properties and estates of those even remotely associated with the freedom fighters were confiscated and conscious efforts were made to close all avenues of honest living for them. The Muslim response to this situation also aggravated their plight. Their religious leaders, who had been quite active, withdrew from the mainstream of the community life and devoted themselves exclusively to imparting religious education. Although the religious academies especially those of Deoband, Farangi Mahal and Rai Bareilly, established by the Ulema, did help the Muslims to preserve their identity, the training provided in these institutions hardly equipped them for the new challenges.
Educational Reform: The Muslims kept themselves aloof from western education as well as government service. But, their compatriots, the Hindus, did not do so and accepted the new rulers without reservation. They acquired western education, imbibed the new culture and captured positions hitherto filled in by the Muslims. If this situation had prolonged, it would have done the Muslims an irreparable damage. The man to realise the impending peril was Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1889), a witness to the tragic events of 1857. He exerted his utmost to harmonize British Muslim relations. His assessment was that the Muslims' safety lay in the acquisition of western education and knowledge. He took several positive steps to achieve this objective. He founded a college at Aligarh to impart education on western lines. Of equal importance was the Anglo-Muhammadan Educational Conference, which he sponsored in 1886, to provide an intellectual forum to the Muslims for the dissemination of views in support of western education and social reform. Similar were the objectives of the Muhammadan Literary Society, founded by Nawab Adbul Latif (1828-93), active in Bengal, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's efforts transformed into a movement, known as the Aligarh Movement, and it left its imprint on the Muslims of every part of the South-Asian subcontinent. Under its inspiration, societies were founded throughout the subcontinent which established educational institutions for imparting education to the Muslims.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was averse to the idea of participation by the Muslims in any organized political activity which, he feared, might revive British hostility towards them. He also disliked Hindu Muslim collaboration in any joint venture. His disillusionment in this regard stemmed basically from the Urdu Hindi controversy of the late 1860s when the Hindu enthusiasts vehemently championed the cause of Hindi to replace Urdu. He, therefore, opposed the Indian National Congress when it was founded in 1885 and advised the Muslims to abstain from its activities. His contemporary and a great scholar of Islam, Syed Ameer Ali (1849-1928), shared his views about the Congress, but, he was not opposed to Muslims organizing themselves politically. In fact, he organised the first significant political body of the Muslims, the Central National Muhammadan Association. Although, its membership was limited, it had more than 50 branches in different parts of the subcontinent and it accomplished some solid work for the educational and political advancement of the Muslims. But, its activities waned towards the end of the nineteenth century.
The Muslim League: At the dawn of the twentieth century, a number of factors convinced the Muslims of the need to have an effective political organization. Therefore, in October 1906, a deputation comprising 35 Muslim leaders met the Viceroy of the British at Simla and demanded separate electorates. Three months later, the All-India Muslim League was founded by Nawab Salimullah Khan at Dhaka, mainly with the objective of safeguarding the political rights and interests of the Muslims. The British conceded separate electorates in the Government of India Act of 1909 which confirmed the Muslim League's position as an All-India party.
Attempt for Hindu Muslim Unity: The visible trend of the two major communities progressing in opposite directions caused deep concern to leaders of All-India stature. They struggled to bring the Congress and the Muslim League on one platform. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) was the leading figure among them. After the annulment of the partition of Bengal and the European Powers' aggressive designs against the Ottoman Empire and North Africa, the Muslims were receptive to the idea of collaboration with the Hindus against the British rulers.
The Congress Muslim League rapprochement was achieved at the Lucknow sessions of the two parties in 1916 and a joint scheme of reforms was adopted. In the Lucknow Pact. as the scheme was commonly referred to, the Congress accepted the principle of separate electorates, and the Muslims, in return for `weightage' to the Muslims of the Muslim minority provinces, agreed to surrender their thin majorities in the Punjab and Bengal. The post Lucknow Pact period witnessed Hindu Muslim amity and the two parties came to hold their annual sessions in the same city and passed resolutions of identical contents.
KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
The Hindu Muslim unity reached its climax during the Khilafat and the Non-cooperation Movements. The Muslims of soothsayer, under the leadership of the Ali Brothers, Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali, launched the historic Khilafat Movement after the First World War to protect the Ottoman Empire from dismemberment. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) linked the issue of Swaraj (self-government) with the Khilafat issue to associate the Hindus with the Movement. The ensuing Movement was the first countrywide popular movement.
Although the Movement failed in its objectives, it had a far-reaching impact on the Muslims of South Asia. After a long time, they took united action on a purely Islamic issue which momentarily forged solidarity among them. It also produced a class of Muslim leaders experienced in organizing and mobilizing the public. This experience was of immense value to the Muslims later during the Pakistan Movement The collapse of the Khilafat Movement was followed by a period of bitter Hindu Muslim antagonism. The Hindus organized two highly anti Muslim movements, the Shudhi and the Sangathan. The former movement was designed to convert Muslims to Hinduism and the latter was meant to create solidarity among the Hindus in the event of communal conflict. In retaliation, the Muslims sponsored the Tabligh and Tanzim organizations to counter the impact of the Shudhi and the Sangathan. In the 1920s, the frequency of communal riots was unprecedented. Several Hindu-Muslim unity conferences were held to remove the causes of conflict, but, it seemed nothing could mitigate the intensity of communalism.
Muslim Demand Safeguards: In the light of this situation, the Muslims revised their constitutional demands. They now wanted preservation of their numerical majorities in the Punjab and Bengal, separation of Sindh from Bombay, constitution of Balochistan as a separate province and introduction of constitutional reforms in the North-West Frontier Province. It was partly to press these demands that one section of the All-India Muslim League cooperated with the Statutory commission sent by the British Government under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon in 1927.
SIMON COMMISSION
The other section of the League, which boycotted the Simon Commission for its all-White character, cooperated with the Nehru Committee, appointed by the All-Parties Conference, to draft a constitution for India. The Nehru Report had an extremely anti-Muslim bias and the Congress leadership's refusal to amend it disillusioned even the moderate Muslims.
Allama Muhammad Iqbal: Several leaders and thinkers, having insight into the Hindu-Muslim question proposed separation of Muslim India. However, the most lucid exposition of the inner feeling of the Muslim community was given by Allama Muhammad Iqbal(1877-1938) in his Presidential Address at the All-India Muslim League Session at Allahabad in 1930. He suggested that for the healthy development of Islam in South-Asia, it was essential to have a separate Muslim state at least in the Muslim majority regions of the north-west. Later on, in his correspondence with Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he included the Muslim majority areas in the north-east also in his proposed Muslim state. Three years after his Allahabad Address, a group of Muslim students at Cambridge, headed by Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, issued a pamphlet, Now or Never, in which drawing letters from the names of the Muslim majority regions, they gave the nomenclature of "Pakistan" to the proposed State. Very few even among the Muslim welcomed the idea at the time. It was to take a decade for the Muslims to embrace the demand for a separate Muslim state.
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah: Meanwhile, three Round Table Conferences were convened in London during 1930-32, to resolve the Indian constitutional problem. The Hindu and Muslim leaders, who were invited to these conferences, could not draw up an agreed formula and the British Government had to announce a `Communal Award' which was incorporated in the Government of India Act of 1935. Before the elections under this Act, the All-India Muslim League, which had remained dormant for some time, was reorganized by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who had returned to India in 1934,after an absence of nearly five years in England. The Muslim League could not win a majority of Muslim seats since it had not yet been effectively reorganized. However, it had the satisfaction that the performance of the Indian National Congress in the Muslim constituencies was bad. After the elections, the attitude of the Congress leadership was arrogant and domineering. The classic example was its refusal to form a coalition government with the Muslim League in the United Provinces. Instead, it asked the League leaders to dissolve their parliamentary party in the Provincial Assembly and join the Congress. Another important Congress move after the 1937 elections was its Muslim mass contact movement to persuade the Muslims to join the Congress and not the Muslim League. One of its leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, even declared that there were only two forces in India, the British and the Congress. All this did not go unchallenged.
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah countered that there was a third force in South-Asia constituting the Muslims. The All-India Muslim League, under his gifted leadership, gradually and skillfully started organising the Muslims on one platform.
Towards a Separate Muslim Homeland: The 1930s witnessed awareness among the Muslims of their separate identity and their anxiety to preserve it within separate territorial boundaries. An important element that brought this simmering Muslim nationalism in the open was the character of the Congress rule in the Muslim minority provinces during 1937-39. The Congress policies in these provinces hurt Muslim susceptibilities. There were calculated aims to obliterate the Muslims as a separate cultural unit. The Muslims now stopped thinking in terms of seeking safeguards and began to consider seriously the demand for a separate Muslim state. During 1937-39, several Muslim leaders and thinkers, inspired by Allama Iqbal's ideas, presented elaborate schemes for partitioning the subcontinent according to two-nation theory.
Pakistan Resolution: The All-India Muslim League soon took these schemes into consideration and finally, on March 23, 1940, the All-India Muslim League, in a resolution, at its historic Lahore Session, demanded a separate homeland for the Muslims in the Muslim majority regions of the subcontinent. The resolution was commonly referred to as the Pakistan Resolution. The Pakistan demand had a great appeal for the Muslims of every persuasion. It revived memories of their past greatness and promised future glory. They, therefore, responded to this demand immediately.
Cripps Mission: The British Government recognized the genuineness of the Pakistan demand indirectly in the proposals for the transfer of power after the Second World War which Sir Stafford Cripps brought to India in 1942. Both the Congress and the All-India Muslim League rejected these proposals for different reasons. The principles of secession of Muslim India as a separate Dominion was however, conceded in these proposals. After this failure, a prominent Congress leader, C. Rajgopalacharia, suggested a formula for a separate Muslim state in the Working Committee of the Indian National Congress, which was rejected at the time, but later on, in 1944, formed the basis of the Jinnah-Gandhi talks. Demand for Pakistan
PAKISTAN MOVEMENT
The Pakistan demand became popular during the Second World War. Every section of the Muslim community - men, women, students, Ulema and businessmen - were organized under the banner of the All-India Muslim League. Branches of the party were opened even in the remote corners of the subcontinent. Literature in the form of pamphlets, books, magazines and newspapers was produced to explain the Pakistan demand and distributed widely. The support gained by the All-India Muslim League and its demand for Pakistan was tested after the failure of the Simla Conference, convened by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, in 1945. Elections were called to determine the respective strength of the political parties. The All-India Muslim League election campaign was based on the Pakistan demand. The Muslim community responded to this call in an unprecedented way. Numerous Muslim parties were formed making united parliamentary board at the behest of the Congress to oppose the Muslim League. But the All-India Muslim League swept all the thirty seats in the Central Legislature and in the provincial elections also, its victory was outstanding. After the elections, on April 8-9,1946, the All-India Muslim League called a convention of the newly-elected League members in the Central and Provincial Legislatures at Delhi. This convention, which constituted virtually a representative assembly of the Muslims of South Asia, on a motion by the Chief Minister of Bengal, Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, reiterated the Pakistan demand in clearer terms.
Cabinet Plan: In early 1946, the British Government sent a Cabinet Mission to the subcontinent to resolve the constitutional deadlock. The Mission conducted negotiations with various political parties, but failed to evolve an agreed formula. Finally, the Cabinet Mission announced its own Plan, which among other provisions, envisaged three federal groupings, two of them comprising the Muslim majority provinces, linked at the Centre in a loose federation with three subjects. The Muslim League accepted the plan, as a strategic move, expecting to achieve its objective in not-too-distant a future. The All-India Congress also agreed to the Plan, but, soon realising its implications, the Congress leaders began to interpret it in a way not visualized by the authors of the Plan. This provided the All-India Muslim League an excuse to withdraw its acceptance of the Plan and the party observed August 16, as a `Direct Action Day' to show Muslim solidarity in support of the Pakistan demand.
Partition Scheme: In October 1946, an Interim Government was formed. The Muslim League sent its representative under the leadership of its General Secretary, Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, with the aim to fight for the party objective from within the Interim Government. After a short time, the situation inside the Interim Government and outside convinced the Congress leadership to accept Pakistan as the only solution of the communal problem. The British Government, after its last attempt to save the Cabinet Mission Plan in December 1946, also moved towards a scheme for the partition of India. The last British Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, came with a clear mandate to draft a plan for the transfer of power.
After holding talks with political leaders and parties, he prepared a Partition Plan for the transfer of power, which, after approval of the British Government, was announced on June 3,1947.
Emergence of Pakistan: Both the Congress and the Muslim League accepted the Plan. Two largest Muslim majority provinces, Bengal and Punjab, were partitioned. The Assemblies of West Punjab, East Bengal and Sindh and in Balochistan, the Quetta Municipality, and the Shahi Jirga voted for Pakistan. Referenda were held in the North-West Frontier Province and the District of Sylhet in Assam, which resulted in an overwhelming vote for Pakistan. As a result, on August 14,1947, the new state of Pakistan came into existence.
Land & People
Pakistan is a land of many splendours. The scenery changes northward from coastal beaches, lagoons and mangrove swamps in the south to sandy deserts, desolate plateaus, fertile plains, dissected upland in the middle and high mountains with beautiful valleys, snow-covered peaks and eternal glaciers in the north.
The variety of landscape divides Pakistan into six major regions:
the North High Mountainous Region, the Western Low Mountainous Region, the Balochistan Plateau, the Potohar Uplands, the Punjab and the Sindh Plains.
High Mountain Region: Stretching in the North, from east to west, are a series of high mountain ranges which separate Pakistan from China, Russia and Afghanistan. They include the Himalayas, the Karakoram and the Hindukush. The Himalayas spread in the north-east and the Karakoram rises on the north-west of the Himalayas and extends eastward up to Gilgit. The Hindu Kush mountains lie to the north-west of the Karakoram, but extend eastward into Afghanistan. With the assemblage of 35 giant peaks over 24,000 ft. high (7,315m), the region is the climbers' paradise. Many summits are even higher than 26,000 ft.(7,925 m) and the highest K-2(Mt.Godwin Austin) is exceeded only by Mt.Everest. Inhospitable and technically more difficult to climb than even Everest, it has taken the biggest toll of human lives in the annals of mountaineering.
The passes are rarely lower than the summit of Mt. Blanc and several are over 18,000 ft. (5,485 m). The Karakoram Highway, that passes through the mountains, is the highest trade route in the world. Besides, the region abounds in vast glaciers, large lakes and green valleys which have combined at places to produce holiday resorts such as Gilgit, Hunza and Yasin in the west and the valleys of Chitral, Dir, Kaghan and Swat drained by rivers Chitral, Pankkora, Kunhar and Swat respectively in the east. Dotted profusely with scenic spots having numerous streams and rivulets, thick forests of pine and junipers and a vast variety of fauna and flora, the Chitral, Kaghan and Swat valleys have particularly earned the reputation of being the most enchanting tourist resorts of Pakistan.
South of the high mountains, the ranges lose their height gradually and settle down finally in the Margalla hills (2,000-3,000 ft.) in the vicinity of Islamabad, the Capital of Pakistan, and Swat and Chitral hills, north of river Kabul. Although the climate of the region is extremely diverse, according to aspect and elevation, yet as a whole it remains under the grip of severe cold from November to April. May, June and July are pleasant months. The southeren slopes receive heavy rainfall and consequently are covered with forest of deodar, pine, poplar and willow trees. The more northerly ranges and north-facing slopes receive practically no rains and are, therefore, without trees.
There is a considerable human migration from the mountains to the plains in winter and from plains to the mountains in summer. The permanent settlers grow corn, maize, barley, wheat and rice on the terraced fields and also raise orchards of apples, apricots, peaches and grapes. Peaks and Glaciers Eric Shipton, a great mountainer who perished in Pakistan's Northern Areas, wrote in his account. To describe this region is to indulge in superlatives, for everywhere you look are the highest, the longest and the largest mountains, glaciers and rivers in the world.
Making some allowance for Shipton's tendency towards slight exaggeration, born out of awe and fascination, the fact remains that Pakistan boasts of the largest share of the highest mountain peaks in the world. Its own highest peak, the famed and dreaded K-2, is the second highest in the world, being just some `ropes' short of the Everest in Nepal. With due respect to the Everest, K-2 is regarded as far more firmidable to climb than its relatively facile superior. Three of the mightiest mountain systems- the Hindukush, the Karakorams and the Himalayas- adorn the forehead of Pakistan. The second highest peak of Himalayas, as also of Pakistan, is the Nanga Parbat which literally means the "Naked Mountain".
Pakistan has seven of the 16 tallest peaks in Asia. The statistics are simply baffling: 40 of the world's 50 highest mountains are in Pakistan; in Baltistan over 45 peaks touch or cross the 20,000 foot mark; in Gilgit within a radius of 65 miles, there are over two dozan peaks ranging in height between 18,000 to 26,000 feet.
The awe-inspiring beauty provided inspiration to a Pakistani writer to observe lyrically, "in Pakistan's lofty mountain regions, reaching for the sky doesn't seem too ambitious". Pakistan's Eight Thousanders: There are a total of 14 main peaks soaring above 8000 metres in the world. Out of these, 8 are located in Nepal, 5 in Pakistan and 1 in China. It has become prestigious to make these peaks as targets by mountaineers every year. In fact, successful climb over these peaks is considered an enviable measure of their attainment. By far, the largest number of mountaineering expeditions visiting Pakistan has been coming from Japan.
K-2 (8611m): It is the second highest mountain the world. It was first attempted by Martin Conway's expedition in 1902 which was composed of British, Austrian and Swiss climbers. Ashraf Aman was the first Pakistani climber to climb on top of K-2 with five other climbers of the Jap-Pak expedition in 1977, with Ichire Yoshizawa as its leader and Isao Shinkai as the technical leader.
Nanga Parbat (8125m): It is also known as the killer mountain. It claimed the life of AF Mummery, leader of an expedition and two porters in 1895. Since then Nanga Parbat has cost scores of lives, though quite a few have successfully scaled it. Harmann Buhl was the first to set foot on this formidable peak in 1953. In spite of its bloody past record, Nanga Parbat is still the most sought after target. Its dangerous challenge seems to add spurs to the determination of climbers.
Hidden Peak (8068m): This peak was first attempted in 1892 by Martin Conway's expedition who gave it this name because it was hidden by the neighbouring peaks of Baltoro glacier. The peak was first conquered in 1958 by an American expedition. Nick clinch was the leader. The climbing leaders Peter Schoening and Kanfuran were the two summiters.
Broad Peak (8047m): This peak was also named by Martin Conway and was first attempted by a German expedition headed
The variety of landscape divides Pakistan into six major regions:
the North High Mountainous Region, the Western Low Mountainous Region, the Balochistan Plateau, the Potohar Uplands, the Punjab and the Sindh Plains.
High Mountain Region: Stretching in the North, from east to west, are a series of high mountain ranges which separate Pakistan from China, Russia and Afghanistan. They include the Himalayas, the Karakoram and the Hindukush. The Himalayas spread in the north-east and the Karakoram rises on the north-west of the Himalayas and extends eastward up to Gilgit. The Hindu Kush mountains lie to the north-west of the Karakoram, but extend eastward into Afghanistan. With the assemblage of 35 giant peaks over 24,000 ft. high (7,315m), the region is the climbers' paradise. Many summits are even higher than 26,000 ft.(7,925 m) and the highest K-2(Mt.Godwin Austin) is exceeded only by Mt.Everest. Inhospitable and technically more difficult to climb than even Everest, it has taken the biggest toll of human lives in the annals of mountaineering.
The passes are rarely lower than the summit of Mt. Blanc and several are over 18,000 ft. (5,485 m). The Karakoram Highway, that passes through the mountains, is the highest trade route in the world. Besides, the region abounds in vast glaciers, large lakes and green valleys which have combined at places to produce holiday resorts such as Gilgit, Hunza and Yasin in the west and the valleys of Chitral, Dir, Kaghan and Swat drained by rivers Chitral, Pankkora, Kunhar and Swat respectively in the east. Dotted profusely with scenic spots having numerous streams and rivulets, thick forests of pine and junipers and a vast variety of fauna and flora, the Chitral, Kaghan and Swat valleys have particularly earned the reputation of being the most enchanting tourist resorts of Pakistan.
South of the high mountains, the ranges lose their height gradually and settle down finally in the Margalla hills (2,000-3,000 ft.) in the vicinity of Islamabad, the Capital of Pakistan, and Swat and Chitral hills, north of river Kabul. Although the climate of the region is extremely diverse, according to aspect and elevation, yet as a whole it remains under the grip of severe cold from November to April. May, June and July are pleasant months. The southeren slopes receive heavy rainfall and consequently are covered with forest of deodar, pine, poplar and willow trees. The more northerly ranges and north-facing slopes receive practically no rains and are, therefore, without trees.
There is a considerable human migration from the mountains to the plains in winter and from plains to the mountains in summer. The permanent settlers grow corn, maize, barley, wheat and rice on the terraced fields and also raise orchards of apples, apricots, peaches and grapes. Peaks and Glaciers Eric Shipton, a great mountainer who perished in Pakistan's Northern Areas, wrote in his account. To describe this region is to indulge in superlatives, for everywhere you look are the highest, the longest and the largest mountains, glaciers and rivers in the world.
Making some allowance for Shipton's tendency towards slight exaggeration, born out of awe and fascination, the fact remains that Pakistan boasts of the largest share of the highest mountain peaks in the world. Its own highest peak, the famed and dreaded K-2, is the second highest in the world, being just some `ropes' short of the Everest in Nepal. With due respect to the Everest, K-2 is regarded as far more firmidable to climb than its relatively facile superior. Three of the mightiest mountain systems- the Hindukush, the Karakorams and the Himalayas- adorn the forehead of Pakistan. The second highest peak of Himalayas, as also of Pakistan, is the Nanga Parbat which literally means the "Naked Mountain".
Pakistan has seven of the 16 tallest peaks in Asia. The statistics are simply baffling: 40 of the world's 50 highest mountains are in Pakistan; in Baltistan over 45 peaks touch or cross the 20,000 foot mark; in Gilgit within a radius of 65 miles, there are over two dozan peaks ranging in height between 18,000 to 26,000 feet.
The awe-inspiring beauty provided inspiration to a Pakistani writer to observe lyrically, "in Pakistan's lofty mountain regions, reaching for the sky doesn't seem too ambitious". Pakistan's Eight Thousanders: There are a total of 14 main peaks soaring above 8000 metres in the world. Out of these, 8 are located in Nepal, 5 in Pakistan and 1 in China. It has become prestigious to make these peaks as targets by mountaineers every year. In fact, successful climb over these peaks is considered an enviable measure of their attainment. By far, the largest number of mountaineering expeditions visiting Pakistan has been coming from Japan.
K-2 (8611m): It is the second highest mountain the world. It was first attempted by Martin Conway's expedition in 1902 which was composed of British, Austrian and Swiss climbers. Ashraf Aman was the first Pakistani climber to climb on top of K-2 with five other climbers of the Jap-Pak expedition in 1977, with Ichire Yoshizawa as its leader and Isao Shinkai as the technical leader.
Nanga Parbat (8125m): It is also known as the killer mountain. It claimed the life of AF Mummery, leader of an expedition and two porters in 1895. Since then Nanga Parbat has cost scores of lives, though quite a few have successfully scaled it. Harmann Buhl was the first to set foot on this formidable peak in 1953. In spite of its bloody past record, Nanga Parbat is still the most sought after target. Its dangerous challenge seems to add spurs to the determination of climbers.
Hidden Peak (8068m): This peak was first attempted in 1892 by Martin Conway's expedition who gave it this name because it was hidden by the neighbouring peaks of Baltoro glacier. The peak was first conquered in 1958 by an American expedition. Nick clinch was the leader. The climbing leaders Peter Schoening and Kanfuran were the two summiters.
Broad Peak (8047m): This peak was also named by Martin Conway and was first attempted by a German expedition headed
Basic Facts
Official Name Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)
National Poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938)
Head of the State Asif Ali Zardari, President
Head of Government Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister
Capital Islamabad (See http://www.cda.gov.pk)
Area Total 796,095 Sq. km.
Punjab 205,344 Sq. km.
Sindh 140,914 Sq. km.
North West Frontier Province 74,521 Sq. km.
Balochistan 347,190 Sq. km.
Federally Administered Tribal Areas 27,220 Sq. km.
Islamabad (Capital) 906 Sq. km.
Population 165 million (estimated)-132 million (1998 census) (See http://www.statpak.gov.pk/)
Pakistan is divided into four provinces viz., North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. The tribal belt adjoining NWFP is managed by the Federal Government and is named FATA i.e., Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas have their own respective political and administrative machinery, yet certain of their subjects are taken care of by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas. Provinces of Pakistan are further divided into Districts
Religion 95% Muslims, 5% others.
Annual per capita income US $1085 (For More Details)
GDP 5.8%
Currency Pak. Rupee.
Imports Industrial equipment, chemicals, vehicles, steel, iron ore, petroleum, edible oil, pulses, tea.
Exports Cotton, textile goods, rice, leather items carpets, sports goods, handi-crafts, fish and fish prep. and fruit
Languages Urdu (National) and English (Official)
Literacy rate 53%
Government Parliamentary form
Parliament Parliament consists of two Houses i.e., the Senate (Upper House) and the National Assembly (Lower House).
The Senate is a permanent legislative body and symbolises a process of continuity in the national affairs. It consists of 100 members. The four Provincial Assemblies, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Federal Capital form its electoral college.
The National Assembly has a total membership of 342 elected through adult suffrage (272 general seats, 60 women seats and 10 non-Muslim seats).
Pakistan National Flag Dark green with a white vertical bar, a white crescent and a five-pointed star in the middle. The Flag symbolizes Pakistan's profound commitment to Islam, the Islamic world and the rights of religious minorities. (For more details click here)
National Anthem Approved in August, 1954
Verses Composed by: Abdul Asar Hafeez Jullundhri
Tune Composed by: Ahmed G. Chagla
Duration: 80 seconds (For more details click here)
State Emblem The State Emblem consists of:
1. The crescent and star which are symbols of Islam
2. The shield in the centre shows four major crops
3. Wreath surrounding the shield represents cultural heritage and
4. Scroll contains Quaid's motto: Faith, Unity, Discipline (For more details click here)
Pakistan's Official Map Drawn by Mian Mahmood Alam Suhrawardy (1920-1999)
National Flower Jasmine.
National Tree Deodar (Cedrus Deodara).
National Animal Markhor.
National Bird Chakor (Red-legged partridge)
Flora Pine, Oak, Poplar, Deodar, Maple, Mulberry
Fauna The Pheasant, Leopard, Deer, Ibex, Chinkara, Black buck, Neelgai, Markhor, Marco-Polo sheep, Green turtles, River & Sea fish, Crocodile, Waterfowls
Popular games Cricket, Hockey, Football, Squash.
Tourist's resorts Murree, Quetta, Hunza, Ziarat, Swat, Kaghan, Chitral and Gilgit
Archaeological sites Moenjo Daro, Harappa, Taxila, Kot Diji, Mehr Garh, Takht Bhai.
Major Cities Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Multan and Sialkot
Major Crops Cotton, Wheat, Rice and Sugarcane
Agricultural Growth Rate 4.1 % on the average for the last six years--1.5% in 2007-08
Total cropped area 25.01 million hectares
Industry Textiles, Cement, Fertiliser, Steel, Sugar, Electric Goods, Shipbuilding
Energy Major sources Electricity (Hydel, Thermal, Nuclear) Oil, Coal, and Liquid Petroleum Gas
Power Generating Capacity 22763 MW (See http://www.wapda.gov.pk/)
Health Hospitals 916
Dispensaries 4,600
Basic Health Units (BHUs) 5,301
Maternity & Child Health Centres 906
Rural Health Centres (RHCs) 552
Tuberculosis (TB) Centres 289
Hospital Beds 99,908
Doctors (registered) 113,206
Dentists (registered) 6,127
Nurses (registered 48,446
Paramedics 23,559
Lady Health Workers 6,741
Education
Primary Schools 155,000
Middle Schools 28,728
High Schools 16,100
Secondary Vocational Institutions 636
Arts & Science Colleges 1,066
Professional Colleges 382
Universities 51
Transport & Communication Total length of roads 259, 758 km
Pakistan Railway network 7,791 km
Locomotives 580
Railway stations 781 (See.http://www.pakrail.com/)
Pakistan International Airlines Covers 38 international and 24 domestic stations with a fleet of 49 planes.(See.http://www.piac.com.pk/)
Major Airports Eight (Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad and Gwadar) (See.http://www.caapakistan.com.pk/)
Seaports International Three (Karachi, Bin Qasim and Gwadar
Fish Harbours-Cum-Mini Ports Three (Minora, Gawadar, and Keti Bandar)
Communications Post Offices 12,170 (See.http://www.pakpost.gov.pk/)
Telephone connections 5,052,000 (See.http://www.ptcl.com.pk/)
Public Call Offices 217,597
Telegraph offices 299
Internet Connections 2 million
Mobile Phones 10,542,641
Employment Total Labour force 46.84 million
Employed Labour Force 43.22 million
Agriculture Sector 18.60 million
Manufacturing & Mining sector 5.96 million
Construction 2.52 million
Trade 6.39 million
Transport 2.48 million
Others 6.98 million
Media
Print Media (In accordance with Central Media List)
Dailies 540
Weeklies 444
Fortnightlies 55
Monthlies 268
News Agencies
Official APP (See.http://www.app.com.pk/)
Private PPI, NNI, On Line and Sana.
Electronic Media
Television Public Sector Pakistan Television Corporation (See.http://ptv.com.pk)Five TV centres at Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi covering 88.58% population and 49 re-broadcasting stations. 6 channels: PTV Home, PTV News, PTV National (Regional programming in Balochi, Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi), PTV Global (for U.S.A.), PTV Bolan (PTV Quetta) and AJK TV (Azad Jammu & Kashmir Television – Kashmiri channel for local viewers)
Private Sector More than 50 channels {Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has issued licences to more than 81 applicants so far}(See.http://www.pemra.gov.pk/)
Radio Public: Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Pakistan)(See.http://www.radio.gov.pk/) has 31 radio stations throughout Pakistan besides eight FM stations at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Hyderabad. Besides its World Service in English and Urdu, Radio Pakistan beams its external services in seven languages to different parts of the world.
Private: PEMRA has issued licences for the establishment of more than 100 FM Radio stations including universities for educational purposes. A number of radio stations are already operational in major cities of Pakistan.(See.http://www.pemra.gov.pk/)
Cable Operators More than 900 (See.http://www.pemra.gov.pk/)
Banks Central Bank State Bank of Pakistan
Nationalized Scheduled Banks First Woman Bank Ltd.
National Bank of Pakistan
Specialized Banks Zari Taraqiati Bank (ZTBL)
Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan
Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Ltd
Private Scheduled Banks Askari Commercial Bank Limited
Bank Al-Falah Limited
My Bank Limited
Faysal Bank Limited
Bank Al-Habib Limited
Metropolitan Bank Limited
KASB Commercial Bank Limited
Prime Commercial Bank Limited
PICIC Commercial Bank Limited
Soneri Bank Limited
Union Bank Limited
Meezan Bank Limited
Saudi-Pak Commercial Bank Limited
Crescent Commercial Bank Limited
Dawood Bank Limited
NDLC-IFIC Bank Limited (NIB)
Allied Bank of Pakistan Limited
United Bank Limited
Habib Bank Limited
SME Banks
Foreign Banks ABN Amro Bank N.V
Albaraka Islamic Bank BSC (EC)
American Expresss Bank Limited
Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi Limited
Citibank N.A
Deutsche Bank A.G.
Habib Bank A.G. Zurich
Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp Limited
Oman International Bank S.O.A.G
Rupali Bank Limited
Standard Chartered Bank Limited
Development Financial Institutions Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corp. Limited
Pak Kuwait Investment Company (Pvt) Limited
Pak Libya Holding Company (Pvt) Limited
Pak-Oman Investment Company (Pvt) Limited
Saudi Pak Industrial and Agricutural Investment Company (Pvt) Limited
Investment Banks Crescent Investment Bank Limited
First International Investment Bank Limited
Atlas Investment Bank Limited
Security Investment Bank Limited
Fidelity Investment Bank Limited
Prudential Investment Bank Limited
Islamic Investment Bank Limited
Asset Investment Bank Limited
Al-Towfeek Investment Bank Limited
Jahangir Siddiqui Investment Bank Limited
Franklin Investment Bank Limited
Orix Investment Bank (Pak) Limited
Famous Mountain Peaks Height World Rating
K-2 (Chagori) 8616 m 2nd
Nanga Parbat 8125 m 8th
Gasherbrum-I 8068 m 11th
Broad Peak 8065 m 12th
Gasherbrum-II 8047 m 14th
Gasherbrum-III 7952 m 15th
Gasherbrum-IV 7925 m 16th
Disteghil Sar 7885 m 20th
Kunyang Kish 7852 m 22nd
Masherbrum (NE) 7821 m 24th
Rakaposhi 7788 m 27th
Batura I 7785 m 28th
Kanjut Sar 7760 m 29th
Saltoro Kangri 7742 m 33rd
Trivor 7720 m 36th
Tirich Mir 7708 m 41st
Famous Mountain Passes Location Province
The Khyber Pass NWFP
The Kurram Pass FATA
The Tochi Pass FATA
The Gomal Pass NWFP
The Bolan Pass Balochistan
The Lowari Pass Chitral (NWFP)
The Khunjrab Pass Northern Areas
Rivers Length
The Indus 2,896 km
Jhelum 825 km
Chenab 1,242 km
Ravi 901 km
Sutlej 1,551 km
Beas (tributary of Sutlej) 398 km
Famous Glaciers Length
Siachin 75 km
Batura 55 km
Baltoro 65 km
Deserts Location/Province
Thar Sindh
Cholistan Punjab
Thal Punjab
Lakes Location/Province
Manchar Sindh
Keenjar Sindh
Hanna Balochistan
Saif-ul-Maluk NWFP
Satpara Northern Areas
Kachura Northern Areas
Major Dams Location/Province
Mangla Dam Punjab
Tarbela Dam NWFP
Warsak Dam NWFP
Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)
National Poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938)
Head of the State Asif Ali Zardari, President
Head of Government Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister
Capital Islamabad (See http://www.cda.gov.pk)
Area Total 796,095 Sq. km.
Punjab 205,344 Sq. km.
Sindh 140,914 Sq. km.
North West Frontier Province 74,521 Sq. km.
Balochistan 347,190 Sq. km.
Federally Administered Tribal Areas 27,220 Sq. km.
Islamabad (Capital) 906 Sq. km.
Population 165 million (estimated)-132 million (1998 census) (See http://www.statpak.gov.pk/)
Pakistan is divided into four provinces viz., North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. The tribal belt adjoining NWFP is managed by the Federal Government and is named FATA i.e., Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas have their own respective political and administrative machinery, yet certain of their subjects are taken care of by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas. Provinces of Pakistan are further divided into Districts
Religion 95% Muslims, 5% others.
Annual per capita income US $1085 (For More Details)
GDP 5.8%
Currency Pak. Rupee.
Imports Industrial equipment, chemicals, vehicles, steel, iron ore, petroleum, edible oil, pulses, tea.
Exports Cotton, textile goods, rice, leather items carpets, sports goods, handi-crafts, fish and fish prep. and fruit
Languages Urdu (National) and English (Official)
Literacy rate 53%
Government Parliamentary form
Parliament Parliament consists of two Houses i.e., the Senate (Upper House) and the National Assembly (Lower House).
The Senate is a permanent legislative body and symbolises a process of continuity in the national affairs. It consists of 100 members. The four Provincial Assemblies, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Federal Capital form its electoral college.
The National Assembly has a total membership of 342 elected through adult suffrage (272 general seats, 60 women seats and 10 non-Muslim seats).
Pakistan National Flag Dark green with a white vertical bar, a white crescent and a five-pointed star in the middle. The Flag symbolizes Pakistan's profound commitment to Islam, the Islamic world and the rights of religious minorities. (For more details click here)
National Anthem Approved in August, 1954
Verses Composed by: Abdul Asar Hafeez Jullundhri
Tune Composed by: Ahmed G. Chagla
Duration: 80 seconds (For more details click here)
State Emblem The State Emblem consists of:
1. The crescent and star which are symbols of Islam
2. The shield in the centre shows four major crops
3. Wreath surrounding the shield represents cultural heritage and
4. Scroll contains Quaid's motto: Faith, Unity, Discipline (For more details click here)
Pakistan's Official Map Drawn by Mian Mahmood Alam Suhrawardy (1920-1999)
National Flower Jasmine.
National Tree Deodar (Cedrus Deodara).
National Animal Markhor.
National Bird Chakor (Red-legged partridge)
Flora Pine, Oak, Poplar, Deodar, Maple, Mulberry
Fauna The Pheasant, Leopard, Deer, Ibex, Chinkara, Black buck, Neelgai, Markhor, Marco-Polo sheep, Green turtles, River & Sea fish, Crocodile, Waterfowls
Popular games Cricket, Hockey, Football, Squash.
Tourist's resorts Murree, Quetta, Hunza, Ziarat, Swat, Kaghan, Chitral and Gilgit
Archaeological sites Moenjo Daro, Harappa, Taxila, Kot Diji, Mehr Garh, Takht Bhai.
Major Cities Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Multan and Sialkot
Major Crops Cotton, Wheat, Rice and Sugarcane
Agricultural Growth Rate 4.1 % on the average for the last six years--1.5% in 2007-08
Total cropped area 25.01 million hectares
Industry Textiles, Cement, Fertiliser, Steel, Sugar, Electric Goods, Shipbuilding
Energy Major sources Electricity (Hydel, Thermal, Nuclear) Oil, Coal, and Liquid Petroleum Gas
Power Generating Capacity 22763 MW (See http://www.wapda.gov.pk/)
Health Hospitals 916
Dispensaries 4,600
Basic Health Units (BHUs) 5,301
Maternity & Child Health Centres 906
Rural Health Centres (RHCs) 552
Tuberculosis (TB) Centres 289
Hospital Beds 99,908
Doctors (registered) 113,206
Dentists (registered) 6,127
Nurses (registered 48,446
Paramedics 23,559
Lady Health Workers 6,741
Education
Primary Schools 155,000
Middle Schools 28,728
High Schools 16,100
Secondary Vocational Institutions 636
Arts & Science Colleges 1,066
Professional Colleges 382
Universities 51
Transport & Communication Total length of roads 259, 758 km
Pakistan Railway network 7,791 km
Locomotives 580
Railway stations 781 (See.http://www.pakrail.com/)
Pakistan International Airlines Covers 38 international and 24 domestic stations with a fleet of 49 planes.(See.http://www.piac.com.pk/)
Major Airports Eight (Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad and Gwadar) (See.http://www.caapakistan.com.pk/)
Seaports International Three (Karachi, Bin Qasim and Gwadar
Fish Harbours-Cum-Mini Ports Three (Minora, Gawadar, and Keti Bandar)
Communications Post Offices 12,170 (See.http://www.pakpost.gov.pk/)
Telephone connections 5,052,000 (See.http://www.ptcl.com.pk/)
Public Call Offices 217,597
Telegraph offices 299
Internet Connections 2 million
Mobile Phones 10,542,641
Employment Total Labour force 46.84 million
Employed Labour Force 43.22 million
Agriculture Sector 18.60 million
Manufacturing & Mining sector 5.96 million
Construction 2.52 million
Trade 6.39 million
Transport 2.48 million
Others 6.98 million
Media
Print Media (In accordance with Central Media List)
Dailies 540
Weeklies 444
Fortnightlies 55
Monthlies 268
News Agencies
Official APP (See.http://www.app.com.pk/)
Private PPI, NNI, On Line and Sana.
Electronic Media
Television Public Sector Pakistan Television Corporation (See.http://ptv.com.pk)Five TV centres at Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi covering 88.58% population and 49 re-broadcasting stations. 6 channels: PTV Home, PTV News, PTV National (Regional programming in Balochi, Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi), PTV Global (for U.S.A.), PTV Bolan (PTV Quetta) and AJK TV (Azad Jammu & Kashmir Television – Kashmiri channel for local viewers)
Private Sector More than 50 channels {Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has issued licences to more than 81 applicants so far}(See.http://www.pemra.gov.pk/)
Radio Public: Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Pakistan)(See.http://www.radio.gov.pk/) has 31 radio stations throughout Pakistan besides eight FM stations at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Hyderabad. Besides its World Service in English and Urdu, Radio Pakistan beams its external services in seven languages to different parts of the world.
Private: PEMRA has issued licences for the establishment of more than 100 FM Radio stations including universities for educational purposes. A number of radio stations are already operational in major cities of Pakistan.(See.http://www.pemra.gov.pk/)
Cable Operators More than 900 (See.http://www.pemra.gov.pk/)
Banks Central Bank State Bank of Pakistan
Nationalized Scheduled Banks First Woman Bank Ltd.
National Bank of Pakistan
Specialized Banks Zari Taraqiati Bank (ZTBL)
Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan
Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Ltd
Private Scheduled Banks Askari Commercial Bank Limited
Bank Al-Falah Limited
My Bank Limited
Faysal Bank Limited
Bank Al-Habib Limited
Metropolitan Bank Limited
KASB Commercial Bank Limited
Prime Commercial Bank Limited
PICIC Commercial Bank Limited
Soneri Bank Limited
Union Bank Limited
Meezan Bank Limited
Saudi-Pak Commercial Bank Limited
Crescent Commercial Bank Limited
Dawood Bank Limited
NDLC-IFIC Bank Limited (NIB)
Allied Bank of Pakistan Limited
United Bank Limited
Habib Bank Limited
SME Banks
Foreign Banks ABN Amro Bank N.V
Albaraka Islamic Bank BSC (EC)
American Expresss Bank Limited
Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi Limited
Citibank N.A
Deutsche Bank A.G.
Habib Bank A.G. Zurich
Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp Limited
Oman International Bank S.O.A.G
Rupali Bank Limited
Standard Chartered Bank Limited
Development Financial Institutions Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corp. Limited
Pak Kuwait Investment Company (Pvt) Limited
Pak Libya Holding Company (Pvt) Limited
Pak-Oman Investment Company (Pvt) Limited
Saudi Pak Industrial and Agricutural Investment Company (Pvt) Limited
Investment Banks Crescent Investment Bank Limited
First International Investment Bank Limited
Atlas Investment Bank Limited
Security Investment Bank Limited
Fidelity Investment Bank Limited
Prudential Investment Bank Limited
Islamic Investment Bank Limited
Asset Investment Bank Limited
Al-Towfeek Investment Bank Limited
Jahangir Siddiqui Investment Bank Limited
Franklin Investment Bank Limited
Orix Investment Bank (Pak) Limited
Famous Mountain Peaks Height World Rating
K-2 (Chagori) 8616 m 2nd
Nanga Parbat 8125 m 8th
Gasherbrum-I 8068 m 11th
Broad Peak 8065 m 12th
Gasherbrum-II 8047 m 14th
Gasherbrum-III 7952 m 15th
Gasherbrum-IV 7925 m 16th
Disteghil Sar 7885 m 20th
Kunyang Kish 7852 m 22nd
Masherbrum (NE) 7821 m 24th
Rakaposhi 7788 m 27th
Batura I 7785 m 28th
Kanjut Sar 7760 m 29th
Saltoro Kangri 7742 m 33rd
Trivor 7720 m 36th
Tirich Mir 7708 m 41st
Famous Mountain Passes Location Province
The Khyber Pass NWFP
The Kurram Pass FATA
The Tochi Pass FATA
The Gomal Pass NWFP
The Bolan Pass Balochistan
The Lowari Pass Chitral (NWFP)
The Khunjrab Pass Northern Areas
Rivers Length
The Indus 2,896 km
Jhelum 825 km
Chenab 1,242 km
Ravi 901 km
Sutlej 1,551 km
Beas (tributary of Sutlej) 398 km
Famous Glaciers Length
Siachin 75 km
Batura 55 km
Baltoro 65 km
Deserts Location/Province
Thar Sindh
Cholistan Punjab
Thal Punjab
Lakes Location/Province
Manchar Sindh
Keenjar Sindh
Hanna Balochistan
Saif-ul-Maluk NWFP
Satpara Northern Areas
Kachura Northern Areas
Major Dams Location/Province
Mangla Dam Punjab
Tarbela Dam NWFP
Warsak Dam NWFP
Introducing Pakistan
Pakistan displays some of Asia’s most magnificent landscapes as it stretches from the Arabian Sea, its southern border, to some of the world’s most spectacular mountain ranges in the north. Pakistan is also home to sites that date back to word’s earliest settlements rivaling those of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Location
Located in South Asia, Pakistan shares an eastern border with India and a north-eastern border with China. Iran makes up the country’s south-west border, and Afghanistan runs along its western and northern edge. The Arabian Sea is Pakistan’s southern boundary with 1,064 km of coastline.
The country has a total area of 796,095 sq km and is nearly four times the size of the United Kingdom. From Gwadar Bay in its south-eastern corner, the country extends more than 1,800 km to the Khunjerab Pass on China’s border.
Location
Located in South Asia, Pakistan shares an eastern border with India and a north-eastern border with China. Iran makes up the country’s south-west border, and Afghanistan runs along its western and northern edge. The Arabian Sea is Pakistan’s southern boundary with 1,064 km of coastline.
The country has a total area of 796,095 sq km and is nearly four times the size of the United Kingdom. From Gwadar Bay in its south-eastern corner, the country extends more than 1,800 km to the Khunjerab Pass on China’s border.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Zafarullah Khan Jamali Becomes Prime Minister [2002]
Zafarullah Khan Jamali was elected the 21st Prime Minister of Pakistan by the newly elected Parliament on November 21, 2002. President General Pervez Musharraf administered the oath to the new Prime Minster at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on November 23. He now heads Pakistan's first civilian government after three years of military rule of General Pervez Musharraf.
Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's Government faces tough challenges ahead. He not only faces a strong opposition in the National Assembly, but also has to keep his multi-party coalition together while sharing power with President Pervez Musharraf. The President still retains the ultimate power, with the authority to dissolve Parliament and sack the Prime Minister. On December 29, 2002, Mir Zaffarullah Khan Jamali won the vote of confidence of 188 members out of the 342-seat House.
The October elections resulted in a political deadlock as no party won with an overall majority. This led to the delay in the appointment of the Prime Minister. The President did not call the National Assembly session until the creation of PPP's forward bloc and the floor-crossing law was held in abeyance. Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Shah Mahmud Qureshi of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) were the main contender for the seat of Prime Minister. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali won by securing 172 votes out of 329 votes, against 89 bagged by Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman and 70 by Shah Mahmud Qureshi. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was however, able to get the desired number of votes after 10 members of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians defected from the party to form their own Forward Block in order to support Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
Zafarullah Khan Jamali has promised to continue President Musharraf's economic and foreign policies, particularly in supporting the ongoing international war against terrorism. He reiterated Pakistan's support for the United States led war on terrorism and said "Pakistan has become a frontline state, and will remain one". Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali in one of his first acts announced a 25-member Cabinet. The Cabinet includes four unelected advisers and several legislators who had defected from Pakistan Peoples Party. The PPPP dissidents for their critical support to Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) got the top slot ministries in the Government. Rao Sikandar and Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat have been given the two most powerful Ministries of Defense and Interior. Out of the ten PPPP dissidents, six have been accommodated either as full or junior Ministers.
 |
| President Pervez Musharraf administering oath to Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Prime Minister of Pakistan |
Jamali, who had plunged into politics against a dictator when he campaigned for Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah in her presidential race against Pakistan's first dictator, Ayub Khan, is now working readily and steadily to run the Parliament as well as uphold the order of the President and the army in various areas. Jamali's clash with either president or Army will certainly cost his saddle like the late ex-Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo. It is a tribute to his pleasing personality that even the main Opposition, i.e., MMA while sticking to its own political agenda, has pledged publicly not to destabilize his Government so that the democratic dispensation takes firm roots. His pledge not to take any major step without consulting the opposition and that his opponents would not be dragged in false cases has at length led to the strengthening and functioning of “sustainable of democracy”. Though Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali who did bear confidence of the majority in the Parliament and tried to maintain amicable terms with the most powerful President as well as the Opposition with his traits of humility and decency, could not complete his five-year term and suddenly had to resign on June 26, 2004.
General Elections 2002
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| President Musharraf casting his vote |
The National and Provincial elections were held on the same day. More than 72 million registered voters aged 18 and above from a population of 140 million, elected members for the 342 National Assembly seats and 728 seats of the four Provincial Assemblies. A total of 2,098 candidates contested for 272 general seats of the National Assembly. The remaining 60 seats were reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslim minorities. These seats were to be allocated on the basis of proportional representation to parties bagging at least five per cent of the total general seats. In the Provincial Assemblies out of the full 371 seat Punjab Assembly, 66 were reserved for women and eight for minorities, in the 168 seat Sindh Assembly, 29 for women and nine for minorities, in the 124 seat N. W. F. P. Assembly, 22 for women and three for minorities, and the 65 seat Baluchistan Assembly, 11 for women and three for minorities.
Voting was carried out from 8 in the morning till 5 in the evening on some 65,000 polling stations having 164,718 polling booths across the country, with segregated voting booths for women. The elections were observed and monitored by hundreds of local and 300 international observers, including observers from European Union and the Commonwealth, as well as local rights group.
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| An old woman exercising her constitutional rights |
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| Some 65,000 polling stations were set up across the country |
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| The Islamic parties came in strong by capitalizing on opposition to Pakistan's partnership with the United States in the bombing of Afghanistan |
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| The elections had a low turnout of 20 to 25 percent |
With no party emerging with a simple majority Pakistan faced menace of a hung parliament. A coalition government was, however, set up with Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, the candidate of PML (Q) as the Prime Minister of Pakistan with the help of MQM, a number of independent candidates and 10 members of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians who defected from the party to form their own Forward Block.
Legal Framework Order 2002
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| Chief Executive General Musharraf issued the Legal Framework Order 2002 on August 24, 2002 |
The main text of the L. F. O. 2002 stated as follows:
It has been specified that it will come into force henceforth and in the first meetings of National Assembly, Senate and Provincial Assemblies and that if any necessity arises for any further amendment of the Constitution or there is any difficulty in giving effect to any of the provisions of this Order, the Chief Executive will have the discretionary power to make provisions and pass orders for amending the Constitution or for removing any difficulty. It has been further asserted that the validity of any provision made, or orders passed, under clauses (1) and (2) shall not be called in question in any court on any ground whatsoever. The main points of L. F. O. 2002 may be summed up as below:
i) Every political party shall, subject to law, hold intra-party elections to elect its office-bearers and party leaders.
ii) Having received the democratic mandate to serve the nation as President of Pakistan for a period of five years, the Chief Executive on relinquishing the office of the C. E., shall assume the office of President of Pakistan forthwith and hold office for a term of five years under the Constitution, and Article 44 and other provisions of the Constitution shall apply accordingly.
iii) There shall be 342 seats of the members in the National Assembly, including seats reserved for women and non-Muslims.
iv) The seats in the National Assembly are allocated to each Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital as under:
- Balochistan: General 14, Women 3, Total 17
- N. W. F. P.: General 35, Women 8, Total 43
- Punjab: General 148, Women 35, Total 183
- Sindh: General 61, Women 14, Total 75
- F. A. T. A.: General 12, Women 0, Total 12
- Federal Capital: General 2, Women 0, Total 2
- Total: General 272, Women 60, Total 332
v) In addition to the number of seats referred to in clause (iv), there shall be, in the National Assembly, ten seats reserved for non-Muslims.
vi) Members to the seats reserved for non-Muslims shall be elected in accordance with law through proportional representation system of political parties' lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats won by each political party in the National Assembly. A political party securing less than five per centum of the total number of seats in the National Assembly shall not be entitled to any seat reserved for women or non-Muslims.
vii) If any question arises whether a member of the Parliament is disqualified from being a member, the Speaker or, as the case may be, the Chairman shall, within 30 days, refer the question to the Chief Election Commissioner who shall give his decision thereon not later than three months from its receipt by the Chief Election Commissioner.
viii) If a member of a Parliamentary Party resigns from membership of his political party or joins another; or votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the Parliamentary Party to which he belongs concerning election of the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister; a vote of confidence or no-confidence; or a Money Bill, he may be declared in writing by the Head of the Parliamentary Party to have defected from the political party. The Head of the Parliamentary Party shall forward a copy of the declaration to the Presiding Officer, and a copy thereof to the member concerned.
ix) A member of a House shall be deemed to be a member of a Parliamentary Party if he having been elected as a candidate or nominee of a political party constituting the Parliamentary Party in the House or, having been elected otherwise than as a candidate or nominee of a political party, has become a member of such Parliamentary Party after such election by means of a declaration in writing.
x) With an addition of "a situation has arisen in which the Government of the Federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and an appeal to the electorate is necessary", the clause 58 is revived.
xi) Where a Bill is referred to the Mediation Committee, it shall, within 90 days, formulate an agreed Bill likely to be passed by both Houses of the Parliament and place the agreed Bill separately before each House. If both the Houses pass the Bill, it shall be presented to the President for assent.
xii) All decisions of the Mediation Committee shall be made by a majority of the total number of members of each House in the Committee.
xiii) The President may, in consultation with the Speaker of the National Assembly and Chairman of the Senate, make rules for conduct of business of the Mediation Committee.
xiv) With an insertion of a new article 152A, there shall be a National Security Council whose chairman shall be the President in order to serve as a forum for consultation on strategic matters pertaining to the sovereignty, integrity and security of the State, and the matters relating to democracy, governance and inter-provincial harmony. Other members of N. S. C. shall be the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Senate, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, the Chief Ministers of the Provinces, the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and the Chiefs of Staff of the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force. Meetings of the National Security Council may be convened by the President either in his discretion, or on the advice of the Prime Minister, or when requested by any other of its members, within the time frame indicated by him.
xv) On dissolution of an Assembly under article 58-2 (b) or, on completion of its term, the President, in his discretion, or, as the case may be, the Governor, in his discretion but with the previous approval of the President, shall appoint a caretaker Cabinet. When a caretaker Cabinet is appointed, on dissolution of the National Assembly under Article 58 or a Provincial Assembly under Article 112, or on dissolution of any such Assembly on completion of its term, the Prime Minister or, as the case may be, the Chief Minister of the caretaker Cabinet shall not be eligible to contest the immediately following election of such Assembly.
xvi) The Proclamation of Emergency of the 14th October, 1999, all President's Orders, Ordinances, Chief Executive's Orders, including the P. C. O. No. 1 of 1999, the Oath of Office (Judges) Order 2000, the Referendum Order 2002 (Chief Executive's Order No. 12 of 2002), and all other laws made between the October 12, 1999 and the date on which this Article comes into force, are hereby affirmed, adopted and declared notwithstanding any judgment of any court, to have been validly made by competent authority and notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution shall not be called in question in any court on any ground whatsoever.
xvii) All Proclamations, President's Orders, Ordinances, Chief Executive's Orders, laws, regulations, enactments, notifications, rules, orders or bye-laws in force immediately before the date on which this Article comes into force shall continue in force until altered, repealed or amended by competent authority.
Through L. F. O. 2000, the President and Chief Executive revived the Constitution of Pakistan, except a few articles pertaining to the Provincial Governments and the Senate of Pakistan, etc., with effect from 16th November, 2002, which are to be restored later. Those parts of the Constitution which are restored include "Preamble, Article 1 to 58 (both inclusive), Article 64 to 100 (both inclusive), Annex, insertion of Article 152A and the schedule to the Constitution".
Some of the immediate implications of the L. F. O. 2000 are:
a) L. F. O. 2000 has been sanctified by postulating that no body can challenge it in any court of law "on any ground whatsoever."
b) It is now assumed to be an integral part of the Constitution and there is no imperative left for the newly and duly elected National Assembly but to accept it willingly or unwillingly. The present Parliament is quite unable to reverse or do away with any of the Amendments, especially the one relating to the National Security Council. The Prime Minister and the whole Parliament are at the will of the President for their survival.
c) Many believe that the L. F. O. 2000 has been enforced without any regard for the Constitutional and democratic norms and proprieties. By terminating the Thirteenth Amendment that was not passed by two-third majority but a unanimous vote of the Parliament, the President has again been authorized to enjoy the power of dismissing the Prime Minister along with his Cabinet and the Parliament.
d) With the adoption of the Legal Framework Order 2002, Pakistan has virtually advanced from the parliamentary form of government to the presidential system. The Article 58-2 (b) clause has been revived and the insertion of the new clause 152A has created the National Security Council.
e) Though the function of National Security Council and the clause 58-2 (b) is to provide a system of checks-and-balances, there are some issues to consider. In case of a confrontation between the President and the Prime Minister, the majority of votes in the National Security Council will automatically go in favor of the President who can thus easily remove the Prime Minister, putting the Parliamentary form of government once again in jeopardy.
f) With a radically altered Constitutional Framework, in whose making the people of Pakistan have had no say, the sovereignty of the Parliament has been severely crippled.
g) Although the Article 58-2 (b) does not specifically mention the President as having the power to sack the Prime Minister, the dissolution of the Assembly automatically makes the Prime Minister go. As the recent past shows, this clause was misused by three Presidents to remove Prime Ministers for purely political reasons, even though the Constitution authorized the President to take such a drastic step only after it had become clear that "a situation had arisen in which the government of the federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution." There is no doubt that every future Prime Minister will have to work under the constraints of 58-2 (b) at all times.
The only way to constitutionally amend the Constitution is through the Article 239, which lays down the following procedure:
"A bill to amend the Constitution may originate in either House (National Assembly or the Senate) and, when the bill is passed by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House, it shall be transmitted to the other House." As such, it is still considered by the Constitutional experts that General Musharraf requires two-thirds majority to have his Constitutional Amendments or L. F. O. 2000 validated. In addition, the legal position of General Musharraf is also not in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan for it does not recognize a uniformed Army Chief as the Head of State. Under the Constitution of 1973, only a majority vote in National Assembly, Senate, and four Provincial Assemblies can elect a President.
Referendum 2002
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| Pervez Musharraf addressing a referendum rally |
The basic reason for holding the referendum was that the General wanted to abide by democratic principles and establish legitimacy for his rule though in the Constitution there was no provision to become President through referendum. According to the General, he wanted to stay as President in order to continue the economic recovery, ensure social stability, to counter unnamed destabilizing influences, and to eventually return to "true democracy". The Opposition parties opposed the referendum. A 15-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy was set up, including Pakistan's two main political parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League. The alliance considered President Musharraf's decision as unconstitutional and announced peaceful rallies to oppose it. They called for a boycott of the voting.
The referendum took place on April 30, 2002, with no competition and no option but to vote for General Musharraf. The referendum question put forward to the people was: "For the survival of the local government system, establishment of democracy, continuity of reforms, end to sectarianism and extremism, and to fulfill the vision of Quaid-i-Azam, would you like to elect President General Pervez Musharraf as President of Pakistan for five years?"
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| General Musharraf casting his vote in the referendum |
The referendum result was quite a big question mark. Politicians and political analysts considered the referendum to be unconstitutional, as under the Constitution, the President could be chosen not via direct vote, but by the elected members of the National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies and the Senate. The Opposition claimed that not more than 5 percent of the electorate bothered to vote, implying that President Musharraf did not have popular support. Pakistan's Human Rights Commission also gave reports of some flagrant abuses, with few instances of multiple voting, and pressure on state employees to cast their votes.
However, the referendum certified the continuation of President General Pervez Musharraf's rule for another five years, with him claim to have the popular mandate to govern and to carry on with his economic and political reforms.
September Eleven and Its Aftermath [2001]
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| President Musharraf meeting with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji |
Pakistan became the center of world attention after the September 11 attacks. It was placed in a difficult situation as the U.S. threatened to carry out military strikes on the Taliban. Faced not only with international pressure to take part in curbing the war on terrorism, but also a strong domestic pressure not to side with the United States against an Islamic country, Pakistan sought to assume a delicate balance between the U. S. demands and an expected backlash from internal militant and religious organizations.
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| President Musharraf greeting U. N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan |
Pakistan was faced with a tough choice and irresistible pressure from the United States, an old ally and sole super power, to support a military strike against Osama bin Laden. That pressure, however, was combined with extreme reluctance to abandon Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, an old friend and neighbor. Pakistan in this difficult situation was left with actually little choice except to comply with U.S. demands. The Government, despite the protest of the religious parties, decided to cooperate with the U.S. However, it made it very clear that Pakistan would extend full cooperation to the international community in its fight against terrorism without involving its forces in any action beyond its geographical boundaries. The U.S. was given permission to make use of Pakistani airspace for U.S. missile or aerial strikes against targets in Afghanistan. Pakistan also agreed to the exchange of intelligence and logistic facilities and to the closing of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
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| British Prime Minister Tony Blair on his visit to Pakistan |
As U.S. bombing on Afghanistan started, it was however forecasted on the bases of the Afghan resistance to the Soviets and all previous invaders since Alexander, that the Taliban would never give up their arms. The Americans would have to engage in a long, bloody, guerrilla warfare that would take months, if not years, to yield results. Snow would come and make fighting impossible. Further, sympathetic Muslim sentiment would topple the Musharraf regime and threaten others. It didn't happen that way; history did not repeat itself. The Americans and their coalition partners carried out extensive aerial bombardment of Afghanistan that led to the killing of large number of innocent civilians and to the takeover of the Taliban strongholds one after another. The Taliban regime was toppled and a transitional government of Taliban opposition was installed in its place.
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| President Musharraf greeting U. S. Secretary of State Colin Powell |
After the aerial offense, the ground offensive eventually started to oust the number of Taliban left in Afghanistan. The U.S. continues to focus on tracking down the remaining Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. This means that the U.S. will maintain a significant military force and continue to play a role in the region in the future.
Pakistan once again supported its old ally, the United States, in its military action against Osama bin Laden at the cost of forsaking its old friend and neighbor, the Taliban. But the question whether the American government abandons or continues to support Pakistan after it achieves its objectives still remains to be answered.
Local Government System [2001]
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| An overview of the Local Government setup |
This new system of Local Government was installed on August 14, 2001, after holding of elections. Direct elections on non-party basis were held in five phases for members of Union Councils, Union Nazims, and Naib Union Nazims during 2000 thru to 2001. On the basis of these direct elections, indirect elections were held in July-August 2001 for Zila Nazims and Naib Zila Nazims and also for Tehsil-Town Nazims and Naib Nazims. In order to attract people towards electoral politics, the minimum age for local government elections was lowered from 21 to 18 years. One-third seats were reserved for women.
The main purpose of introducing the Local Government System was to empower the people at the grassroots level and to transfer power from the elite to the masses. This system of grassroots democracy envisaged yielding new political leaders. It was also anticipated to solve people's problems at local level, allow public participation in decision-making and ensure the provision of speedy justice. The essence of this system was that the Local Governments would be accountable to the citizens for all their decisions. It would enable the proactive elements of society to participate in community work, development related activities and would remove rural-urban divide. The new Local Government plan was an effort on the part of the Military Government to lay the foundations of an authentic and enduring democracy.
The new System provided a three-tier Local Government structure:
1. The District Government
2. The Tehsil Government
3. The Union Administration
The District Government
The District Government consisted of the Zila Nazim and District Administration. The District Administration consisted of district offices including sub-offices at Tehsil level, who were to be responsible to the District Nazim assisted by the District Coordination Officer. The District Coordination Officer was appointed by the Provincial Government and was the coordinating head of the District Administration. The Zila Nazim was accountable to the people through the elected members of the Zila Council. A Zila Council consisted of all Union Nazims in the District, which consisted of members elected on the reserved seats. These seats were reserved for women, peasants, workers, and minority community. The Zila Council had its Secretariat under the Naib Zila Nazim and had a separate budget allocation. Adequate checks and balances were introduced in the System.
The new System also efficiently addressed the specific needs and problems of large cities. The District Government was responsible to the people and the Provincial Government for improvement of governance and delivery of services.
Tehsil Administration
The middle tier, the Tehsil, had Tehsil Municipal Administration headed by the Tehsil Nazim. Tehsil Municipal Administration consisted of a Tehsil Nazim, Tehsil Municipal Officer, Tehsil Officers, Chief Officers and other officials of the Local Council Service and officials of the offices entrusted to the Tehsil Municipal Administration. The Tehsil Municipal Administration was entrusted with the functions of administration, finances, and management of the offices of Local Government and Rural Development, and numerous other subjects at the regional, Divisional, District, Tehsil and lower levels.
Union Administration
The lowest tier, the Union Administration was a corporate body covering the rural as well as urban areas across the whole District. It consisted of Union Nazim, Naib Union Nazim and three Union Secretaries and other auxiliary staff. The Union Nazim was the head of the Union Administration and the Naib Union Nazim acted as deputy to the Union Nazim during his temporary absence. The Union Secretaries coordinated and facilitated in community development, functioning of the Union Committees and delivery of municipal services under the supervision of Union Nazim.
The Government allocated Rupees 32 billion to the Local Government in 2002. The funds were deposited in the account of the District Government. The District Government further distributed these funds to Tehsil and Unions. In addition to the fiscal transfers from the Province, the Local Governments were authorized to generate money from their own sources by levying certain taxes, fees, user charges, etc.
It is, however, pertinent to make a special mention that it is only in the absence of elected assemblies that local governments are the popularly elected bodies and play important political and developmental roles. After the election of Senators and members of the provincial and national assemblies, its role has been again substantially marginalized. The elected representatives of National and Provincial Assemblies usually take over some functions, which local governments used to perform and as such in many ways they are prone to intervene in the evolution of proper and improved Local government.
Local governments suffer from the fact that their existence is not constitutionally ordained and they are a mere extension of the provincial government. In the Constitution, the allocations of the functions of the federal and provincial governments are clearly specified whereas the existence of local government is not formally embodied in the Constitution. Moreover, financial, technical, and bureaucratic constraints plus limited revenue (merely 5 per cent of revenue generated by the government) cause the poor and almost non-existent local government for most of the time.
Agra Summit
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| President Musharraf being greeted by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee |
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| President Musharraf meeting with Indian Congress leader Sonya Gandhi |
Despite reservations from the Indian Government, President Musharraf also held face-to-face meetings with the top Kashmiri leadership represented by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
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| Despite the failure of the talks, General Musharraf joined Vajpayee to call on the two countries to bury their past |
Pervez Musharraf Becomes President [June, 2001]
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| Pervez Musharraf being sworn-in as President of Pakistan |
The critical moment in General Musharraf's presidency was 9/11, when Washington suddenly and direly needed his support the international antiterrorism campaign and to crush the Taliban in Afghanistan. Thus he became a pivotal player on the world stage and a close ally welcomed in Washington and London alike as a statesman of international standing. General Musharraf did his best to highlight the core issue of Kashmir at every international forum. In July 2001, he held his first summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at Agra but couldn’t make much headway in solving the Kashmir problem. Due to his consecutive efforts, however, a lot of tension between the two neighboring countries with nuclear-armed rivalry has been eased as they have restored diplomatic relations and started to build up warming ties mutually by means of confidence building measures. General Musharraf has given a new formula for solving the protracted dispute of Kashmir. After the Taliban were ousted, he offered all possible help to the new government.
President General Musharraf kept his word to restore democracy and hold elections in October 2002 as mandated by the Supreme Court. He gratified the nation when after general elections, Pakistan's National Assembly and Senate in November 2002 met for the first time since the coup three years earlier. He also relinquished the post of Chief Executive when Zafaullah Khan Jamali became Prime Minister of Pakistan in November 2002. President Musharraf, however, continues to hold the offices of Chief of Army Staff, and Chief of the Staff Committee. The opposition parties refused to accept Framework Order (LFO) 2002 as it empowered the President to sack the prime minister, dissolve parliament and also recognize him as both head of the army and head of the state. According to the opposition the provisions of the LFO were unconstitutional and illegal, and against the sovereignty of the Parliament. As a result, the business of parliament remained in deadlock for a year. In December, 2003 as part of a deal with MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal) to end the stand-off, General Musharraf agreed that he would step down as military head of the country on December 31, 2004 and also give up some of the powers he assumed after the coup while on January 1,2004. After getting vote of confidence from parliament and the four provincial assemblies, President Pervez Musharraf would now serve full five-year term as President till 2007 under the constitutional provisions after the seventeenth amendment was passed by a two-third majority of the Parliament. He secured 658 votes (56.23 per cent) with simple majority from a total of 1,170 members of parliament and the four assemblies amid MMA abstention and opposition boycott.
President Musharraf presents to the world vision of a modern, tolerant, democratic, Islamic Pakistan and favors economic reforms and free trade with the West. He has also played a vital role in negotiating an economic package to assist Pakistan out of its problems.
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