An interesting miscellany of news
By Syed Afsar Sajid
Title: ‘Pakistan’
Compiler: Muhammad Saeed
Publisher: OUP, Karachi
Pages: 564 – Price: Rs. 2500/-
Muhammad Saeed is a veteran bureaucrat who retired as Chief Customs, FBR, Karachi. Associated with many an economic project of global importance like the EU Needs Assessment Project, Islamabad, USAID Trade Project, Islamabad, and the ADB Trade and Transport Project, he also edited and published the fortnightly ‘The World Trade Review’, Islamabad.
The aforementioned book (‘Pakistan’) is a compendium of news, views, and ads that appeared in four English dailies viz. The Pakistan Times, Lahore, the Daily Gazette, Karachi, The Civil & Military Gazette, Lahore, and the Daily Dawn, Karachi during the period from Aug 1, 1947 to Dec 31, 1947. The learned compiler claims to have dug out these papers from the National Archives in the year 2014 with a view to sorting out the collective thinking of the political leaders, local populace and the migrants/displaced persons on both sides of the border of the two newly-emerging dominions of India and Pakistan within the orbit of the British Commonwealth. No Urdu newspaper covering the year 1947 was available in these archives.
The book despite its huge volume, is a crisp read. It is like a chronicle incorporating a vast but varying data of facts and figures pertaining to the incipient history of the Indian Sub-continent undergoing an unprecedented demographic, as also geographic, turmoil and turbulence involving mammoth internecine bloodshed and carnage, at and around the time of Partition. A cursory though selective survey of the contents of the book, in a chronological order, would greatly interest the common reader as well as the connoisseur.
1-8-47 to 15-8-47: Maj. Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, MLA, Member All India Muslim League Council was gunned down by a police constable near Chowburji, Lahore. Lecturers in different subjects wanted in Zamindara College, Gujrat @ Rs.150/- pm. Viceroy House, Delhi has announced the appointment of the three services chiefs for each dominion separately. Gold rate in Karachi swung between Rs.108/13/6 and Rs.108/11/- per tola.
The Red Fort in Delhi tipped as the HQ of the Indian Army. The UN Security Council appealed for a cease-fire in Indonesia. Gandhiji during his tour of Kashmir met the State premier twice. A 16-hour curfew was imposed in Lyallpur in the wake of communal violence in and outside the town. Curfew in Lahore extended until 15 th August. A public feast for 20,000 people to be hosted on 15 th August in Karachi to celebrate the independence day.
The Naga tribesmen in India demanded total autonomy for themselves. The offices of the Pakistan government started functioning in Karachi. The governor-general-designate of Pakistan Mr. M. A. Jinnah was given a standing ovation by a thumping crowd of around 100,000 people on his arrival from Delhi, at Mauripur airport, Karachi where prime minister–designate Liaquat Ali Khan and Area Commander Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan were also present to greet him. He was accompanied by Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah and his ADCs Lt. Ahsan and Flt. Lt. Rabbani. Gandhiji while in Lahore, expressed his desire to live in Pakistan for the rest of his life.
13 persons were killed in Calcutta in the wake of the prevailing communal frenzy. Zahid Hussain, VC, Muslim University Aligarh appointed High Commissioner of Pakistan to India. KLM to start once-a-week flight between Karachi-New York via Amsterdam, in 45 hours. Liaquat Ali Khan moved a resolution in the Constituent Assembly proposing the title of ‘Quaid-e-Azam’ for Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah w.e.f 15th August, 1947. Faiz Ahmad Faiz is the acting editor of the daily The Pakistan Times (price: two annas). Murder and arson continued in Amritsar entailing a toll of a dozen innocent Muslims. Military force eliminated a gang of 61 armed rioters.
M/s Gandhi and Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy to launch a joint peace mission. US President Truman sent a goodwill message to Quaid-e-Azam. Communal riots in Lahore causing 22 casualties. PBS to take over the management of Lahore, Peshawar and Dacca (Dhaka) radio stations. Quaid-e-Azam took the oath of allegiance to the British monarch followed by an oath of office of Governor General under the provisional constitution of Pakistan.
16-8-47 to 31-12-47: Governor General Lord Mountbatten, Prime Minister Pandit Nehru and other cabinet members took oath of office in India. Zafarul Ahsan (ICS) appointed DC Lahore. The first cabinet of Pakistan comprising PM Liaquat Ali Khan (Defence & Foreign Affairs). I.I. Chundrigar (Commerce & Industies), Ghulam Muhammad (Finance), Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar (Communications), Ghazanfar Ali Khan (Agriculture & Health), Jogindar Nath Mandal (Law & Labour), and Fazlur Rahman (Interior & Education), sworn in.
Junagarh State announced accession to Pakistan. The Boundary Commission award announced. Disagreement among members of the Commission led Sir Radcliffe to pronounce his own mandatory recommendations on the mechanics of physical partitioning of India. The budget deficit of India shot up to Rs.29 crore. Nizam of Hyderabad (India) announced an independent status for his State. Governor NWFP Sir George Cunningham dismissed Dr. Khan Sahib’s provincial government, inviting ML leader Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan to form a new government.
An 18-hour curfew imposed in Lyallpur. Gandhiji called off his hunger strike in Calcutta. According to Sri Prakasa, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, around 200,000 people were killed on both sides of Punjab, in the Partition riots. As a sequel to the Partition, some 10 lac people from the four districts of West Punjab viz. Montgomery, Lyallpur, Sheikhupura, and Sialkot left for India whereas 11 lac 70 thousand people replaced them from India. Ad: An Opel Car 1938 model, recently overhauled, offered for sale for Rs.5,000/-.
GM Syed appealed to Hindus not to abandon their hearth and home to migrate to India. Cricketer Fazal Mahmud declined to join the Indian cricket team shortly touring Britain, in preference to his home team. Amritsar received an unprecedented 27-hour incessant downpour.
Pakistani government dispelled the impression that only Muslims were eligible for government jobs. 1,000 people drowned in high floods in rivers Ravi, Sutlej and Bias. FM Sir Claude Auchinleck, Supreme Commander India and Pakistan (1947-48) visited Karachi on official business. 50,000 Muslim refugees entered Pakistan from Amritsar via Wagah. Freedom enthusiast Iqbal Shedai (1888-1974) returning to Karachi in October 1947, ending a 27-year long self-exile. Khairpur State signed the instrument of merger with Pakistan.
Finance Minister Ghulam Muhammad appealed to the Hindu population not to leave Pakistan. 90,000 Muslim refugees from Rohtak, Hisar, Gurgaon, and Patiala heading for Pakistan. Pakistani military authorities repatriated 57 non-Muslim female abductees to India, after recovery. The number of central cabinet ministers to be increased to 9. PCS (Executive) exam to be held in March, 1948. Cotton price in West Punjab fixed at Rs.18 per maund.
The book needs to be widely introduced and circulated in the academia as it is a store of invaluable information on the genesis and practicality of the idea of Pakistan.
