It is a historical reality that the Sindh Assembly was the very first provincial assembly in British India that passed a resolution demanding the creation of Pakistan – four years before the actual inception of present-day Pakistan. On the 3rd of March 1943, the resolution was presented by a leader of the Muslim League, G. M. Syed. And it is also a fact that the Sindh Assembly got the honour of becoming the very first assembly of any province that joined Pakistan’s constituent assembly in June 1947. Sindh has always remained on the forefront when it comes to safeguarding democracy for the country – or, at times, for returning it. Historically, whenever dictators tried to strangle democracy in Pakistan, Sindh has often cast the first stone at domination by unelected power-centres.
Many of us might have also forgotten the fact that when Governor General Ghulam Muhammad Malik overthrew the democratic government of Prime Minister Khuwaja Nazimuddin in 1953, it was Sindh that took the lead in confronting this dictatorial act. Sindh’s Chief Minister at that time, Pirzada Abdul Sattar, with the support of East Pakistan’s Chief Minister Noor ul Ameen, presented an amendment in the Constitution for blocking the excessive powers of the Governor General. When the largest province of West Pakistan (Punjab) came to know about this effort, power centres there concluded that if another province of West Pakistan with the help of East Pakistan might bring in an amendment to the Constitution, in the future it could also capture political power in the country. So the then Chief Minister of Punjab Feroz Khan Noon via his members in the Constituent Assembly gave an ultimatum to the Governor General which was even more dangerous than the famed 6-point ultimatum of Sheikh Mujeeb.
G. M. Syed
Through that ultimatum it was demanded that the central government can only hold charge of defense, foreign affairs, international business and currency while the rest of the powers should be transferred to the provinces. Not only this, but the demand also included that for the next 10 years, there will no amendment to the Constitution – unless it be approved by a two-thirds majority in all provincial assemblies of the country at the same time!
Given this stance from the political leadership in Punjab, Governor General Ghulam Muhammad broke the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan which has been considered as the very first attack on democracy in the newly established country. After that, when Punjab’s leaders sought dominance amongst all the provinces by splitting the country into two units (East and West), it was again Sindh that first stood up against One Unit, claiming that such a move would also threaten Sindh’s control of its natural resources.
Muhammad Ali Bogra
In November 1954, the imported Prime Minister from the USA, Muhammad Ali Bogra, announced the scheme of One Unit, offering the justification that there is an imbalance of governance as well as inequity of resources in the country – for on one side there was only one province (East Pakistan) while on other there were four provinces (West Pakistan). And so, the reasoning went, all the four provinces of West Pakistan should be merged into one province. He also said that Khairpur and Bahawalpur states should be included in this One Unit scheme. After such an announcement, Mohammad Ali Bogra called a meeting of Sindhi leaders and intimidated them all to obey this decision or face the consequences.
Muhammad Ali Bogra became successful in magnetizing the mind of Muhammad Ayub Khuhro in favor of One Unit because Khuhro at that time was facing disqualification as per PRODA (Public Representative Offices Disqualification Act). He had been given the proposal that if he became successful in quashing the opponents of One Unit in Sindh, the decision regarding his disqualification could be overruled by the government. After that offer, Muhammad Ayub Khuhro and Pir Ali Muhammad Rashidi started dealing with those who sought confrontation against One Unit in Sindh. In that context two famous Sindhi newspapers Alwaheed and Karwaan were banned. As a result, a powerful citizen-led movement against the One Unit scheme was raised up in Sindh, led by G M Syed, Sobho Giyanchandani, Hyder Bux Jatoi, Ghulam Muhammad Laghari and other prominent Sindhi leaders.
Ayub Khuhro wanted to pass a resolution in favor of One Unit from the Sindh Assembly but it wasn’t as easy as he was thinking. It was even impossible to hold a meeting in the Assembly building, so Khuhro called the meeting in Hyderabad’s Darbar Hall. The Hall was surrounded by policemen so that not a single opponent could come inside.
When Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, who was one of the bitterest opponents of One Unit, came to join the meeting, he got arrested by the police and sent to Tharparkar (Mithi) on a camel where he was imprisoned. In the same meeting at Darbar Hall, Abdul Hameed Jatoi, Ghulam Mustafa Bhurghari, Pir Elahi Bux and Shaikh Khursheed Ahmed severely opposed the One Unit bill but at last on the 14th of October 1955, One Unit was imposed.
Even decades later, when General Zia-ul-Haq’s cruel regime started becoming insufferable for the people of Pakistan, it was again a brave daughter of Sindh (Benazir Bhutto) who faced him and kicked off a movement for the restoration of democracy in the country. General Zia had to deploy 45,000 personnel in both rural and urban territories of Sindh for crushing the movement.
Millions of people took part in the mass protests and strikes throughout the province. More than 200 people lost their lives while around 15,000 were arrested but the movement didn’t stop. Finally General Zia had to play the same old trick for defaming the movement by announcing that India was involved in supporting it. The movement, nevertheless, still went on.
Finally General Zia played a gamble and decided to hold a referendum in the country for lengthening his power. People were asked to vote for Zia if they really want to see an Islamic system in the country but the turnout remained very low.
Today, there may be those who would rather forget Sindh’s contributions to Pakistani democracy, but the facts of history cannot be changed by them.
(The writer is a freelance contributor and he can be reached at abbaskhaskheli110@gmail.com)
