30 April 1951: When Bahawalpur became a province

After the partition of the subcontinent in August 1947, the state of Bahawalpur decided to join the newly formed state of Pakistan. In the first few years of accession, several agreements were signed between Nawab Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Khamis Abbasi, the ruler of Bahawalpur, and the government of Pakistan, including a supplementary agreement dated 30 April 1951 called the ‘Instrument of Accession’, under which the state All the central affairs of Bahawalpur were taken over by the Government of Pakistan while the provincial affairs which were the responsibility of the rest of the provinces were given to Bahawalpur.

After getting the status of a province, general elections were held in Bahawalpur like the rest of Pakistan on the basis of ‘one person, one vote’, then the major political party of that time, Muslim League won and Syed from Sadiqabad. Hasan Mahmood became the Chief Minister of Bahawalpur Province. The elected chief minister of Bahawalpur had the same powers as other provincial chief ministers.

Legislative matters were carried out in Bahawalpur Provincial Assembly. The province had its own secretariat and its own Public Service Commission. Like other provinces of the country, Bahawalpur province also used to present its budget. Although the area of ​​Bahawalpur was not very large, it is estimated that the budget of Bahawalpur in 1951 and 1952 was equal to that of the then Frontier Province.

This provincial status of Bahawalpur remained until 14 October 1955 when the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra merged the provinces of West Pakistan, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Bahawalpur and North-West Frontier Province into a single unit. The arrangement was named ‘One Unit Scheme’.

One Unit was a project initiated by the Federal Government of Pakistan to integrate all the provinces, states and tribal areas of West Pakistan. Under which all the provinces of the western part of the Kingdom of Pakistan were united and given the form of a unit consisting of 12 divisions, while the other part was in the form of East Pakistan. Thus, Pakistan became a state consisting of only two provinces. The One Unit Plan was announced by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954.

This policy of one unit was ostensibly aimed at bringing about administrative improvement, but the move was disastrous in many respects. Many of the states in West Pakistan had joined Pakistan at the time of the partition of India on state assurances that their autonomy would be maintained, but the decision to form one unit eliminated all local states. Apart from the state of Bahawalpur, the states of Khairpur and Kalat are particularly noteworthy in this regard.

On July 1, 1970, Chief Martial Law Administrator President General Yahya Khan through the Legal Framework Order abolished the unit unit and restored all the provinces of United Pakistan, but abolished the provincial status of Bahawalpur province and merged it into Punjab. went

After the abolition of one unit, the people of Bahawalpur reacted strongly to the non-restoration of Bahawalpur as a separate unit and launched a strong movement for the restoration of provincial status. The center of this movement was Farid Gate of Bahawalpur where meetings were held. This movement lasted for about six months. He was then suppressed by violence. Shots fired, tear gas was used. All those persons who were associated with this movement were arrested and put in jail.

The first general elections in Pakistan’s history, held in December 1970, were fought on the basis of the restoration of Bahawalpur as a province. In this, except Pakistan People’s Party, all other parties formed a united front based on the same demand, which included Muslim League, Tehreek-e-Istiqlal, Jamaat-e-Islami etc. In this first general election, the candidates from Bahawalpur who were in favor of making Bahawalpur a separate province won six out of eight seats in the Central Assembly and 16 out of 18 seats in the Punjab Provincial Assembly.

After the resounding success in the elections, the leaders of Bahawalpur province met Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka, whose Awami League had won 160 of the total 300 seats in the Central Assembly and secured a clear majority. During the meeting with the leaders of Muttahida Mahaz, Mujibur Rehman said that I am going to be the Prime Minister, I will definitely restore Bahawalpur as a separate province. However, Mujeeb could not become the Prime Minister after that, nor could Bahawalpur become a province.

Bahawalpur was once one of the richest states of the subcontinent, but after losing its status it now consists of a mere division of three districts. Bahawalpur in the middle, Rahim Yar Khan in the west and Bahawalnagar in the east. The area of ​​Bahawalpur division is 45 thousand 588 square kilometers. In this Cholistan is 20 thousand 200 km while the length of this area is 480 km. Its eastern and southern parts are bordered by India.

Despite the establishment of the South Punjab Secretariat by the Tehreek-e-Insaf government, the majority of the people of Bahawalpur are still in favor of a separate province of Bahawalpur. According to Qari Monis Baloch, the central leader of Tehreek-e-Mahavayat Bahawalpur Province, the development that Bahawalpur started during the state period continued until the provincial period, but then stopped and has remained stagnant till date.