Opposition of One-Unit, Ayub Khuhro & abduction of Speaker Sindh Assembly (Forgotten Past)
Formation of One Unit is among the controversial events of Pakistan's political past and rightly it has a special reference in the resistance struggle especially linked with politics of provincial autonomy. Thanks to 18th amendment passed unanimously by politicians (Especially PPP & PML-N) the issue of provincial autonomy has been addressed largely yet it is important to know about the struggle itself along with its strengths and weaknesses. It is important to remember all developments, events while analysing past yet due to pride or prejudices, we oftem miss some important things. why people like H S Suhrawardy or Ayub Khuhro had supported One Unit is also among various unheard questions. Similarly many of us may not remember powerful role of Mian Iftikharuddin and a Pir in the Anti One Unit movement. The pir was a powerful supporter of Anti One Unit struggle and he was among the pioneers too but later forgotten. He was the same person who had embarrassed Red shirts in the deciding referendum in mid 1947 at NWFP (Now KPK) but till mid 1950s he was with Ghaffar Khan and his name was Pir Maki Sharief. Amin ul-Hasanat betterr known as Pir of Maki Sharief abruptly left politics in 1957 but after Ayubi Martiallah he was died after suffering from a car accident in district Jhang when he was only 37. At Jan 28th 1960 he was buried in his home town Nowshehra. Due to three against one province conflict, spreaded by dictator Zia, the new supporters of Anti One Unit movement has forgotten Mian Shaib role too because it does not suit to name Punjabis in it.
The mindset of One Unit was born out of colonial legacy i-e strong center. It was first suggested by Ch Muhammad Ali in 1954 but it could not get sufficient support in the First constitutional assembly. The assembly had rejected both One Unit & Zonal Sub Federation schemes. But the establishment was adamant to enforce One Unit at any cost so the First constitutional assembly was dissolved under Court instructions at 24th October 1954 by than Governor General Ghulam Muhammad but provincial assemblies were remained intact. Mohammad Ali Bogra continued as PM and announced the beginning of the process for the formation of One Unit at 22 November 1954. 2nd constitutional assembly was formed at 28th May 1955, after 7 months from the dismissal of 1st constitutional assembly. Those 7 months had changed the scenario altogether. After 24th October 1954 PM Bogra formed new cabinet with Army Chief Gen Ayub khan as Defence Minister, Sikandar Mirza as Interior Minister and H S Suhrawardy as Law Minister. (SM was secretary of defence from Oct 1947- May 1954 & Governor East Bengal from May to Oct 1954 and Gen Ayub was made Army Chief in Jan 1951 for 3 years yet he took extensions). NWFP assembly was the first who had endorsed One Unit scheme, just two days after its announcement at 24th November 1954. Sind and Punjab assemblies followed it. Interestingly CM Sindh Pirzada Abdus Sattar was against One Unit so he was removed and Ayub Khuhro was made CM at 9 November 1954. One Unit bill was enforced at October 1955 but before it both Bogra & Ghulam Muhammad were removed from the office. Although establishment had enforced One Unit by hook & crook but its opposition not only united the various political opponents but also politicized the Pakistan. Pir of Manki Sharief & Ghaffar Khan took the initiative and soon they had various political actors with them from both wings including Abdus Samad Achakzai, Mian Iftiqar uddin, G M Syed, Mollana Bhashani, Abdul Majid Sindhi, Ghus Baksh Bazenjo, Muhammad Ali Qasori etc. Anti One Unit front gave birth to 6 party alliance in West Pakistan that had transformed in a new political party Pakistan National Party in 1956. In its September 10, 1956 newspaper, The Pakistan Times reported a public gathering at Mochi Gate Lahore in which all the six parties participated i-e they were Sindh Awami Mahaz, Sindh Harri committee, Ustaman Gill, Khudai Kadmatgars, Warore Pukhtoon and Azad Pakistan Party. In 1957 Ganatantari Dal and Awami League of Bahshani joined PNP and it became NAP. But what happened in Sindh is the story I need to mention here. Ayub Khuhro was a selected CM installed for the support of tricky One Unit scheme in the Sindh. At that time Speaker of Sindh assembly was Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur and he was also against the One Unit. As the agenda to enforce One Unit was in action and establishment was adamant so it was essential to fix opponents. How Ayub Khuhro fixed the Speaker is the ugliest incident of our history. It is recorded in history as,
In 1954, when he was elected as the speaker of the Sindh Assembly, he was asked by ‘the forces that be’ to get the one unit resolution admitted and passed by the assembly for which a session was held in Hyderabad. Upon his point-blank refusal to go against the wishes of the members he was arrested from his Civil Lines, Cantt. Hyderabad residence at around 3 AM and sent into the far-flung area – Mitthi – in times when there was no metalled road to go there. He was taken there on camelback to cause him distress as he was diabetic and a heart patient. Later on, a concocted case of conspiring to get a foreign monarch assassinated was filed against him which was later dismissed by the competent court
Media remembered it later as
“In 1954, forty-two years ago, when the One Unit issue was to be voted upon in the provincial assembly, the then chief minister, Mohammed Ayub Khuhro, in cahoots with his minister Pir Ali Mohammed Rashdi, realizing that the honorable Mirs of Talpur would vote against their proposal, acted. Mir Ali Ahmed Talpur was arrested on a trumped-up charge, Mir Rasul Bakhsh Talpur managed to escape and hide, and the smallest and gentlest of the three, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, was bodily picked up and bundled off on the back of a camel to Mitthi, the same old Mitthi in the Thar desert.” (Dawn, The judiciary triumphs-V, 18 July 1996). Ardeshir Cowasjee,
Another writer, Hafizur Rehman, calls this act of Mir Sahib’s arrest as ‘abduction’ and a kind of ‘dirty tricks’ (of threats, bribery, and arrests) which ‘the real powers’ often employ in Pakistan to undermine their opponents and hide their own misdeeds. He writes: “One of the most memorable of these was the abduction of Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur on camel-back so that he should not be able to vote against Sindh’s acquiescence in the amalgamation of the western provinces into One Unit.” (Dawn, ‘Dirty Tricks’, 21 June 1997).
It is to be remembered that Ayub Khuhro made CM Sindh 3rd time, but he earned bad name and in 1970 historic elections he was defeated by Z A Bhutto. One Unit was buried by the same establishment in 1969 but it had damaged the country in unprecedented ways. The incident of Speaker Sindh assembly was among many atrocities happened during Anti One Unit movement and there were many players from various provinces and units who played tricky role too. What happened with Mian Iftiqar uddin of Lahore is another horrible example but when the establishment cleared the mess during another dictator era, it was too late.
references
http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/14_55_2_18.pdf
https://talpur.org/shahwani-talpurs/mgakt/
No comments:
Post a Comment