Q2: ‘The Canal Water Dispute was the most important

problem facing the newly established government of

Pakistan in 1947’. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons
for your answer. [14]
(J2007/P1/4c)
The birth of Pakistan was accompanied by a host of
horrendous problems that were the creation of it’s
opponents and enemies who did not want Pakistan to
survive. These included the Canal Water Dispute, the
accomadation of refugees, economic problems, political
problems, social problems, geographical problems,
accession of Princely states and division of financial and
military assests.
The canal water dispute started when the Indian
government, despite their claims not to interfere in the
water supply, stopped the supply of the Firozpur headwork
in East Punjab to the Bari Doab Canal in West Punjab. Since,
agriculture in Pakistan depends on a complex irrigation
system, this action threatened more than 1.65 million acres
of agricultural land, an area consisting of 43 milllion people
that were almost entirely dependant for it’s food supply and
in many cases for drinking water, Pakistan’s economy which
was mostly dependant on agriculture and to farmer’s
income. In May 1948, a temporary agreement was reached.
India agreed to allow water from East Punjab, but the
problem was not fully resolved till September 1959 when
the Indus Water Treaty was signed .
However, there were other important problems such as that
of the refugees.Partition and independence were
accompanied by history’s greatest migration.The total
number of people who migrated is generally estimated at
around fifteen to seventeen million. Footsore, weary ,
hungry and exhausted, seven million staggered on foot into
West Pakistan alone. Nearly 20 million were made homeless
They had no possesions except the clothes they wore and
these were in tatters. They had tasted misery to the dregs. It
was therefore a herculean problem to take care of and
settle such a large number of people physically and
psychologically. Pakistan, in particular , as a new and not
wealthy country, did not have the necessary facilities to
house millions of new citizens.
Pakistan was also faced with economic problems.Pakistan
was made up of states that were mostly underdeveloped,
with very little industry. It’s major industry, agriculture did
not produce enough of a surplus to create the wealth
needed for industrialization. There was an excepetion of
jute produced in East Pakistan. However, all jute mills were
in India. Important industries were concentrated around
Indian cities including Bombay and Calcutta. Pakistan also
had no steelworks. Only 14 out of more than 390 Indian
cotton mills ended up in Pakistan. As a result, Pakistan
found it difficult to cope with other problems such as the
refugee and the canal water dispute.
All of the problems adversely affected Pakistan in it’s early
stages. The most important amongst this were the
economic problems because if Pakistan had money, it could
deal with problems such as the Canal Water Dispute, it
could open new industries, it could establish a stable
government and it would have been able to solve the
refugee crisis.
Q2: Was the refugee issue the most important problem
facing the newly formed government of Pakistan in 1947?
Give reasons for your answer. [14] (J2004/P1/3c)
The birth of Pakistan was accompanied by a host of
horrendous problems that were the creation of it’s
opponents and enemies who did not want Pakistan to
survive. These included the Canal Water Dispute, the
accomadation of refugees, economic problems, political
problems, social problems, geographical problems,
accession of Princely states and division of financial and
military assests.
Partition and independence were accompanied by history’s
greatest migration.The total number of people who
migrated is generally estimated at around fifteen to
seventeen million. Footsore, weary , hungry and exhausted,
seven million staggered on foot into West Pakistan alone.
Nearly 20 million were made homeless They had no
possesions except the clothes they wore and these were in
tatters. They had tasted misery to the dregs. It was
therefore a herculean problem to take care of and settle
such a large number of people physically and
psychologically. Pakistan, in particular , as a new and not
wealthy country, did not have the necessary facilities to
house millions of new citizens.
Other than the refugee problems, there were other
problems.The canal water dispute started when the Indian
government, despite their claims not to interfere in the
water supply, stopped the supply of the Firozpur headwork
in East Punjab to the Bari Doab Canal in West Punjab. Since,
agriculture in Pakistan depends on a complex irrigation
system, this action threatened more than 1.65 million acres
of agricultural land, an area consisting of 43 milllion people
that were almost entirely dependant for it’s food supply and
in many cases for drinking water, Pakistan’s economy which
was mostly dependant on agriculture and to farmer’s
income. In May 1948, a temporary agreement was reached
but the problem was not fully resolved till the signing of the
Indus Water Treaty in September 1959 .
Pakistan was also faced with economic problems.Pakistan
was made up of states that were mostly underdeveloped,
with very little industry. It’s major industry, agriculture did
not produce enough of a surplus to create the wealth
needed for industrialization. There was an excepetion of
jute produced in East Pakistan. However, all jute mills were
in India. Important industries were concentrated around
Indian cities including Bombay and Calcutta. Pakistan also
had no steelworks. Only 14 out of more than 390 Indian
cotton mills ended up in Pakistan. As a result, Pakistan
found it difficult to cope with other problems such as the
refugee and the canal water dispute.
All of the problems adversely affected Pakistan in it’s early
stages. The most important amongst this were the
economic problems because if Pakistan had money, it could
deal with problems such as the Canal Water Dispute, it
could open new industries, it could establish a stable
government and it would have been able to solve the
refugee crisis.
Q:‘The formation of a government was the most important problem
facing the newly established country of Pakistan in 1947.’ Do you
agree? Give reasons for your answer. [14] (N2009/P1/4c)

Ans: The formation of a government was a very difficult

task.India had experience officals but in Pakistan the
Constitiuent Assembly was made of wealthy landowners
with little political experience. India also inherited
government buildings, furnishings, even officials from the
British but Pakistan had none of these and those that were
agreed to be given to Pakistan did not arrive. Transferring
government employees to Karachi from Delhi proved
difficult. After an explosion derailed a train, aircrafts and sea
transport was derailed.Those who decided to come
overland were attacked by the Sikh and hindu mobs and
mercilessly slaughtered. Till a stable government was not in
place, it was very difficult to deal with other problems.
The birth of Pakistan was accompanied by a host of
horrendous problems that were the creation of it’s
opponents and enemies who did not want Pakistan to
survive. These included the Canal Water Dispute, the
accomadation of refugees, economic problems, political
problems, social problems, geographical problems,
accession of Princely states and division of financial and
military assests.
The canal water dispute started when the Indian
government, despite their claims not to interfere in the
water supply, stopped the supply of the Firozpur headwork
in East Punjab to the Bari Doab Canal in West Punjab. Since,
agriculture in Pakistan depends on a complex irrigation
system, this action threatened more than 1.65 million acres
of agricultural land, an area consisting of 43 milllion people
that were almost entirely dependant for it’s food supply and
in many cases for drinking water, Pakistan’s economy which
was mostly dependant on agriculture and to farmer’s
income. In May 1948, a temporary agreement was reached.
India agreed to allow water from East Punjab, but the
problem was not fully resolved till September 1959 when
the Indus Water Treaty was signed .
However, there were other important problems such as that
of the refugees.Partition and independence were
accompanied by history’s greatest migration.The total
number of people who migrated is generally estimated at
around fifteen to seventeen million. Footsore, weary ,
hungry and exhausted, seven million staggered on foot into
West Pakistan alone. Nearly 20 million were made homeless
They had no possesions except the clothes they wore and
these were in tatters. They had tasted misery to the dregs. It
was therefore a herculean problem to take care of and
settle such a large number of people physically and
psychologically. Pakistan, in particular , as a new and not
wealthy country, did not have the necessary facilities to
house millions of new citizens.
All of the problems adversely affected Pakistan in it’s early
stages. The most important amongst this was the formation
of government because if Pakistan had a stable government,
it could deal with problems such as the refugee problem
and the accession of princely states.
Q:Why was Pakistan faced with a refugee problem in 1947? [7]
(N2006/P1/4b)

Many parts of India had already seen worst scenes of Hindu-

Muslim riots just before partition in 1947. The Hindus and
Sikhs in Eastern Punjab were particularly fully charged with
anti-Muslim sentiments. In such areas, a large number of
Muslims were ruthlessly killed; entire Muslim villages were
destroyed. Women were disrespected and even children
were slaughtered. There were reports that local Indian
authorities were also supporting the violent Hindu mobs.
Under such circumstances, the Muslims had no option
except to seek refuge in a safe place and therefore they
migrated to Pakistan on large scale to escape the brutalities
of Hindus.
Futhermore,the boundary award was unjust and vulnerable
to the barbarities of, they left their homes, land and
businesses and joined the migrating caravans towards
Pakistan.When the Muslim. ruler of Junagadh, a Hindu-
majority area, decided to join Pakistan, India forcibly took
over its territories putting the Muslims at risk to communal
violence. Similarly, Kashmir had about 85% Muslim
population but when its Hindu maharajah decided to join
India, fighting broke out against him. These incidents further
intensified the movement of refugees to Pakistan. Since
partition was made on the religious lines, a number of
Muslims migrated willingly to Pakistan as they liked to live in
a Muslim country. They could manage to move some of
their belongings along with them.
Q3 Why was the division of the armed forces and military
assets a problem for Pakistan in 1947?
[7] (N2003/P1/4b)
Ans:
The agreed division of the military was in a ratio of 65 to 35
in India’s favour. Also, according to the division of India
plan, Pakistan was to receive one lac sixty thousand
ordinances from division of military assets but it only got
703 ordinances. Pakistan was given no laboratory to make
and test weapons. India kept all the telegraph stores. From
116 arms factories of the united India, Pakistan was not
even given one.A big problem for the Pakistan army was
that their army of 150,000 men needed 4,000 officers. There
were only 2,500 trained Muslim officers, as the British
Indian army had favoured Hindu officers. Jinnah was forced
to take 500 British officers temporarily. As Pakistan faced
almost immediate war with India over Kashmir, it needed
the best army it could raise.
In military matters, the Indians once again failed to keep to the
agreement. They did not want to see Pakistan become strong
militarily, especially as they were fighting in Kashmir. All 16
ordnance factories were in India, which refused to hand any
over. Consequently, Pakistan had no factories capable of
making military goods. The military supplies which India agreed
to hand over sometimes did not arrive, or when they did, they
were often old, worn, damaged and obsolete. The result of the
division of military assets in 1947 was that Pakistan started its
life with a seriously under-resourced military force.