30 Facts About West Pakistan

1.

West Pakistan was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan.

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2.

The western wing of Pakistan comprised three governor's provinces, one chief commissioner's province along with the Baluchistan States Union, several independent princely states, the Karachi Federal Capital Territory, and the autonomous tribal areas adjoining the North-West Frontier Province.

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3.

West Pakistan was the politically dominant division of the Pakistani union, despite East Pakistan making up more than half of its population.

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4.

On 1July 1970, West Pakistan was abolished under the Legal Framework Order of 1970, which dissolved the One Unit policy and restored the four provinces.

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5.

At the time of the state establishment in 1947, the founding fathers of West Pakistan participated in the Boundary Commission conference.

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6.

West Pakistan was formed from two distinct areas, separated by 1,600 kilometres of India.

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7.

The eastern wing of the new country – East West Pakistan – formed the single province of East Bengal, including the former Assam district of Sylhet and the Hill Tracts.

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8.

West Pakistan experienced great problems related to the divisions, including ethnic and racial friction, lack of knowledge, and uncertainty of where to demarcate the permanent borders.

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9.

West Pakistan claimed the exclusive mandate over all of Pakistan, with the majority of the Pakistan Movement's leading figures in West Pakistan.

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10.

Under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954, the four provinces and territories of western Pakistan were integrated into one unit to mirror the single province in the east.

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11.

The state of West Pakistan was established by the merger of the provinces, states, and tribal areas of West Pakistan.

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12.

West Pakistan had been founded on the main basis of a parliamentary democracy, with Islam as its state religion.

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13.

In contrast, East West Pakistan had been a socialist state since the 1954 elections, with state secularism proclaimed.

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14.

West Pakistan sided with the United States and her NATO allies, whilst East Pakistan remained sympathetic to the Soviet Union and her Eastern Bloc.

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15.

Muhammad Ali Bogra, prime minister of West Pakistan, declared martial law in Lahore to curb the violence.

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16.

East West Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971.

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17.

West Pakistan had an estimated population of 33 million during just before partition, of which nearly 22.

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18.

West Pakistan went through many political changes, and had a multiple political party system.

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19.

Since independence, West Pakistan had been a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a Prime minister as the head of the government and a Monarch as the head of state in a ceremonial office.

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20.

Supreme Court of West Pakistan was a judicial authority, a power broker in country's politics that played a major role in minimising the role of parliament.

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21.

Twelve divisions of West Pakistan province were Bahawalpur, Dera Ismail Khan, Hyderabad, Kalat, Khairpur, Lahore, Malakand, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, and Sargodha; all named after their capitals except the capital of Malakand was Saidu, and Rawalpindi was administered from Islamabad.

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22.

However, East West Pakistan was defended only by the under-strength 14th Infantry Division and sixteen fighter jets; no tanks and no navy were established in East West Pakistan.

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23.

West Pakistan formed a seemingly homogeneous block, but in reality it comprised marked linguistic and ethnic distinctions.

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24.

West Pakistan had hostile relations with India, primarily due to aftermaths of the 1947 independence and the issue of Kashmir.

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25.

West Pakistan had positive relations with the People's Republic of China, with whom it shared a small northern border.

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26.

In 1950, West Pakistan was among the first countries to end official diplomatic relations with the Taiwanese Republic of China and recognise the PRC.

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27.

Soviet-West Pakistan relations were further eroded during the 1960 U-2 incident, when the Soviets shot down a US spyplane; Army Chief-of-Staff Ayub Khan had given the US permission to fly out of Peshawar Air Station on reconnaissance and covert surveillance missions over the Soviet Union.

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28.

West Pakistan was allied with the US during the Cold war against the USSR.

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29.

West Pakistan was an integral member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and the Central Treaty Organization, both alliances opposed to the Soviet Union and communism.

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30.

Relations only soured after West Pakistan had dissolved into Pakistan, when the left-oriented Pakistan Peoples Party came to power in 1971.

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