West Pakistan : Ask Biography

Home | Former Pakistan subdivision | West Pakistan

West Pakistan (Urdu: مغر بى پاکستان, Maghrābī Pākistān), common name West-Pakistan (WP), in the period between its establishment on 22 November 1955 to disintegration on December 16, 1971. This period, during which, Pakistan was divided, ended when East-Pakistan was disintegrated and succeeded to become which is now what is known as Bangladesh. The politically dominant western wing was composed of three Governor's provinces (North-West Frontier, West-Punjab and Sindh Province), one Chief Commissioner's province (Baluchistan Province), the Baluchistan States Union, several other princely states (notably Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dir, Hunza, Khairpur and Swat), the Federal Capital Territory (around Karachi) and the tribal areas.

The eastern wing formed the single province of East Bengal (including the former Assam district of Sylhet), which despite having over half of the population, had a disproportionately small number of seats in the Constituent Assembly. This inequality of the two wings and the geographical distance between them was believed to be holding up the adoption of a new constitution. To diminish the differences between the two regions, the government decided to reorganise the country as two distinct provinces under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali on 22 November 1954.

On the set of Cold War, Pakistan was a close allied of the United States, having an influential member of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), Central Treaty Organization, and at same time was part of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (MNAC). Pakistan was de-facto divided in two wings between the Republic of India. The West Pakistan claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Pakistan, considering itself to be the reorganized continuation of the country in the United Nations. It the line that East-Pakistan was indeed a client province and its satellite state, with the believe of West-Pakistan first. West-Pakistan emerged as the one of South-Asia's largest economy, and emerged as one of South Asia's largest military power. West-Pakistan's economy was boomed and at its highest peak, and it was called as West-Germany of East. However, East-Pakistan was not benefited with the economical progress and majority of the funds o East-Pakistan was never issued. Pakistan's first Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) Field Marshal Ayub Khan, who remained in office from 1958 until 1969, had worked for a full alignment with the West rather than neutrality. He not only secured the membership of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) but was also a proponent of agreements that developed Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).

With the results of parliamentary elections were announced, the power of imbalance was clearly seen. A conflict that lasted only 13 days, West-Pakistan was dissolved and became what is now today known as Pakistan.