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HISTORY
IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Pakistan
emerged on the world map on
August 14,1947. It has its roots
into the remote past. Its establishment
was the culmination of the struggle
by Muslims of the South-Asian
subcontinent for a separate
homeland of their own and its
foundation was laid when Muhammad
bin Qasim subdued Sindh in 711
A.D. as a reprisal against sea
pirates that had taken refuge
in Raja Dahir's kingdom.
The advent
of Islam further strengthened
the historical individuality
in the areas now constituting
Pakistan and further beyond
its boundaries.
Stone
Age: Some of the earliest
relics of Stone Age man in the
subcontinent are found in the
Soan Valley of the Potohar region
near Rawalpindi, with a probable
antiquity of about 500,000 years.
No human skeleton of such antiquity
has yet been discovered in the
area, but the crude stone implements
recovered from the terraces
of the Soan carry the saga of
human toil and labor in this
part of the world to the inter-glacial
period. These Stone Age men
fashioned their implements in
a sufficiently homogenous way
to justify their grouping in
terms of a culture called the
Soan Culture. About 3000 B.C,
amidst the rugged wind-swept
valleys and foothills of Balochistan,
small village communities developed
and began to take the first
hesitant steps towards civilization.
Here, one finds a more continuous
story of human activity, though
still in the Stone Age.
These pre-historic
men established their settlements,
both as herdsmen and as farmers,
in the valleys or on the outskirts
of the plains with their cattle
and cultivated barley and other
crops.
Red
and buffer Cultures:Careful
excavations of the pre-historic
mounds in these areas and the
classification of their contents,
layer by layer, have grouped
them into two main categories
of Red Ware Culture and Buff
Ware Culture. The former is
popularly known as the Zhob
Culture of North Balochistan,
while the latter comprises the
Quetta, Amri Nal and Kulli Cultures
of Sindh and South Balochistan.
Some Amri Nal villages or towns
had stone walls and bastions
for defence purposes and their
houses had stone foundations.
At Nal, an extensive cemetery
of this culture consists of
about 100 graves. An important
feature of this composite culture
is that at Amri and certain
other sites, it has been found
below the very distinctive Indus
Valley Culture. On the other
hand, the steatite seals of
Nal and the copper implements
and certain types of pot decoration
suggest a partial overlap between
the two. It probably represents
one of the local societies which
constituted the environment
for the growth of the Indus
Valley Civilization.
The pre-historic
site of Kot Diji in the Sindh
province has provided information
of high significance for the
reconstruction of a connected
story which pushes back the
origin of this civilization
by 300 to 500 years, from about
2500 B.C.. to at least 2800
B.C. Evidence of a new cultural
elements of pre-Harappan era
has been traced here.
Pre-Harappan:When
the primitive village communities
in the Balochistan area were
still struggling against a difficult
highland environment, a highly
cultured people were trying
to assert themselves at Kot
Diji, one of the most developed
urban civilizations of the ancient
world which flourished between
the years 2500 and 1500 B.C.
in the Indus Valley sites of
Moenjodaro and Harappa. These
Indus Valley people possessed
a high standard of art and craftsmanship
and a well developed system
of quasi pictographic writing,
which despite continuing efforts
still remains undeciphered.
The imposing ruins of the beautifully
planned Moenjodaro and Harappa
towns present clear evidence
of the unity of a people having
the same mode of life and using
the same kind of tools. Indeed,
the brick buildings of the common
people, the public baths, the
roads and covered drainage system
suggest the picture of a happy
and contented people.
Aryan
Civilization: In or
about 1500 B.C., the Aryans
descended upon the Punjab and
settled in the Sapta Sindhu,
which signifies the Indus plain.
They developed a pastoral society
that grew into the Rigvedic
Civilization. The Rigveda is
replete with hymns of praise
for this region, which they
describe as "God fashioned".
It is also clear that so long
as the Sapta Sindhu remained
the core of the Aryan Civilization,
it remained free from the caste
system. The caste institution
and the ritual of complex sacrifices
took shape in the Gangetic Valley.
There can be no doubt that the
Indus Civilization contributed
much to the development of the
Aryan civilization.
Gandhara
Culture: The discovery
of the Gandhara grave culture
in Dir and Swat will go a long
way in throwing light on the
period of Pakistan's cultural
history between the end of the
Indus Culture in 1500 B.C. and
the beginning of the historic
period under the Achaemenians
in the sixth century B.C. Hindu
mythology and Sanskrit literary
traditions seem to attribute
the destruction of the Indus
civilization to the Aryans,
but what really happened, remains
a mystery. The Gandhara grave
culture has opened up two periods
in the cultural heritage of
Pakistan: one of the Bronze
Age and the other of the Iron
Age. It is so named because
it presents a peculiar pattern
of living in hilly zones of
the Gandhara region as evidenced
in the graves. This culture
is different from the Indus
Culture and has little relations
with the village culture of
Balochistan. Stratigraphy as
well as the artifacts discovered
from this area suggest that
the Aryans moved into this part
of the world between 1,500 and
600 B.C. In the sixth century
B.C., Buddha began his teachings,
which later on spread throughout
the northern part of the South-Asian
subcontinent. It was towards
the end of this century, too,
that Darius I of Iran organized
Sindh and Punjab as the twentieth
satrapy of his empire.
There are remarkable
similarities between the organizations
of that great empire and the
Mauryan empire of the third
century B.C., while Kautilya's
Arthshastra also shows a strong
Persian influence, Alexander
of Macedonia after defeating
Darius III in 330 B.C. had also
marched through the South-Asian
subcontinent up to the river
Beas, but Greek influence on
the region appears to have been
limited to contributing a little
to the establishment of the
Mauryan empire. The great empire
that Asoka, the grandson of
Chandragupta Maurya, built in
the subcontinent included only
that part of the Indus basin
which is now known as the northern
Punjab. The rest of the areas
astride the Indus were not subjugated
by him. These areas, which now
form a substantial part of Pakistan,
were virtually independent from
the time of the Guptas in the
fourth century A.D. until the
rise of the Delhi Sultanate
in the thirteenth century. Gandhara
Art Gandhara Art, one of the
most prized possessions of Pakistan,
flourished for a period of 500
years (from the first to the
fifth century A.D.) in the present
valley of Peshawar and the adjacent
hilly regions of Swat, Buner
and Bajaur. This art represents
a separate phase of the cultural
renaissance of the region. It
was the product of a blending
of Indian, Buddhist and Greco-Roman
sculpture.
Gandhara
Art: in its early stages
received the patronage of Kanishka,
the great Kushan ruler, during
whose reign the Silk Route ran
through Peshawar and the Indus
Valley, bringing great prosperity
to the whole area.
Advent
of Islam: The first
followers of prophet Muhammad
(Peace be upon him), to set
foot on the soil of the South-Asian
subcontinent, were traders from
the coast land of Arabia and
the Persian Gulf, soon after
the dawn of Islam in the early
seventh century A.D.
DAWN
OF ISLAM
The first permanent
Muslim foothold in the subcontinent
was achieved with Muhammad bin
Qasim's conquest of Sindh in
711 A.D. An autonomous Muslim
state linked with the Umayyed,
and later, the Abbassid Caliphate
was established with jurisdiction
extending over southern and
central parts of present Pakistan.
Quite a few new cities were
established and Arabic was introduced
as the official language. At
the time of Mahmud of Ghazna's
invasion, Muslim rule still
existed, though in a weakened
form, in Multan and some other
regions. The Ghaznavids (976-1148)
and their successors, the Ghaurids
(1148-1206), were Central Asian
by origin and they ruled their
territories, which covered mostly
the regions of present Pakistan,
from capitals outside India.
It was in the early thirteenth
century that the foundations
of the Muslim rule in India
were laid with extended boundaries
and Delhi as the capital. From
1206 to 1526 A.D., five different
dynasties held sway. Then followed
the period of Mughal ascendancy
(1526-1707) and their rule continued,
though nominally, till 1857. From
the time of the Ghaznavids,
Persian more or less replaced
Arabic as the official language.
The economic, political and
religious institutions developed
by the Muslims bore their unique
impression. The law of the State
was based on Shariah and in
principle the rulers were bound
to enforce it. Any long period
of laxity was generally followed
by reinforcement of these laws
under public pressure. The impact
of Islam on the South-Asian
subcontinent was deep and far-reaching.
Islam introduced not only a
new religion, but a new civilization,
a new way of life and new set
of values. Islamic traditions
of art and literature, of culture
and refinement, of social and
welfare institution, were established
by Muslim rulers throughout
the subcontinent. A new language,
Urdu, derived mainly from Arabic
and Persian vocabulary and adopting
indigenous words and idioms,
came to be spoken and written
by the Muslims and it gained
currency among the rest of the
Indian population.
URDU
IS THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF
PAKISTAN
Apart from
religion, Urdu also enabled
the Muslim community during
the period of its ascendancy
to preserve its separate identity
in the subcontinent.
Muslim Identity
-- The question of Muslim identity,
however assumed seriousness
during the decline of Muslim
power in South Asia. The first
person to realize its acuteness
was the scholar theologian,
Shah Waliullah (1703-62). He
laid the foundation of Islamic
renaissance in the subcontinent
and became a source of inspiration
for almost all the subsequent
social and religious reform
movements of the nineteenth,
and twentieth centuries. His
immediate successors, inspired
by his teachings, tried to establish
a modest Islamic state in the
north-west of India and they,
under the leadership of Sayyed
Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi (1786-1831),
persevered in this direction.
British
Expansionism and Muslim Resistance:
Meanwhile, starting with the
East India Company, the British
had emerged as the dominant
force in South Asia. Their rise
to power was gradual extending
over a period of nearly one
hundred years. They replaced
the Shariah by what they termed
as the Anglo-Muhammadan law
whereas Urdu was replaced by
English as the official language.
These and other developments
had great social, economic and
political impact especially
on the Muslims of South Asia.
The uprising of 1857, termed
as the Indian Mutiny by the
British and the War of Independence
by the Muslims, was a desperate
attempt to reverse the adverse
course of events.
Religious
Institutions: The failure
of the 1857 War of Independence
had disastrous consequences
for the Muslims as the British
placed all the responsibility
for this event on them. Determined
to stop such a recurrence in
future, the British followed
deliberately a repressive policy
against the Muslims. Properties
and estates of those even remotely
associated with the freedom
fighters were confiscated and
conscious efforts were made
to close all avenues of honest
living for them. The Muslim
response to this situation also
aggravated their plight. Their
religious leaders, who had been
quite active, withdrew from
the mainstream of the community
life and devoted themselves
exclusively to imparting religious
education. Although the religious
academies especially those of
Deoband, Farangi Mahal and Rai
Bareilly, established by the
Ulema, did help the Muslims
to preserve their identity,
the training provided in these
institutions hardly equipped
them for the new challenges.
Educational
Reform: The Muslims
kept themselves aloof from western
education as well as government
service. But, their compatriots,
the Hindus, did not do so and
accepted the new rulers without
reservation. They acquired western
education, imbibed the new culture
and captured positions hitherto
filled in by the Muslims. If
this situation had prolonged,
it would have done the Muslims
an irreparable damage. The man
to realise the impending peril
was Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1889),
a witness to the tragic events
of 1857. He exerted his utmost
to harmonize British Muslim
relations. His assessment was
that the Muslims' safety lay
in the acquisition of western
education and knowledge. He
took several positive steps
to achieve this objective. He
founded a college at Aligarh
to impart education on western
lines. Of equal importance was
the Anglo-Muhammadan Educational
Conference, which he sponsored
in 1886, to provide an intellectual
forum to the Muslims for the
dissemination of views in support
of western education and social
reform. Similar were the objectives
of the Muhammadan Literary Society,
founded by Nawab Adbul Latif
(1828-93), active in Bengal,
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's efforts
transformed into a movement,
known as the Aligarh Movement,
and it left its imprint on the
Muslims of every part of the
South-Asian subcontinent. Under
its inspiration, societies were
founded throughout the subcontinent
which established educational
institutions for imparting education
to the Muslims.
Sir Syed Ahmad
Khan was averse to the idea
of participation by the Muslims
in any organized political activity
which, he feared, might revive
British hostility towards them.
He also disliked Hindu Muslim
collaboration in any joint venture.
His disillusionment in this
regard stemmed basically from
the Urdu Hindi controversy of
the late 1860s when the Hindu
enthusiasts vehemently championed
the cause of Hindi to replace
Urdu. He, therefore, opposed
the Indian National Congress
when it was founded in 1885
and advised the Muslims to abstain
from its activities. His contemporary
and a great scholar of Islam,
Syed Ameer Ali (1849-1928),
shared his views about the Congress,
but, he was not opposed to Muslims
organizing themselves politically.
In fact, he organised the first
significant political body of
the Muslims, the Central National
Muhammadan Association. Although,
its membership was limited,
it had more than 50 branches
in different parts of the subcontinent
and it accomplished some solid
work for the educational and
political advancement of the
Muslims. But, its activities
waned towards the end of the
nineteenth century.
The
Muslim League: At the
dawn of the twentieth century,
a number of factors convinced
the Muslims of the need to have
an effective political organization.
Therefore, in October 1906,
a deputation comprising 35 Muslim
leaders met the Viceroy of the
British at Simla and demanded
separate electorates. Three
months later, the All-India
Muslim League was founded by
Nawab Salimullah Khan at Dhaka,
mainly with the objective of
safeguarding the political rights
and interests of the Muslims.
The British conceded separate
electorates in the Government
of India Act of 1909 which confirmed
the Muslim League's position
as an All-India party.
Attempt
for Hindu Muslim Unity:
The visible trend of the two
major communities progressing
in opposite directions caused
deep concern to leaders of All-India
stature. They struggled to bring
the Congress and the Muslim
League on one platform. Quaid-i-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)
was the leading figure among
them. After the annulment of
the partition of Bengal and
the European Powers' aggressive
designs against the Ottoman
Empire and North Africa, the
Muslims were receptive to the
idea of collaboration with the
Hindus against the British rulers.
The Congress
Muslim League rapprochement
was achieved at the Lucknow
sessions of the two parties
in 1916 and a joint scheme of
reforms was adopted. In the
Lucknow Pact. as the scheme
was commonly referred to, the
Congress accepted the principle
of separate electorates, and
the Muslims, in return for `weightage'
to the Muslims of the Muslim
minority provinces, agreed to
surrender their thin majorities
in the Punjab and Bengal. The
post Lucknow Pact period witnessed
Hindu Muslim amity and the two
parties came to hold their annual
sessions in the same city and
passed resolutions of identical
contents.
KHILAFAT
MOVEMENT
The Hindu Muslim
unity reached its climax during
the Khilafat and the Non-cooperation
Movements. The Muslims of soothsayer,
under the leadership of the
Ali Brothers, Maulana Muhammad
Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali,
launched the historic Khilafat
Movement after the First World
War to protect the Ottoman Empire
from dismemberment. Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)
linked the issue of Swaraj (self-government)
with the Khilafat issue to associate
the Hindus with the Movement.
The ensuing Movement was the
first countrywide popular movement.
Although the
Movement failed in its objectives,
it had a far-reaching impact
on the Muslims of South Asia.
After a long time, they took
united action on a purely Islamic
issue which momentarily forged
solidarity among them. It also
produced a class of Muslim leaders
experienced in organizing and
mobilizing the public. This
experience was of immense value
to the Muslims later during
the Pakistan Movement The collapse
of the Khilafat Movement was
followed by a period of bitter
Hindu Muslim antagonism. The
Hindus organized two highly
anti Muslim movements, the Shudhi
and the Sangathan. The former
movement was designed to convert
Muslims to Hinduism and the
latter was meant to create solidarity
among the Hindus in the event
of communal conflict. In retaliation,
the Muslims sponsored the Tabligh
and Tanzim organizations to
counter the impact of the Shudhi
and the Sangathan. In the 1920s,
the frequency of communal riots
was unprecedented. Several Hindu-Muslim
unity conferences were held
to remove the causes of conflict,
but, it seemed nothing could
mitigate the intensity of communalism.
Muslim
Demand Safeguards:
In the light of this situation,
the Muslims revised their constitutional
demands. They now wanted preservation
of their numerical majorities
in the Punjab and Bengal, separation
of Sindh from Bombay, constitution
of Balochistan as a separate
province and introduction of
constitutional reforms in the
Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa. It was
partly to press these demands
that one section of the All-India
Muslim League cooperated with
the Statutory commission sent
by the British Government under
the chairmanship of Sir John
Simon in 1927.
SIMON
COMMISSION
The other section
of the League, which boycotted
the Simon Commission for
its all-White character, cooperated
with the Nehru Committee, appointed
by the All-Parties Conference,
to draft a constitution for
India. The Nehru Report had
an extremely anti-Muslim bias
and the Congress leadership's
refusal to amend it disillusioned
even the moderate Muslims.
Allama
Muhammad Iqbal: Several
leaders and thinkers, having
insight into the Hindu-Muslim
question proposed separation
of Muslim India. However, the
most lucid exposition of the
inner feeling of the Muslim
community was given by Allama
Muhammad Iqbal(1877-1938) in
his Presidential Address at
the All-India Muslim League
Session at Allahabad in 1930.
He suggested that for the healthy
development of Islam in South-Asia,
it was essential to have a separate
Muslim state at least in the
Muslim majority regions of the
north-west. Later on, in his
correspondence with Quaid-i-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he included
the Muslim majority areas in
the north-east also in his proposed
Muslim state. Three years after
his Allahabad Address, a group
of Muslim students at Cambridge,
headed by Chaudhry Rehmat Ali,
issued a pamphlet, Now or Never,
in which drawing letters from
the names of the Muslim majority
regions, they gave the nomenclature
of "Pakistan" to the proposed
State. Very few even among the
Muslim welcomed the idea at
the time. It was to take a decade
for the Muslims to embrace the
demand for a separate Muslim
state.
Quaid-i-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah:
Meanwhile, three Round Table
Conferences were convened in
London during 1930-32, to resolve
the Indian constitutional problem.
The Hindu and Muslim leaders,
who were invited to these conferences,
could not draw up an agreed
formula and the British Government
had to announce a `Communal
Award' which was incorporated
in the Government of India Act
of 1935. Before the elections
under this Act, the All-India
Muslim League, which had remained
dormant for some time, was reorganized
by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, who had returned to
India in 1934,after an absence
of nearly five years in England.
The Muslim League could not
win a majority of Muslim seats
since it had not yet been effectively
reorganized. However, it had
the satisfaction that the performance
of the Indian National Congress
in the Muslim constituencies
was bad. After the elections,
the attitude of the Congress
leadership was arrogant and
domineering. The classic example
was its refusal to form a coalition
government with the Muslim League
in the United Provinces. Instead,
it asked the League leaders
to dissolve their parliamentary
party in the Provincial Assembly
and join the Congress. Another
important Congress move after
the 1937 elections was its Muslim
mass contact movement to persuade
the Muslims to join the Congress
and not the Muslim League. One
of its leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru,
even declared that there were
only two forces in India, the
British and the Congress. All
this did not go unchallenged.
Quaid-i-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah countered
that there was a third force
in South-Asia constituting the
Muslims. The All-India Muslim
League, under his gifted leadership,
gradually and skillfully started
organising the Muslims on one
platform.
Towards
a Separate Muslim Homeland:
The 1930s witnessed awareness
among the Muslims of their separate
identity and their anxiety to
preserve it within separate
territorial boundaries. An important
element that brought this simmering
Muslim nationalism in the open
was the character of the Congress
rule in the Muslim minority
provinces during 1937-39. The
Congress policies in these provinces
hurt Muslim susceptibilities.
There were calculated aims to
obliterate the Muslims as a
separate cultural unit. The
Muslims now stopped thinking
in terms of seeking safeguards
and began to consider seriously
the demand for a separate Muslim
state. During 1937-39, several
Muslim leaders and thinkers,
inspired by Allama Iqbal's ideas,
presented elaborate schemes
for partitioning the subcontinent
according to two-nation theory.
Pakistan
Resolution: The All-India
Muslim League soon took these
schemes into consideration and
finally, on March 23, 1940,
the All-India Muslim League,
in a resolution, at its historic
Lahore Session, demanded a separate
homeland for the Muslims in
the Muslim majority regions
of the subcontinent. The resolution
was commonly referred to as
the Pakistan Resolution. The
Pakistan demand had a great
appeal for the Muslims of every
persuasion. It revived memories
of their past greatness and
promised future glory. They,
therefore, responded to this
demand immediately.
Cripps
Mission: The British
Government recognized the genuineness
of the Pakistan demand indirectly
in the proposals for the transfer
of power after the Second World
War which Sir Stafford Cripps
brought to India in 1942. Both
the Congress and the All-India
Muslim League rejected these
proposals for different reasons.
The principles of secession
of Muslim India as a separate
Dominion was however, conceded
in these proposals. After this
failure, a prominent Congress
leader, C. Rajgopalacharia,
suggested a formula for a separate
Muslim state in the Working
Committee of the Indian National
Congress, which was rejected
at the time, but later on, in
1944, formed the basis of the
Jinnah-Gandhi talks. Demand
for Pakistan
PAKISTAN
MOVEMENT
The Pakistan
demand became popular during
the Second World War. Every
section of the Muslim community
- men, women, students, Ulema
and businessmen - were organized
under the banner of the All-India
Muslim League. Branches of the
party were opened even in the
remote corners of the subcontinent.
Literature in the form of pamphlets,
books, magazines and newspapers
was produced to explain the
Pakistan demand and distributed
widely. The support gained by
the All-India Muslim League
and its demand for Pakistan
was tested after the failure
of the Simla Conference, convened
by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell,
in 1945. Elections were called
to determine the respective
strength of the political parties.
The All-India Muslim League
election campaign was based
on the Pakistan demand. The
Muslim community responded to
this call in an unprecedented
way. Numerous Muslim parties
were formed making united parliamentary
board at the behest of the Congress
to oppose the Muslim League.
But the All-India Muslim League
swept all the thirty seats in
the Central Legislature and
in the provincial elections
also, its victory was outstanding.
After the elections, on April
8-9,1946, the All-India Muslim
League called a convention of
the newly-elected League members
in the Central and Provincial
Legislatures at Delhi. This
convention, which constituted
virtually a representative assembly
of the Muslims of South Asia,
on a motion by the Chief Minister
of Bengal, Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy,
reiterated the Pakistan demand
in clearer terms.
Cabinet
Plan: In early 1946,
the British Government sent
a Cabinet Mission to the subcontinent
to resolve the constitutional
deadlock. The Mission conducted
negotiations with various political
parties, but failed to evolve
an agreed formula. Finally,
the Cabinet Mission announced
its own Plan, which among other
provisions, envisaged three
federal groupings, two of them
comprising the Muslim majority
provinces, linked at the Centre
in a loose federation with three
subjects. The Muslim League
accepted the plan, as a strategic
move, expecting to achieve its
objective in not-too-distant
a future. The All-India Congress
also agreed to the Plan, but,
soon realising its implications,
the Congress leaders began to
interpret it in a way not visualized
by the authors of the Plan.
This provided the All-India
Muslim League an excuse to withdraw
its acceptance of the Plan and
the party observed August 16,
as a `Direct Action Day' to
show Muslim solidarity in support
of the Pakistan demand.
Partition
Scheme: In October
1946, an Interim Government
was formed. The Muslim League
sent its representative under
the leadership of its General
Secretary, Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan,
with the aim to fight for the
party objective from within
the Interim Government. After
a short time, the situation
inside the Interim Government
and outside convinced the Congress
leadership to accept Pakistan
as the only solution of the
communal problem. The British
Government, after its last attempt
to save the Cabinet Mission
Plan in December 1946, also
moved towards a scheme for the
partition of India. The last
British Viceroy, Lord Louis
Mountbatten, came with a clear
mandate to draft a plan for
the transfer of power.
After holding
talks with political leaders
and parties, he prepared a Partition
Plan for the transfer of power,
which, after approval of the
British Government, was announced
on June 3,1947.
Emergence
of Pakistan: Both the
Congress and the Muslim League
accepted the Plan. Two largest
Muslim majority provinces, Bengal
and Punjab, were partitioned.
The Assemblies of West Punjab,
East Bengal and Sindh and in
Balochistan, the Quetta Municipality,
and the Shahi Jirga voted for
Pakistan. Referenda were held
in the Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa and
the District of Sylhet in Assam,
which resulted in an overwhelming
vote for Pakistan. As a result,
on August 14,1947, the new state
of Pakistan came into existence.
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