Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
The Interim Government
Wavell wrote identical letters to Nehru and Jinnah on July 22, 1946 asking
them whether the Congress and the Muslim League would be prepared to enter an
interim government on the basis that six members (including one Scheduled Caste
representative) would be nominated by the Congress and five by the Muslim
League. The Viceroy would nominate three representatives of the minorities.
Jinnah replied that the proposal was not acceptable to the Muslim League because
it destroyed the principal of parity. At Nehru's invitation, he and Jinnah
conferred together on August 15 but could not come to an agreement on the
question of the Congress joining the interim government.
The Working Committee of the Muslim League had decided in the meantime that
Friday 16 August, 1946 would be marked as the 'Direct Action Day".There was
serious trouble in Calcutta and some rioting in Sylhet on that day. The casualty
figures in Calcutta during the period of 16-19 August were 4,000 dead and 10,000
injured. In his letter to Pethick-Lawrence, Wavell had reported that appreciably
more Muslims than Hindus had been killed. The "Great Calcutta Killing" marked
the start of the bloodiest phase of the "war of succession" between the Hindus
and the Muslims and it became increasingly difficult for the British to retain
control. Now, they had to cope with the Congress civil disobedience movement as
well as furious Muslims that had also come out in the streets in thousands.
The negotiations with the League reached a deadlock and the Viceroy decided
to form an interim government with the Congress alone, leaving the door open for
the League to come in later. A communiqué was issued on August 24, which
announced that the existing members of the Governor General's Executive Council
had resigned and that on their places new persons had been appointed. It was
stated that the interim government would be installed on September 2.
Jinnah declared two days later that the Viceroy had struck a severe blow to
Indian Muslims and had added insult to injury by nominating three Muslims who
did not command the confidence of Muslims of India. He reiterated that the only
solution to Indian problem was the division of India into Pakistan and
Hindustan. The formation of an interim government consisting only of the
Congress nominees added further fuel to the communal fire. The Muslims regarded
the formation of the interim government as an unconditional surrender of power
to the Hindus, and feared that the Governor General would be unable to prevent
the Hindus from using their newly acquired power of suppressing Muslims all over
India.
After the Congress had taken the reins at the Center on September 2, Jinnah
faced a desperate situation. The armed forces were predominantly Hindu and Sikh
and the Indian members of the other services were also predominantly Hindu. The
British were preparing to concede independence to India if they withdrew the
Congress was to be in undisputed control, the Congress was to be free to deal
with the Muslims as it wished. Wavell too, felt unhappy at the purely Congress
interim government. He genuinely desired a Hindu-Muslim settlement and united
India, and had worked hard for that end. Wavell pleaded with Nehru and Gandhi,
in separate interviews, that it would help him to persuade Jinnah to cooperate
if they could give him an assurance that the Congress would not insist on
nominating a Nationalist Muslim. Both of them refused to give way on that
issue.Wavell informed Jinnah two days later that he had not succeeded in
persuading the Congress leaders to make a gesture by not appointing a
Nationalist Muslim. Jinnah realized that the Congress would not give up the
right to nominate a Nationalist Muslim and that he would have to accept the
position if he did not wish to leave the interim government solely in the hands
of the Congress. On October 13, he wrote to Wavell that, though the Muslim
League did not agree with much that had happened, "in the interests of the
Muslims and other communities it will be fatal to leave the entire field of
administration of the Central Government in the hands of the Congress". The
League had therefore decided to nominate five members for the interim
government. On October 15, he gave the Viceroy the following five names:
Liaquat Ali Khan, I.I Chundrigar, Abdur Rab Nishtar, Ghazanfar Ali Khan and
Jogindar Nath Mandal. The last name was a Scheduled Caste Hindu and was
obviously a tit-for-tat for the Congress insistence upon including a Nationalist
Muslim in its own quota.
| Interim Government |
| External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations |
Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Defence |
Baldev Singh |
| Home (including Information and Broadcasting) |
Vallahbhai Patel |
| Finance |
Liaquat Ali Khan |
| Posts and Air |
Abdur Rab Nishtar |
| Food and Agriculture |
Rajendra Parsad |
| Labor |
Ragjivan Ram |
| Transport and Railways |
M.Asaf Ali |
| Industries and Supplies |
John Matthai |
| Education and Arts |
C. Rajgopalacharia |
| Works, Mines and Power |
C.H. Babha |
| Commerce |
I.I. Chundrigar |
| Law |
Jogindar Nath Mandal |
| Health |
Ghazanfar Ali Khan |
