Comparison between 18th Amendment and Sheikh Mujeeb’s 6 points

This short research is revolved around drawing parallels between the 18th amendment to the 1972 constitution and the 6 points given by Sheikh Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman of Awami Party. And its implications for us. In order to know the real essence and background of why Sheikh Mujeeb gave his 6-points, one has to know about Centralisation and decentralisation in the background of Pakistani Politics

Centralized Governance structure

Centralized government is the type of government which prefers to have all authority with itself. Autonomy is not given to the provinces in this system

Decentralized governance structure

Decentralized government is that type of government with believes in keeping limited powers with itself by devolving power to the provinces and giving them maximum autonomy.

All of Pakistan’s history has been characterized by two competing tendencies, centralization and decentralization. This topic has been the subject of many arguments, debates, conferences and meetings. Many academicians, learned statesmen and in Pakistan’s case, generals and clerics have got their opinions on this topic

Pro-centralization stance of Pakistani Mullahs

In 1951, a meeting of religious clerics belonging to different schools of thought was called to arrive at some consensus on issues important to Pakistan’s future. They had issued their 22 points of consensus. Among those 22 points, 7 points showed how the clerics harbored a likening for the UNITARY form of government, wavering off the concepts of provincial autonomy and the preservation of cultural integrity of the different provinces of Pakistan.

Pro-centralization stance of Military establishment

Similarly Military Generals, those which had a decisive role in Pakistan’s politics, also were proponents of unitary form of government, which became clear during military dictators’ tenures, thereby, reducing the role of provinces in shaping their future. And it is understandable why military is a proponent of centralization, for, if power is vested in the provinces, military’s monopoly over power in Pakistan would be over.

Nationalists’ call for provincial autonomy

Conversely, there always was a rival opinion to the centralized form of governance. Nationalist political leader belonging to different provinces and political parties advocated for a more decentralized governance and they had their own arguments. They were of the view that a Unitary form of government in a country like Pakistan, which has distinct cultural entities residing in it, cannot entertain cultural rights of the ethnicities and creates grievances and disparity between provinces. Suppose there is a national curriculum to be taught to student across Pakistan, from Sindh from Punjab and from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Keep in mind these cultures have histories entirely different from one another. How would you make their histories converge on a common point? Obviously through fabrication and giving false identity. This is how centralization compromises cultural bodies. Sheikh Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman of East Pakistan was among the Nationalists supporting a decentralized government.

Jinnah’s stance on Government structure

When it comes to the political inclination of Jinnah, it is clear that he too was a supporter of a decentralized government. In his struggle for Muslim rights before 1947, Jinnah argued that British India was home to different, and so to speak, contrasting cultural entities and governance of one cultural entity throughout the British India is comparable to making all the other cultural entities in British India voiceless. Therefore, Jinnah argued, that a scheme of decentralization of power with provincial autonomy should be adopted. In which each province shall have autonomy to choose a course of action for themselves. With limited powers vested with the center. Though Jinnah had said these things about the pre-partitioned British India, dynamics and demography in the partitioned Pakistan have not changed.

Jinnah’s demands were rejected, provincial autonomy was denied, therefore, Pakistan was created.

Sheikh Mujeeb’s six-point agenda

So, this was the background, against the backdrop of which Sheikh Mujeeb gave his 6 points. This 6-point agenda was aimed to end decades-long exploitation for East Pakistan by West Pakistan and to demand greater autonomy for East Pakistan.

Sheikh Mujeeb’s 6 points are:

• The Constitution should provide for a Federation of Pakistan in its true sense based on the Lahore Resolution, and the parliamentary form of government with supremacy of a Legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise.

• The federal government should deal with only two subjects: Defence and Foreign Affairs, and all other residual subjects should be vested in the federating states.

• Two separate, but freely convertible currencies for the two wings should be introduced; or if this is not feasible, there should be one currency for the whole country, but effective constitutional provisions should be introduced to stop the flight of capital from East to West Pakistan. Furthermore, a separate Banking Reserve should be established and separate fiscal and monetary policy be adopted for East Pakistan.

• The power of taxation and revenue collection should be vested in the federating units and the federal centre would have no such power. The federation would be entitled to a share in the state taxes to meet its expenditures.

• There should be two separate accounts for the foreign exchange earnings of the two wings; the foreign exchange requirements of the federal government should be met by the two wings equally or in a ratio to be fixed; indigenous products should move free of duty between the two wings, and the constitution should empower the units to establish trade links with foreign countries.

• East Pakistan should have a separate military or paramilitary force, and Navy headquarters should be in East Pakistan.

Elections of 1971

The 1971 elections approached and Sheikh Mujeeb’s party came forwards as the most successful party winning a majority and establishing a position to form government. But the result of ‘the most transparent and free’ elections was not honored and sheikh Mujeeb was not allowed to form government. The result was an uprising which led to the separation of East Pakistan.

Why was sheikh Mujeeb not allowed to form Government?

The hesitation on part of the military dictator led government to hand over power to Sheikh Mujeeb was due to the fact that Sheikh Mujeeb had promised to bring about provincial autonomy and to act on his 6-points agenda, which was seen with suspicion by the central government. The central military government was of the view that the Sheikh Mujeeb’s government would implement his 6-point agenda and weaken the unity of the state of Pakistan. Also, an unspoken fear was that with the implementation of the 6-point agenda, the hold of military establishment over the country would weaken.

What a pity that the military government’s decision itself was a trigger towards disunity and separation.

Lesson learned?

The tragic episode of 1971 should have put an end to the debate between centralization and decentralization, but unfortunately, as a nation we failed to learn lessons. And it took us an additional 39 years and series of separatists' uprisings in other provinces to finally start realizing that decentralization is the solution to a stable Pakistan.

A reality finally accepted

It was in 2010, that the landmark 18th amendment to the constitution of Pakistan was passed, which envisioned provincial autonomy. It was accepted by all the leading political parties of Pakistan.

NFC Under 18th amendment

The 7th NFC award a major achievement of the 18th Amendment. For the first time in history, resources were distributed among provinces not only on the basis of population but also on factors like poverty and backwardness. The 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award significantly increased the resources available to the provinces. Previously, 45% of the divisible pool (including taxes) was allotted to the provinces; this was revised to 57.5%. The inter-provincial distribution of revenues was also revised as criteria broader than population were also added, including the contribution to the national exchequer, levels of poverty (or backwardness) and inverse population density (especially important for Baluchistan). This decreased Punjab’s share by 5.6%, while simultaneously increased the shares of K-P and Baluchistan by 1.1% and 3.8%, respectively.

Other contributions of 18th Amendment towards provincial autonomy

· The amendment to Clause 1 of Article 161 ensures the entitlement of the provinces to revenues generated from natural gas and oil.

· Furthermore, Article 167, Clause 4, enhances the provincial government’s ability to raise funds through borrowing from both, domestic and international sources.

· The following ministries were devolved at federal level and were given to the provinces according to 18th Amendment:

· Ministry of Education

· Ministry of Archaeology and Culture

· Ministry of environment

· Ministry of health

· Ministry of special initiatives

· Ministry of labor and manpower

· Ministry of local government and rural development

· Ministry of minorities’ affairs

· Ministry of population welfare

· Ministry of social welfare and special education

· Ministry of sports

· Ministry of tourism

· Ministry of women development

· Ministry of youth affairs

· Ministry of Zakat and Ushr

Who is the traitor? Sheikh Mujeeb or Military establishment

It took us so much chaos, disorder and hardships to understand the importance of decentralization. It is safe to say we learned the hard way. But the question that we cannot help but ask is was sheikh Mujeeb really a traitor? Were his demands really encouraging separatism and weakening unity? As explained earlier, even Jinnah was inclined towards a decentralized government for the sake of preserving the unity of a state. What sheikh Mujeeb did was, he simply used Jinnah’s arguments to demand autonomy for his East Pakistan to bring everlasting peace and unity. The demand was rejected by military dictators and the fate of British India befell Pakistan. It is really a bad luck of Pakistan that even now, after everything has happened, Military rulers find it hard to digest the fact that 18th amendment is a reality.

While all the leading parties seems to be content with the 18th amendment, our COAS Bajwa has reportedly said in his private gatherings that the 18th amendment is more dangerous than Sheikh Mujeeb’s six points.