Pakistan’s Constitutional Deadlock and Breakthrough - 2/2 (1951-54)
Athar Osama July 2nd, 2007
By: Athar Osama
In the first of the two pieces on Pakistan’s Constitutional Deadlock in early-1950s, on July 2nd, 2007, we looked at the emerging debate and unrest in the provice of East Pakistan. We examined the pendulum of constitutional progress swing all the way towards a pro-Punjab and anit-Bengal position in the interim report of the Basic Principles Committee and then all the way to a pro-Bengal and anti-Punjab position in the final report of the Basic Principles Committee. Unfortunately, Khwaja Nazimuddin became the first victim of this constitutional deadlock that existed between the two largest provinces of the country. In this artcle, we will examine the progress made under the new Prime Minister, Mohammad Ali Bogra–another Bengali–who almost provided Pakistan with its first Constitution.
Constitutional Progress through the “Mohammad Ali Formula”
With Khawaja Nazimuddin out of the picture, Mohammad Ali Bogra was installed as the new Prime Minister. Mohammad Ali Bogra was a statesman of Bengali descent who came from the family of Nawabs of Bengal (Wikipedia, 2007). At the time of his appointment as Prime Minister, he was serving as the country’s ambassador to the United States and was hurriedly called back to take over the Ministry.
Mohammad Ali Bogra had a tight rope to walk as he balanced the Punjabi interests—to whom he owed his appointment—and the Bengali resentment towards perceived domination by Punjabi politicians—most notably the Governor General himself (Sayeed, 1960, p. 418). In the Cabinet as well, Bogra had little support of his own as he tried to act as a go between the two powerful interest groups. Undaunted by this, however, Bogra took on the challenge for finding a compromise solution to the country’s constitutional impasse.
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