Images | Pakistan in the Mirror of History.

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Madre-e-millat Mohtrama Fatima Jinnah

Poster during her election campaign

c. 1965: Miss Fatima Jinnah Challenges Ayub Khan during Pakistan Presidential Election Campaign. (she was widely popular in then East Pakistan too)

Had there been not so much election rigging, she would have been the 2nd female prime minister of the world. May God rest her in peace.

 

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March 23, 1956: Pakistan became a Republic under Prime Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Ali (extreme left). Seen from right to left are Yusuf Haroon (secretary, Muslim League), I.I. Chundrigar (the law minister and future prime minister), Sher-e-Bangal A.K. Fazlul Huq (former interior minister and United Front leader who was instrumental in helping Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali in steering the bill through the assembly) and the Speaker Abdul Wahab Khan.

 

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1930s: An Aerial View of Attock Bridge.

Lower deck for vehicle and upper for Railway

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1890s: Lansdowne Bridge over Indus River -Sukkur

 

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1900s: Mari Indus To Bannu Railway Crossing Indus River.
Bridge in the photograph is the famous Kalabagh Bridge connecting Mari Indus with Bannu. It was a narrow gauge railway line.

 

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1948: Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah last official Visit and Address at Command & Staff College Quetta

 

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1873: Construction of Jhelum Bridge

This bridge over the river Jhelum, between Jhelum and Sarai Alamgir, was built as part of the construction of the Punjab Northern State Railway that linked Lahore and Peshawar. It was designed and built by the British engineer William St. John Galwey in 1873

1913: Opening ceremony of Lower Bari Doab Canal.
Punjab

 

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Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan consult on national policy in the early days of Pakistan.

 

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March 12, 1941: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Aliwith the students of Aligarh Muslim University.

Mr Jinnah mobilised the students to campaign for the Muslim League in elections that were due shortly. The University served a major role during the Pakistan Movement and Dawn was an effective tool to keep it galvanised.

 

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Shops in front of railway station Lahore in 1950's

 

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Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah addresses a mammoth rally at Lahore’s University Stadium on October 30, 1947.

 

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Bholu pehelwaan with Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 196

 

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Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan with the staff of Dawn Delhi.

 

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SWAT, NOVEMBER 24, 1947
THE WALI ASSENTS

The Wali of the Princely State of Swat, Miangul Abdul Wadud, with members of his state police. — Excerpted with permission from Witness to Life and Freedom, Roli Books, Delhi


Swat owes its status as a ‘state’ to the decline of the Sikh and Afghan empires. When the British take over Peshawar in 1849, Swat is mainly inhabited by Yusufzai Pathans. The same year, the tribal jirga elects Syed Akbar Shah as king of Swat – although real power in Swat lies with the Akhund, a religious leader known as Saidu Baba.

Saidu Baba dies in 1887 and Swat lapses into factional fighting between his sons and his grandsons.

Finally, in 1917 the jirga appoints Miangul Abdul Wadud, one of the Akhund’s grandsons as king. Although Miangul Abdul Wadud controls most of Swat by 1923, the Government of India does not formally recognise him as the ruler. Instead, in 1926 the British grant him the title of Wali, an honorific religious title – because only the King Emperor in England has the right to the title of king.

Irrespective of the British position, the Wali of Swat is the only elected ruler of a Princely State, by virtue of the jirga.

Miangul Abdul Wadud signs the Instrument of Accession enabling Swat to join Pakistan in 1947. On the right are his son Miangul Abdul Haq Jahanzeb, his grandson Miangul Aurangzeb and the Chief Secretary of Swat, Mr Attaullah. — Courtesy Miangul Aurangzeb Archives, Swat


In 1931, Swat has an area of 18,000 square miles and a population of 216,000. The state is predominantly Muslim, but with a small Hindu presence. Swat’s accession to Pakistan is complicated by its occupation of Kalam shortly before 1947, which was also claimed by Chitral and Dir.

Although Pakistan refuses to recognise the occupation and tries to persuade Swat to revert to the status quo, the Wali, hoping to garner Pakistan’s support of Swat’s claim to Kalam, is eager to accede to Pakistan. Miangul Jahanzeb, the last Wali notes that “with the creation of Pakistan, we immediately joined the new state. We were very patriotic… I talked to the political agent Nawab Shaikh Mehboob Ali over the telephone and told him we were going to sign the Instrument of Accession.”

The Wali executes the Instrument of Accession on November 24, 1947.

 

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GILGIT & KASHMIR 1947

A PARTIAL VICTORY

November 1, 1947 is the day when Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan accede to Pakistan.

Astore, Gilgit, Hunza and Nagar are part of territories conquered by the Dogra Maharajas. Their grip is tenuous and in 1889 the British create the Gilgit Agency as a means of turning the region into a buffer against the Russians. Then in 1935, the British lease the Gilgit Agency for a period of sixty years from Maharaja Hari Singh.

In 1947, Major William Brown, the Assistant Political Agent in Chilas, is informed that Lord Mountbatten has ordered that the 1935 lease of the Gilgit Agency (it still has 49 years to run) be terminated. Gilgit Agency, despite its 99% Muslim population, is to be allotted to the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh.

Meanwhile, stories of communal violence between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in the Punjab reach Gilgit, inflaming passions there. On October 26, 1947, the Maharaja signs the Instrument of Accession and joins India. (The signed document has never been seen.)

Sensing the discontent, Major Brown mutinies on November 1, 1947. He overthrows the governor, establishes a provisional government in Gilgit and telegraphs the chief minister of the NWFP asking Pakistan to take over. According to the leading historian Ahmed Hasan Dani, despite the lack of public participation in the rebellion, pro-Pakistan sentiments are strong amongst civilians.

Armed Pakhtoon tribesmen wait on a road between Peshawar and Rawalpindi for their leader Bacha Gul of the Mohmand tribe. — Excerpted with permission from Witness to Life and Freedom, Roli Books, Delhi


Upon hearing of Maharaja Hari Singh’s accession to India, these tribesmen wait for Bacha Gul to lead them into battle in Kashmir. They reach the outskirts of Srinagar before they are pushed back to the upper reaches of what constitutes today’s Azad Kashmir.

Resistance in Poonch starts over issues related to taxation, but soon turns into an armed uprising when a public meeting is fired upon by Kashmir state forces. Two days later, the chief minister of the NWFP organises a guerrilla force to attack the Maharaja’s forces in the Dheer Kot camp. According to Australian historian Christopher Snedden, it is the Muslims in the Poonch region of Kashmir who instigate the uprising and not Pakhtoon tribesmen invading from Pakistan, as India consistently maintains.

India’s case on Kashmir is built upon a version of events that asserts that India’s military intervention is in response to a tribal invasion supported by Pakistan. On January 1, 1948, India takes the issue to the UN Security Council. The Security Council pass a resolution calling for Pakistan to withdraw from Jammu and Kashmir and for India to reduce its forces to a minimum level, following which a plebiscite is to be held to ascertain the people’s wishes.

Dispute erupts over the implementation mechanism because of which the Kashmir problem remains unresolved to this day.

 

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A session of the Muslim League Working Committee, Quaid-e-Azam, Liaquat Ali Khan and Nawab Ismail Khan at Quaid’s Bombay Residence at Malabar Hills.