Federalism vs. State Rights in Pakistan

FEDERATIONS AND CONFEDERATIONS

Modern nation states are divided into confederations and federations. The United States of America is a confederation of many states which in 1776 decided to come together as a single entity. After the initial union of 13 states was successful, 37 other states decided to join the American Union. Each state has its own executive and its own judicial  and administrative state system that mirrors the federal system.

The Republic of Pakistan is a federation. This means that Pakistan was formed first and the administrative units were outlined later.  A federation has administrative units that are formed to monitor, regulate and govern the principle assets of the people who live within their boundaries. In 1947 the representative of the provinces of Sindh, Sarhad, Balauchistan and Sarhad and the states of Manvanagar and Junagarh decided to join Pakistan while the other provinces and states decided to join the Republic of India.  Many states like Hydrabad decided to stay neutral but India captured them anyway.

The purpose of creating provinces is to allow the local officials to have power over their own rights and assets. The purpose of democracy is to empower the local citizens so that they can elect their own representatives to safe guard their own interests and fight for their rights at the national level

At the time of independence In 1947, the Republic of Pakistan had the
following political and administrative structures:

1. In 1947 the district of Karachi was Federal capital territory and even though it was in the proximity of Sindh, Karachi was monitored directly from the Governor Generals Office. In 1947 the district of Karachi was not part of the province of Sindh.

2. Large areas of Pakistan were administered by the federal machinery. Of
these tribal areas (Federally Administered Tribal Areas-FATA) are probably the largest chunk of territory administered by the center. FATA is  epresented by senators in the Senate of Pakistan

3. The provinces of Sarhad (NWFP), Balauchistan, Punjab, Bengal and Sindh
which had and still have their own provincial assemblies

4. In 1947 some units of Pakistan were left nominally independent as states. Hunza Chitral, Swat were states within Pakistan.  The administration of these states was left in the hands Amirs with little interference from the center. The centrally administered states were later abolished by Yahya Khan.

5. Azad Kashmir was and is like a “state”, nominally independent but actually run by the ministry of Kashmir Affairs by the federal government. Even though Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto talked about amalgamating Kashmir into Pakistan, this has never actually happened.

Shifting away from the paradigm of 1971. As a nation we have come a long way from the debacle of 1971. We cannot continue to live in the shadows of the fall of Dacca (Dhaka). More autonomy for administrative units cannot be equated with cessation. Neither the devolution of power to the people nor the change in the boundaries of the current provinces will lead to the disintegration of the nation. The subjugation of the rights of minorities can lead to sever frustrations. Democracy is a dynamic institution. Provinces are administrative units. Provincial boundaries are not sacrosanct lines carved in stone.

Our country is not so fragile that it cannot stand a simple change in the provincial boundaries. Neither is it so weak that more provincial autonomy would automatically lead to disintegration. Pakistan is as strong as the will of the people to keep it together. More empowerment to the people will make our country stronger not weaker.

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