Ghulam Muhammad

Born in Lahore, Ghulam Muhammad attended Aligarh University after which he worked in the accounting field. When Pakistan was formed in 1947, Ghulam Muhammad served as its first finance minister, owing to his previously-demonstrated extensive experience in that sector. Suffering from bad health, Ghulam Muhammad was almost removed by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, but the death of the latter gave Ghulam Muhammad the chance to increase his power.

A major confrontation occurred between the governor general, Ghulam Mohammad, a Punjabi from the civil service, and the prime minister, Nazimuddin, a former chief minister of united Bengal and now chief minister of East Bengal. Ghulam Mohammad, who relished the trappings of dominance earlier held by Jinnah, asserted his power by declaring martial law in 1953 in Punjab during disturbances involving the Ahmadiyyas, a small but influential sect considered heterodox by orthodox Muslims, and a year later by imposing governor's rule after the Muslim League defeat in East Bengal, not permitting the United Front to take office. When Nazimuddin attempted to limit the power of the governor general through amendments to the Government of India Act of 1935 (then still the basic law for Pakistan, as altered by the India Independence Act of 1947),Ghulam Mohammad unceremoniously dismissed him in April 1953, and then the following year appointed his own "cabinet of talents," dismissing the Constituent Assembly.

The so-called cabinet of talents was headed by Mohammad Ali Bogra, a minor political figure from East Bengal who had previously been Pakistan's ambassador to the United States,a first in series to be called from USA for the sole purpose to take office of the Prime Minister (in recent years Moeen Qureshi and Shaukat Aziz)Significantly, the cabinet also included both military and civil officials. Chaudry Mohammad Ali, who had been head of the Civil Service of Pakistan, became minister of finance. General Mohammad Ayub Khan became minister of defense while retaining his post as commander in chief of the army. Major General Iskander Mirza, a military officer who was seconded to civilian posts, including becoming governor of East Bengal when Ghulam Mohammad imposed governor's rule on that province, became minister of home affairs. The cabinet thus provided an opportunity for the military to take a direct role in politics. Ghulam Mohammad was successful in subordinating the prime minister because of the support of military and civil officers as well as the backing of the strong landed interests in Punjab. The facade of parliamentary government crumbled, exposing the military's role in Pakistan's political system to public view.

In 1954, the Assembly of Pakistan tried to change the constitution to establish checks on the Governor-General's powers, in order to prevent a repeat of what had happened to Nazimuddin's government. In response, Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the Assembly, an action that was challenged in the Supreme Court. Ghulam Muhammad emerged victorious when the Court upheld the dismissal in a split decision, despite the dissenting opinion written by the renowned Justice (later Chief Justice) A. R. Cornelius, and despite protests from the members of the Assembly.

Although Ghulam Muhammad prevailed against his political opponents, his health deteriorated, and he took a leave of absence in 1955. The acting Governor-General, Iskander Mirza, soon dismissed him, and Ghulam Muhammad died the next year in 1956.

He as the leading actor in three major sequences -- the dismissal of prime Minister Nazimuddin, the dissolution of the Constituent assembly, and the imposition of the non-unit shceme -- he was primarily responsible for launching East Pakistan on the path of alienation from Pakistan, for bringing the armed forces into politics, for confirming the country's subservience to Cold War operation, for creating bad blood between Punjab and the other federating units, and for devaluing democratic norms. Taken together his actions created crises that got aggravated year after year and which have dogged Pakistan to this day with enormous costs to the people.