HARKING BACK: Understanding the current mess with our history in mind

The utterly depressing mess that our political scene has ‘degenerated’ or ‘reinvigorated’ into, depending on your frame of mind, made me want to research the 98 years of politics under colonialism in Punjab, more so in Lahore. That made me better understand just what is going on today. The colonial period, which legally commenced in April 1849, is really a process of the devolution of power to the roots: that is to the local level. Everyone who opposed this process slowly faded away. The process, undoubtedly, has always had its ups and downs, but the long-term trend remains. This is what this brief piece will try to touch upon.

The Punjab Darbar ‘de facto’ ceased to exist after the defeat of the Khalsa Army at Gujrat on the 21st of February, 1849. Within two months the new rulers put in place a ‘de jure’ solution. The ‘legality’ of the ‘political reality’ was being questioned.

For starters once fighting ceased in 1849, a Board of Administration was put in place in Lahore by the East India Company. The three-man board was led by Sir Henry Lawrence, who before 1849 had been the British Resident at the Lahore Darbar. He was assisted by his brother John and by Charles Grenville Mansel. With the help of 16 undoubtedly outstanding officers every corner of Punjab was quickly brought under control. These amazing officers were known as Henry Lawrence’s ‘Young Men’. The orders to them, verbally at that critical stage, was: “In the hours that you are awake, you must be on your horse, so learn to work from there in a fearlessly honest, swift and fair manner, but be ruthless to all who oppose us and the law as you will lay it down”.

So they were undoubtedly honest, which is credible given that they were also laying down the law. Even today ‘honesty’ and ‘legality’ are the issues of the day. Of these 16 officers, four have roads in Lahore named after them, they being Neville Chamberlain, James Abbott, Herbert Edwardes and John Nicholson. We see that these 16 men ‘tamed’ every district of Punjab, considered then ‘a wild country’. These officers were made Deputy Commissioners of their districts with civil, criminal and fiscal powers. Within three years serious difference arose between Henry and John Lawrence over the quantum of power to be delegated to local officials. This is critical to understand for the process of devolution was taking root. Over the years it has been the degree of delegation that the powerful allowed that determined their fate. That fight still continues. This “difference of opinion” between the brothers led the Viceroy, Lord Dalhousie, to abolish the board in 1853, with Sir Henry being posted away to Rajputana and John Lawrence made the first Chief Commissioner of Punjab.

Five years later the Government of India Act 1858 abolished the post of Chief Commissioner and in its place came the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. The fight of John Lawrence for delegation ‘of some power to locals’ began to show some colour and by the time the Indian Councils Act of 1861 came about, the foundations of local legislature were in place. It was not till 1897 that the Lt. Governor nominated officials, as well as non-officials, to a committee that he presided over. So a democratic process of sorts was initiated.

This manner of governance lasted a whole 11 years till the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 forced elected members onto the committee. This ‘diarchy’ came about after the Government of India Act 1919 was introduced. By 1921 the very first Punjab Legislative Council with 93 members, of them 51 elected, came about. The path to democracy had taken root and local governments formed. Change was visible.

The first council was inaugurated on the 8th of January 1921, with Sir Montagu Butler as the first president. This was dissolved on the 27th of October, 1923. The second and two further councils lasted till November 1936, in which Sir Shahabuddin Virk and Sir Chotu Ram were presidents. Among the members nominated by the British was the poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal.

The Government of India Act of 1935 brought about the Punjab Legislative Assembly and the President became the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly. The new assembly had 175 members with a life span of five years. So it was that with increased provincial autonomy the British method of ‘diarchy’ ended. Now the British had introduced parliamentary democracy. Accountability became the name of the game.

To keep control the British colonialists had to create a political dispensation that followed their instructions, yet seemingly was fair. The establishment was at work. That ‘friendly’ force emerged in the shape of the Unionist Party led by Sir Sikander Hayat Khan.

In Punjab Elections of 1937, the Muslim League of Mr Jinnah won only one seat out of 175. The Muslims of the Punjab had rejected him and communal politics. The Congress Party led by Mr Nehru won only 18 seats, which vaguely represented the Hindu population of the country. To everyone’s shock the newly-created Unionist Party, a collection of rich feudal landlords bagged a massive 95 seats with 22 ‘Independents’ who were also rich feudal landlords and wanted to bargain with the winner from a position of safety. This is so similar to what is happening today.

So with 117 seats out of 175 secured, the Sikh Khalsa with 14 seats, the Hindu Board with 11 and the Akali’s with ten seats also joined the Unionists. Now 152 seats were in the bag of the Unionists. The Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam used their four seats for personal gains, almost similar to what a religious outfit does today. Sir Sikandar Hayat became the first Prime Minister of Punjab, with his cabinet having Sir Chotu Ram, Sir Sundar Singh Majithia, Pandit Manohar Lal, Mian Abdul Haye and Khizer Hayat Khan Tiwana, who on the death of Sir Sikandar in 1942 became the new prime minister.

Because of the Second World War new elections were postponed. The Unionists ruled for nine years till 1946, when the second Punjab Assembly elections were held. By this time the Muslim League was in full force with their demand for Pakistan gaining strength. But they had not reckoned with the power of the establishment.

Even with the slogan of a communal Pakistan, the Muslim League of Mr Jinnah managed only 73 out of 175 seats. The Unionist Party wooed the Congress and the Akali Party to form a new government with Sir Khizer Hayat Khan Tiwana as the prime minister. The demand for Pakistan, laced as it was with communal bloodshed, forced the prime minister to resign. Jinnah was asked to form a government, but failed as no one was willing to go along with them.

It was a major setback as communalism had brought matters to breaking point. The British stepped in and the Governor, Sir Evan Jenkins, took over power, which he retained till the 14th of August, 1947. But then, ultimately, in a vote on the Partition Plan, even after the Unionists, having analysed the political reality, switched over to Jinnah, it were their Christian members who cast the deciding votes for Punjab to be part of an independent Pakistan.

The end result, and what followed, is the reason we must study the political happenings of the last 98 years before 1947. With time the process of the devolution of power to the people has at best been avoided by our rulers, who fear local government lest leadership matures from the roots. Heavy doses of communalism, laced with chronic corruption and inept leadership, has scuttled a much-needed momentum to make Pakistanis an educated and skillful people. At this stage of our national discourse the least we can do is to try to understand what our very own history teaches us.