The Government of East Pakistan or formerly Government of East Bengal governed the province

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

(later

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

, now

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

) and was centered in its provincial capital

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. The head of the province was the Governor, who was nominated by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.East Pakistan Assembly. The East Pakistani government was dominated by the

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

. It was succeeded by the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

following the province's secession in 1971.

Cabinets

Haque Ministry

accepted A.K. Fazlul Haque of

Krishak Sramik Party The Krishak Sramik Party ( bn, কৃষক শ্রমিক পার্টি, ''Farmer Labourer Party'') was a major anti-feudal political party in the British Indian province of Bengal and later in the Dominion of Pakistan's East Bengal and ...

as the Chief Minister of the province in the Parliamentary meeting on 2 April 1954, forced by

Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman ( ur, چودھری خلیق الزمان) (25 December 1889 — 18 May 1973) was a Pakistani politician and Muslim figurehead during British India. He was one of the top leaders of the All India Muslim League. Early life ...

, the then governor of East Bengal, to form the provincial government. However, on the same day, without consulting the provincial council meeting, Haque announced three persons as ministers of the province according to his own wish. Awami League, the majority party of the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

, could not accept this. On the 30th of the same month, Haque's speech in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India highlighted the similarity between the two Bengals, which drew criticism in Pakistan. Under the pressure of criticism, Haque announced the names of 10 more ministers to improve relations with Awami League, 7 of whom were members of Awami League. However, on May 30, the central government dissolved the United Front cabinet and imposed Governor's rule in East Bengal.

Sarker Ministry

After the removal of Governor's rule on 5 June 1955, the Krishak Sramik Party and the Awami League formed the next cabinet. Although he announced his retirement from politics on 24 July 1954, on 11 August 1955 A.K. Fazlul Haque became the Home Minister and

Abu Hussain Sarkar Abu Hussain Sarkar ( bn, আবু হোসেন সরকার; 1894 – 17 April 1969) was a Bengali politician and lawyer. He served as the fourth chief minister of East Pakistan. Under his ministry, the Bangla Academy was inaugurated and 2 ...

was the Chief Minister of the new cabinet. In the session of the Provincial Council dated 13 August 1956,

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...

moved a motion of no confidence against the Second United Front Cabinet. However, on August 14, when A.K. Fazlul Haque, Governor of East Pakistan, announced the suspension of the session of the Provincial Council for an indefinite period, the Awami League started a movement against the governor. On August 15, three cabinet ministers resigned. In the face of strong protests, the Governor convened a session of the East Pakistan Provincial Council on 26 August. On 4 September 1956, after East Pakistan Rifles fired at an Awami League rally, killing 4 people and injuring several others, protests broke out in Dhaka in response. In such a situation, Section 144 was issued and the leaders of Krishak Sramik Party went into hiding.

Khan Ministry

In view of the events of September 1956, the governor ordered the Awami League to form a cabinet. On 5 September 1956, the Awami League in East Pakistan formed the second ministry in the province. This ministry, which lasted for about two years, was abolished on 24 September 1958. At that time, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was simultaneously a member of the working committee of Awami League and the Minister of Industries of East Pakistan, which was against the constitution of Awami League. So he resigned from the post of Minister of Industry. As

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was pop ...

resigned from Awami League and formed the

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by A ...

, a section of Awami League members joined Bhasani's party. In March 1957, Governor Haque amended the law to reduce the no confidence vote from 130 to 104. On March 21, 1958, two days after 11 Awami League leaders left the party, the Abu Hossain government moved a motion of no confidence against the Khan cabinet. However, the no-confidence motion was rejected due to lack of sufficient votes. AK Fazlul Haque dismissed the Khan cabinet and installed a new cabinet of the Abu Hussain Sarker on 31 March, but the Khan cabinet was reinstated on the same day after Haque was dismissed by

Feroz Khan Noon Sir Malik Feroz Khan Noon, ( ur, ملک فیروز خان نون; 7 May 18939 December 1970), best known as Feroze Khan, was a Pakistani politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Pakistan from 1957 until being removed wh ...

's administration. On 19 June 1958,

Ataur Rahman Khan Ataur Rahman Khan ( bn, আতাউর রহমান খান; 1 July 1907 – 7 December 1991) was a Bangladeshi lawyer, politician and writer, and served as Chief Minister of East Pakistan from 1 September 1956 – March 1958, and as the P ...

's cabinet fell due to a no-confidence motion. Abu Hussain Sarker's ministry was ousted by a no-confidence vote on the day it formed the ministry on June 20. After Ataur Rahman Khan's cabinet came to power, governor's rule was imposed in the province on June 25 for 2 months.

Governance

After absorption into the Dominion of Pakistan, the province of

(former East Bengal) was administered by a ceremonial

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and an indirectly elected

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. During the year from May 1954 to August 1955, executive powers were exercised by the Governor and there was no Chief Minister.

Governors

Chief Ministers

Legislature

East Pakistan's provincial assembly consisted of 300 members. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the provincial name was changed. The legislature was a successor to the

Bengal Legislative Council The Bengal Legislative Council ( was the legislative council of British Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It was the legislature of the Bengal Presidency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After reforms wer ...

and the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It was established under the Government of India A ...

, which were divided between

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

during the partition of Bengal in 1947. It was the largest provincial legislature in Pakistan.

Judiciary

The High Court of judicature for East Bengal commonly known as the Dhaka High Court was established in 1947 under Pakistan (Provisional Constitutional) Order 1947 as a separate High Court with all Appellate, Civil and Original jurisdictions. In 1955 the Dhaka High Court became the ''High Court of

'' and the Supreme Court of Pakistan was established as the apex Court with the appellate jurisdiction to hear the decisions of the High Courts established in the East and West Pakistan.High Court of West Pakistan (Establishment) Order, 1955 (G.G.O. XIX of 1955), Art. 3 Until 1967 the High Court was held in the building that now known as the Old High Court Building on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, opposite the curzon hall, Dhaka. With the construction of a larger facility in the 1960s nearby that now houses the

Supreme Court of Bangladesh The Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশ সুপ্রীম কোর্ট) is the highest court of law in Bangladesh. It is composed of the High Court Division and the Appellate Division, and was created by Part VI C ...

and Attorney General's office, the High Court was shifted from Old House on 10 July 1967.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{refend} Provincial Governments of Pakistan Politics of East Pakistan Organisations based in Dhaka 1971 disestablishments in Pakistan Post-independence history of Pakistan 1947 establishments in East Pakistan