Landed Aristocracy in the Punjab 1947-1958

The study based on archival and library research has revealed that Punjab in Pakistan similar to the British times continued to have high importance in social, economic and political business of the state and society. Nearing and after partition Landed aristocracy had varied groups but focus of this research has been landed aristocracy including Iftikhar Hussain Mamdot and Mumtaz Daultana who turned Punjab into Jinnah’s cornerstone of Pakistan Movement. The important political transformation in Pakistani Punjab from 1947 to 1958 has been that landed aristocrats thus aligning with Jinnah and Muslim League in Punjab in opposition to British rulers, Unionist Party and the Congress were gradually maligned, sidelined, ousted or replaced by the non-Leaguer landed aristocrats like Mozaffar Ali Qizilbash or pro-Congress Dr. Khan Sahib through planned social, economic, intellectual and political engineering. The factors of engineering had been many but colonial inheritance where the British had still superior role and key positions to control the system and rapidly changing regimes at centre under the influence of Colonial or neo-Colonial plans through patronage politics manoeuvred factional conflicts which shifted power from companions of Jinnah to the British loyalists landed aristocracy and civil-military bureaucracy. The powers of Governor had already been diminished in the Provisional Constitution of Pakistan 1947 but British Governor Sir Francis Mudie having Colonial mindset acted beyond the Constitutional powers and had been striving to gain maximum powers (specially control over allotment of lands) by conveying drawbacks and alleged weaknesses of the ruling landed aristocracy in press and official correspondence with centre which paved way for Governor Rule in Punjab on 25 January 1949 by introducing engineered Section 92A in the Constitution. Observing concentration of maximum power in the hands of Governor and bureaucracy, landed aristocracy stood united temporarily as they had been sidelined through manipulated factional conflict by pitting one minister against the other. First ever elections in Punjab in 1951 were extensively rigged by using state machinery and campaign in official capacity by the Prime Minister and Ministers from Central government. The cases of alleged corruption established by Crown which caused defamation of landed aristocracy proved false and Mamdot and others were cleared of allegations by tribunals and the courts. The available evidences upheld that the task of rehabilitation was already assumed by the military in the end of August 1947 so inefficiencies conveyed by the Governor were attempted political engineering. Interference from centre and use of religious cards through engineered antiAhmadiya Movement initiated by Ahrars (opponents of Pakistan Movement) resulted into Daultana’s ouster from Premiership in Punjab. Thus Premiership was given to Firoz Khan Noon who had been striving for it since the Elections 1946 and Francis Mudie had also been manipulating and convincing the centre to bring him in power. His difference with centre upon the issue of election of members for Constituent Assembly from Punjab and formation of One Unit and his attempted invitation to Fatima Jinnah to become the President of Muslim League also resulted into his forced removal by giving Premiership to another landed aristocrat Abdul Hamid Dasti. Next short regime of Abdul Hamid Dasti was just a transitional phase to make arrangements for establishment of One Unit which also proved setback not only for landed aristocracy but for the Punjab at large because power shifted to non-Leaguers and old loyalists of the British. Ultimately imposition of martial law by Ayub Khan permanently banned Iftikhar Mamdot and Mumtaz Daultana from taking part in the politics and thus almost all landed aristocrat founders of Pakistan were ousted from power corridors by 1958.