43
control all the other provinces
by forming a government, that is a source of the
problem defined at 3.2 as disparity of representation.
The problem of premature dissolutions in Pakistan is a matter of its constitutional
history explored in the next section. In the next section it is therefore very important
to analyse the evolution
of federalism in British India, and how it is related to
Pakistan's present political instability.
4.1
Launch of Federalism in British India
This section covers the aspects of federalism and its evolution before and after the
creation of Pakistan. These analyses will demystify the core causes behind the
country's struggle in adopting the factors of democratic federalism selected for the
purpose of analysis in this thesis. These findings will
also distinguish between
federalism as adopted by Pakistan and how the researcher analyses it according to
his hypothesis of constitutional suitability in 4.3.5 and in Chapter 6. It is important
to contextualise pre-Pakistan federalism as practised during British Rule and how
the current model of federalism in Pakistan has been evolved from that concept. It
is argued that the federalism implemented by the British Empire was to benefit the
colonial arrangement and not necessarily the post-colonial countries. This section
will also show how the British applied the concept of federalism in a completely
different way from that of any other prominent federal democracy.
This section
supplements the theoretical discussion of federalism in Chapter 3 by exploring the
varied or applied form of federalism used in Pakistan, along with its evolutionary
origin that traces back to the later 1700s.
At that period, the British
colonised and ruled India, through the East India
Company
initially, and then three independent presidencies were set up, each
responsible for their own remit.
172
After the fall of the Mughal dynasty, the British
introduced for the first time a system of devolution of powers from the centre to the
provinces where the interest of the Empire was ultimate.
173
The Office of Governor
General was created by the Regulatory Act 1773
to subordinate all these
presidencies.
174
The Governor General was assisted by a council called the executive
172
Lucy Sutherland,
The East India Company in Eighteenth Century Politics (The Clarendon Press
1952).
173
Asok Chanda,
Federalism in India (London: George Allen & Unwin 1965).
174
ibid.
44
council,
175
which had legislative powers vested in it by the British Parliament.
Further reforms to the act enhanced the position of the Governor General in the
executive council.
176
The presidencies were later given the status of provinces or
dominions and given certain administrative and legislative powers.
177
A judiciary
was already present to interpret law.
178
Consequently,
the government was
comprised of a legislative body, an executive (council) and a judiciary where powers
were also devolved to provinces. This arrangement could only benefit the rulers
rather than the subjects or the federating units as it gave the Crown better control
over the colony to enact laws and impose lagans (taxes). Another reason for its non-
federal aspect was that the central government had enormous overriding powers
with the result that the factor of equal representation described at 3.1 as a
necessary element of a truly
democratic federal state, was missing.
179
There is a
great similarity between this arrangement and Pakistan's federal arrangements
since Pakistan's inception to date, therefore the model of federalisation adopted by
Pakistan is not the one envisaged by this thesis.
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