Jan 1 M. Yaqoob Shah, Auditor General Pakistan to head the committee appointed for making Karachi the federal capital of Pakistan

Jan 3 Nawab Mushtaq Gurmani, former PM Bahawalpur State, appointed minister without portfolio

Jan 6 Constitutuent Assembly passes Public & Presentation Office Disqualification Act (PRODA), authorizing GG to disqualify corrupt politicians for 10 years

Jan 24 Liaquat dismisses the Mamdot-led Punjab Cabinet

Feb 4 Pir Ilahi Bakhsh, CM Sindh, resigns after objections to his election to the provincial assembly are proven correct

Feb 14-Mar 10 Constituent Assembly sessions (16 sittings)

Mar 12 Basic Principles Committee formed to report on the proposed constitution of Pakistan

Jun 17 Masood’s note of dissent made public by Sindh CM Yousuf Haroon: Masood had condemned the absentee landlordism with arguments from Islam, and recommended confiscation of feudal properties to free the peasants from unbearable oppression  (<Mar)

Jul 27 Cease fire treaty between Pakistani and Indian armies in Kashmir

Oct Pheray, Punjabi film released Aug 3, becomes first Pakistani silver jubilee; starring Swaren Lata, Nazeer, Nazar, Alaudin; produced & directed by Nazeer, music from Chishti

Dec 23-Jan 19 (1950) Constituent Assembly sessions (15 sittings)

Objectives Resolution: a step forward or two steps back?

March 12. While the government hails the Objectives Resolution, passed by the Constituent Assembly today, other observers have their reservations.

It is true that the document mentions democaracy and torerance to be the guiding principles of future constitution making but the vague and unexplainable insertion of Islam as “Religion of State” raises questions in mind. How does it stand in relation to the “spiritual democracy” Iqbal had envisaged for the Muslim homeland  ayear before his Allahabad Address, or the guidelines given to the Constituent Assembly by late Jinnah on Aug 11, 1947?

Press under attack

May 13. Lahore-based Civil & Military Gazzette is banned on instigation of other leading journalists, including Faiz Ahmed Faiz (!), progressive editor of Pakistan Times. In an unprecedented move, six leading dailies publish the same editorial urging the government to act against CMG.

Masud files defamation against the Government of Sindh

May 5 Masood Khaddar Posh files defamation against Govt of Sindh. He has allegedly found solid proofs that the ulema who wrote pamphlet against him were bribed by a provincial minister with strong feudal interests. Masood is allegedly facing pressure from the Central Govt to withdraw suit.

Thal Development Authority

An Act is passed to set up Thal Development Authority, charged with the reclamation and colonization of the Thal, a treeless desert covering 5 million acres. The scheme involves irrigation and buildings, forestation and the construction of roads and the setting up of industries; 250,000 refugees are to be settled in the Thal, and in all 1.5 million acres will be brought under cultivation.

Kalat's revolt

December 4. Shahzada Abdul Karim, younger brother of  the Khan of Qalat, sentenced 10 years imprisonment on sedition charges. He had raised armed revolt against Pakistan with the help of 200 tribal men and presumably some support from the govt of Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister will visit US

December 10 The Foreign Office has announced the Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan's decision to visit the US next year. This is an about turn from the earlier inclination to visit the USSR.

Cease fire tonight

January 1 Pakistan and India observe ceasefire at 11:59 p.m. in Kashmir according to UNO Security Council decree

Read UN Resolution

Religious leaders back feudals

March. Ishtrakiyat Aur Zraati Masawaat, a pamphlet signed by 16 religious leaders including Abdul Hamid Badauni, supports absentee landlordism and the findings of the Bari Committee.

Masood Khaddar Posh, the dissidant member, is attacked as a socialist and therefore an atheist. It is suspected that the pamphlet is instigated by members of provincial government, since Masood’s note of dissent (frequently refered here) was never made public by the Bari Committee.

Constitutional head

The new state seems to have found its balance of power between the Governor-General and the Prime Minister. Khwaja Nazimuddin, whther by habit or deliberation, has settled down in the role of a nominal head while leaving maximum power in the hand of the Prime Minister. Occasions on which Nazimuddin presides over cabinet meetings are few, and only when Liqauat is away. Perhaps this is also because there is no Deputy who could act for the Prime Minister in his absence.

Awami League

Husain Shaheed Suhrawardy, dissident top ranker of Muslim League, launches Pakistan Awami Muslim League in East Pakistan.

PM plans visit to USSR

June 8 Sir Zafrullah Khan, foreign minister, reveals in a press conference that Mr. & Mrs. Liaquat Ali Khan have accepted the Russian premier Stalin’s invitation to to visit Moscow and the schedule will soon be announced

The champion

April 17. Bholoo Pahalwan  was titled “Rustum-e-Pakistan” after he defeated Younus Pehelwan in a well attended wrestling match here in Karachi.

Open to public Lahore Fort was opened to public on November 11 by Governor Punjab Sirdar Abdur Rab Nishtar, 96 years after closure by the British colonialists. The royal quadrangles, once the private quarters of Mughal and Sikh rulers, are accessible to historians and general public for the first time