administrative friction. It was also slated that, in the provincial legislatures, the Centre used 10 be attacked by the provincial ministers in order to divert the attention of those who were inconvenienced by the faulty administration of the province.
57. As against the unitary form, the following views were expressed for a federal form. A unitary form of government is practicable if the country is one compact area. The geographical position of the two wings of Pakistan makes the federal form inevitable as, otherwise, administrative difficulties would arise apart from confirming the people of the East wing, in their present feeling of being treated as a Colony, as the Capital is situated in West Pakistan. As regards administration, a high degree of decentralization would be necessary and, if there be no provincial legislature, with powers of criticizing the administration, the officers would become autocratic. One parliament would find it difficult to legislate for the entire country, especially during emergencies. The manner in which the development of East Pakistan was handled in the past has shaken the confidence of that province in the Centre, and to overlook the distrust and suspicion that has crept in would be extremely unwise.
Discussion of the Problem
58. There is no part of the subject of our enquiry which seems to us to present greater difficulties than the question whether the form of government should be unitary or federal as, in the controversy, feelings appear to run high. That was apparently the reason why 959 replies took the extreme view in favor of a very weak Centre while, during our enquiry, when the several aspects of the question were fully discussed with the witnesses, only 23 favored that view. It will be convenient to consider this minority view after dealing with the main question of a unitary form of government versus the federal variety of the late Constitution.
59. It is necessary, at the outset, to refer to certain facts which constitute the background to the main issue. After 1957, when the British Sovereign took over from the East India Company, a unitary form of government was established in British India. As a result of the reforms introduced in 1919, the provinces were given certain powers and, very soon, the demand for more powers for the provinces assumed an important role in the general scheme of agitation till at last provincial autonomy became the objective. Though the majority community, while referring to the future Constitution of India, had expressed itself in favor of a unified strong Central Government, yet its immediate objective was provincial autonomy as the first practical step towards independence. The Muslim community was all along for provincial autonomy in order to avoid domination by the majority community. Thus political activity centered round the provinces getting all the powers to manage their provincial affairs, but this goal was not reached though the Government of India Act, 1935, except in certain matters, gave the provinces extensive powers. When, out of the undivided India, two self-governing dominions emerged, the system of government was still of a federal variety with a very strong Centre. The people of East Pakistan, who had worked wholeheartedly for the achievement of Pakistan, finding themselves free from the domination of the Ilindus, were quite prepared to follow the Quaid-e-Azam for strengthening their newly won independence. In spite of the