KARACHI: At zero hour this morning [July 1] four provinces — Baluchistan, NWFP, Punjab and Sind — reappeared on the Pakistan map, as West Pakistan said goodbye to One Unit, an administrative-cum-political arrangement which failed to withstand the test of time and never gained the support and confidence of the people. … [T]he final verdict about its fate was passed on Nov 28 last year by the President, Gen Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan, in his historic address to the nation.

While laying the groundwork for the holding of general elections, outlining a definite programme for setting up of the Constitution-making procedure and for effecting a subsequent changeover to Government by the people’s elected representatives, President Yahya Khan said: “There appears to be a general desire to revert to the system of separate provinces instead of the present arrangement of One Unit for the whole of West Pakistan.”

He had also said, “One Unit was created by executive orders which, however, were subsequently approved by the provincial legislatures and by the Second Constituent Assembly.” He added: “In 1957 the West Pakistan legislature had voted in favour of the dissolution of One Unit. If Martial Law was not imposed in 1958, One Unit might have been dissolved long ago.”

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2020