(EDITORIAL) The proclamation issued by the Governor-General on Friday [Aug 27] declaring a grave emergency in pursuance of section 102 of the Government of India Act, 1935, does not come a moment too soon and will be widely welcomed by all who have the interests of Pakistan at heart. The immediate object with which the Central Government have assumed these wide powers is to meet … a threat to the economic life of Pakistan due to circumstances arising out of a mass movement of population from and into Pakistan. But the proclamation also empowers the Centre to issue directives to the Provincial Governments with regard to other matters of vital concern to the state and the nation, and to ensure compliance with them.
The recent regrettable incidents in the Montgomery district of West Punjab, where firing upon a very large and violent demonstration of refugees had to be resorted to, was a fresh and painful reminder of the nature and the extent of the emergency which exists. …[But] it would be futile for [the West Punjab] Government to deny that they have allowed conditions to arise which smooth the path of trouble makers.
Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2023
