Progressive movements, which emerged during the colonial rule of the former British India, split after the Partition in 1947 according to the division into India and Pakistan.
After the creation of Pakistan in 1947 the progressive and nationalist forces in Balochistan intensified their efforts to link up with forces in other provinces which sought progressive social change and an equitable federal system which would respect the autonomy of the provinces and historical rights of the nationalities inhabiting the territory of the new state. As a result of these efforts the National Party came into existence in West Pakistan in 1956-1957. It included the remnants of the Kalat National Party, the Asthman Gal of Prince Agha Abdul Karim and the Wrore Pukhtoon of Abdus Samad Achakzai from Balochistan, the Khudai Khidmatgar (Red Shirt) Movement of Abdul Ghafar Khan in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Sindh Awami Mahaz of G.M. Sayed and the Sindh Hari Committee of Haider Bux Jatoi in Sindh and the Azad Pakistan Party of Mian Iftikharuddin, based primarily in the Punjab. A few months later the Bhashani faction of the Awami League and Ganatantri Dal of Mahmud Ali and Sardar Fazlul Karim from East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) merged with the National Party to form the National Awami Party (NAP) in 1957.
The NAP became the only all Pakistan and the sole progressive alternative to the corrupt and reactionary Muslim League which had ruled the country for most part since the Independence. The NAP, which was opposed to Pakistan's alliance with the United States and wanted progressive reforms, was expected to perform well in the country's first general elections scheduled for early 1959. But these elections were prevented by Ayub Khan's coup d'état in 1958 and all political parties were banned. When Ayub allowed political parties again in 1962, the NAP was revived with all of its old components except the G.M. Sayed group and Ganatantri Dal. At the end of 1967 the NAP split between Bhashani and Wali Khan factions, while the peasant wing of the party in the NWFP, led by Afzal Bangash, formed a separate Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP). Bizenjo, Khair Bux Mari, Attaulah Mengal and the rest of the Balochistan party went with Wali Khan. In the 1970 general elections the NAP (Wali) emerged with the largest number of seats in the NWFP and Balochistan assemblies. With the separation of East Pakistan the Bhashani faction of the NAP ceased to exist in the truncated Pakistan and the Wali faction alone came to be known as NAP. It formed provincial governments in two of the four provinces, in coalition with the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Islam of Mufti Mahmood. Bizenjo became the Governor and Mengal the Chief Minister of Balochistan. This Ministry was, however, dismissed arbitrarily by the people's party-led central government, and the NWFP government resigned in protest in 1973.
In 1975 the Bhutto government banned the NAP, arrested its leaders and subjected them to a sedition trial in a special tribunal.

The collection and its arrangement

The collection Progressive Movements in Pakistan was received by the IISH in 1997 and 1998. The collection, which will be supplemented in the near future, has been created by Ahmad Salim of the South Asian Research and Resource Centre (SARRC) in Lahore and Islamabad. It consists of a great many documents, photocopies as well as originals, in Urdu, Sindhi and English of political parties, workers' unions and movements of peasants, students and (regional) nationalists. Furthermore some personal papers of various persons are included. However, because of their quantity and the accruals to be expected, the papers of G.M. Sayed have been described separately. The arrangement and description of the documents, which has been started by Ahmad Salim in 1998, was completed in 1999. A video tape has been transferred to the audiovisual section of the IISH.
The size of the collection is 1.12 m.

INTRODUCTION

In 2000 and 2001 the IISH received accruals to the collection Progressive Movements in Pakistan from Ahmad Salim. It consists of a series of chronological notes on the political history of Pakistan by Ahmad Salim 1947-1969, 1971-1977; a series of documents relating to political parties and politicians collected by Ahmad Salim, including his supplementary notes 1947-1969, 1971-1977; congress papers, manifesto's, leaflets, newsletters, copies of periodicals and other documents relating to the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) 1975, 1981-1988, 1999-2000, the East Pakistan Awami League 1966, 1969, the Kalat State National Party 1947, the Labour Party Pakistan 1998-2000, the Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP) 1972-1975, the Communist Mazdoor Kisan Party (originated from a merger with the CPP) 1998-2000, the National Awami Party 1966-1970, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), 1970-1974, 1987-1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, the Pakistan Socialist Party 1988-1999, the Young Peoples Front 1970-1973 and other political organizations; documents relating to trade unions, labour movements (see also trade unions) the student movement and the peasant movement; booklets, pamphlets and other printed material, including the secret ‘Punjab political Who's who' 1921 and a series of government intelligence reports on the 1947 massacres of Muslims (published in 1948);
personal documents consisting of manuscripts of poems by Sara Shagufta, a manuscript by Iqbal Leghari on the history of the socialist movement in Pakistan, an autobiographical account by Fazal Ilahi Qurbun, some documents of Hyder Baksh Jatoi 1968-1969, documents of S.M. Jaffar, director of Archives of the North-West Frontier Province 1931, 1935-1974 and director of the Peshawar Museum, consisting of correspondence with historians, librarians and others 1964-1973; completed questionnaires and other documents.
The size of the accrual is 1.9 m.

 

Political parties

Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP)

Pakistan National Awami Party

Pakistan National Party (PNP)

 Pashtoon Students Organisation (PSO)

Communist Mazdoor Kisan Party (CMKP)
 Labour Party Pakistan
 Liberal Forum
 (Pakistan) Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP)
 Pakistan National Awami Party
 Pakistan National Party (PNP)
 Pakistan People's Party (PPP)
 Pakistan Socialist Party