Financial Appeal for Recompense: The Cost of Muslim League Agitation in NWFP to M.A. Jinnah

Sub title : A Request for a Special Grant from the Peshawar Administration to the Governor-General

Subject: Post-Partition Provincial Finances | Cost of Political Agitation | NWFP Referendum (1947) | Financial Claims on the Pakistan Central Government

Date of publication: 1947

Language: English

Page: 2p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 27939

Keyword: M.A. Jinnah -- Governor-General -- NWFP Finances -- Muslim League Agitation -- 1947 Referendum | Financial Grant -- Peshawar -- Post-Partition Economics -- Khan Sahib Ministry | Pakistan Central Government -- Provincial Debt -- Political Mobilization Cost.

Abstract: This demi-official letter from the Peshawar administration to Governor-General M.A. Jinnah, presents a detailed financial claim. It outlines the historically poor financial state of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), which relied on central subsidies. The core argument is that the "Muslim League Agitation" between April and July 1947, which culminated in the referendum that brought the province into Pakistan, cost the provincial treasury approximately. This sum includes expenses for suppressing the agitation (new jails, additional police) and significant revenue losses (entertainment tax, excise). The author strategically reframes these costs as a necessary investment for Pakistan's creation and directly appeals to Jinnah for a special grant to cover them, bypassing "usual channels."

Description: This official correspondence is a fascinating artifact from the very first months of Pakistan's existence. It reveals the complex transition from political struggle to administrative responsibility. The letter meticulously itemizes how the very agitation that secured NWFP for Pakistan—a movement led by Jinnah's League—became a line-item fiscal crisis for the new provincial government. The writer cleverly juxtaposes the "loss" to the treasury with the "result achieved"—the peaceful referendum and accession to Pakistan—to justify the request for federal reimbursement. Addressed directly to Jinnah as Governor-General, it demonstrates how he was seen as the ultimate arbiter and patron, even on granular financial matters, in the nascent state. This document provides a concrete look at the economic repercussions of mass political movements and the early challenges of inter-governmental finance in Pakistan. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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