Ghulam Muhammad
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Malik Ghulam Muhammad (1895 - 1956) served as Governor-General of Pakistan from 1951 until 1955, shortly before his death. He is best known for the dismissal of prime Minister Nazimuddin, the dissolution of the Constituent assembly, and the imposition of the non-unit scheme .He was primarily responsible for launching East Pakistan on the path of alienation from West Pakistan, for bringing the armed forces into politics, for confirming the country's subservience to Cold War operation, for creating bad blood between Punjab and the other federating units, and for devaluing democratic norms. Taken together his actions created crises that got aggravated year after year and which have dogged Pakistan to this day with enormous costs to the people, his dismissal of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Khawaja Nazimuddin, set a trend for future politics in Pakistan.
Born in Lahore, Ghulam Muhammad attended Aligarh University after which he worked in the accounting field. When Pakistan was formed in 1947, Ghulam Muhammad served as its first finance minister, owing to his previously-demonstrated extensive experience in that sector. Suffering from bad health, Ghulam Muhammad was almost removed by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, but the death of the latter gave Ghulam Muhammad the chance to increase his power.
Khawaja Nazimuddin became Prime Minister of Pakistan and Ghulam Muhammad was made the Governor-General. From this position Ghulam Muhammad began to take power away from the Prime Minister, and extended his control over Pakistan. Nazimuddin challenged Ghulam Muhammad's actions, but the latter exercised the reserve powers of the Governor-General's office, dismissing Nazimuddin's government and effectively removing him from office. Muhammad Ali Bogra was installed as the new PM.
In 1954, the Assembly of Pakistan tried to change the constitution to establish checks on the Governor-General's powers, in order to prevent a repeat of what had happened to Nazimuddin's government. In response, Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the Assembly, an action that was challenged in the Supreme Court. Ghulam Muhammad emerged victorious when the Court upheld the dismissal in a split decision, despite the dissenting opinion written by the renowned Justice (later Chief Justice) A. R. Cornelius, and despite protests from the members of the Assembly.
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Although Ghulam Muhammad prevailed against his political opponents, his health deteriorated, and he took a leave of absence in 1955. The acting Governor-General, Iskander Mirza, soon dismissed him, and Ghulam Muhammad died the next year in 1956.
| Preceded by: Khawaja Nazimuddin | Governor-General of Pakistan 1951–1955 | Succeeded by: Iskander Mirza |