The Secession of East Pakistan Could Have Been Avoided.
By: Noor Haider
Tags: 1971 War, History, Pakistan Politics, Pakistan, Bangladesh

The Secession of East Pakistan Could Have Been Avoided.

The brutal and tragic amputation of the east wing of Pakistan just 24 years after the creation of Pakistan in 1947 could have been avoided. Though this is debatable, the only part of the separation which everyone agrees on is that that situation could have been managed in a more rational and civil manner by the central leadership. The argument that this crisis could have been completely averted revolve around the idea that the weakening of National unity and the feelings of dissatisfaction, resentment and alienation by one fraction of a country does not develop overnight. These feeling are fostered over time due to a number of factor but mainly as a result the short sightedness of the people in power and their inability to foresee a small crisis’s potential of slowly developing in to a matter of national and international security. This easy will not discuss the gory details of the riots which turned into civil war after the East wing finally was declared and independence state (now Bangladesh) in 1971 or whether the brutal military aggression and suppression by the west wing was justified. This essay will argue on how ignoring the Bengali language demand, the misuse of the East wings resources for the West wing’s development laid the foundation of the divide, also how the geographical contiguity issue is just used an excuse by what is now Pakistan to find comfort in face of such a great but avoidable tragedy. This essay is an effort to prove that it was in Pakistan’s (West Wing) power to prevent the separation of East Pakistan now Bangladesh.

The first indiscretion that cost Pakistan half of its country was the Bengali language issues. Urdu was selected as the national language of Pakistan by Jinnah himself as lingua franca, which he believed would help unite the country and bring harmony. For Bengalis’ this was initially less about language and more about being recognised. They were not a minority in any sense, neither a religious one nor an ethnic one. And yet they were treated like one. When a major chunk of your population puts forward a demand, repeatedly. It is the responsibly of the central leadership to negotiate with them, if not negotiate, at least make them feel heard. It was a simple demand which obviously meant a great deal to the Bengalis who felt betrayed and exploited by the West wing. Their demand was called everything from a Hindu conspiracy to a secessionist movement except for what it truly was; half of your country seeking recognition. Too much damage had been done by the time Bengali was made national language under the article 214(1) of the constitution of Pakistan (1956).

The second thing that hit East Pakistan like a bullet was large scale development in West Pakistan. The Capital was moved from Karachi to Islamabad, literally developing a city from scratch. The government reserves, earning and savings of trade were all in the West Wing. All the foreign exchange was immediately transferred to the west wing and the province had little provincial autonomy. The East wing was an agro based economy which was already less developed as compared to the west wing. In the book “What Was Once East Pakistan” it is claimed that the two economic thesis was merely an attempt to guarantee and safeguard the resources and funds of the East wing. Which, if you think about, was their legal right. They were being robbed and their resources exploited. And any attempts they made to promote their interest was called a secessionist in nature. This only aggravated the already disappointed Bengalis. Province should not have to fight for their interest it’s the States responsibility. There is no way of finding out if the East wing would have separated or not, but their rigid stance on the six points put forward by Mujeeb-ur-Rehman is justified keeping in view the 23-year long history of ill treatment that they had received. Just like the Bengali language issue, we learned our lesson on provincial autonomy years after a shameful military surrender and the loss of half our country with the 18th amendment.

There is a notion that is widely accepted that the geographical distance of over thousands of miles between the two wings was a Hindu conspiracy to undermine the geographical integrity of Pakistan. And the co-existence with such a distance was not in the best interests or viable for Pakistan and separation was bound to happen. Considering the technological advancements especially when it comes to travelling this argument loses its ground. No doubt geographical situation that the two wings found themselves in was a unique one which came with challenges of its own but it was not something completely impossible to manage or even maintain. And this is not just a theory we can see the example of Hong Kong, separated from the Chinese mainland by sea. And even the Hawaiian island which is 2,500 miles away from the cost of California, which is double the distance that is there between Pakistan and Bangladesh. If China and Hong Kong can successfully work on a “One Country, Two Systems” proposal, Pakistan too could have devised a similar workable agreement. If not agree entirely on the “Two-Economy Thesis” proposed by the Sheikh Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman perhaps a compromise between the two wings. Claiming that it was bound to happen due to the geography appears to be Pakistan’s attempt to find solace in the face of the loss of half of its country and it’s easier to place the blame on others (Indian Conspiracy) or something completely out of one’s control such as the geography than to accept one’s own mistakes unfortunately.

The separation of the east wing was a consequence of the failure of the central leadership of Pakistan who were unable to promote and strengthen national unity in the country. A series of bad decisions and miscalculations were made on the issues concerning the east wing. Their demands on language to provincial autonomy were given no head which laid the foundation of separatism in the country. Pakistan robbed its own people of their resources, earnings and treated 56 percent of its population as a neglected minority. The Brutal and shameful secession of Pakistan could have been prevented if they had not robbed, manipulated and exploited their own people. The rights, interests and autonomy of provinces should be protected at all cost and the political institutions should be manoeuvred to strengthen National unity in order to prevent history from repeating itself.