Separation of East Pakistan, though a tragic part of history of Pakistan, was not the negation of two-nation theory. Comment
1. Introduction
It is rightly said that separation of East Pakistan was a tragic part of history of Pakistan. But it is also true that the concept of two nation theory was totally different with respect to the causes of separation. By demanding the separation, Bengalis were not compromising the fact that Hindus and Muslims have different civilizations to follow. So, it is fair to conclude that separation of East Pakistan was a result of political, economic and social differences. After the fall of Dhaka, Indira Gandhi boasted: “We have taken the revenge of a thousand years” and “we have drowned the two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal.” However, separation of East Pakistan was, in no way, the negation of “Two Nation Theory, as claimed by Indira because it was not based on the ideology that Bengali were a separate nation and thus should be disintegrated to form an independent country ( Actually, separation was caused by four factors and none of them involved “Two Nation Theory.” These factors included; negligence of East Pakistan by West Pakistan, military unwillingness to share power with East Pakistan, failure between leaders of two wings to reach on an agreed constitution for the country and Indian direct involvement.
2. Why the separation of East Pakistan was not a negation of “Two Nation Theory?”
Since the partition of East Pakistan involved other factors instead of “Two Nation Theory,” it cannot be regarded as its negation. Had West Pakistan treated its Eastern wing equally, addressed the sentiments of the people and even accepted the six points of Mujibur Rehman, it would have never been separated. The factors, responsible for the splitting of East Pakistan are mentioned below in details that make it crystal clear that formation of Bangladesh was not the negation of “Two Nation Theory.”
- Negligence of East Pakistan: Although, East Pakistan contributed to around 70% in Pakistan’s overall economy due to its production and export of Jute, it was ignored to a larger extent by West in following ways. Almost all the heads of army, navy and West Pakistan and West Pakistan almost, c. Bengali constituted only 1% in Pakistan’s army in 1947 and by 1960s their number went up to only 7%, although their population was more than West Pakistan’s total bureaucracy. . In 1966, only 27,648 government officials out of a total 114.302 belonged to East Pakistan, e. In 1969-70, West Pakistan per capita income was 61% higher than East Pakistan’s per capita income, f. During war of 196, East Pakistan was left unprotected Similarly, funds for 1970 cyclone in East Pakistan were diverted to West Pakistan
- Military Unwillingness to share power with Bengali: Pakistan’s military was not willing it would have reduced their influence keeping in view it brought East to share power with Ben Pakistan. The following events describe army reluctance to share power (a) The military abrogated 1956 Constitution because in country General Ayub Khan occupied rein of country and prevented holding general elections based on 1956 constitutions of Pakistan (b) General Ayub khan handed over government to General Yahya khan because the speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan at that time was from East Pakistan and he did not wish to transfer him powers as per constitutional obligations. (c) Two groups of non-Bengali residents of East Pakistan were formed namely Al-Shams and Al-Badr to silence “Non-Obedience Movement of local people. These groups contributed to grave human rights abuses and further created hatred among Bengali towards leadership of West Pakistan (d) Instead of accepting the demands of East Pakistan, General Yahya Khan launched operation “Search Light” to suppress “Non- Obedience Movement, which failed owing to direct intervention of India and resulted in independence of East Pakistan,
- Unable to Reach on an Agreed Constitution: The elections of 1970 were held under Legal Framework Order (LFO) for total 313 parliamentary constituencies, of which 169 were in East Pakistan and 144 in West Pakistan. It was the first general elections held in Pakistan after making of Pakistan in 1947. Awami League under Mujibur Rehman won 167 out of 169 seats and Pakistan People’s Party under Zulifqar Ali Bhutto won majority of seats from West Pakistan and emerged as the second largest party in Pakistan. According to LFO, National Assembly had to frame a new constitution for Pakistan within 120 days. Mujibur Rahman put forwarded his six demands to be included in Constitution. Both the leaders failed to reach on an agreement. As a result, Mujib launched a “Non-Obedience Movement” in East Pakistan, which turned into a separate movement.
- Disastrous consequences of One Unit policy: The ruling elites of West Pakistan were in search of a mechanism so as to neutralize the Bengalis’ role in the political system of Pakistan. This goal was achieved through the creation of One Unit. According to this formula, 56 percent representation of East Bengal was brought to 50 percent – at par with West Pakistan. But due to this issue, the aspect of provincial autonomy remained on the back burner.
- Bureaucracy: With the creation of Pakistan, the high-ranking civil servants gained immense influence and power. During the British rule, the bureaucracy was meant for enforcing the will of the government by all means, fair and foul. After the inception of Pakistan, these bureaucratic trends, unfortunately, became stronger. Moreover, Bengalis’ representation in the Civil Services was very poor. In August 1947, there was only one Bengali among the eighty civil servants who opted for Pakistan and constituted the civil services of Pakistan. Bengalis’ under-representation in other government services, except the Foreign Service, was equally conspicuous. The non-Bengali civil servants dominated the East Pakistan services so much so that there was not a single Bengali holding a key position in the Dhaka secretariat.
3. Immediate political factors
i. Military action
The military action that began on 25th March continued till the fall of Dhaka. Yahya Khan and his military commanders present in Dhaka took the final decision, endorsed by Bhutto, for launching a military action. The insurgency erupted that drew support from several quarters. A bulk of Bengali police also sided with insurgents and there were militant groups backed by India which was their main supplier of arms and ammunition.
On March 23, 1971, the Awami League marked a Republic day by slaughtering the West Pakistanis and Bihari Muslims at a number of places — they were burnt alive and even women and children were not spared. The Bangladeshi flag was hoisted, instead of Pakistani flag. A plan was prepared to declare the independence of Bangladesh on the night between March 24th and 25th. Then Yahya Khan nominated Tikka Khan as the governor of East Pakistan but his administration was totally unaware of the true situation prevailing in the province.
Military operation failed to control the situation. It instead brought press restrictions and censorship. The martial law administration expelled all foreign journalists and even the local journalists also were disillusioned by wrong information.
ii. Indian invasion
Pakistan was in no position to fight an all-out war with India. Geographically, East Pakistan was surrounded by India and the sea. The Pakistani defense planners had believed in its indefensibility and formulated a defense policy which stipulated that it could be defended from West Pakistan. This policy contributed to a virtual exclusion of the Bengalis from the armed forces. When India invaded, Pakistani troops were without air protection, and despite demonstrating courage, they had to surrender. Finally, on 16th December 1971, India recognized Bangladesh and in retaliation, Pakistan cut off diplomatic relations between the two countries.
4.    Conclusion
According to Sharif-ul-Mujahid, “it is not the ideology that has failed the nation, it is the nation that has failed the ideology. “139 Sharif al-Mujahid is quite correct in arguing that the emergence of Bangladesh is not a manifestation of an ideological disruption It would not be an exaggeration to say that without Muslim Bengali support, perhaps, there might not have been a Pakistan. Indeed, without Bengali Muslims constituting the eastern wing of Pakistan, there would have not been any Bangladesh. What is being stressed here is that both Pakistan and Bangladesh have refuted the Westphalian model and embraced Islamic nationalism Sharif al-Mujahid opines that the division of Pakistan and emergence of Bangladesh were not necessarily the denouement of the Islamic ideology or of the two- nation theory. All it showed was the gradual erosion of the cluster of shared values beliefs attitudes and political orientation because the ruling elites failed to translate Islamic Ideology into social action programs. Thus, the separation of East Pakistan was because of above mentioned factors. Bengali wanted rights as per the constitution. Had they been given their equitable share in the government, they would have not launched Non-Obedience Movement it is now clear that independence of Bangladesh had nothing to do with the “Two hon Theory. They got separation because they were not provided autonomy.