Separation of East Pakistan
Background
• 1940,
Prime Minister of Bengal, Fazul ul Haq put forward the Lahore Resolution
• It
demanded that Muslim majority regions to gain independence
• This
measure was passed unanimously by the Muslim League
• This
made people of Bengal believe when independence came there would be an
autonomous state centre in Bengal
• But
in 1946, the word states became state and in 1947 Muslims found themselves
governed from Karachi
• Further,
they learnt that Bengal was to be partitioned and major portion of Bengal will
be going to Indian side including Calcutta which was economical, financial,
industrial hub as well as important port
• So
from early 1947, seeds of tension were sown
Social and
Cultural Disparity
• Urdu
was chosen to be the national language however, Bengalis opposed that Urdu was
the mother tongue of only 6% of the whole of Pakistan. Bengalis was spoken by
56% of Pakistan
• 1952,
students of East Pakistan called "A State Language Day"
• The
government banned protests on that day but a march was still held resulting in
several deaths. The protests continued at different times till in 1956
Constitution Bengali was recognized as one of the official languages of
Pakistan
• Bengalis
had altogether a different culture, art, music, dance and cultural heroes than
from West Pakistan
• It
seemed East and West Pakistan were two wings of the same country but divide by
1000 miles and by culture
Economic
Disparity
·
Newly formed Pakistan was a poor country
·
East Pakistan was much poorer than West
Pakistan
·
When policies were implemented to boost
economy, all policies favored West Pakistan
·
More than twice as much foreign aid and
capital investment went to West Pakistan than to East Pakistan
·
Earnings of Jute from East Pakistan were used
in West Pakistan
·
Per capita income increased in West Pakistan
however decreased in East Pakistan with the passage of time this gap increased
·
Bengalis believed that economic progress of
West Pakistan was the result of transferring resources from East to West
Pakistan
·
The largest source of income was exporting
jute grown in East Pakistan however, the income earned was mainly spent on
defense of West Pakistan
·
Similarly, there was a difference in health
and education. Number of primary school in West Pakistan rose by 163% and in
East Pakistan, the increase of just 38%
Political
Disparity
·
Bengalis also complained that despite the
fact they had majority in Assembly but Governor Generals and Prime Ministers
were nearly always from West Pakistan
·
Similarly, in Pakistan Army all key senior
positions were dominated by officers from West Pakistan
·
Likewise, in civil service major senior posts
were filled by officers from West Pakistan so much so that over key positions
in Dhaka officials were from West Pakistan
1970 Cyclone
·
Deadliest cyclone ever hit East Pakistan in
1970
·
500,000 people died
·
East Pakistan accused West Pakistan
government for not responding in time and for complete negligence
·
West Pakistan confirmed that coordinated
relief efforts were being carried out however, reports reported that this was
not the case
·
India was one of the first nations that
offered help
·
West Pakistan denied their help which angered
East Pakistan
·
It was just weeks after elections of National
Assembly were to be held which created further problems for General Yahiya Khan
Problematic
Results of 1970 Elections
·
There were two main parties which contested
in 1970 elections
·
Pakistan People's Party led by Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto was based in West Pakistan
·
Awami League Party led by Sheikh Mujib ur
Rehman was based in East Pakistan
·
Awami League contested the elections on the
basis of 6 point agenda of more provincial and economical autonomy
·
They won the elections with a stunning
victory. Out of 300 seats 162 seats belonged to East Pakistan and Awami League
won 160
·
PPP won just 81 seats out of 138 in West
Pakistan
·
These results were disturbing for General
Yahiya Khan as traditional dominance of West Pakistan was threatened to be
overturned
Reasons for Awami League Victory causing Constitutional Crisis
There were two major problems arising from
elections results
• Firstly, Awami League won elections with such a majority that it not only had majority seats in East Pakistan but also in National Assembly as a whole. It meant that Awami League can form the government on its own. Prime Minister and entire cabinet will come from East Pakistan. Though PPP won most of the seats in West Pakistan but it had no role in the government unless Awami League invited PPP to have share of the government
• Secondly,
Awami League contested elections on the basis of more provincial and economical
autonomy for East Pakistan. It wanted to have more control over the foreign
exchange earned from East Pakistan exports. It meant that Central government
will be losing its control over its wing and it will be having less funds
available
Yahiya Khan and politicians from West
Pakistan were not ready to allow this. Although Mujib was ready to negotiate
but steps were taken before he was given a chance to explain
The Crisis
Deepens
Yahiya's offer to Mujib:
In order to reach a compromise Yahiya Khan
offered Mujib to
·
Become President of Pakistan
·
He hoped he will persuade Mujib to not to
form next government
·
He will convince Mujib not to use new
assembly to create new constitution limiting the powers of Central Government
But people of East Pakistan expected from
Mujib to remain firm
PPP reaction
to election results and Yahiya Khan's offer to Mujib:
• PPP
announced that it would not take up its seats in National Assembly unless Mujib
talked with other parties and reached an agreement on power sharing
• Yahiya
postponed the date of assembly just two days before it was about to meet
East
Pakistan's take on the situation:
• East
Pakistan perceived they had been betrayed
• They
began civil disobedience, strikes, and demonstrations and refused to pay taxes
• When
situation worsened General Yahiya Khan recalled provincial governor and
appointed General Tikka Khan as Chief Martial Law Administrator
• Yahiya
and Bhutto met Mujib to resolve the situation and that it was hoped that
agreement will be reached
Operation
Searchlight:
•
President General Yahiya Khan launched
operation searchlight to crush Bengali Nationalism
•
Yahiya claimed that he had launched the
campaign to keep order in East Pakistan as Awami League's campaign was threat
to Pakistan's unity
•
In reality, this operation was an attempt to
wipe out all opposition to Yahiya's Government through a campaign of oppression
•
Mujib was arrested and thousands of Bengalis
were killed and Pakistan Army took control of towns and cities of East Pakistan
•
Press censorship was imposed and political
activities were banned
•
In retaliation, Bengalis announced in a
secret radio broadcast from Dhaka the formation of Sovereign People's Republic
of Bengladesh
•
Yahiya Khan and political leaders of West
Pakistan supported the military action and Bhutto claimed that Pakistan has
been saved
Mukti
Bahini:
•
India declared their support for the people
of Bengal against West Pakistan
•
Indian Army started training rebel Bengali
army which called itself Mukti Bahini
•
As a result, relations of India and Pakistan
deteriorated very rapidly
•
Indian High Commission in Dhaka was closed
likewise, Pakistani High Commission in Calcutta was also closed
•
Yahiya sent more troops to East Pakistan and
successfully delt with Mukti Bahini
Role of
Soviet Union, USA & China
•
Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Peace with
India
•
It meant that Soviet Union will be supporting
India in case of war
•
USA and China, however, emphasized on Yahiya
to have negotiations with Awami League to resolve the issue
•
On knowing the fact that Indians were
supporting rebels of East Pakistan, Yahiya declared emergency and told his
people to get ready for war
•
Indians gathered their troops around East
Pakistan and tension grew high
War with India
•
With tension mounting, the war with India was
inevitable
•
Pakistan Air Force launched attacks on
northern India
•
Mrs. Gandhi reacted immediately
•
India attached East Pakistan from land, air
and sea
•
They recognized East Pakistan as independent
state of Bangladesh
•
Soon, Indian Army got control of Dhaka
•
Pakistan Army attacked Punjab and Kashmir to
divert Indian army but it didn't get successful
•
UN Security Council called for immediate end
of war and withdrawal of Indian army from East Pakistan
•
Soviet Union supported India while USA was
not prepared to do the same
•
Bhutto knew that Pakistan has to win this war
on its own
•
Yahiya accepted defeat and ordered army to
surrender
•
Mukti Bahini carried out killing on large
scale for all those who were suspected having supported West Pakistan
West Pakistan's take on Separation of East
Pakistan:
•
In final days before surrender, Pakistan Army
wiped out large number of professional Bengalis to weaken the new country and
make it less rival to Pakistan
•
Separation of East Pakistan came as a shock
for people of West Pakistan
•
People were made to believe that Awami League
was only group of rebels and India intervened in East Pakistan to worsen the
situation
Reasons for defeat of Pakistan Army in East
Pakistan:
•
People of East Pakistan were determined to
resist West Pakistan
•
Forces knew that they were forcing East
Pakistan to remain with West Pakistan however, former didn't want to
•
Forces were not fighting with heart where
they had to put up armed resistance against fellow Muslims
•
Pakistan knew it will be having little
support from its allies
•
East Pakistan had support from India and
allies of Pakistan were not prepared to offer the same
•
Civil war in East Pakistan turned into war
between India and Pakistan
Consequences of the War:
•
Defeat in war brought great disgrace to
Yahiya and for army
•
Yahiya resigned and he was replaced by Bhutto
•
21 December, 1971 the Republic of Bangladesh
was officially declared
•
Two weeks later, Bhutto released Mujib from
prison
•
He returned to Bangladesh and on January
1972, he became first Prime Minister of Bangladesh
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