Assignment on Mid–Term Exam

Course Code: ECO1124

Course Title: Socio – Economic Profiles of Bangladesh

Prepared for:

...........................................

Syka Parvin
Lecturer
School of Business Studies
Southeast University

Prepared By:

Twasin Abduho Al Wares - ID No: 2015010000442

Sec: 1
School of Business Studies
Southeast University
 Part- A
Answer to the Question No. 1

Language movement:
The Bengali Language Movement was a political movement in former East
Bengal (renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and Bangladesh in 1971) advocating the
recognition of the Bengali language as an official language of the then-Dominion of
Pakistan in order to allow its use in government affairs, the continuation of its use as a
medium of education, its use in media, currency and stamps, and to maintain its writing
in the Bengali script.
When the Dominion of Pakistan was formed by the partition of India in 1947, it was
composed of various ethnic and linguistic groups, with the geographically non-
contiguous East Bengal province having a mainly Bengali population. In 1948,
the Government of the Dominion of Pakistan ordained Urdu as the sole national
language, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East
Bengal. Facing rising sectarian tensions and mass discontent with the new law, the
government outlawed public meetings and rallies. The students of the University of
Dhaka and other political activists defied the law and organized a protest on 21
February 1952. The movement reached its climax when police killed student
demonstrators on that day. The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest. After years of
conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali
language in 1956.
The Language Movement catalyzed the assertion of Bengali national identity in East
Bengal and later East Pakistan, and became a forerunner to Bengali nationalist
movements, including the 6-Point Movement and subsequently the Bangladesh
Liberation War and the Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987. In Bangladesh, 21
February (Ekushey February) is observed as Language Movement Day, a national
holiday. The Shaheed Minar monument was constructed near Dhaka Medical College in
memory of the movement and its victims. In 1999, UNESCO declared 21 February
as International Mother Language Day, in tribute to the Language Movement and the
ethno-linguistic rights of people around the world.

Six-point demand movement:

The six point movement was a movement in East Pakistan, spearheaded by Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman, which called for greater autonomy for East Pakistan. The movement's
main agenda was to realize the six demands put forward by a coalition of Bengali
nationalist political parties in 1966, to end the perceived exploitation of East Pakistan by
the West Pakistani rulers. It is considered a milestone on the road to Bangladesh's
independence.
The reason for proposing six points was to end Master-slave rule in Pakistan. Following
the partition of India, the new state of Pakistan came into being. The inhabitants of East
Pakistan (later Bangladesh) made up the majority of its population, and exports from
East Pakistan (such as jute) were a majority of Pakistan's export income. However, East
Pakistanis did not feel they had a proportional share of political power and economic
benefits within Pakistan. East Pakistan was facing a critical situation after being
subjected to continuous discrimination on a regional basis, year after year. As a result,
the economists, intelligentsia, and the politicians of East Pakistan started to raise
questions about this discrimination, giving rise to the historic six-point movement.

The six points:

The six points are noted as being:

1. The Constitution should provide for a Federation of Pakistan in its true sense
based on the Lahore Resolution, and the parliamentary form of government with
supremacy of a Legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult
franchise.
2. The federal government should deal with only two subjects: Defense and Foreign
Affairs, and all other residual subjects should be vested in the federating states.
3. Two separate, but freely convertible currencies for two wings should be
introduced; or if this is not feasible, there should be one currency for the whole
country, but effective constitutional provisions should be introduced to stop the
flight of capital from East to West Pakistan. Furthermore, a separate Banking
Reserve should be established and separate fiscal and monetary policy be
adopted for East Pakistan.
4. The power of taxation and revenue collection should be vested in the federating
units and the federal center would have no such power. The federation would be
entitled to a share in the state taxes to meet its expenditures.
5. There should be two separate accounts for the foreign exchange earnings of the
two wings; the foreign exchange requirements of the federal government should
be met by the two wings equally or in a ratio to be fixed; indigenous products
should move free of duty between the two wings, and the constitution should
empower the units to establish trade links with foreign countries.
6. East Pakistan should have a separate military or paramilitary force, and Navy
headquarters should be in East Pakistan.

The proposal was rejected by politicians from West Pakistan and non Awami League
politicians from East Pakistan. It was rejected by the President of All Pakistan Awami
League Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan. It was also rejected by National Awami
Party, Jamaat-i-Islam, and Nizam-i-Islam. The movement had the support of the
population of East Pakistan.
 Part- B
Answer to the Question No. 1

Language movement impact of the socio-cultural exploitations in 1952:

Basic to the understanding of political developments in any country is the analysis of its
social structure. Here I shall not attempt to discuss the economic rationale for the
creation of Pakistan 2 but shall begin with the social structure 'inherited by Pakistan at
the time of its creation. The regions which came to constitute the state of Pakistan had
traditionally been the suppliers of raw materials to the industries located in other parts of
India and in England. East Bengal (0 East Pakistan) grew jute, the so-called golden
fiber, for West Bengal factories It did not have a single jute mill of its own. West
Pakistan produced wheat and cotton which it exchanged for manufactured goods
produced elsewhere. The emerging industrial capitalist class of India was almost totally
non-Muslim, and the commercial life of the regions which later became Pakistan was
dominate by Hindu and other non-Muslim businessman While landlords and peasants in
the Wes were Muslims, in East Pakistan rural life was stratified along religious lines,
with almost all landlords being Hindus and almost all rural Muslims being peasants. The
partition and the consequence gyration of Hindu lords to India created an enormous
power vacuum in East Bengal. The land left behind by the Hindus was redistributed
among the peasants, 52 per cent of whom own their oW1l land, with family farms
averaging 3.5 acres. In the urban areas, the Bengali elite consisted of the elements of
the decaying Muslim aristocracy, represents by the regional Muslim League. In the
absence of an urban bourgeois class and real economic power of the aristocracy, the
emerging petty-bourgeoisie, constituted of small traders, shopkeepers, professional
people, teachers and clerks, became the potentially most important class. Culturally, the
influence of this class was predominant, but economically it was weak. In West
Pakistan, which also lacked a bourgeois class, the absentee landlords became the most
powerful class. However, the landlords were not politically well-organized and they
lacked the capability of running a state which had inherited many modern institutions
from the British colonialists. The bureaucracy, which was trained by the British as an
instrument of colonial rule, became the most effective political force in its own right. Al
though this bureaucracy had strong links with the landlord class, the needs of a modem
state and the chaotic conditions of the partition enabled it to become as emf-eautonono
us social force and to fill the vacuum created by the departure of the British. The
bureaucracy was drawn almost entirely from the Punjab province and the Urdu
speaking refugees who had settled in Sind. The third political force was the military,
again British-trained and drawn mainly from the Punjab. But the political influence of the
military was limited in the beginning. 3 West Pakistan also received, among its
immigrants, traders belonging to the Memon, Bohra and Khoja communities of Gujarat
and Bombay who settled in Karachi. These and other commercial elements later
transformed themselves into an industrial capitalist class. Because of their small size,
narrow community base, and lack of roots in Pakistan, these industrial entrepreneurs
never asserted themselves as a political force. Their marriage of convenience with the
bureaucrats at least ensured them policies supporting their enterprise. Because of the
virtual absence of capitalists, feudal landlords, bureaucracy and the military in East
Pakistan, the West Pakistani power structure became the national power structure as
well, ruling the eastern part with the collaboration of the dying Muslim aristocracy.
The Urdu-Bengali controversy was reignited when Jinnah's successor, governor-
general Khawaja Nazimuddin, staunchly defended the "Urdu-only" policy in a speech on
27 January 1952. On 31 January, the Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi
Porishod (All-Party Central Language Action Committee) was formed in a meeting at
the Bar Library Hall of the University of Dhaka, chaired by Maulana Bhashani. The
central government's proposal of writing the Bengali language in Arabic script was
vehemently opposed at the meeting. The action committee called for an all-out protest
on 21 February, including strikes and rallies. In an attempt to prevent the demonstration,
the government imposed Section 144 in Dhaka, thereby banning any gathering.
Answer to the Question No. 2

Fundamental Rights in the Constitution:

Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of
protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution or
have been found under due process of law.

Importance of the fundamental rights:

There is both a simple and a complex answer to the question of what are human rights,
but both must be mentioned to understand the concept of human rights. The simple
answer supposes that the term is self-explanatory: human rights are rights a person has
because they are human. In other words, human beings deserve certain levels of
freedoms or standards of living simply because they are human. The complex answer is
that human rights entail an internationally recognized standard of how all humans
should be treated, regardless of situation, or where they live. Under this definition,
human rights are legal in basis, and they ensure governments and other parties do not
limit freedoms or impose unnecessary suffering on people. If these rights are upheld,
people should be able to live a life of dignity. The number of internationally recognized
human rights is still expanding in on-going debates at the United Nations (UN) and other
organizations.
Human rights can be described by what they provide for humans:
• Freedom to do certain activities (for example travels, express them, or practice a
religion).
• Freedom from certain conditions (for example torture and slavery).
• Rights to services (for example education, health, a fair legal system, and the ability to
work).
• Protection for groups of vulnerable people such as the disabled, children, women, and
refugees.
To summarize, human rights ensure people have the ability to participate fully in society
and live a life of dignity. Human rights also ensure our human worth is recognized and
protected. The next section asks how a person acquires their human rights, and who
decides what those rights are.
Human rights have a small number of features which distinguishes them from other
rights, and also which are necessary to protect and empower people. The features give
human rights a special and unique status, setting them apart from other types of rights.
Universality:

In general, rights are limited as to where and when they apply. However, human rights
do not have this limitation—they are universal. The mere fact of being human on this
earth is enough to gain human rights. Human rights are not dependent on citizenship, or
living in a territory that recognizes such rights. This distinguishes them from most other
rights which are limited in some way by, for example, being old enough to attend school
for student rights, or being a citizen for voting rights. Universality ensures that each
person has human rights which are always available to them everywhere.

The nation of universal human rights does not necessarily mean everyone has the
same rights. Rather, everyone has human rights and can claim them, but the precise
composition of such claims depends on (1) where the person is, (2) who they are, and
(3) what rights they should possess. In other words, while fundamental human rights are
the same for everyone, the actual right a person enjoys depends on a number of
factors. Further, a person’s ability to access their rights depends on which country they
are in (as not all governments have agreed to the same rights), and citizens have
slightly different rights to non-citizens. It may also depend on the age and gender of the
person (as women, children, minorities, and people with disabilities have access to
rights relevant to them). Finally, it may depend on the situation (for example, rights
change when there is a conflict).

Inherent:
Human rights are special because they come into effect when a person is born.
Individuals do not need to earn human rights. Unlike a university student or driver, who
both needs to pass exams to earn their entitlements, human rights, are gained merely
by being born human. In other words, human rights are inherent to people with no other
qualification necessary. It isn’t even necessary for people to know they have human
rights to possess them—these rights exist even if a person is unaware their rights have
been violated. If knowledge was a criteria for the possession of rights, States could
easily avoid compliance by simply not informing them of their rights (and some States
are still guilty of this). Making human rights inherent bypasses this potential problem.

Inalienable:
It is impossible for anyone to lose their human rights (unless they die, of course). Many
rights, such as the right to property or student rights terminate at some point; that is,
once you sell your bicycle, you lose rights to it, or once you graduate, you are no longer
a student. People cannot lose their rights as a result of doing something, regardless of
how terrible their act was even Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler would still be entitled to their
human rights. It is not possible for a State to decide that human rights do not exist
anymore, or to decide that their rights once recognized are no longer relevant. Even
when a new State is formed, for example, when East Timor gained independence from
Indonesia, it is expected that citizens would still retain whatever human rights they were
entitled to when they were part of the previous State (in this case Indonesia). However,
it is important to note, inalienable does not mean a person can never lose any rights, as
often the number of rights a person is entitled to can change; for example, when a
person turns 18, they lose their children’s rights and their status will change. In these
cases, subjects would still retain their human rights, but not their rights as a child.

Dignity:
One of the main objectives of human rights is to ensure people can live with dignity: in
other words, that they are respected, treated well, and have a sense of worth. If a
person has their human rights, then they can lead a life of dignity. If a person’s rights
are taken away, then they are not treated with dignity. Dignity is not only about making
sure laws are not broken, but it is about treating people in such a way that they are
respected as humans, like any other human. For example, the right to food is not merely
a matter of quantity, of having the necessary 2,200 calories a day. The number of
calories means little if a person is forced to eat scraps off the floor, or if a Muslim is
given pork at each meal. The nutritional value alone does not ensure dignity. Dignity
means the person can eat food like a dignified human, and this is by respecting the
social and cultural values around food, such as eating food with friends and family in
what is considered a normal way.

Equality:
Human rights exist to ensure equality. Indeed, this concept is featured in all human
rights documents, emphasizing the equal enjoyment of rights without discrimination.
The first article of the UDHR states “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights.” Compare this to the opening of the United States Declaration of
Independence where it is stated (1776): “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal,” or the first article of the French Declaration of the Rights of
Man and of the Citizen (1789): “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.”
Clearly each of these documents supports the notion that human rights are inherent
(that is, people are born with them) that people are born free, and they are born equal.
But true equality is difficult to achieve. It is important to note that the gendered language
of early human rights texts show that true equality between the sexes had not yet been
reached; men were equal to other men but it would take some time before women were
similarly regarded. In much the same way colonized people would fight for their equality
during the twentieth century.