ASSIGNMENT

Q: What lesson should Pakistan learn from the tragedy of fall of Dhaka?
A: The darkest year in Pakistan’s history is 1917. In 1917, East Pakistan was separated
from West Pakistan and became an independent country known as Bangladesh. It was an
internal civil conflict which became international when an external power intervened and
helped the opposition.
Before India intervened, there were many civil conflicts between East and West Pakistan.
East Pakistan was a raw material producing country and contributing in exports of
Pakistan but was not getting an equal share in national income. Jute was a major export of
Pakistan which was being produced by East Pakistan. Income earned by export of Jute was
invested in Pakistan and a minor share was given to the East. Secondly, language was a
major issue between the both. Bengali was a language of more than 54% of Pakistan but
Urdu was announced as the national language of Pakistan. This created a sense of
deprivation in Bengalis. Now, it was the time for elections between Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto(PPP) and Sheikh Mujeeb Ur Rehman(AL). Bhutto got 81 seats out of 300 seats
whereas, Sheikh Mujeeb got 160 out of 300 seats. But due to political strategies between
Bhutto and Yahya Khan, Sheikh Mujeeb never got authority. And Bhutto became the Prime
Minister and Yahya Khan became President.
Bengali retaliated against this operation and a civil war broke out. Armies were deployed in
East Pakistan by Yahya Khan and a military operatio was launched against the militant
wing of Bengali or Awaami League. Dhaka University became a target and many students
and faculties were killed along with many other Benglis. The militant wing “Mukhti Bahini”
started a guerilla war against the West Pakistan with the support of India. This war was
carried out for Nine months and about one million people were killed. On December 16,
1971 East Pakistan became Bangladesh.
There are some lessons that Pakistan should have learn from the “Fall of Dhaka”. It is clear
at this point that if equal rights and opportunities are not given to minorities than they
stand for their rights. Still today, in Pakistan minorities are not given equal rights. There
are students who have a great GPA but can’t get a job because they have no background or
they belong to a minority group. Similarly, in all government departments there is no merit.
I believe that every Chief Minister only works for their own(Cast). For example, in Sindh,
the top management of every Government institute is Sindhi because their Provincial
Leader. And this is same for every cast or group. If Provincial leader is Mahajir or Punjabi
or Pakhtoon or Balochi, they will always support their groups to have best jobs. This is the
main reason why quota system failed. Quota system was created for equal opportunities
but in Pakistan opportunities are biased. Second are the resources which are provided by
the government. In cities like Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and many more there are
problems like shortage of water, electricity, gas. If the needs of people living in these cities
are not fulfilled then what about the villages and places like Thar and interior Sindh.
Similarly, Education is not provided in villages and minorities because they have to run
their homes on daily wages. There is no Medical Facilities for minorities, they cannot afford
Aga Khan or Liaquat National. I am not going to talk about elections because I believe
politics is never fair. I think it was fair for Bangladesh to fight for their rights because they
were in majority and wanted a separate nation but I don’t think it is fair for Majority
groups of Pakistan to ask for a separate Province. This will break Pakistan internally. From
the Fall of Dhaka people of Pakistan should learn that it is not suitable to ask for support
from India. Because they have a goal to conquer Pakistan. In recent present, there was a
case of a leader who wanted asylum in India because there are cases against him in
Pakistan. And his party demanded a separate Province for themselves.
However, Pakistan should give equal rights and opportunities to everyone and a proper
system should be created so that all the people can stand under one flag as one nation.