Introduction:

Pakistan came into being on 14 August 1947. Pakistan had two parts: East Pakistan
and West Pakistan until 1971 when East Pakistan got independence and became
Bangla Dash. Following are the causes of the fall of East Pakistan. Pakistan came
into being with a shattered economy and no fabric of social, political and cultural
organisations. After the death of Quaid-e-Azam on 11th September, 1948, the
sudden assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan on 16th October, 1951 was a severe blow
to a newly born country.
Causes that hampered progress of country:

These two major causes which hampered the progress of the country were;
1. Leadership vacuum,
2. The political and administrative disagreements
Bengali Muslims never wanted separation but they were forcibly separated from
Pakistan under an international conspiracy hatched by the big powers in collusion
with India.
(Raja Afrasiab Khan, Former Judge Supreme Court of Pakistan)
As a result of international intrigues and conspiracies, Pakistan was dismembered
on December 16, 1971. The above-mentioned two lacunae disrupted the cohesion
of the country and ultimately gave birth to regional and centrifugal forces. The
debacle of 1971 was the direct result of all these circumstances.

1. Different Social Structure and Lack of Unity:

People of East & West Pakistan belonged to different social systems and they could
not develop understanding with each other. Officers of East Pakistan were more
friendly towards people whereas, the officers from West Pakistan had different
attitude towards the people of East Pakistan. This created a sense of hatred against
West Pakistan.

By 1970, sentiments for national unity had weakened in East Pakistan to the extent
that constant conflict between the two Wings dramatically erupted into mass civil
disorder. This tragically resulted in the dismal and violent amputation of Pakistan’s
Eastern Wing

2. Conflict between two wings:

The physical separation of a thousand miles between the two wings without a
common border and being surrounded by Indian territory and influences, led to
constant political, economic and social conflicts between the two wings. The political
system of Pakistan broke down in 1971 that was the output failure, arising out of
the dissension and conflicts between East and West Pakistan. The ruling elite
formulated certain policies that provoked high opposition and resentment of the
East.

3. Language Issue:

The people of East Pakistan opposed the govt. policy on language issue. People
protested against the govt. policy and many Bengali students lost their lives in
these protests. Language Issue

The first rift in the relationships appeared on the issue of the official language. Urdu
was declared as the only national language. This had very severe repercussions in
East Pakistan where the Bangla language was almost like a living being, to be
cherished or nurtured. Language riots took place in the early 1950s and eventually
Bangla was declared the second official language.

4. Elites of East Bengal:

The principal leaders and groups of the East Bengal belonged to the upper class,
land-owning, Urdu-speaking families of Dhaka or the mercantile groups of Calcutta.
Soon after the formation of Pakistan, the race/conflict between those who claimed
themselves as the main political and radical forces and these of the conservative
groups began.

5. Inferiority Complex of East Pakistan:

While a significant reason for the alienation of the Bengalis was rooted in the
perceived exploitation of the resources of their land by the then West Pakistani’s,
an equally important irritant was the second class citizens status accorded to them
by the bureaucracy and the army. The bureaucracy , especially members of the
then Central Superior Services , treated East Pakistan as a colony, with no solid
efforts being made to induct a reasonable number of Bengali’s in the upper tiers.
The attitude of the army was equally bad–branding Bengalis as a non-martial race,
only bare minimum units were raised comprising native East Pakistanis.

6. Presidential Form of Government:

When the Army established its ascendancy in Ayub’s rule, a highly centralized and
autocratic presidential system was imposed on the country. It was obvious that this
system would arouse the antagonism and deep-seated hostilities among East
Pakistanis. A parliamentary system could have partially offset the dominance of
West Pakistanis but in spite of opting for a looser co-federal type of government
and consociation sort of executive, the power elites were in favour of a centralized
presidential form of government.

7. East Pakistan autonomy:

There was an incessant increase in the demand of autonomy from East Pakistani.
The demand was unique in that it was not merely a demand for maintaining a
cultural entity. The physical separation had always meant an economic separation
in the sense that there was no free and easy mobility of capital and labour. The
East Pakistanis described their trade with West Pakistan as a negative covariance.
They agreed that the dominance and determination of vital policy areas such as
currency, taxation, utilization, of foreign exchange earned by the centre and the
foreign trade to the regional governments; had resulted in the increasing economic
deprivation of the East Pakistan. Such policies had embittered unabridged
differences between the two flanks. Moreover, some certain unitary cultural –
religious concepts and a highly centralized constitution were the attempts that
brought Pakistan at the verge of disintegration.

8. Recruitment to Army:

With respect to the strength of Army, it is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan
Army was almost entirely recruited from the four districts of the Northern Punjab
(Rawalpindi, Campbellpur (Now Attock), Jhelum and Gujrat) and two districts of
NWFP (Peshawar and Kohat). 60% of the army comprised Punjabis and nearly 35%
were Pakhtoons. Thus Pakistan’s bureaucratic elites were not only separated from
the majority population of their East part but their regional exclusiveness was such
that they were separated in both social and regional terms even from people of
regions like Sindh, Baluchistan and NWFP.

9. East Pakistan’s Interests Neglected:

To East Pakistanis, it seemed that their interests had been neglected systematically
by a government dominated by West Pakistani policy makers. Regional economic
disparity provoked bitterness and resentment towards the government. The
problem of regional inequality was further accentuated by a commitment of the
West Pakistan to a doctrine that economic disparity was necessary for the rapid
economic development of the country. According to Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq,

“66% of the nation’s industrial assets, 80% of the banking interests and 79% of
the insurance assets were controlled by only 22 families.”
10. Election 1970:

In the elections, held in December 1970 after a long martial law, Awami League
had participated on the basis of six-points and secured majority in the National
Assembly. After the elections, the Awami League won almost all the seats in East
Pakistan. They captured 167 seats, the highest number in East Pakistan and
overall. In the West, the Pakistan People Party had won 85 seats. But, power was
not transferred to the majority party leader Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman for the fear
that he would transfer all the national assets to East Pakistan, and that
implementation of Mujib’s six points would weaken the country.

Asghar Khan in his book ‘We Have Learnt Nothing from History’ aptly remarks,

“The verdict of the electorate (1970 elections) was unexpected and baffled not only
the political pundits but also the contesting parties. The Bengalis had been known
for their massive support to a single political organization, once they believed, it
deserved their confidence. Amongst the provinces that later formed a part of
Pakistan their contribution to the battle of the ballot was most valuable and their
sense of patriotism probably the most developed”.
11. Ganga Hijacking Incident:

On January 30, 1971, Ganga Hijacking incident took place. Two Kashmiris, Hashim
and Ashraf Qureshi, hijacked an Indian plane from Delhi to Lahore and burnt it
before the very eyes of Pakistan Security Forces. Taking advantage of the incident,
which had been staged by India as exposed later, the air links between Lahore-
Dhaka and Karachi-Dhaka were cut off by India. The only contact/link between the
two wings left was a long sea route via Colombo.

“More infamous was the 1971 hijacking incident of the Indian Airline plane Ganga
to Lahore. Actually, it was an operation planned and executed by Indian
Intelligence with the preconceived purpose of fabricating pretence in order to ban
Pakistani flights between East and West Pakistan preparatory to Indian military
intervention in East Pakistan.”
12. Operation Searchlight:

This led to the military action ‘Operation Searchlight’ to restore order. On the night
of March 25, 1971, the action began in former East Pakistan. The operation was
aimed at both Dhaka and the rest of the province and included the arrest of political
leaders, disarming of potentially disloyal Bengali personnel in the police and army
and crushing the militant rebellion by force.

A famous historian Ms Rubina Saigol writes in her article ‘We have failed the Lahore
Resolution’:

‘Operation Searchlight’ was a complete negation of the independence and

sovereignty embedded in the Lahore Resolution. The West Pakistani rulers, both
military and civilian, refused to hand over power to the duly elected Awami League,
which resulted in a resistance movement that culminated with the liberation of
Bangladesh in December 1971. The unit of the federation in which the Muslim
League was established in 1906 seceded from the federation!
13. War with India:

In 1971, the nation stood divided due to the contradictions as a result of economic
disparity and social injustices. The Indians started an all-out war on 20th November
1971 using their own air force where necessary. It was unfortunate that in 1971 the
UN and the big powers acted as silent spectators when an independent country with
recognized international boundaries was being envisaged upon with an intention to
dismember it, and they virtually did nothing to stop India from direct intervention
because they wished to benefit from a large population and big a market.

On December 16, 1971, the most disgraced defeat of Pakistan was witnessed when
the Pak Army surrendered before the Indian General. After the breakup of Pakistan,
India declared that the ‘Two Nation Theory’ had been sunk in the Bay of Bengal, but
eidetic reality was that Bangladesh became an independent country with Muslim
identity, and refused to accept Indian hegemony.

14. Analysis:

Separation of East Pakistan, though a tragic part of History of Pakistan, was not the
negation of two nation theory.
Pakistan was dismembered as a result of an international intrigue. Pakistan’s
archenemy India and Russia were hand in glove to implement the insidious plan to
disintegrate Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s so-called friends America and the
West acted as silent spectators. Later it was, however, revealed through classified
US papers that America was not against the idea of separation of former East
Pakistan but did not agree with the manner in which it was done i.e. under the
former USSR watch.

Before you leave check our complete range of Pakistan Affairs Notes
 Current Affairs Cloud for CSS /PMS Exams (May 25, 2021)
 Current Affairs Cloud for CSS Exams (May 20, 2021)
 “Separation of East Pakistan, though a tragic part of History of
Pakistan, was not the negation of two nation theory”. (CSS Pakistan
Affairs Paper 2015)
 Pakistan’s Educational Problems | Pakistan Affairs Notes
 Pakistan Affairs | CSS Syllabus and Most Repeated Questions
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 CSS Pakistan Affairs Notes | Historic Struggle for Pakistan (1857 –
1947) (Download in PDF)
 Glaciers in Pakistan | World General Knowledge
 The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the “Five Ps”
 Political History (1972-2003) | Pakistan Affairs Notes for CSS-PMS
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