Summer 2020 (ONLINE)

GEN226#Assignment

Any debate/argument on the issue:

In this movie I found an unanswered question where one asked to the other that “Did Pakistan
establish Islam or rather enforce military rule?”. Many people are arguing about this issue.
We know that the creation of Bangladesh was quite unlike the creation of Pakistan which was
more or less created because of Islam, because of the Two-Nation Theory (that Muslims
needed a separate nation based on religion). On the other hand, disparity was made between
the two wings of Pakistan in the distribution of wealth and in development expenditure. The
use of Islam as a strategy for maintaining unity between the two wings produced an adverse
result. The Muslims of Bengal hoped that in the new Muslim state they would finally achieve
a better standard of life. Given their past inferiority to Hindu landlords, Bengal Muslims were
looking forward to the West-Pakistani government to ensure their fundamental rights.
However, events did not unfold as the Bengali people had hoped. The West-Pakistani
government proved even more discriminatory towards the people of East-Pakistan in all
spheres of life - social, political and economic.

In this movie Milon was arguing with his friends that “It’s not a matter of democracy or
national liberation, the issue is economic”. The misery of East-Pakistan was not only due to
the political domination of the Western Wing. Although political power was concentrated in
West-Pakistan, in theory the authorities were capable of pacifying the people of East-Pakistan
if only economic claims were satisfied. East-Pakistan faced severe economic exploitation and
the relation between the two wings was similar to the ruthless economic abuse of the British
colonial power over the subcontinent. Alike the British, the West-Pakistani government
profited from the Eastern Wing but did not invest adequately in its development. The number
of East-Pakistanis employed in the Western Wing, particularly in higher respectable positions
was insignificant compared to that of West-Pakistanis. Even though the population size of
West-Pakistan was smaller compared to that of East-Pakistan after the partition, a major share
of national budget (75%) was spent on West-Pakistan, leaving a negligible portion for East-
Pakistan. The latter was financially deprived although it was responsible for the generation of
62% of the revenue income. Gross negligence towards the region was evident in the
distribution of other resources as well. The Western Wing had 25 times higher military
personnel compared to that of the Eastern Wing. The indifference of the West-Pakistan
government towards the development of East-Pakistan was visible through the per capita
income of that period, which was 32% higher for West-Pakistan during the period of 1959-60
and 61% during 1969-1970.

In this movie Milon was arguing with a boatman that “We should have known, that despite
our victory, the Pak army would never concede power to the Bengalis”. The West-Pakistani
rulers had no intention to convey the power to Sheikh Mujib and finally their National
Assembly was dismissed. The dismissal brought fierce reactions among the people of East-
Pakistan and Sheikh Mujib summoned a five day long strike and protests for an indefinite
period. Following the five-day strike, he exhorted the East-Pakistani people to embark on an
Independence struggle. Law and order collapsed as people broke curfews imposed by the
West-Pakistani Government. The Bengalis occupied the streets demanding freedom and self-
determination for Bangladesh. During this period, in a meeting of Awami League, the
National Anthem of Bangladesh was chosen. General Yahya Khan conceived a genocide
course of action of Bengali nationalists in order to punish the people of East-Pakistan for
their denial to follow the orders of the West-Pakistani Government. He arranged a military
crackdown to be executed during the night of the 25th of March 1971, which aimed at
 Summer 2020 (ONLINE)
GEN226#Assignment

eliminating the force of Bengali Nationalism from Pakistan. The objective of Operation
Searchlight was to eradicate all Bengali Nationalists including political and military
oppositions within a month. The intention was to take absolute control over all major cities
dominated by the Nationalist rebels. Consequently, the people of East-Pakistan witnessed one
the most cruel genocides in history.

Perception of people in 2020:

Forty-nine years after the 1971 war, which led to the independence of Bangladesh, each
country involved in the conflict has institutionalized a distinct memory of the events of that
year. In Bangladesh, the war is remembered as the Bengali people’s struggle against an
oppressive Pakistan army. In India and Pakistan, the war is often remembered as the third
Indo-Pakistan war. This representation is resented by many Bangladeshis, who feel it erases
their role in what they see as a liberation war. However, disagreement on who played the
central role in the war is not the only point of contention between the three countries. Today,
Bangladesh, Pakistan and India have their own closely held war stories, with 1971 taking on
unique meanings across the subcontinent.

Tensions rose in December 1970 when the Awami League party, led by Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman and based in East Pakistan, won the national elections but West Pakistan parties,
namely the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), refused to hand over power. Tensions between
Bengalis and Biharis – the Urdu-speaking communities that had moved to East Pakistan from
different parts of India after Partition and who were seen as pro-West Pakistan – rose, which
led to attacks on some Bihari communities. In March 1971, using the violence as an excuse,
the Pakistan Army intervened to stem the growth of nationalist sentiments in the east. It
recruited local pro-Pakistan Bengalis and non-Bengalis, including members of the Islamic
organisation Jamaat-e-Islami for its operations against Bengali factions. As the violence
escalated throughout the summer, a large number of refugees streamed into Indian territory,
which New Delhi used as an excuse to intervene militarily in early December 1971.

Since the end of the war, various forces have tried to control the narrative in Bangladesh,
most notably the Awami League – which came to be perceived as “pro-Indian” – and the
Bangladesh military and Bangladesh National Party (BNP) – which has been deemed “pro-
Pakistan” and “pro-Islamist”. This has hurt the process of transitional justice and frustrated
many victims and their families for decades.