1969-1971

Reasons for the Creation of Bangladesh Separation of E.

Pakistan
Political, economic, cultural reasons:
Political— W. Pak’s dominance in political affairs—most political
decisions, politicians who ruled, HQ's of the armed forces, civil
servants in W. Pak—+ more than ten years of Ayyub’s rule—+ a
military general from W. Pak; rule of parity & One Unit scheme
denied E. Pak its due share in govt by countering its numerical
majority (55% of total population of Pak); E. Pak felt undefended as
most of army on W. Pak border with India.
 Economic— E. Pak less developed since 1947—+ economic disparity
grew during Ayyub’s reforms of 1960's W. Pak benefited more from
these reforms— W. Pak’s per capita income greater than that of E.
Pak; trade of E. Pak with the Indian Bengal cut off since 1947 Sh.
Mujeeb claimed "flight of capital" from E to W. Pak—+ resources of E.
Pak spent on development of W. Pak.
 Cultural— E. Pak people's pride in their rich cultural heritage —art,
literature, music, dance etc-4 W. Pak looked down upon Bengali
culture -4 civil servants of W. Pak treated Bengali’s with arrogance.
Post-1970 election crisis -4 AL (Awami League) got majority (160/300
Seats) but W. Pak disallowed Sh. Mujeeb to form govt in the center—
Z.A.Bhutto & General Yahya backed out their promise with Sh.Mujeeb to
make him President; start of military operation in E. Pak, March 1971 —
The Operation Searchlight; Bengali separatist militant organization, Mukti
Bahini (People's Army) was trained & equipped by Indain Army—4 civil war,
violence, feelings of separatism grew with military operation & with the
rejection of Sh.Mujeeb's six points events escalated to 3 Indo-Pak war, Dec
1971 --4 1600km Indian territory b/w E & W Pak made it impossible for W.
Pak to win the war — 16 Dec 1971, Pak army surrendered before Indian
army, Dhaka- more than 90,000 Pak troops in Indian custody.

Reasons for Pakistan's Defeat in the 1971 War

E. Pak determined to resist W. Pak army that desperately tried to keep
E. Bengal part of Pakistan —poor morale of Pak army to fight against
fellow Muslims.
 1600 km long distance b/w E & W Pak very difficult to sustain supplies from
W to E with Indian territory b/w the two wings.
Poor chance of support by Pak's allies — US & UN not interested in
supporting Pak in its internal matters; Treaty of Peace, Friendship &
Commerce, Aug 1971, b/w India and USSR blocked China's possible aid to
Pak -4 India continued to receive Soviet aid,

Separation of East Pakistan

Q: Who was General Yahya Khan? (4) Ans. He was a distinguished military officer who had fought
in the British Eighth Army in the Second World War. He was the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan
Army when Ayub handed him power after imposing the second martial law in March 1969. He
held first general elections in Pakistan in 1970 but could not control the resultant political crisis
in East Pakistan. He started military operation in East Pakistan in March 1971 that escalated to
the third Pak-India war in December 1971 and defeat of Pakistan. This made him extremely
unpopular and he died in a state of house arrest in 1980.

Q: Who was Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rahman? (4)

Ans. He was the founder of the Awami League in 1949 that eventually became the most popular
political party of East Pakistan. He presented his six points in February 1966 in which he
demanded complete internal and fiscal provincial autonomy as a solution to the growing political
and economic disparity between East and West Pakistan. West Pakistan rejected them as they
would mean a nominal federal government. Mujeeb won a huge majority in 1970 elections but
was arrested Pakistan. He became the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 19 1 b proved
autocratic ruler. In August 1975, he and his wife were killed.

Q: Why did the victory of the Awami League cause a constitutional

crisis? (7)
Ans. The Awami League got a decisive majority in the 1970 elections. It won 160 out of a
total of 162 seats of East Pakistan and 300 seats of the National Assembly against the PPP of
West Pakistan that managed to win only 81 seats. Such a huge victory of the Awami League
allowed it to form the government on its own. In other words, the future Prime Minister and
his entire Cabinet could come from East Pakistan without involving the PPP of West Pakistan.
 Victory of the Awami League was also problematic as it had won the election on the basis
of Mujeeb's six points that asked for a complete internal autonomy of East Pakistan. He wanted
provincial governments controlling foreign trade and taxation policy. This would greatly reduce
the funds available to the central government in West Pakistan in addition to limiting its powers
in general. Yahya Khan and the West Pakistani politicians were not prepared to accept such a
major change though Mujeeb believed that the six points were negotiable. Instead of
negotiating with him, he was arrested and this marked the start of the worst kind
of constitutional crisis in the history of Pakistan.

Q: Explain why East Pakistan wished to become independent of West

Pakistan? (7)
Ans. There was a growing economic disparity between East and West Pakistan. East Pakistan had
a weaker industrial base with fewer industries than West Pakistan. Its economy was further
weakened by floods and cyclones that destroyed its infrastructure regularly. Due to the
dominance of West Pakistan, most of the economic policies mainly benefited its people.
This disparity increased significantly in the 1960s when 22 families of West Pakistan became
owners of most of Pakistan's wealth. By 1970, the per capita income of East Pakistan was
85% that of West Pakistan. This was resented by East Pakistan.
East Pakistan was under-represented in government, armed forces and the Civil Services
though 'it had 55% of the total population of Pakistan. Under the One Unit Scheme, both
the wings were given equal seats in the National Assembly. When the Awami League of
Sheikh Mujeeb won a majority in the 1970 elections, West Pakistan refused to transfer
power to Mujeeb. His six points directly threatened the traditional political dominance of
West Pakistan. This led to a civil war in East Pakistan that became Bangladesh after West
Pakistan's defeat by India in December 1971.
Both wings were separated by an Indian territory of 1600 km that resulted in difficulties in
communication between the two. In times of emergencies such as floods, West Pakistan
usually reacted slowly that inculcated a sense of alienation among Bengalis. Ayub’s
presidential form of government gave him unusual power and this was considered
undemocratic by Bengalis. For the same reason boycotted Ayyub’s celebration of the Decade
of Development 1968-69.
Sample Question
Source A, part of a speech by Yahya Khan on 6th March 1971:
"Let me make it absolutely clear that no matter what happens, as long as I am in command
of the Pakistan Forces and Head of the State, I will ensure complete and absolute integrity
of Pakistan. Let there be no mistake on this point. I have a duty towards millions of people
of East and West Pakistan to preserve this country. They expect this from me and I shall not
fail them."

Q.(a) What message is being delivered by Yahya Khan? (3)

 Ans. Yahya Khan is asserting his determination to keep Pakistan united in the capacity of the
head of the state and the armed forces. He seems to go to any extent for
accomplishing his mission. He is justifying his military action by referring to his
responsibility towards the millions of Pakistanis.

Source B, a photograph of a military trainer training the members of the

Mukti Bhini.

Ans. Members of the Mukti Bahini (the Liberation Army) seem quite determined to acquire

military training. Most of them are not in proper clothing partly due to the summer heat

and partly to their poverty that drove them to adopt militancy. The tent hunts in the

background show that it is a deserted place suitable for such secret training. The

volunteer trainees are mainly young Bengali men. The trainer looks to be an army man,

perhaps and Indian army officer, as he is holding the gun in a skilled way. This means

the Mukti Bahini has willingly accepted the Indian aid to achieve freedom from West

Pakistan.

Q: Why was Pakistan unsuccessful in the 1965 and 1971 wars? / Why
was India successful in the 1965 and 1971 wars against Pakistan?
 (7)
Ans. India was militarily superior. The 1965 war was fought on the two gross miscalculations of
Ayub Khan who thought India was not prepared for a full scale war. He also expected a massive
Kashmiri uprising in favour of Pakistan army. However, against all his expectations, India attacked
with full force and Lahore was caught unprepared on 6tl September 1965, though Pakistan
defended it well.
Pakistan could not receive the Western aid in the two wars. The US military aid was stopped for
both Pakistan and India. It affected Pakistan more as India continued to receive the Soviet aid. It
had blocked any chance of the US or Chinese aid to Pakistan by signing a strategic agreement with
the USSR in August 1971. Americans and Chinese wanted Pakistan to resolve the matter on its
own. Pakistan also expected some aid by the SEATO but that too was not provided.
By 1971, India had developed a much bigger army against Pakistan in terms of number of
troops and weapons. It exploited the civil war in East Pakistan by training and equipping the
Bengali militant separatist body; the Mukti Bahini against Pakistan. People of East Pakistan, in
general, wanted freedom from West Pakistan. Therefore, they did not support West Pakistan's
army that was already accused of killing the Bengali intelligentsia on large scale. The 1600 km
long. distance from West Pakistan also played a decisive role in Pakistan's defeat.

Q: Economic factors contributed the most towards the separation of

East Pakistan in 1971. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for
your answer. (14)
Ans. Economic disparity between East and West Pakistan grew with time. East Pakistan had been
poorer than West Pakistan since 1947 as its weak industrial base was repeatedly damaged by
floods. Unfortunately, this gap was widened mainly due to the economic policies of Ayub Khan in
the 1960s. West Pakistan became the major beneficiary of his industrial and agricultural reforms.
The 22 richest families of West Pakistan owned 66% of the industries and 80% of banking and
insurance companies of Pakistan. East Pakistan was the largest producer of jute in the world
(producing 75% of the total world jute) but its economic growth was slower than that of West
Pakistan. Earnings from the jute export and taxes collected from East Pakistan were mainly spent
on the development of West Pakistan. The per capita income of East Pakistan was 85% that of
West Pakistan by 1970. This means that every West
Pakistani was 15% richer then East Pakistani
Bengalis also questioned the justification of keeping East Pakistan under developed. All
frustration among the people of East Pakistan. Political factors also contributed to the in the
government according to the size of West Pakistan (55% of the total population). Unit Scheme
and rule of parity as enforced in e of the political decision making was done in represented in
the armed forces and the Civil Se ices s the headquarter of armed forces were located in West
Pakistan.
The Awami League of Sheikh Mujeeb in East Pakistan won an overall majority in the 1970
elections. Mujeeb got this victory on the basis of his six points that asked for full autonomy of
East Pakistan in all matters except for defense and foreign affairs. Mujeeb wanted separate
fiscal, taxation and foreign trade policy of the two wings which West Pakistan could not accept
as it would weaken its traditional dominance in politics and economy. Mujeeb was denied
power and arrested that led to a civil war in East Pakistan. Situation worsened as General Yahya
ordered a military operation in March 1971. There was massacre of Bengalis who retaliated with
the help of India. The Indian army had been training and funding the Mukti Bahini, the militant
Bengali separatist army. Finally, the 1971 war led to West Pakistan's defeat and creation of
Bangladesh.
Cultural factors also contributed towards the tragic separation of East Pakistan. Jinnah declared
Urdu as the only national language on the basis of "One Nation One Language". This was resented
by East Pakistan as Bengali was a fully developed and the only language spoken throughout East
Pakistan. The Bengalis took this as a step of West Pakistan's attempts to dominate them. After
protests and violence, Bengali was also declared as the national language with Urdu.
East and West Pakistan were separated by a 1600 km long Indian territory and this caused
difficulties in communication between the two wings. East Pakistan was regularly ravaged by
floods and cyclones that further weakened its economy. Failure of West Pakistan to provide
timely help in such emergencies also promoted a sense of separatism in East Pakistan. It was
affected by devastating floods only a couple of
months before the 1970 elections but West Pakistan did not show any concern in providing relief
to the flood victims. India offered aid ostensibly on humanitarian grounds but West Pakistan did
not allow it and this further hurt the people of East
Pakistan.
It may be concluded that economic factors contributed the most towards the separation of East
Pakistan. With a growing economic disparity and political dominance of West Pakistan, East
Pakistan felt that it was continuously being exploited by West Pakistan. This situation was viewed
by Bengalis as a continuation of the colonial rule on them even after independence.