PAKISTAN-THE REAL PICTURE

Economic Disparities?
Pakistan in detail in order to understand how the disparity and
bitterness grew. (The actual control of the state remained with
West Pakistan; the army, the bureaucracy, the politicians - all of
them were largely from West Pakistan, As industry was based on a
private market economy, the people who were already strong
financially became even stronger, Since, compared to East Pakistan, the
infrastructure in West Pakistan was more highly developed, industry
naturally grew in the latter region. Combined with this was the fact that
investment was provided largely by West Pakistan. The industrialisation.
programmes of various governments were more concentrated in the
western wing, while the resources came from the eastern one.
Economic disparity fostered feelings of economic injustice which was
the main cause behind the political alienation of East Pakistan. During
1951-1952, the per capita income of East Pakistan was only 85% of
that of West Pakistan: this figure continued to fall, until by 1969-1970,
the per capita income of East Pakistan was 60% of that of West
Pakistan. Of the total industry of Pakistan, West Pakistanis owned more
than 85% and a major part of the industry was located in West
Pakistan.)
The East Pakistanis believed that the development of the
western part had taken place at the expense of the eastern one. Blatant
resource transfer was alleged to have taken place. The exports from
East Pakistan in the years. 1950 to 1970 were 50% to 60% af Pakistan's
total exports. The imports, on the other hand, were only 30% for East
Pakistan out of the total imports for Pakistan. East Pakistan was able
to have the larger exports because of its main produce, jute, that
was in demand the world over. (The earnings from the jute were
utilised more in West Pakistan than in East Pakistan.) Thus, Pakistan's
economy was based on the export earnings of East Pakistan. This situation.
continued until the late 1960s, by which time West Pakistan was able to
finance its industry substantially. However, it was felt that the bill for the
consumer and capital goods, being imported into West Pakistan, was
being paid by East Pakistan. It is estimated that during the 1950s, resource
transfer from the eastern to the western wing via international trade was nearly
as much as Rs. 1000 million per year (it became substantially lower in the
1960s).
The laws that govern economics are based on actual availability of
resources. As the economy became stronger, with East Pakistan
maintaining huge surpluses, inflation reared its ugly head More money
was needed now to buy the same things. The principal demand of the
eastern province was rice: as more money incomes became available,
more demand for rice became apparent. This demand could not be met by
West Pakistan, as it did not produce enough rice and there was also a
government enforced ban on movement of rice between the two wings. The result
was that a larger amount of money wae need to hùu riaa .
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unusually inflated prices and less money was left for

importing other needed goods into East Pakistan. The
price of exports and imports was not consistent in
both wings; compared to world market prices, East Pakistan
paid more for its imports from West Pakistan and received
less for its exports. The unfavourable terms of trade between
the two provinces resulted in resource transfer but compared to
 other processes, inter-wing trade formed but a minor part.
At Independence, industry in East Pakistan was almost non-existent. Even
though the process of industrialisation did take place, it was at a
much slower scale than in West Pakistan Industry ownership in
Pakistan was concentrated in only a few hands (the infamous
22 families). A inajority of these families were from West Pakistan. Of
the industry that grew in East Pakistan, ownership was largely West
Pakistani. An independent study conducted in 1959 by
Gustave Papanek found that only 11% of the industry in Pakistan
was owned by the East. Pakistanis. Studies done after 1971 (creation
of Bangladesh) found that 50% to 70% of the industries in East
Pakistan were foreign-owned mainly by West Pakistanis.
Taxation procedures were also notably biased in how the
taxes collected were utilised; (taxes collected from East Pakistan were not
used in East Pakistan. A part of the taxes collected was allocated to
the provincial government; the greater part went to the central
government where the money was used mainly for defence
purposes.>
Commercial banking was highly dominated by West Pakistan,
many of the banks being owned by West Pakistanis. Loans from the banking
sector were given more to West Pakistan: the banks that granted these loans
were of course protecting their own interests by investing in the stable
industry of West Pakistan. Interest earnings from the banks were, by virtue of the
banks being owned by West Pakistanis, an important source of finance.
The economists from East Pakistan propagated a two-economy theory
because of these conditions.
All these factors combined to make West Pakistan much stronger
than East Pakistan. By the 1960s, the real gross domestic product
increased by nearly 90% in the 1960-70 period. The western wing became
much less dependent on the export earnings of East Pakistan, but the
seeds of discord caused by inequitable development were to bear bitter
fruit. As early as March 1948, a Muslim League member of the Constituent
Assembly remarked "It seems that in the present scheme of things, East
Pakistan is very much neglected'.

Cultural Disparities
While political and economic causes of disunity were
mainly responsible for the eventual creation of Bangladesh, cultural and
social conflicts also played a great role. In West Pakistan, there was more
internal
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PAKISTAN-THE REAL PICTURE

cultural conflict, while the East Pakistanis were more

culturally united. The East Pakistanis had one language
as compared to four major languages in West Pakistan.
The whole of East Pakistan shared a cultural unity causing
cohesion in society.
There was a mass migration of the Hindus from West
Pakistan at the time of independence. In East Pakistan, such
migration was rare. In many cases, Hindu women and
children went to India, while the men stayed to carry on their
business activities. The Hindus in East Pakistan owned major
chunks of business, media and even educational facilities.
This caused problems on two levels; firstly the profits were
 transferred to India by the Hindus, and secondly, the East
Pakistanis and Hindus were commonly sharing in many of
the day to day issues affecting community life.
(The West Pakistanis viewed the East Pakistanis as
being inferior) a fact that has been mentioned even in the
biography of Field Marshal Ayub Khan. The fact remains, however,
that the East Pakistanis were culturally superior to West Pakistanis in
their love of art, literacy, interest in music and poetry. (After the
departure of the British, West Pakistanis adopted a
colonial mentality towards East Pakistanis) The ancient culture
and traditions of East Pakistan were downgraded and the Bengali
language particularly was considered to be below the level of Urdu.)
Soon after Independence, the people of East Pakistan asked that
both Bengali and Urdu be state languages. The Quaid-e-Azam did agree to
this, saying that since Pakistan had been formed on the basis of the Two-Nation
theory it should strive to remain united in culture and language.
Initially, the demand for Bengali as a state language had been raised by a
Hindu member of the Constituent Assembly from East Pakistan. The Prime
Minister, Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, opposed this demand, saying it would lead
to disunity. The Bengalis resented the downgrading of their language
and the issue was transformed into a political movement.) Students from East
Pakistan started a movement to press for acceptance of their demands. The
Quaid, who visited Dacca in 1948, was able to pacify the
students initially by saying that some time should be given to
implement Bengali. He promised that the East Pakistan Assembly would
adopt a resolution making Bengali the official language of East Pakistan
and he would also ask the central government to adopt Bengali as a
state language. The students were satisfied by these changes. But
 after the Quaid's demise, the issue of Bengali was relegated to the
back burner by the authorities to emerge again within a short period as
a most serious concern.
In 1952, a proposal was made that in the interest of
unification, Bengali should be written in the Arabic script. This was
naturally not acceptable to the East Pakistanis, as it negated the
traditions of the language. The student

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puty which presented the Muslims of India, Pམy was born in Bengal, its first
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session being held in 1906 in Dacca.

It is often questioned why the people of East and West Pakistan
were united in their struggle for Independence but were increasingly
disunited in the years that followed. Indeed, preceding independence,
there was great unity between the Muslims of Bengal and the areas that
were later to become West Pakistan. There are many reasons for this: the
Muslims of India had a rougher deal than the Hindus, the British perceiving
them as being more politically aware of their rights. This naturally served as a
means of uniting the Muslims. During the struggle for freedom, solidarity
emerged between Muslims belonging even to different regions, as they all
had a common enemy which had to be fought by all the Muslims as one.
Both the British and the Hindus were perceived as being against the
Muslims and their interest. While in the earlier years of the freedom
movement the Hindus and Muslims were fighting the British together, the
later years saw a divergence in their views. The Congress, the largest
political body in India, began to favour the Hindus. Subsequently, the
Hindus and Muslims adopted different lines of political thought, this served
to further unite the Muslims. Islam was therefore the major cementing force,
regardless of regional interest.
After Independence, the unifying force of Islam was still there, but
other factors suddenly became more important. Once independence was
won, all regions wanted their rights, and this caused much dissension. During
the struggle for freedom, temporary unity had fostered unrealistic hopes and
expectations. Naturally, after independence, there were feelings of
disappointment as these hopes could not be fulfilled. The political setup
in Pakistan after independence gave more power to West Pakistan. The
political domination of East Pakistan by West Pakistan was of a nature that
grew in
intensity. These wounds were too deep to heal.
Political causes:
The population of East Pakistan constituted nearly fifty-five percent
of Pakistan's total population. It had a simple majority but this fact was
never acknowledged in the distribution of power. At Independence,
Pakistan was> to follow the Government of India Act of 1935 until it made its own
constitution. In the absence of a constitution, there was never a well defined
hierarchy of power. The Chief Executive of the country was either the Governor
General or the Prime Minister, but unfortunately, power rested with
whichever office was occupied by a West Pakistani. Thus, when Liaquat Ali
Khan was the Prime Minister, he had the most power, when he was
assassinated, Khawaja Nazimuddin assumed the office of Prime Minister,
after stepping down from the post of Governor General. The new Governor
General was from West Pakistan, Mr Malik Ghulam Muhammad. Instantly,
the office of Governor

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THE BREAKUP
General became more important. This was undoubtedly a cause of
great concern to the Bengalis. When Khawaja Nazimuddin was
dismissed as Prime Minister, another East Pakistani, Muhammad Ali Bogra
was appointed in his place. He was also not given his due role.

In spite of the larger population of East Pakistan, the content and

symbol of power was vested in West Pakistan: the seat of government
was in West Pakistan (first Karachi, then Islamabad), the headquarters of the
armed forces were located in West Pakistan, the centres of trade, commerce
and industry were located in West Pakistan, and as mentioned above, the
power itself rested in the person of the West Pakistani, whichever position he
occupied. Representation in the provincial assemblies was never given in
proportion to the population figures until the elections of 1970. The seats in
the provinces were divided on the basis of parity i.e. equality, therefore, East
Pakistan never had the representation that was due to it. The ratio should
ideally have been fifty-five percent for East Pakistan and forty-five percent for
West Pakistan. This issue was a major bone of contention between the two
provinces. Each new constitutional reform and change failed to adequately address
this issue.. There was marked difference in the number of West and East Pakistani
government officials; wherever decision making was concerned, the onus lay
on the West Pakistani bureaucracy. The East Pakistani bureaucracy was merely a
 symbol, devoid of any actual say in matters of government. There was a
lack of democratic traditions, which manifested itself in increasing tensions.
The Muslim League, once the flag bearer of Muslim unity became fraught
with troubles, and rifts began to appear. The cracks in the ruling party became
glaringly evident in the elections of 1954 in East Pakistan. The
League was only able to get ten seats while the opposition parties, which
had combined themselves into United Front (the Jukto Front) won 223 seats. The
election results showed how far the Muslim League had fallen in East Pakistan.
The provincial government formed by the United Front exhibited unfortunate
regionalism tendencies which may not have been altogether without cause.
There were some demonstrations against this government and the
resultant agitation was used by the central government to dismiss the
popularly elected government, which was greatly resented. The Defence
Secretary, General Iskandar Mirza, was made the Governor of East Pakistan. In 1956,
as the first constitution of Pakistan came into effect, Iskandar Mirza was raised to
the position of President of Pakistan, while Mr. Suhrawardy, a
veteran Bengali
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