- By: Ibn-e-Taha
- khan_adnan040@yahoo.com
Every year Pakistan mourns separation of East Pakistan on 16 Dec, which indeed is a black day in history of Pakistan.
We all blame Pakistani establishment and military for this debacle without considering other side of the picture. Allegations on West Pakistan are, non-declaration of Bengali as a national language despite 55% population speaking Bengali language, colonial attitude of West Pakistan, “One Unit formula” to overcome the Bengali domination, inequality in jobs, less military deployment in East Pakistan, leading to a thought that they were left at the mercy of Bharat during 1965 war, catastrophe “Bhola cyclone” (Nov, 1970), less development projects, income of East Pakistan being spent in West Pakistan’s development, genocide of 3 Million (30 lakh) Bengalis, raping of 0.2 Million (2 lakh) Bengali women and killing of Bengali intellectuals.
East Pakistanis held topmost positions for Khawaja Nazimuddin (Governor General after Quaid-e-Azam in 1948 and then the PM in 1951), Mohammad Ali Bogra the Prime Minister in 1953, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy the prime minister in 1956 and Iskinder Mirza as president of Pakistan in 1956. None of these Bengali stalwarts ever propagated for independent Bengal or dissent from the central government or declaration of Bengali as a national language.
Bengal also retained its’ name till 14 Oct, 1955 when it was renamed as “East Pakistan” during Bengali PM, M Ali Bogra. “One Unit” program was also introduced by the than Bengali PM Muhammad Ali Bogra. Bengali was also declared second national language of Pakistan on 26 Feb, 1956.
Inequality in job opportunities was due to the fact the Bengal had a few educational institutions and little representation in govt jobs. On 14 Aug,1947 there was only one Bengali Civil servant Nurunnabi Chowdhry and less than 10 military officers in the combined armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) of Pakistan.
Devastation from Bhola cyclone was immediately attended to by government of Pakistan but propaganda persisted against West Pakistan. Survivors state they had listened to the warning of Radio Pakistan on 12 Nov, 1971 but didn’t realize its’ magnitude. President of Pakistan cut short his ongoing visit to China and reached East Pakistan to personally monitor the situation. Government of Pakistan had done their bit within the available resources and didn’t postpone the general elections of 7 Dec, 1970 also.
SM Hali in his book “Tormented Truth 1971 and beyond writes, development projects in Bangladesh include Mongla port (second biggest port in Bangladesh), Quaid-e-Azam college in Dacca (1949), Viqar-un-nisa school and college at Dacca, Adam Jee jute mill in 1950 (first jute mill in East Pakistan), Karnaphuli paper mill in 1953 (first paper pulp and manufacturing mill of united Pakistan), Faujdar hat cadet college (April, 1958), Kaptia dam (1962), first Steel mill (before being established in West Pakistan), Dhaka was declared second capital (1961), National Assembly building(1961), cadet college Jhenaidah (1963), Bait-ul-Mukarram (national mosque) in 1968, Dhaka Railway station (1960), various vocational, polytechnic and technical training institutes, Bulbul academy, Dacca art college, Nazrul academy and Tagore museum.
Sheikh Mujib had started planning secession from Pakistan when he, Amir Hussain and T Choudhry visited Agartala (Bharat) on 5 Feb, 1962. He again visited Agartala in 1968 to seek military aid to fight the Pakistan army deployed in East Pakistan.
Hasina Wajid in an interview (bdnews24.com) had admitted her father had made war plans in Oct,1969.
On 23 Feb, 2011, during a speech at the Bangladesh Parliament, Deputy speaker Mr. Shawkat Ali accepted Mujib had been visiting Agartala for conspiring against Pakistan. Bharat claimed it was forced to intervene in East Pakistan after Pakistan declared war on India on 3 Dec, 1971, however she was involved in atrocities across the border (in East Pakistan) since March, 19761.
Ikram Sehgal in his book “Escape from Oblivion” writes “he was taken POW in April, 1971 where there were 11 other Pakistani officers, the figure grew to 30 before Dec, 1971”. On 24 May, 1971 Indira Gandhi had already announced the Bangladeshi government in exile in Calcutta. She wanted the refugee crisis to be exploited to an extent that world community gets convinced about Pakistan’s atrocities in East Pakistan.
Bharat conspired by recruiting and training these refugees in form of “Mukti Bahini”, which killed about 0.1 million (one lakh) West Pakistanis in East Pakistan (Encyclopedia of violence, Peace and Conflict, page 64).
In his book, “Blood and Tears” Qutub-Uddin Aziz mentions 170 eye witness encounters where atrocities were committed against West Pakistanis in 55 towns covering 110 places. Other independent sources claim 500-000 -700,000 West Pakistanis killed by Mukti Bahini and RAW agents in East Pakistan.
Dr Junaid Ahmed (Creation of Bangladesh, Myths exploded) and Prof Abdul Mumin Chowdhry (Behind the myth of three million) have proven this figure as wrong. Abdul Mumin Chowdhry (Bengali expatriate in UK these days) mentions Sheikh Mujib formed a commission to probe into exact Bengali deaths.
The commission submitted (April, 1972) its’ findings of 56,743 Bengali deaths, which was not acceptable to Mujib and was never publicized. Sarmila Bose in her book “Dead Reckoning” also negates killing of 3 million Bengalis by Pak Army. Colonel Akbar Hussain (Bangladesh Army) stated in Bangladesh parliament on 15 Jun, 1993 that government of Bangladesh had announced compensation for the deaths during 1971 liberation war and only 3000 claims were received. Pak Army action in East Pakistan continued for 262 days (Mar-Dec, 1971). To match the figure of 3 Mill Bengalis killed, 11,500 Bengalis had to be killed on daily basis, which is far beyond imagination. Myth of killing Bengali intellectuals is also not supported through any evidences.
Allegation of 200,000 women raped is nullified by the commission established by Sheikh Mujib on 29 Jan,1972. The commission submitted a figure of 2,680 women being ill-treated. On the other hand, Yasmin Saikia writes thousands of Behari (West Pakistani) women were raped for which no one accepts responsibility. Bharat also claimed it responded military attacks from Pakistan after 3 Dec, 1971.
The baseless accusation is nullified by the evidence when Bharti army had already crossed the international border on 23 Nov, 1971. During attack on Hilli Major Hemant Manjrekar, was killed by Pakistani forces on 23 Nov, 1971 (Tormented Truth by SM Hali).
Anti-Pakistan media quotes of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (former president of Congress) are spread through social media, who opposed creation of Pakistan. They do not mention, Azad repented after 15 Aug, 1947 when mass killing of Muslims was seen. He had drawn into a dispute with the Deputy prime minister and Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel when he demanded the dismissal of Delhi’s police commissioner, accused for overlooking attacks and neglecting Muslims’ safety. Azad was also opposed by the Hindu majority state for proposing to reserve the houses vacated by Muslims who had departed for Pakistan for Muslims in India displaced by the violence. Frustrated of Hindu politics, Azad spent the final years of his life focusing on literary works.
Anti-Pakistan element draw comparisons between Bangladesh and Pakistan showing Pakistan having a downwards trend in every field. It is not highlighted, Bengalis who opted to migrate to Bangladesh from Pakistan (post war 1971) were accused “Pro-Pakistanis” and were not equated with the local Bengalis in promotions and other incentives.
Sheikh Mujeeb also faced rampant un-employment, poverty and corruption as well as famine of 1974. He was criticized for constitutional recognition to minorities and human rights’ violations. A tyrant by nature he introduced one-party socialist rule in Jan, 1975 and was subsequently assassinated by his military. This coup was followed by another coup by General Zia-Ur-Rehman in 1977 who was again assassinated by General Abul-Manzoor in 1981. In Dec, 1983 General Ershad Hussain initiated a coup and took over as president of Bangladesh. In Oct,2006 a caretaker government took over the country, Sheikh Hasina Wajid was alleged for murder of civilians in 2006, General Moin Ahmed announced a coup in Jan, 2007 and general elections were announced for Dec, 2008. In steps of her father, present Prime Minister (PM) Hasina Wajid is a tyrant, who leaves no stone unturned in anti-Pakistan campaign. She is leading Awami League since 1981 and held the PM office from 1996-2001 and has consecutively won three elections (2008, 2014 and 2018).
Hasina demands trial of Pakistan Army personnel for alleged war crimes. She needs to trial those Bengali military officers first, who killed her father. She also needs to study; her father had released all the 195 Pakistani military personnel under tri-party agreement (India-Pakistan- Bangladesh) in 1974. She also doesn’t recall her father had proposed a confederation between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Feb, 1972. Hasina had established an “International Crimes Tribunal” on 25 March, 2010 in lines with “Nuremberg Trials”, which applies to an international armed conflict between two independent states. Experts opine, this ICT of Bangladesh is in contravention with article 15 of “International Covenant and Political Rights (ICCPR). Mrs. Wajid wants to eliminate all the opposing voices, especially the Islamic ones. Death sentences had been awarded to those who were loyal to united Pakistan against all international laws and human rights. Hasina had also not spared her opponent Khalida Zia (opposition leader of BNP) who is under arrest.
Pakistan could have approached UNO for the speech of Prime Minister of Bharat (Narendra Moodi) at the Bangladesh Parliament on 23 Dec, 2015 where admitted:
“He is the stalwart who managed disintegrating Pakistan in 1971”.
The same leader, said on Bharti Republic day parade on 26 Jan, 2018,
“We have to support the Baluchistan and people of Gilgit-Baltistan in getting independence”.
Talking of Bangladesh-Pakistan relations, both the states have to join hands for fraternity and peace of both of these independent countries. President Pervez Musharraf had already apologized for the atrocities from both the sides on 29 July, 2002. Let’s see when Bangladesh initiates such brotherly feelings.
Pakistan also has the biggest roads of capital Islamabad named as Nazim-Uddin Road, Fazl-ul-Haq Road, Suhrawardy avenue and towns of Nazimabad Patel Parra, and Bengali Mohalla in Karachi. Dacca sweet house and other sweet shops sell Bhashani, Sweet curd, Sundas and Kacha gula. Behari kababs are also liked by taste lovers in Pakistan.
Today’s generation influenced by social media needs to understand, our enemies want to hurt our belief system, convincing, our ancestors did a mistake by making Pakistan. Anti-Pakistan elements are trying to falsely portray peace, but not to spare any chance to damage Pakistan internationally. Hearts and souls are raided with psychological weapons forcing to surrender against them without even thinking to respond on any front.
May Allah be with Pakistan.