Why East Pakistan Became Bangladesh: The Final Part (Part 4) - Military and Politics

Why East Pakistan Became Bangladesh (Part 4)

Part 1- Economic Exploitation of the East

Part 2: Language and Culture

Part 3: Cyclone Bhola

The Final Part (Part 4): Military and Politics

In this series of posts, I will highlight just a few of the many reasons why East Pakistan seceded from Pakistan and became Bangladesh. 

The Final Part (Part 4): Military and Politics

When Pakistan came into being in 1947, it inherited 6 infantry divisions and 1 armored brigade from the British Indian army, ALL of which was based in West Pakistan. East Pakistan was later allocated a few battalions. Over time, as the Pakistan army exponentially grew, West Pakistan continued to receive over 90% of the armed forces. There was little to no air force or navy present to defend East Pakistan.

The defense of the East lies in the West .

This mantra, that the Pakistan army does NOT NEED TO DEFEND East Pakistan, formed the core of Pakistan army's strategy. Broadly speaking, this translated into Pakistan defeating India in the west, regardless of what transpired in the east (including Indian occupation of East Pakistan) because the presumed West Pakistani success would force India to negotiate a favourable settlement.

So Bengali Pakistanis became increasingly frustrated. They were asked to lay down their lives in defending West Pakistan, yet the Pakistani army wasn't prepared to defend them. The Pakistan army was also composed of 90% West Pakistanis, despite Bengalis making up 56% of the population of Pakistan.

During the two wars with India, East Pakistan was left virtually defenseless. Bengalis died preventing India from taking Lahore, while their own homes in East Pakistan were left open to attack, had India wanted to. This ultimately led to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the Awami League proposing the famous "6 point formula" in 1966 in Lahore. It, amongst others, demanded almost full autonomy for East Pakistan in most matters.

Political Subjugation

From 1947 through to 1971, the political suppression of Bengali Pakistanis continued on a systematic scale.

• Whenever a Bengali Pakistan was elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan, such as Khawaja Nazimuddin, Mohammad Ali Bogra, or Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the West Pakistani establishment would quickly depose of that person.
• As most Pakistanis were Bengalis, a system of direct representation would favour them, thus the leadership of West Pakistan came up with the idea of "One Unit". West Pakistan was "one unit", as was East Pakistan. Pakistani scholars and researchers maintain that the One Unit programme was viewed as a counterbalance against the political and population domination of the ethnic Bengali population of East Pakistan.
• We have already talked about the economic, cultural and language oppression policies of West Pakistan towards their brothers in the East in previous segments.
• Finally, in 1970 General Elections, the Bangladesh Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections. The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 313 seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the constitutional right to form a government. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (a former Foreign Minister), the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Instead, he proposed the idea of having two Prime Ministers, one for each wing.
• This was the final straw. Bengalis now knew that EVEN IF THEY played by all the rules, and legitimately won, their aspirations would be crushed and their dreams squashed. Thus Pakistan could no longer remain united.

Events Leading to the Declaration of Independence

Events then began to move fast.

• On 7th March, Sheikh Mujubur Rahman gave his famous speech at the Racecourse.
• The Pakistan army began to fly soldiers into East Pakistan, disguised as civilians.
• General Tikka Khan, known as the "Butcher of Baluchistan", was flown into Dhaka to become Governor of East Bengal. East Pakistani judges, including Justice Siddique, refused to swear him in.
• "Operation Searchlight" began on March 25, 1971. Before the beginning of the operation, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from East Pakistan.
• The violence unleashed by the Pakistani forces on 25 March 1971 proved the last straw to the efforts to negotiate a settlement. Following these incidents, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration of Independence:
  
  "Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night, West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dacca. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between E.P.R. and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pakistan on the other, are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May Allah aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla."

Thus was born Bangladesh.

Sources:

1. Major Nasir Uddin, Juddhey Juddhey Swadhinata, pp47
2. Ali, Maj. Gen. Rao Farman, How Pakistan Got Divided, pp114
3. A Tale of Millions, Rafiqul Islam
4. Sayeed, Khalid B. (1967). The Political System of Pakistan. Houghton Mifflin. p. 61.
5. Talbot 1989, p. 86.