Fall of Dhaka was inevitable-III

By
Sultan M Hali
-
27
253

The role of Pakistan, Bengalis, and India

This is the last and final part of the series of articles. In the first part, factors leading to the “Fall of Dhaka” were examined. In the second part the last week, it was proved that the claims by Awami League regarding the number of Bengalis massacred in genocide and the women raped by Pakistan Army are highly exaggerated.

Before we conclude, it is essential to examine the prevailing fable that Sheikh Mujib, despite securing maximum seats in the 1970 elections was denied power by conniving West Pakistani politicians. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto et al were ambitious but the truth can be gauged from the news report of APP correspondents interviewing Sheikh Mujib in Dhaka post elections, congratulating him on his victory. They inquired of the Sheikh’s future plans after he would assume the mantle of premiership of Pakistan. His response was that he would rather be the “Father of a Nation (Bangladesh)” than just a Prime Minister of Pakistan. The die had already been cast.

Let us also delve deeper into the myth of Awami League’s majority in the 1970 elections and its overwhelming representation of the Bengalis. Election Commission of Pakistan documents reveal that the voter turnout in East Pakistan was 56 percent while the disinterested electorate in East Pakistan comprised 44 percent. Of the overall votes cast in East Pakistan, Awami League actually received only 42 percent of the votes. The question therefore arises how could only a 42 percent mandate achieve independence without external (Indian) support? If this was not true and a sizable population of the Bengalis did not support the idea of secession, and continued to regard the Pakistan regime as the legitimate government, why would Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s government now be putting its own citizens to trial for “treason” and sending them to the gallows? What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If the rebels were fighting for a ‘noble’ cause for freedom, then in the same vein, the cause of those Bengalis supporting the regime was equally ‘noble’ as it was to sustain the unity and integrity of Pakistan they had sworn allegiance to.

If anyone needs to be tried, it is India which had been planning the dismemberment of East Pakistan for ages. Indian secret agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was created with the main task of destabilising Pakistan. The deliberate intervention of India in fomenting political trouble in Pakistan was in direct contravention to Article-4 of the UN Charter. Indira Gandhi had triumphantly claimed to have taken revenge for 700 years of Muslim rule and at the fall of Dhaka and declared “today we have sunk the Two Nation theory of Pakistan in the Bay of Bengal”. More evidence was provided by the confessional statement of Indian role in the mutilation of Pakistan by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Bangladesh in June 2015, which is self-indicting under international law. India had planned to exploit the discord between two wings, hence the drama of “Ganga” hijacking on 30 January, 1971, was orchestrated to ban Pakistan’s overflights and deny logistic support to the East from the West.

Indian intervention has been admitted by Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in his memoirs. Manekshaw discloses regarding his meeting with India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in April 1971 when she divulged her intent of dismembering East Pakistan and asked Manekshaw for the impending invasion of East Pakistan. FM Manekshaw requested for 7-9 months preparation time which was granted by PM Indira Gandhi.

Just when Pakistan Army was on the verge of having controlled the armed insurgency by Bengali Mukti Bahini, being supported by India, the Indian armed forces initiated war in East Pakistan on 21 November, 1971, on the pretext of Bengali refugees crossing into India. If this principle is to be applied today by other states as well, should Pakistan invade Afghanistan or Europe overrun Syria?

Now let us look at some ground realities regarding Pak-Bangladesh relations. Pakistan and Bangladesh can either be friends or stay indifferent to each other. One thousand miles of hostile Indian territory still separates Pakistan and Bangladesh and it is not physically possible for Pakistan to interfere in Bangladesh affairs or vice versa. Bangladesh is enveloped by India which foments troubles like water issues, border skirmishes, smuggling, drug trafficking and numerous other problems. It would be prudent for Bangladesh to resolve its problems with India rather than act as a proxy for India and hurl insults and accusations at Pakistan, which tends to gain nothing from the instability of Bangladesh.

True that Pakistan bears some blame for pre-1971 atrocities and omissions but the grievances of economic poverty disparities, low representation of Bengalis in administration, industry and armed forces etc were related to inter-province disparities and were not peculiar to East Pakistan and persist even today.

Currently Pakistan has approximately two million illegal Bengalis on its soil but has never made them a scapegoat for the turmoil in Karachi or its war against terror while Bangladesh is busy profiling Pakistani visitors and workers and harassing them with a vengeance.

If the genocide claim is to be taken as correct then from 25 March to 16 December, 1971, (257 days), the causality rate on the average comes to 11,000 per day, which is highly questionable as no neutral source ever reported or confirmed the atrocities at this mass scale. Apparently, Sheikh Hasina Wajid has banned any discussion or questioning the Awami League version of the alleged genocide just as the Jews have barred any debate on the Jewish holocaust claims.

If Hasina ponders even for a moment, she should pragmatically take cognizance of the fact that no distinction can be made between the liberation fighters, innocent Bengalis, and how many were killed by the Indians, Mukti Bahini or Pakistanis. By persistently blackballing Pakistan, the atrocities will not go away as they were not one sided.

The time has come for both Pakistan and Bangladesh to do some soul searching and move forward. And that would be the best closure rather than continuing to rake old wounds.

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27 COMMENTS

  1. I assume this is an editorial because it is quite apparent that the writer is biased. It is interesting how he sidesteps the issue of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman being denied Prime Ministership of Pakistan. In fact, had he been allowed to be the PM, as would be normal in a regularly functioning democracy, Pakistan might have actually been able to demonstrate the fact that the east and west were united and allow for a united Pakistani nationalist feeling to grow in its citizens from both sides. However, as history has shown repeatedly, despite what the people actually want, true democracy is elusive in the country. Despite the writer's claims of evil Indian intervention, the fact remains that West Pakistan was determined to rule East Pakistan more like a colony than allow the east to be an equal to West.

    I am not from Bangladesh, but reading through this article it is quite apparent that the writer has written this with his own agenda in mind rather than provide an unbiased point of view. And it seems so similar to the hidden agenda of West Pakistan in trying to dominate the East.

  2. Such pseudo scholarly articles are clearly aimed at justifying the indefensible. East Pakistan was bigger, more populous, and well, the major stake holder in Pakistan. But because they were not Urdu speaking, they were exploited and their legitimate rights denied. Accept these facts. We may try to influence others into believing that Pakistan is an innocent victim. But what about ourselves? And at what cost? Do we not see that this can lead to further alienation of communities within the Pakistan of today? Can we not learn lessons from Germany? It not only owned up the sins committed by the Nazis, it is now a world leader. It is a shining example of humane outlook, that puts all Islamic Nations to shame. And here, we quibble about some irrelevant details, trying to save our tails.

  25. "Ab Pashtay kia hout, jab chirian chug gain kheet."

    It is leadership gap that Muslims are lacking and no amount of wisdom will prevail after the inevitable has happened. Sheikh Hasina is a young lady with no brain of her own and hardly have basic knowledge of basic math to find her way out of mesh created by politicians. I wonder what is the purpose of such an article other than waste of time.

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