Name : Kiran Rasheed

Roll no : 505-20112
Semester : Bs 2nd
Department : Pakistan study

Separation Of East Pakistan:

• Background
The Pakistan Armed Forces were unable to counter such threats. Poorly trained and
inexperienced in guerrilla tactics, Pakistan Armed Forces and their assets were defeated by
the Bangladesh Liberation Forces. In April 1971, Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan succeeded
General Yaqub Khan as the Corps Commander. General Tikka Khan led the massive violent
and massacre campaigns in the region. He is held responsible for killing hundreds of
thousands of Bengali people in East Pakistan, mostly civilians and unarmed peoples. For his
role, General Tikka Khan gained the title of "Butcher of Bengal". General Khan faced an
international reaction against Pakistan, and therefore, General Tikka was removed as
Commander of the Eastern front. He installed a civilian administration under Abdul Motaleb
Malik on 31 August 1971, which proved to be ineffective. However, during the meeting, with
no high officers willing to assume the command of East Pakistan, Lieutenant-General Amir
Abdullah Khan Niazi volunteered for the command of East Pakistan. Inexperienced and the
large magnitude of this assignment, the government sent Rear-Admiral Mohammad Shariff as
Flag Officer Commanding of Eastern Naval Command (Pakistan). Admiral Shariff served as
the deputy of General Niazi when doing joint military operations. However, General Niazi
proved to be a failure and ineffective ruler. Therefore, General Niazi and Air Commodore
Inamul Haque Khan, AOC, PAF Base Dacca, failed to launch any operation in East Pakistan
against Indian or its allies. Except for Admiral Shariff who continued to press pressure on the
Indian Navy until the end of the conflict. Admiral Shariff's effective plans made it nearly
impossible for the Indian Navy to land its naval forces on the shores of East Pakistan. The
Indian Navy was unable to land forces in East Pakistan and the Pakistan Navy was still
offering resistance. The Indian Army, entered East Pakistan from all three directions of the
province. The Indian Navy then decided to wait near the Bay of Bengal until the Army
reached the shore.

The Indian Air Force dismantled the capability of the Pakistan Air Force in East Pakistan. Air
Commodore Inamul Haque Khan, Dacca airbase's AOC, failed to offer any serious resistance
to the actions of the Indian Air Force. For the most part of the war, the IAF enjoyed complete
dominance in the skies over East Pakistan.

On 16 December 1971, the Pakistan Armed Forces surrendered to the joint liberation forces
of Mukti Bahini and the Indian army, headed by Lieutenant-General Jagjit Singh Arora, the
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Eastern Command of the Indian
Army. Lieutenant General AAK Niazi, the last corps commander of Eastern Corps, signed
the Instrument of Surrender at about 4:31 pm. Over 93,000 personnel, including Lt. General
Niazi and Admiral Shariff, were taken as prisoners of war.

As of 16 December 1971, East Pakistan was separated from West Pakistan and became the
newly independent state of Bangladesh. The Eastern Command, civilian institutions, and
paramilitary forces were disbanded.

• Causes Of The Separation Of East Pakistan

a) Role Of Indian Teachers

b) Irresponsible Leadership Of Muslim League
c) Economic Backwardness Of East Pakistan
d) Geographical Location
e) Cultural Causes
f) Linguistic Problem
g) Delay In Framing Of Constitution
h) Mujib’s Six Points
i) Role Of India
j) International Conspiracy
k) Military Operation In East Pakistan
• Conclusion

Background:

When Pakistan came into being in 1947, it consisted of two wings; East Pakistan and West
Pakistan. These two wings were separated by 1000 miles long territory on India. Right from
its birth, Pakistan became a focus of Indian conspiracy and aggression. In 1971, the Bengalis
revolted against Pakistan with active Indian support. As a result, in December 1971, East
Pakistan succeeded in seceding from Pakistan.

Causes Of Separation Of East Pakistan:

a) Role Of Hindu Teachers:

After the partition of sub-continent in 1947, the number of Hindu teachers far exceeded
Muslim teachers both in the schools and the colleges. The Hindu teachers were basically
against the ideology of Pakistan thus they propagated against the two-nation theory. In
addition, they incited their students against the people of West Pakistan labelling them as
oppressors. Consequently, the new generation of East Pakistan considered the leaders and the
people of West Pakistan as their enemies.

b) Irresponsible Leadership Of Muslim League:

There is no doubt that all-India Muslim League played a very important role in the creation of
Pakistan but after the independence Pakistan Muslim League fell victim of party dissention
and lack of leadership. After the death of Quaid-e-Azam in 1948 and the assassination of
Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, the political leaders of PML joined race for power and preferred
personal interests over national interests. As a result, corruption, bribery, black-marketing
and anti-state activities became order of the day. In East Pakistan, PML suffered a crushing
defeat at the hands of Awami League.

c) Economic Backwardness Of East Pakistan:

The economy of East Pakistan depended mainly on the income from tea, jute and rice only.
There were no other sourced to boost the provincial revenues. Overpopulation was yet
another factor unemployment which led to many other social evils. India exploited this
weakness of Bengalis in 1971.

d) Geographical Location:

Geographically Pakistan was not a politically compact unit because it consisted of two wings
which were separated by 1000 miles distance. With the passage of time, the binding force of
Islamic Ideology weakened and regional feelings suffered under Hindu influence. The
geographical distance between two wings served as a barrier in the way of complete political
harmony. In the 1971 Indo-Pak war, this distance prevented military reinforcements to the
besieged garrison of East Pakistan.

e) Cultural Causes:
The culture of Bengalis differed greatly from the Punjabis, Pathans, Sindhis and Balochis.
Their food, language and ways of living were distinct from the people of West Pakistan.

f) Linguist Problem:

The people of East Pakistan spoke Bengali language which was quite differ from Sindhi,
Punjabi and Balochi. This difference created a great linguistic problem at the national level
because a large number of people of East Pakistan spoke Bengali and they demanded that
Bengali should be given the status of national language.

g) Delay In Framing Of Constitution:

Unfortunately, after the death of Quaid-e-Azam and Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan could not get
a sincere leadership like them. To make the things worse Malik Ghulam Mohammad as the
second Governor-General set new traditions of palace intrigues and horse-trading in the
country. The tussle between the Bengalis and the Punjabis brought the country on the bank of
catastrophe. Under these circumstances, the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan could not
frame the constitution in time and nine years elapsed in this process. Delay in constitution-
making allowed the anti-state elements to prosper at the cost of national unity.

h) Mujib’s Six Points:

In 1970, Mujib-ur-Rehman, the leader of Awami League put forward his famous six points
which sowed the seeds of secession of East Pakistan. According to these points, he demanded
a new financial policy for East Pakistan, permission for provinces to levy taxes, permission
for east Pakistan to maintain independent trade links with other countries and permission for
East Pakistan to establish its own Para-military force. He suggested that the centre should
keep only Defence and Foreign relations under its control.

i) Role Of India:

India was instrumental in organizing and supporting the revolt of Bengalis against Pakistan.
Indian government provided full military and financial assistance to the guerrillas of Awami
League. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Indian trained members of Mukti Bahni created
many problems for Pakistan army. After creating favourable circumstances India attacked
East Pakistan under the pretext of supporting the Bengalis.
j) International Conspiracy:

After Independence in 1947, Pakistan fell victim of international conspiracy which was
masterminded by Jews and Hindu. These anti-Islamic lobbies did not want to see Pakistan to
become the citadel of Islam.

k) Military Operation In East Pakistan:

In 1971 Awami League won overwhelming majority in general elections. At this stage, Gen.
Yahiya Kahn did not hand over powers to Mujib-ur-Rehman and instead launched a military
operation in East Pakistan to suppress the Bengalis. Gen. Tika Khan used brutal force to
bulldoze the opposition. This oppressive policy created hatred against West Pakistan.

Conclusion:

If there was a consistent and tragic pattern during the first 24 years in the Pakistan’s history,
it seemed to be that the more the power elite tried to preserve unity of the political system,
the more certain did its eventual disintegration became. Among the factors that resulted in the
separation of East Pakistan, two precipitous factors were:

a) The reign of terror and killings unleashed by the Pak-Army during March-December 1971.
b) The intervention of the Indian Army in the civil war in December 1971.

All the above-mentioned factors were irreparable for the separation of East Pakistan in
December 1971.