Group Work 3 Worksheet

EMB section: 28 Group Name (Room Number): Group 3 Marks: 5%

Name and ID of the group members:

Md. Mahenul Haque Chowdhury(21101084)

Sreezon Das Gupta (21101088)
Hossain Md. Arif (21101082)
Md. Ragib Asif (21101083)

Duration: 20-25 minutes for group discussion and writing, and 3-4 minutes (each group) for
presentation

Instructions: Read the assigned question or statement based on your assigned readings from Class 8
(‘Dictatorships and Struggles for Democracy’) Class 9 (‘Nature of the Pakistan State’) and Class 10 (‘War
of Independence’) and respond accordingly. One person of the group’s choice should be prepared to
answer questions and participate in the class discussion.

The written submission should not be more than 3 or 4 paragraphs. One submission per group by
1800hrs (6.00 pm) by this evening.

Your Question will be sent to your group by email separately.

The question:

Consider the Six-Point Demands of 1966. What would the acceptance of the points in their entirety have
meant for the political landscape? Was it possible, given the experience of the people of East Bengal
since 1947-1948? Discuss.

Answer :

The Six-Point Demands of 1966 arose as a result of the West Pakistan government's long-standing
discrimination against the people of East Pakistan. At some point in 1966, the political leaders of East
Pakistan decided that enough was enough and that they should move on from the sham democracy that
had been established in Pakistan. The statistics demonstrated the vast disparity that existed between
the two parts of the country. On February 6, 1966, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman presented the six-point
demand, which had previously been unanimously accepted by the entire Awami League was presented
at the national conference of Pakistan and the demand was immediately rejected.

Some of the most important demands among these six points were that elections in Pakistan be held
centrally, with only one central election process, and that any voter over the legal voting age is allowed
to vote. The central government would only be able to control matters of national security and foreign
affairs, while regional governing bodies would have control over the majority of the region's affairs,
including taxes. Another significant demand was for the formation of East Pakistan's own army.
Although these appear to be mere demands, acceptance would have meant the end of the tyrannical
reign of the discriminators who created the imbalance between East Pakistan and West Pakistan.
To begin with, if a central election were held in the country, the West Pakistan government would lose
control because the majority of the population was in East Pakistan and the Awami League was the
more popular party there, and if such an election were held, the Awami League would win. East Pakistan
would have unofficial freedom if they had control over their regions as outlined in the six points. More
importantly, their path to complete freedom would be much easier if an army dedicated solely to East
Pakistan was established, as demanded in the six points.

From the perspective of the People of East Pakistan, acceptance of the six points was something they
desperately needed after a long period of discrimination, and they would not be subdued in any way.
However, if we look at the incident from West Pakistan's perspective, it appears that they would lose
control over the entirety of Pakistan, which they had no intention of giving up, and they would be in a
very disadvantageous political position. As a result, in their opinion, these demands could never be met.