Separation

of East
Pakistan
By
Shahrayar Sheikh
Abdullah Talat
Ibrahim Ali
Yousaf Tasleem
 o The Bengalis received massive
amounts of persecutions from the

Persecution British since the Battle of Plassey

1757.

s Faced
o Agriculture taxes increased from
10% to 70%
o 1857 War of Independence was also

Before The blamed on the Bengalis.

o British took revenge by not allowing
Bengali soldiers to be hired in the
Partition military & did not allow Bengalis to
take any position in the government.
o Severely underdeveloped.
Language Movement
o After the partition, in March 1948, Jinnah
announced in Dhaka that Urdu will be the
only state language.
o This was the first biggest disappointment of
the people of East Pakistan.
o Even though they were in the majority their
language was not recognized as a state
language.
o Urdu was only spoken in West Pakistan.
o This announcement sparked various protest
across east Pakistan.
o However, Bengali was made the state
language in the 1956 constitution, 9 years
after the partition, but it was too late.
Major Points of Contention
oHit by one of the deadliest tropical cyclones ever recorded.
oGovernment's slow & inadequate response to the disaster
highlighted the systemic neglect & discrimination faced by
East Pakistan.
oIndustries in East Pakistan were owned & managed by
individuals from West Pakistan.
oBureaucracy was not equally divided despite East Pakistan
having 52% of the population.
oTill 1871, no Bengali became a chief secretary. Three
Bengali Prime Ministers were prematurely dismissed.
Continued…
oIn the 17-day war in 1965,
East Pakistan felt the most
vulnerable & defenseless.
They raised the point that
the military power was not
equally distributed.
oIn Ayub’s Decade of
Development most
industries were set up in
West Pakistan, which
promoted the sense
Alienation in East Pakistan.
Sheikh Mujibur
Rehman’s Six
Points
Agartala Case
 Civil
Unrest
o In 1969 there were violent
unrest in both wings of Pakistan
against Ayub Khan.
o Ayub proposed a round table
conference. Sheikh Mujibur
Rehman had a condition that he
will only attend the meeting if
the charges in the Agartala
case were withdrawn. These
conditions were met, & which
further strengthen him.
o All political parties united
against Ayub Khan & he had to
step down.
Social Impact &
Casualty
Misreporting
o After the surrender, the Bahari women
were in misery as their husbands were
missing emphasizing the personal
tragedies that were faced by the families.
o Biased reporting from India.
o The figure of 3 million casualties were
exaggerated & the number lies within the
range of 100,000 – 300,000 including
combatants & noncombatants.
Violence Against
Women & Future
Relations