and we cud have done much better by our Bengali brothers by our side [/B]
There was a time when there were good leaders from both wings of Pakistan. Even then, there was a time when most of the people of both wings of Pakistan had supported the military take over of united Pakistan by Gen. Ayub Khan. But when I grew up, I studied a little over that military coup of 1958, and found it to be a major starting point of breakup of Pakistan.
A Constitution had already been passed by the feuding political leaders of both wings, and there was supposed to be an election by the end of 1958. Ayub Khan took care to stop this election, and he staged a military coup. It had destroyed the future of Pakistan by eliminating democracy from the country.
Was Pakistani people ready for a democratic election? I would say yes to that question. With a democracy, united Pakistan could have survived, possibly. Because, in a democracy the country is ruled by a system. But, in a military rule, its leader destroys this system and then rules by force.
Take note also the election of 1971. The result was nullified by General Yahya Khan. People of Pakistan were denied the opportunity to become a democratic country. Some military people perhaps thought that with a win of 167 seats in the Parliament of 300, the position of Bangali dominated Pakistan Awami League was PERMANENT. This cannot be more wrong.
But, the Punjabi dominated military unleashed a terror attack on the Bangalis without ever thinking that any future election results could have been quite opposite. It was not that in all the future elections PAL could have gained majority seats. No ruling party in a poor country can satisfy the population. Therefore, a new election could have given a different result. The day a terror campaign was unleashed by the military on its own people, the fabric of love and affection towards each other were destroyed at that moment.
I would like people to know how the Bangalis respected all the non-Bangali politicians. The 1st Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Liaqat Ali Khan, was probably from Bhupal of Madhya Pradesh. But he was not an elected leader there. He could not be elected from anywhere in west Pakistan. Then the Bangali leaders asked him to stand in an by-election from a seat in Barisal in east Bengal. He was duly elected by the Bangali population and the National Assembly confirmed him as the PM.
Such was the sentiment of Bangalis in those days. But, all these things were probably misunderstood by the west Pakistanis. They started to think us something sub-ordinate. Why, I do not know. But, may be it is due to their larger physical features.
But, Allah creates people with a balance. Short Muslim Bangalis were never short of brain and bravery. History of Bengal after 1203 proves this. But, Ayub Khan, fabricated history in his book 'Friends not Masters.' This distortion was not seen very kindly by the Muslims of Bengal.
There was one Bangali PM named Muhammad Ali Bogra. He proposed a system that if the PM is from east, then the President must be from west. There are many other instances like this that the Bangali leaders tried to keep Pakistan united.
Another Bangali PM, Hossain Shahid Suhrawardy, abolished even our more number of seats in the NA. Instead, he came to the east and traveled throughout the land to talk people to accept parity, meaning equal number of Assembly seats for each wing. For the sake of unity we had accepted it, because we thought it would strenghten Pakistan.
About the 1952 February language movement, we squarely blame west for the killing. But, the reality was Khwaja Nazimuddin of east Bengal was the PM of Pakistan at that time. Nazimuddin tried hard to keep Pakistan united even by killing his own people in the east. He is still unpopular here.
Another story about his dedication. After the death of Jinnah, Nazimuddin of Dhaka was elected the new Governor General of Pakistan. He found that this prestigous post had little executive power, although the GG had the power to sack a govt or a PM. Nazimuddin wanted to do works for the country. So, he asked Mohammad Ali (not Bogra) to become the GG, and he himself took over the Prime Ministership.
But, this new GG Mohammad Ali (of Punjab) sacked his benefactor without even blinking his eyes sometime in 1953 (?). So, this is what politics was in the united Pakistan. Bangalis tried to keep the unity, but the west's politicians bullied them in every step. The result is the breakup of Pakistan. But, we wish Pakistan all the best.