The Original Pakistan Could've Been Saved

[ejaz007]

This is a difficult topic to discuss.
However in order to evaluate what happened in 1971 one needs to consider what was happening in 1971 and the circumstances of that time. It is easy to analyze something after it has happened however for a person making decisions at that time there is no retake or reversal. Unfortunately what happened as a result of decisions taken by people at that time resulted in the gravest tragedy taking place.
We need to understand that history can not be reversed however future can be improved and one should learn from his past mistakes. Slowly and steadily the true picture of 1971 is surfacing. Facts are emerging which indicate that the situation was not as was painted to the East Pakistanis. Hopefully the people of Bangladesh shall be able to understand that every thing done by West Pakistan was not wrong and external forces were at play.
As far as the notion preached by some members of the forum that East Pakistanis were not welcome or were not wanted is far from truth. They were as loyal and faithful a Pakistanis as West Pakistanis were.
This is all I can say at the moment.

 

[mujahideen]

Mujahideen,

Who is talking about the Two nation theory in the context that you are seeing?

The issue that I addressed was that under no circumstances could Pakistan allow Bangladesh to have freedom.

Re-read my post.

Could Pakistan have given freedom and then not have subnationalism raise its ugly head in other parts of Pakistan?

See what the rise of subnationalism is doing to Pakistan right now!

Well this subnationalism is nothing new and it is not just a Pakistan problem. India is also dealing with this problem. This problem in Pakistan in my opinion right now is not as strong as the media describes it to be.

 

[salman nedian]

Azmax007,

I have a query.

What needs to be done now?

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Well this subnationalism is nothing new and it is not just a Pakistan problem. India is also dealing with this problem. This problem in Pakistan in my opinion right now is not as strong as the media describes it to be.

Don't worry about Indian subnationalism.

We are discussing about Pak subnationalism and also Bangladesh and the contention that Pakistan should have wilted and given Bangladesh independence long before she wrested it from the Pakistani Army!

My contention was that under no circumstances could that pipedream be accepted. In essence, nationhood is not a cheap exercise that can be made or broken at will, and to put it in a very crass manner, dependant upon the weather and the mood!

For one knows, India may explode because of Indian subnationalism, but will that be a justification to Pakistani subnationalism?

Are you suggesting that whatever happens in India is OK if it happens in Pakistan?

In short, India is the Big Brother leading the way?

So, where is the connection, old bean?

Let me tell you that even if I lived in a country the size of a postage stamp, I would not take other countries as my alter ego. I would make my own fate!


The issue was about the effects of subnationalism on the Western side of the Indus.

In case you wish to discuss Indian subnationalism, open a thread!

It appears you are deprived of facts for a cogent reply and hence you wish to beat about the bush!

 

[roadrunner]

1. Democratically the capital of Pakistan should have been Dhaka instead of Karachi since 55% of the Pakistani population were East Pakistani Bengalis and the remaining 45% were West Pakistanis. I have no idea why the Quad-E-Azam Muhmmad Ali Jinnah chose Karachi as the capital, it was not even a choice based on popular sovereignty.

karachi was where the super rich went to. had more economic influence than Dhaka

2. English should have been the official language. In the Pakistani Union not everyone spoke Bengali and not everyone spoke Urdu. Therefore, a neutral language such as English could've been the best choice for the national language.

Too much is made of languages. As far as i know, it was made pretty clear in the Muslim League manifesto that Urdu was going to be made the official language of Pakistan. But anyway, Bengali was made one of the official languages of Pakistan soon after Partition. So where's the problem?

3. Single currency with two Federal Banks should have been created, one in Dhaka and one in Karachi.

forget economic autonomy. it's not good. east pakistan would have been a competitor of west pakistan. Wasnt there several Federal banks then anyway?

4. West Pakistan should have invested on East Pakistan's infrastructure more to control the floods and defend against Indian invasion and propaganda.

Well Bangladesh can't control against floods even now. So why would things have been any better in 1971? afaik India never managed to invade Bangladesh, so werent the defences adequate? Not sure what you mean by the Indian propaganda.

If East Pakistan got equal representation and money from the Pakistan Union government then the Quad-E-Azam's Pakistan would still exist today and I would be proud to wave the Pakistani flag today.

Why should West and East Pakistan have got equal money? Would it not be fairer to try and equalize out the infrastructure (e.g schools) so that both East and West Pakistanis had the same opportunities? If this required more money to West Pakistan, that sounds like a fair solution, surely.

 

[salman nedian]

1. Democratically the capital of Pakistan should have been Dhaka instead of Karachi since 55% of the Pakistani population were East Pakistani Bengalis and the remaining 45% were West Pakistanis. I have no idea why the Quad-E-Azam Muhmmad Ali Jinnah chose Karachi as the capital, it was not even a choice based on popular sovereignty.

2. English should have been the official language. In the Pakistani Union not everyone spoke Bengali and not everyone spoke Urdu. Therefore, a neutral language such as English could've been the best choice for the national language.

The Capital of India is Delhi and UP is the biggest province of India so why any city of UP is not the capital of India?

if one bengali and one punjabi both villagers want to talk to each other which language will they speak???

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

The Capital of India is Delhi and UP is the biggest province of India so why any city of UP is not the capital of India?

if one bengali and one punjabi both villagers want to talk to each other which language will they speak???

Calcutta was the capital of British India.

Thereafter, is shifted to Delhi and hence it remained the capital of India after independence.

 

[Spring Onion]

if one bengali and one punjabi both villagers want to talk to each other which language will they speak???

Urdu--------------

 

[salman nedian]

Calcutta was the capital of British India.

Thereafter, is shifted to Delhi and hence it remained the capital of India after independence.

Yes dear, I was talking about any city of U.P.

 

[Awesome]

1. Democratically the capital of Pakistan should have been Dhaka instead of Karachi since 55% of the Pakistani population were East Pakistani Bengalis and the remaining 45% were West Pakistanis. I have no idea why the Quad-E-Azam Muhmmad Ali Jinnah chose Karachi as the capital, it was not even a choice based on popular sovereignty.

2. English should have been the official language. In the Pakistani Union not everyone spoke Bengali and not everyone spoke Urdu. Therefore, a neutral language such as English could've been the best choice for the national language.

3. Single currency with two Federal Banks should have been created, one in Dhaka and one in Karachi.

4. West Pakistan should have invested on East Pakistan's infrastructure more to control the floods and defend against Indian invasion and propaganda.

If East Pakistan got equal representation and money from the Pakistan Union government then the Quad-E-Azam's Pakistan would still exist today and I would be proud to wave the Pakistani flag today.

Capitals aren't made for appeasement.

If you see the city Karachi today, it's a metropolitan. The world's 1st or 2nd most populous city with a diverse population. With STILL a large Bangla speaking pop. It was financial cap it still is.

It was and IS the region in Pakistan where Urdu is spoken as the primary language.

Urdu was a neutral language. It would've been unfair if Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi, Pashtu, Kashmiri, Siraiki, etc. was taken up. English is no where close to being Pakistani. Urdu was invented by the Mughals to be an adaptive language. Its popularity today is a testament to that. Even Bangladeshis easily understand Urdu even today.

Heck, Arabs, Americans, Filipinos all adapt to it easily.

United Pakistan could've been saved. But these were the silly man's issues, don't mix them with the real issues.

 

[salman nedian]

Today the need is to be united. Forget the past and work for unification.

 

[Vinod2070]

Urdu--------------

Correction! It is Hindi.

 

[Vinod2070]

Today the need is to be united. Forget the past and work for unification.

The same thing we say to the few Kashmiri separatists. Great advice.

 

[Awesome]

Jeez, I just don't get it.

Bangladesh gets neglected, treated like a colony, and looked down upon by west Pakistan. Its people are massacred in huge numbers.

Yet, Bangladeshis run back to Pakistan like she is some sort of abusive parent.

India rescued you guys from the horror you faced at the hands of these people. Don't you have at least some gratitude?

Hold it right there, noble saint!

Atleast have some feelings of kinship with your fellow Bengalis across the border?

Or is religion so much more important than any other thing that two people might share in common?

Lol, Pakistan has accepted Bangladesh as a sovereign nation. You want a whole nation to revile in animosity and hatred?

I guess this is why all Islamic countries are treated like colonies by the Saudis.
The Saudis have such misplaced feelings of superiority to all other muslims, and yet all Islamic countries keep insisting on treating the them like their masters.

Same ol' mantra from the ignorant and ill-informed.

Its a shame, really, that Bangladesh wants to play the same game with Pakistan.

They want to play with Pakistan and vice versa but it's not the same game. We are better friends than we were family. Bangladesh identifies INDIA, the noble savior saint, as it's enemy not Pakistan.

The problem with India-Bangladesh friendship is people like you. Your efforts to sow seeds of discontent are more transparent now than they were in the early 70s. You are not even asking for peace with India, only demanding hostility towards Pakistan from the Bangladeshis. You're basically accusing all of us to be implicit in whatever horrific acts were meted upon the Bangladeshis whereas Bangladeshis recognize this Pakistani generation to be a different one with different ideals and agendas.

Go play bad angel elsewhere!

 

[Awesome]

IMO if you ask me Bangladeshis should've been allowed to form a government in Karachi and later Islamabad. Bhutto was an idiot who came up with that stupid plan of disjointed rule.