Bangladesh at 40

The day this column appears, marks the 40th anniversary of Gen AAK Niazi’s surrender in Dhaka. Come December, I write about the tragic events of 1971, the personal tragedy it entailed for millions, the need for establishing truth, taking responsibility for the wrongs committed, and learning from our mistakes in order to run the rest of Pakistan democratically, justly and equitably. While there is sadness in our hearts when we look back and see that the bloodshed and the gross human rights violations could have been avoided, it is important to congratulate the Bangladeshi people wholeheartedly for celebrating their liberation as a new nation.
On this occasion in Pakistan, it is necessary to reiterate that 1971 did not happen because we failed militarily or the Indian Army came to aid the Bengali secessionists. Therefore, it is not the army action on the ground, be it Operation Blitz or Operation Searchlight, which could alone be blamed for Pakistan’s dismemberment. They for sure exacerbated the situation but these operations were no more than tools of the ruling military junta and their civilian collaborators to suppress the Bengali political expression in haste. Nor, in my view, it was simply about the Bangla language. For it was declared a national language soon after the Bangla language rights movement and the subsequent riots in East Pakistan as early as in the 1950s. In fact, there was a political economy of extortion, oppression, contempt and denial of political rights which the West Pakistani ruling class carried on for over two decades, whether they were civilians or military rulers. Not accepting the results of the 1970 general elections and not letting the Awami League form the national government was the culmination.
It was the mindset of the West Pakistani ruling class that made Bangladesh a reality. You may recall the account of Mian Iftikharuddin about the shabby treatment meted out to Quaid-e-Azam by Punjab’s provincial cabinet soon after independence and their views about East Pakistan. Gen Ayub Khan’s racist remarks about Bengalis are found in his written work. Besides, there was inherent discrimination, politically and economically, perpetuated by the largely north Indian immigrant and Punjabi bureaucracy and the military, also dominated by northern Punjab, towards the citizens, institutions and political leadership from East Pakistan.
While we could never declassify the complete Hamood-ur-Rahman Commission report nor bring back a couple of hundred thousand people who associated themselves with West Pakistan, or Pakistan as it is now, and leave them languishing in refugee camps for forty years, Bangladesh has set up a war crimes tribunal to bring Bangladeshi collaborators in 1971 to book. While questions are being raised by independent observers and international human rights bodies about ensuring the fairness of trials and to keep political vendetta out of the process, the need for setting up truth and reconciliation commissions cannot be undermined. For fairness sake, it will also be useful for the Bangladeshi government to investigate the human rights violations committed against innocent Biharis or West Pakistani civilians.
For us in Pakistan, there is a lot to learn and reconcile with. If the state is unable to create stakes of all citizens in the polity and economy of the country, it doesn’t remain viable. There is a bit of learning for our Indian friends too. The country they helped liberate largely sees them as a hegemonic power now.
Finally, a South Asia built on mutual trust, economic justice and peaceful coexistence is the only way out for over a billion poor who inhabit our part of the world.

The writer is an Islamabad-based poet and author.
Email: harris.khalique@gmail.com