December
16, 1971, a historic and remarkable day in annals of modern Indian history and
that of the armed forces. The surrender of Gen.A.A.K.Niazi and his troop of
93,000 men were not only a military victory but also a victory of the democratic
forces and failure of Jinnah’s two nation theory.
Pakistan,
an acronym for Punjab, Afghan, Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan was coined by Choudhary Rahmat Ali on 28 January 1933 as a Pamphlet handout titled “Now
or never: Are we to live or perish forever”. Rahmat Ali demanded for separate homeland”
Pakistan” for the thirty million Muslim Indians of British India. The proposal
hardly found any takers, for it enjoyed the support of only three Individuals. Weird
is the fact, why it ignored Bengal? The partition of Bengal of 1905 and the religious
alliance of East Bengal were well known facts in 1933. A dream for the thirty
million Muslims in actuality excluded the remaining thirty million odd Bengali
Muslims. Pakistan was by and large a Punjabi dream.
The Bengal partition of 1905 had the support on
Muslim east and opposition of the Hindu west; it was peacefully annulled in 1911.
The partition was re-invoked on linguistic basis rather than religion. The partition
of Bengal in 1947 was more peaceful than the bloody ones in Punjab.
Was it the genuine fear of the Hindu majority votes
or the power struggle of Muslim League and congress that lead to the partition
of India in 1947 could be a good topic for a national debate, but one can say
with certainly, Jinnah failed to understand the psyche of not only Hindus but
also of the Muslims. The Imposition of an Indian language Urdu on a nation
where barely seven percent of the population spoke Urdu was the first blunder. The
Bengali Language movement of 1948 was the first signs of friction between the
two units of Pakistan. Religion no longer seemed to be a uniting factor.
The nation that was built on the fear of
compatriot colonization turned, East Pakistan to a colony. Economic, political
and Administrative disparities grew between the two wings. The East was milked
to the last drop and the west was pastured graciously. Capital of the east was exploited;
the state expenditure was highly detrimental to the interest of the east. The subsequent
failure of various constitutions and the imposition of Punjabi dominated Army
rules, disenfranchised the Bengalis. The non acceptance of Sheik Mujib ur
Rehman as prime minister of Pakistan by the power authorities, sounded a death
Knell to the concept of Muslim Brotherhood.
The Bengali nation declared its independence in
1971 and revolted against the Military Government. To be fair to Pakistan, professional
soldiers disapproved the use of force, Judges refused to appoint blood thirsty
and tainted Generals. Operation search light of Gen.Khan created Havoc in
Bengal, large number of Bengali Intellectuals and Hindus were murdered. The
ensuing Indian intervention saw the birth of a new nation and surrender of the
entire eastern corps to India, the largest since world war-II.
With the liberation of Bangladesh, Pakistan proved
to be Mistake of Jinnah. Military rule and Urdu failed the enormous foundations
on which Pakistan was built. Pakistan let Jinnah down on many a count, Islamic
constitution as opposed to a Muslim majority secular constitution proposed by
Jinnah, Military regimes, and cessation of the Eastern wing etc. Whether Pakistan
is still a nation of Jinnah’s dreams?
Pakistan’s loss was a symbolic victory to Indian
Secularism and its strong social and political foundations. The 1947 war stood
for loss of territories, 1962 for surprise and callousness, 1965 a draw match,
but 1971 was a fruit of many labors; of democracy, righteousness and in true Buddhist
spirit, a war for Dharma.
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