Democracy on Trial in East Pakistan

Abstract

was created in defiance of geography. A thousand PAKISTAN miles of foreign territory separate East Pakistan, where more than 50 per cent, of the population lives, from the rest of the country. Geographical isolation has created numerous problems for East Pakistan. It has fostered a lack of mutual understanding between the wings of the country and has encouraged parochial feelings which recently has been stimulated by disgruntled politicians as they pursue narrow selfish interests. Many disquieting features of recent politics in Pakistan can be traced to the lack of a broader national perspective. Because of geographic isolation, the legitimate aspirations and demands of East Pakistan have sometimes been misunderstood. Thus, opposition in the region to a particular government at the centre or to the programme of a particular party has been interpreted as the expression of a lack of patriotism or as a denial of the ideology which created Pakistan. Such an explanation of political developments in East Pakistan is unfair and inadequate. Like their compatriots in West Pakistan, its peoples are equally enthusiastic in defending the national interests and unity. Sometimes, however, interested politicians give the impression that East Pakistan thinks in terms of two countries, two people. It would, of course, be unrealistic to ignore or to minimize the fact that East Pakistan has been from the beginning a fertile ground for political agitation. This has to be explained in terms not of the indifference of the people towards national interests and solidarity but in terms of deeper political, social, and economic influences which have prevailed in this region since 1947-48.