[vinnomot] Fw: [notun_bangladesh] creation of Bangladesh

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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C12%5C20%5Cstory_20-12-2006_pg3_3

Daily Times, Lahore, Pakistan
Wednesday, December 20, 2006

By Dr Manzur Ejaz
manzurejaz@yahoo.com

In 1971 it was not the Bengalis but almost the entire Punjabi
population, along with the Urdu-speaking population of Sindh, who
wanted 'Bengal'. A few tiny progressive groups, like the Young Peoples
Front, some pro-Soviet intellectuals and a handful of writers and
elements of Amador Kinas Party were raising stifled voices. However,
these feeble voices were drowned in the thunder of Bhutto's and other
patriots' rhetoric. Alas, in the Bengalis we lost the best protectors
of democracy in Pakistan and our best allies even in the Punjab
University.

I still remember an occasion on which a friend and myself sat in the
Punjab University New Campus cafeteria talking about the agony of the
Bengali Muslims and the sinful support of military action that we
witnessed around us. We could not face our harassed and mentally
tormented Bengali friends in those days.

At that time, there were about sixty-to-seventy Bengali students
studying at Punjab University in an exchange program. They all lived
with us in hostels and were our best ideological allies. All the
Bengali students, with hardly any exception, stood with the
progressive students to oppose Islami Jamiat-i-Talba (IJT). During the
election days they would come out with their own procession, raising
slogans of "Jalo Jalo Agan Jaloo." Palestinian students were also
major allies of the progressive movement. Notwithstanding the claims
of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and other Islamic groups these days, they were
strong supporters of the US policies then.

The military action in East Pakistan not only broke Pakistan but also
led to the dismemberment of progressive students' alliances in
Punjab's educational institutions. Dr. Aziz-ul-Haq and Professor Aziz-
ud-Din were the major intellectuals and organisers of the progressive
students' movement that started taking shape in 1968 in Punjab.
Nationalist Students Organisation (NSO) was the main platform
established in the process. The National Student Federation (NSF) was
a powerful student organisation, but somehow it was quite negligible
in Punjab, particularly in Lahore. NSO gained such strength in
universities that it became very competitive with the IJT.

However, the division of opinion on military action in East Bengal
devastated this entire set-up. The final debate between Dr. Aziz-ul-
Haq and Professor Aziz-ud-Din took place at Prof. Aijaz-ul-Hasan's
(the Daily Times columnist) residence. The scene was quite funny
because both sides used the same pages of the Marxist classics to
support their position. It was like a religious munazra where
befitting quotes are hurled from both sides. Anyway, nothing came out
of this munazra and the NSO was split. Our group left the NSO and kept
on working under the banner of Young Peoples Front, led by Dr. Aziz-ul-
Haq.

To his credit, Dr. Aziz-ul-Haq was the only Punjabi intellectual who
formulated a theory regarding oppressed nationalities in his famous
pamphlet "Qaumaitoon ka masla" (The issue of nationalities). In this
path-breaking thesis he argued that unless people from the oppressor
nationalities (Punjab and Karachi) support the oppressed nationalities
(East Bengal, Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP), they couldn't free
themselves of dictatorship and an unjust system.

Dr. Haq maintained that even tiny changes for better political and
socio-economic conditions were brought about by the struggle of
Bengali Muslims. In his view, Ayub Khan had to go not because of a
shallow movement in West Pakistan but because of pressure from East
Pakistanis. According to Dr. Haq Muslim Bengalis, who wanted to free
themselves of domination by Hindu feudals and therefore played a
crucial role in the founding of Pakistan, were the best protectors of
democracy. By losing East Pakistan, the rest of Pakistan's people have
been left to themselves to protect democracy and they are not yet
capable of that. The unfolding of the events of the last three decades
has proven that Dr. Aziz-ul-Haq's formulations were prophetic.

In the years following the fall of Bangladesh many progressives
supporting military action in East Pakistan repented and corrected
their attitude. However, it was too late to put back the progressive
coalition, that had become the victim of military action. With the
separation of East Pakistan all our Bengali students were gone and,
eventually, the Palestinian students also left. Consequently, Punjab
University and other educational institutions were left to the
attentions of the JI and IJT.

The progressive elements of Punjab and Karachi learnt their lesson,
but now they are not in a position to effect any meaningful change.
The creation of Bangladesh may have been better for Muslim Bengalis
but it has deprived Pakistan of potent democratic forces. The gap left
by the absence of such forces cannot be filled by anyone else. Baloch
and Sindhi nationalists are trying to fill the vacuum, but they are
much smaller in size and effectiveness.

The Pakistani state has learnt nothing from East Pakistan's
experience. It is still seeking a military solution to the Balochistan
and Sindh problems. It believes that, given the present geography of
Pakistan, nationalists cannot achieve their goals. They may, as usual,
be living in illusions. Time will tell.

However, the people of Punjab and other dominating nationalities
cannot get political or socio-economic freedom from this oppressive
system unless they support the oppressed Baloch and Sindhi
nationalities, as prescribed by Dr. Aziz-ul-Haq.

I once asked a retiring Pakistani senator his opinion on who delivered
the most progressive speeches in the Pakistan Senate. He said the
Baloch representatives were the only ones who spoke about socio-
economic justice for the common man. I was not surprised and neither
should anyone else be who remembers East Pakistani slogans of "Jalo
Jalo Aagan Jalo".

About the author:

Dr. Manzur Ejaz is a columnist for the Daily Times, BBC, the Nation,
and the News. A Professor of Philosophy at the University of the
Punjab in the 70's and the 80's, he faced harassment from the Islamic
government of General Zia for his outspoken views, leading him to seek
refuge in the United States. Dr. Ejaz did his Ph.D. in economics from
Howard University, Washington DC. He is the author of " Epistemology
of Development Economics", and "Ranjhan Yar ..." a Punjabi play staged
in Washington.