Language. Truly, what an interesting thing it is. Language is the force of hope, of unity, of resistance, of friendship. But what happens when that string that keeps you together is cut by those who want to stay in power? You rise up, and you demand your rights. That’s exactly what the Bangladeshis, or the East Pakistanis, or as Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, who served as the head of the Armed forces in East Pakistan, referred to them, ‘low lying land, of low, lying people’ did.
In 1948 Jinnah went to East Pakistan, and said that Urdu should be the national language, and no other. You know, a couple of days ago, I was denied change from a general store, and I felt humiliated, angry even. It’s anyone’s guess how to the people, that made up over half of our population, it might have felt. It was, hence, no surprise that people broadcasted their discontent with the decision. Though, it was just a one of the many nails in the coffin that sunk the boat of possible unity between the two wings.
Immediately after the partition, East Pakistan accounted for a majority of the exports that brought cash in, but as time progressed, that balance slowly started shifting towards the lower populated region of West Pakistan, that severely lowered the, already low, standard of living. One key cause of this shifty of economic local hegemony was West Pakistan’s focus on wheat production that was further legitimized through government initiatives. This caused disdain in the population of East Pakistan towards the people of West Pakistan, and this was also one of the core reasons of the separatist movement that sprouted in East Pakistan.
During the first democratic elections of Pakistan, Mujibur Rehman bagged more than half of all votes. Despite this, they were not invited to form the government. Rightfully, Mujibur Rehman announced a mass civil disobedience movement. Apart from this, several riots and protests erupted.
As a result of this movement, the power drunk military of Pakistan initiated operation ‘Searchlight’, a fancy name for a vile objective based operation aimed at eliminating Bengali Separatists. The goal was to take control of major towns and let the movement die down, though the military underestimated the stamina of those who are subjugated. Even though the military was able to take control of all major cities, they didn’t even scratch the movement, which was strong as ever, stronger as some quote.
This operation prompted the infamous Bangladesh genocide, which killed around 2.5 million civilians, intellectuals and East Pakistani military personnel. Consequently, India intervened, Pakistani army unconditionally surrendered and we lost a humongous part of our population, military, economy and territory.
Now, why would I tell you this all in such a somber manner? Because we, stupidly, are doing this again in Baluchistan. Like 1970, Pakistani’s are oblivious to the domestic bloodshed because of propaganda. Despite being so resource rich, Baluchistan has seen little, if any, development take place. There is corruption at the grass root level, there is rampant economic slavery, as well as their people are severely discriminated. Heck, even we make stereotypical jokes about Baluchis without even thinking about it. I think it’s high time we looked at our own history, and reflected upon ourselves. Where are we even going? Sambhal Jao Pakistanio.
