we werent good muslims in 1971, neither were the Bengalis. we arent good muslims now, neither are the bengalis. we wouldnt have so many problems if we were good muslims. it doesnt matter who most muslim countries supported in 1971. right and wrong isnt based on that. if most muslim countries support Israel, doesnt make Israel right and Palestine wrong.
We were discussing the
aftermath of the war, after 1971. Our former territory that seceded was a pariah in the world for three years, worse than North Korea today; denied even a membership of the UN by a Chinese veto, and a hostile USA. Except for Afghanistan, and a few other pro-Soviet Muslim majority nations, our former breakway territory was boycotted and never recognized as a nation by most of the Muslim majority nations. It was not even invited to participate in foreign minister's conference of Islamic countries in Jeddah on March 04, 1972, just three and half months after the Civil War.
The 1972 Islamic Foreign ministers Jeddah conference ( a prelude to the founding of the OIC ), doesn't even mention the territory as a nation, or even by name, It refers to the territory as East Bengal. Read the Resolution 9/3 on Pakistan's Civil War here : (
Link )
The winner of our Civil War was denied international aid, reconstruction assistance, and diplomatic recognition until it signed two tripartite agreements, with us and India. The process started in 1973, but was only completed in 1974 after the final Delhi Agreement. Bangladesh was allowed to join the United Nations
Meanwhile, India and Pakistan had already signed a bi-lateral agreement as early as 2nd July 1972, effectively ending both India and Pakistan's involvement in the Civil War. The Simla Agreement (
Link )
doesn't even mention Bangladesh by name ( or even any reference to the events there) and the only reference to the war is the decision to discuss repatriation of prisoners of war.
This is not a parallel to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Palestine has been recognized by 138 nations ( all UN ) members around the world.
These countries recognize Israel also. Palestinians are not just Muslims but are Christians and Bahais as well.
hell no. they are better off without us and we are better off without them. at least they have the same ethnicity and mother tongue which gives them enough to gel together and achieve political stability, economic prosperity and development. Bangladesh becoming East Pakistan again will bring our baggage into their affairs and cause them a lot of problems. we cant even deal with our own baggage, and bring East Pakistan and their politics into ours will make West Pakistan's problems even bigger. if Pakistan and Bangladesh dont practice Islam better, then we cant bridge the differences between us, so its better if we exist as different nations
Agree, though I won't disparage our nation. We are a diverse and resilient nation. Just an opinion, but being a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual nation is far better than being a mono-cultural and mono-lingual nation, especially one that is stuck in a enclave. Pakistan's diversity and geography is unique. We connect with Central Asia, West Asia and South Asia as well as with China. No other country in the region is positioned thus.
Loss of East Pakistan is called fall of dhaka for a reason. It was a military, political and social defeat for whatever the reason. And anyone who denies is sadly just denying a fact. Our two nation theory got a heavy beating and our stand on Kashmir was seriously damaged.
Thanks for appreciating my post. Your posts are a pleasure to read as well.
As intended in the OP it is the
aftermath that we could discuss some more.
"Fall of Dhaka" should be viewed in the context of the "Retreat from Dhaka" when the Indian Army withdrew from Dhaka and Bangladesh in 60 days by February 1972.
In fact the "Retreat from Dhaka" is a vindication of the two nation theory. The original
Lahore resolution in 1940 called for the establishment of "
two states". The Lahore resolution was drafted by Zafarullah Khan and Fazlul Haq representing Muslim majority west and east zones of a future partition of India. See the extract below.
"That geographically contiguous units are demarcated regions which should be constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of (British) India should be grouped to constitute ‘independent states’ in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign."
If the two nations theory were to be challenged then India should have annexed that territory instead of leaving it as client state. The Muslim population there was not wanted back in India, even though the region had been part of British India just 24 years earlier.
However, forgetting this loss and convincing ourselves that it was bound to happen should not be the premise of our narrative.
For me, loss of east pakistan is a reminder that india is the ideological and civilizational enemy of muslims of subcontinent and particularly Pakistan the symbol of muslim sovereignty in S. Asia.
I would have agreed with you if the declassified documents 50 years later had not been revealed. India lost the civilizational battle against Muslims in 1947. ( Note, I used the word Muslims not Pakistan).
East Pakistan or Bangladesh as it is now known is still majority Muslim.
India was inimical to the existence of Pakistan for the first few years after independence and had hoped Pakistan would collapse on its own.
Once the carnage of Partition was over India tried to adopt a secular political structure, and its enmity to Pakistan ( at that time) was not so much religious, but an admission of the failure of a secular character of an anti-colonial struggle. India was loathe to be seen as a sectarian communal state in the aftermath of World War 2 that had seen the most horrific excesses of religious persecution.
Once India realized that Pakistan would survive it concentrated on recovering the rest of Kashmir, or at least threaten Pakistan on the IB so that Pakistan gives up its claims on the rest of Kashmir. The 1965 war was a stark reality check exposing the limits of India's military power.
An even bigger reality check was the aftermath of the 1971 war. India, having a multilingual structure itself was loathe to encourage parochial linguistic chauvinism which could erupt back home ( and it did ! ). Pakistan could no longer be held hostage by its Eastern Wing. The Indian armed forces had failed to deliver a victory in the West and capture Azad Kashmir .
Pakistan would survive to retain Azad Kashmir, and rearm, rebuild and resist India for the foreseeable future. With its "1000 year victory" India had got more than it bargained for. Which is why India went for a disengagement and territory swap just a few weeks after the ceasefire in February 1972 and just seven month later initiated peace talks.
There is a difference between the secular centrist left leaning government in power in India back in 1971, and the fascist regime ruling India today.
Just as Putin cannot gloss over the loss of Soviet Union, we shouldn't either.
No, we shouldn't . The Soviet Union was idealistic and had many positive aspects, But the Soviet Union was an artificial entity, ignoring ethnic and linguistic factors which were to be brushed under a universal Russian cultural umbrella, and a socialist federal structure. The Soviet Union was unsustainable. Pakistan in its form prior to 1971 was also idealistic even more unsustainable . In fact Pakistan prior to 1971 existed as a violation of the original spirit of the two nations theory.
We can however, thank india that its because of East Pakistan we became a nuclear state.
We became a nuclear state because we misunderstood the then rationale for India going nuclear ( 1974 ) when it feared a rising nuclear armed China. Pakistan at that time did not figure in India's defense doctrine because the left wing government of Indira Gandhi firmly believed that a permanent peace with Pakistan was possible. India feared China then and still does. By its folly India has added two nuclear threats to security.