Can the wounds of 1971 be healed?

Pakistan became the first post-colonial state to disintegrate - in 1971. However, the wounds from the Dhaka debacle are still in the healing process. Seldom in human history did a majority province of a country secede from the minority.

A lot has been said and written over the last 53 years on how Pakistan got divided but not much path-breaking research has been done on why the world's second largest Muslim state failed to maintain its unity. Ironically, December 16 is celebrated in Bangladesh as a victory day but in Pakistan it is a day of remembrance and mourning. Yet, even after more than half a century, the two countries have yet to normalise their bilateral relations. For Bangladesh, a major impediment to complete normalisation of relations with Pakistan is how power was denied to the majority party Awami League and a military operation was launched on March 26 which culminated in the emergence of Bangladesh.

Books like The Separation of East Pakistan by Hasan Zaheer; How Pakistan Got Divided? by Rao Farman Ali; The Last Days of United Pakistan by GW Choudhury; Pakistan A Failure of National Integration by Rounaq Jahan and others provide wealth of information and analysis on how Jinnah's Pakistan disintegrated and why those at the helm failed to redeem the ramifications of their faulty policies which deepened a sense of deprivation among the Bengalese of East Pakistan. Many in the present-day Pakistan now agree to the notion that injustices were committed in East Pakistan and the results of the general election held in December 1970 were not accepted. The assembly session scheduled for March 3 in Dhaka was arbitrarily postponed, with the martial law regime of President Yahya Khan exerting pressure on Sheikh Mujibur Rehman to compromise on his six points. When he refused to give in, the die was cast and a military action to quell the Bengali insurgency was launched. The rest is history.

The wounds inflicted during the military operation in East Pakistan from March to December 1971 are still deemed as a major impediment to the launch of a healing process. But, it was not only the Bengalese of East Pakistan who suffered, the non-Bengalese particularly Urdu-speaking Bihari segment of the population also bore the brunt of the retribution of Mukti Bahini after the surrender of Pakistan Army on December 16. Yet, even during the phase from March 1 to 26, non-Bengalese were targeted by the Awami League supporters resulting in the killing and looting of their properties.

History is the best judge as the wounds inflicted during the East Pakistan tragedy still haunt those who either suffered or caused sufferings to Bengalese and non-Bengalese. December 16 not only reminds us of the break-up of Jinnah's Pakistan but also the failure of national integration that was based on religion even though its two wings were about 1,000 miles apart and had cultural and lingual diversity. Nevertheless, religion alone cannot unite people unless the state is just and fair in its policies - something that was not done in the case of the people of East Pakistan who for around 25 years suffered because of exploitation and discrimination by the West Pakistani ruling elites. Now after 53 years the generation that grew up in 1971 is phasing out along with the memories of the unpleasant relationship was between East and West Pakistans and how opportunities to keep them united were lost because of the tunnel vision of the West Pakistan elite.

Can the wounds of 1971 be healed? Let's analyse it - from three angles.

First, history needs to be corrected in an objective and pragmatic manner. Concealing the truth regarding the relationship between East and West Pakistan from August 14, 1947 to December 16, 1971 and in the post-1971 era would be a great injustice to the present and future generations of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Noted historians from the two countries must sit together in a truth and reconciliation commission and analyse what went wrong and how fence-mending can take place between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Such a commission can take time to determine responsibilities of the country's breakup and the way forward. The report of the Hamodur Rehman Commission - formed in 1972 to determine the causes that led to the surrender of Pakistani armed forces in Dhaka and the break-up of Pakistan - has not been officially released. Obviously then, the findings of the commission presented in 1974 have not been implemented either. Hence, the proposed truth and reconciliation commission would help conclude the sad chapter which has shaped the perceptions of the people of Pakistan and Bangladesh about each other. The extreme position taken by Bangladesh that three million Bengalese were massacred during the 1971 military operation and the position taken by Pakistan that there was no such massacre at all need to be bridged. Likewise, the position taken by Bangladesh that the non-Bengalese population of East Pakistan was not targeted would also be analysed by the proposed commission. A serious initiative should be taken on such a commission before the pre-1971 generation phases out.

Second, Pakistan has on several occasions expressed its regrets about the sad happenings of 1971. But the painful chapter in the relations between the two countries can be closed if Islamabad clearly comes up with a policy statement lamenting the military operation of March-December 1971. Such a gesture would have a great impact as regards healing the wounds of 1971 and starting a reconciliation process. The apology issue, reiterated by Sheikh Hasina during the Awami League tenure, only had political considerations. Otherwise why had Sheikh Mujibur Rehman accepted regrets by then-Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Aziz Ahmed during the in April 1974 tripartite meeting of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in New Delhi? He had also stated in categorical terms that despite what had happened in 1971, the people of Bangladesh knew how to forgive and move on. Since hundreds of thousands of non-Bengalese are said to be killed by Awami League activists and their properties looted by Mukti Bahan, the Government of Bangladesh should also express regrets so that the sad chapter of 1971 can be closed for ever and is not exploited from time to time for political purposes.

Third, it is the young generations in Pakistan and Bangladesh that can catalyse fence-mending between the two countries. They are the ones who will benefit from the findings of a truth and reconciliation commission and move forward burying the hatchet of the past.