Remembering December 16, 1971

We celebrate Defence Day on September 6 with gusto and observe Independence Day on August 14 as a national holiday, but conveniently forget December 16, 1971, which passed by this year. Every nation has good and bad days in its history and a successful nation learns from its past. But alas our politicians refuse to learn.

Pakistan came into existence on the map of the world as an independent nation on August 14, 1947, late in the night. It was then the largest Muslim state in the world and had two wings — East Pakistan and West Pakistan. If we study our history, it will be quite clear to everyone that Pakistan’s existence on the world map was due to the struggle of political workers from both the eastern and western wings of the country. Most importantly, we must not forget that the very political party, which fought tooth and nail for Pakistan’s creation, was founded in Bengal (East Pakistan) and the leaders of East Pakistan contributed a lot towards giving practical shape to Pakistan.

When Pakistan was born, its enemies started hatching conspiracies against it and one of the first attempts came in the shape of the language controversy. More conspiracies came in the form of murmurs that Jinnah, in the west, was all-powerful, while leaders of the east had little say in the running of the state. Economic disparity and the share in the military and civil bureaucracy also remained major issues between the two wings.

While our leaders were busy in their power struggles, India spread its arms and influence in East Pakistan and when the moment came, took full advantage of the situation and intervened, culminating in the country being divided into two on December 16, 1971.

We must remember that today, other parts of our country are not safe from the type of conspiracies that once caused East Pakistan to be separated. Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are facing a similar situation but we are ignoring the intensity of the problems brewing in these provinces. December 16 is a rude reminder of the kind of threats we still face. We must rethink our policies towards these two provinces before it is too late.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2013.