Alienated the East Pakistanis: After independence, Ayub was at one time posted as General Officer Commanding (GOC) East Pakistan(now Bangla Desh). During his tenure, there he did not treat East Pakistanis well. His attitude towards them was that of a colonising army commander. After he became CMLA and President, he did not change and his attitude towards them was one of casual indifference and disregard to their genuine and legitimate rights and needs. His remarks to an East Pakistan politician Mushtaq Khundkar, “if East Pakistan is not satisfied, then they may secede”, to which the latter promptly replied, “it is always the minority that secedes and in this case West Pakistan being a minority may secede, if you want to.” Ayub’s general attitude and such irresponsible remarks not only distanced the East Wing from the rest of Pakistan, but also sowed the seeds of separation. His theory that the defence of East Pakistan lay in the West Wing, and then the practical demonstration of it in the 1965 war when the East wing was virtually left undefended, finally sealed the fate of relations between the two wings of the country. This was the nature of the hatred and malaise being created and nurtured by Ayub’s mode of thinking and unequal distribution of development projects in the Eastern Wing, which finally resulted in Bangladesh. - (Ata Rabbani)
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 05:07:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015