The East Pakistan White Paper

Motaher Hossain :

In 1757, the sun of independence of Bengal set with the defeat of the last Nawab of Bengal, Sirajdaula.

Since then, Bengalis have been struggling separately at various times to regain their lost independence.

214 years after the defeat of Nawab Sirajdaulla, the architect of Bangladesh, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman broke the chains of subjugation and gave us a new nation state.

Therefore, Bangabandhu, Bangladesh, the country’s freedom gained through the great liberation war is one and the same entity.

The greatest achievement of Bengalis as a nation is the great independence of Bangladesh. In 1947, on the basis of the two-nation theory, the then two Bengali countries of East Pakistan and West Pakistan were divided from India, but basically East Pakistan became a tax state of West Pakistan. At the same time, East Pakistan became a tool of exploitation and deprivation of the West.

Recently the Directorate of Films and Publications (DFP) reprinted the “White Paper” published by the Government of East Pakistan on August 5, 1971 on the East Pakistan Crisis.

This reprinted white paper proves that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the main shaper of the great liberation war and independence of Bangladesh. And Bangabandhu’s party Awami League, Youth League, Chhatra League led the continuous movement and struggle and liberation war to reach the port of victory in this people’s war. The White Paper will end a long-running political tussle as to who was the declarer of Bangladesh’s independence as Ziaur Rahman’s name is nowhere in this white paper.

Ever since the establishment of the state of Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has engaged in continuous struggle for the liberation of Bengalis. Bangabandhu established the independent-sovereign nation state of Bangladesh through 26 years of continuous movement, ignoring state torture and 11 years of imprisonment.

Sadly, even after 52 years of independence, the controversy over the declaration of independence continues. Even in the past, the great freedom and liberation war, the number of martyrs in the liberation war have been questioned. At the same time, there has been an attempt to mislead the new generation with false information in textbooks since 1976 for 21 years.

On August 5, 1971, the East Pakistan government published the “White Paper” on the East Pakistan crisis. Basically: In this white paper, Sheikh Mujib, Taj Uddin Ahmed, Syed Nazrul Islam, Captain Mansoor Ali and Major General MAG Osmani and Major General Abdul Majeed are blamed in the Awami League for the 1970 election, post-election political events, and chaos. And they are termed as separatists.

In the white paper about the crisis of East Pakistan published by the government of Pakistan, the role, sacrifice, and contribution of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of Bangladesh, the father of the nation, and his party have blossomed more. The final phase of the freedom struggle was the general election held in Pakistan in 1970. Awami League won absolute majority in the election. The Pakistani ruling class resorted to various tactics to transfer power to elected representatives.

The military ruler General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan along with Pakistan People’s Party leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto participated in this maneuver.

The White Paper blames the inflexible attitude of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League for the Bangladesh independence movement and the partition of Pakistan. The distorted presentation of Bangabandhu’s political programme adopted at that time shows the steadfast determination and political foresight of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in establishing independent Bangladesh.

Sad but true, after the brutal assassination of the Father of the Nation in 1975, the power grabbers tried to highlight the role of many leaders or individuals who were not significant in the country’s freedom struggle and liberation war as a strategy of distorting history. The White Paper was published by the Department of Film and Publication under the Department of Information and National Affairs, Pakistan.

The white paper published on 5th August 1971 has been reprinted in view of its historical importance, the foreword states. The director general of DFP S.M. Golam Kibria opined, “Politicians, historians, researchers, will get accurate information about all the events of the last period of the freedom struggle of Bangladesh and the description of the bloody war from this white paper.” The DFP DG said that this white paper can be said to be a ‘document of Bangladesh’s history’ about the views of the Pakistan government and the leadership of this people’s war.

On March 10, 1970, General Secretary of East Pakistan Awami League Mr. Tajuddin Ahmad said in a public meeting in Dhaka, “In the past years, exploiters and robbers have chewed the flesh and blood of Bengalis. They must be expelled from the political arena of the country through the upcoming elections.” The next day in another public meeting at Kalaleshwar High School in Kapasia, Dhaka district, he said, “A class of exploiters from West Pakistan has exploited East Bengal for the last 23 years. The history of Pakistan is also a history of conspiracy, a history of continued oppression and exploitation.”

The information and history of the Pakistan government published in this white paper about the Great War of Liberation undoubtedly proves that Bangladesh’s architect, the shaper of achieving independence through the Great War of Liberation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Because of the strong position of Bangabandhu and his party Awami League leaders, this crisis arose when the elected people’s representatives failed to reach a consensus on the question of protecting a federal system of governance (Unbroken Pakistan).

Later, the people’s movement was termed as a separatist movement by the government of Pakistan and this movement turned into people’s war. Essentially, the freedom-loving people are able to take away the red sun of freedom by participating in the people’s war collectively. Therefore, we hope that the long-term unrest and confusion that came to the political arena with the declaration of independence will also end.

The writer is Advisory Editor, Dainik Vorer Akash and General Secretary, Bangladesh Climate Change Journalists.