Past paper (June 2014) Q Were political factors more important than economics factors in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971? Explain your answer.

  Past paper (June 2014) Q Were political factors more important than economic factors in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971? Explain your answer? (14)                                                             

                                                                                                               Ans:- In 1971 East Pakistan succeeded to form the Independent state of Bangladesh. Mujeeb ur Rehman was the first Prime minister of Bangladesh. There were some political factors that lead to the creation of Bangladesh. Firstly, The general election of 1970 saw the Awami league win a Majority in East Pakistan. The Awami league wanted a federal form of government, which would leave East Pakistan to control everything except defense and foreign policy. It wanted a separate currency and fiscal policy with its own taxation. It wanted to negotiate its own trade agreement with other countries and have its own armed forces. In effect, they wanted separation from Pakistan, which was be becoming more evident due to the perceived differences between the two political parties who emerged in both parts believed in regionalism rather than national sovereignty. However, Ayub Khan rejected the demands of the six points of the Awami League. It's leader Mujib ur Rehman was imprisoned. This caused further discontent and separation began to look inevitable. Moreover, the Capital of Pakistan was in West Pakistan that is Islamabad. This also offended the people of East Pakistan. (Para 2) There were also economic factors that lead to separation. East Pakistan was a long way from the western half and most of the wealth of Pak was concentrated in the west not only of individuals but also in terms of government expenditure. This caused great resentment in East Pakistan. A weaker industrial base and a climate ravaged by regular floods led to even more depressions in this area, which caused further discontent. Also, the profit earned by the jute processing plant in East Pakistan was invested in West Pakistan development projects. During Ayub Khan's government 22 industrial families were holding 66% of the country's industrial assets. It was a common view that they were from Punjab and were friends and relatives of Ayub khan Moreover, the appointment of West Pakistan civil servants without the knowledge of the Bengali language also offended the people of East Pakistan. ( leave a para) So, I conclude that political factors were more important than economic factors in the creation of Bangladesh.