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6. Does the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 signify the failure of Islam as a basis of

nationhood, or the importance of language as a basis of national identity?

Timothy Ang Wei Kiat

A0087112M

GEK1035

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The secession of East Pakistan in 1971 from the West and the culmination in the

independence of Bangladesh after a bitter civil war, had throned Bangladesh to be the first

nation to successfully secede from a country that had already gained independence from the

colonial powers. Thus given the precedent that the secession and independence of

Bangladesh had set, it is hardly surprising that there has been a plethora of arguments and

debates regarding the factors that led to this event.

The question mentioned above places emphasis on the inability of religion to act as a

foundation on which the nation is built upon and that of language being an important

ingredient in national identity. While these reasons are valid, this essay will ultimately show

that the aforementioned pale in comparison to the sense of alienation and disenchantment felt

by the Bengalis due to the discriminatory policies imposed upon them by the West, which in

turn leads to the inability to envisage a common future together, shattering the very essence

of the notion of nationhood.

The formation of a separate Muslim nation out of British India was first propagated by

Iqbal who was a famous poet and philosopher.1

This notion was subsequently advocated by

the Muslim League led by Jinnah, who was strongly backed by the Muslims in India. In

1947, Pakistan was formed as a nation that Muslims can call their own and would be free to

practice Islam. ( Nasir Islam 1981). Yet the secession of Bangladesh some 24 years later

implies that perhaps Islam was not as potent as a unifying force that Iqbal envisaged it to be.

Even prior to 1971, the fabric of the ummah was showing signs of fraying as seen in the

derogatory perceptions of Bengali Muslims by their western compatriots, despite Islams

emphasis on egalitarianism.2( Zillur Khan, 1985). It would not be farfetched to say that

1Islam was seen by Iqbal as a social glue that would be able to untie the Muslims in British India, irregardless

of their diversity in languages and ethnicity. He too, felt that the creation of such a society (ummat) without

being granted any land to be called to their own was not possible.2

Historically, the Bengalis coverted to Islam after the Mohajirs invaded India. As the West Pakistanis claim tobe descended from these Mohajirs, they saw themselves as superior to the Bengalis, accentuating the ethnic

differences that even religion is unable to mask.

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such attitudes were analogous to the Hindu caste system which the Bengalis had ironically

sought to escape from. In addition to the bigoted attitudes adopted by the West Pakistanis on

their compatriots in the East, the failure of Islam as a basis for nationhood can be seen in the

inability of the political elites to incorporate it in the formation of a constitution in Pakistans

immediate post-independent years.3The consequences of Islams failure to unify both the

East and West is most evident in the electoral results of 1954 and 1970, where political

parties who were advocating religious based programs failed abysmally.4

(Nasir Islam, 1981)

The issue of language would seem to be a very pertinent factor in leading to the

secession of East Pakistan. The implementation of Urdu as the official language of Pakistan

and the resolute of the government is seen in the reiteration of Urdu as the national language

in 3 different speeches made by Jinnah, the Quad-i Azam.5

( Choudhury, 1972). In 21st

Feburary 1952, protests by the students in Dhaka University which led to 3 deaths after a

crackdown by the government accentuated the contentious issue.(ibid). The contention arose

as not only would it mean an obstacle to civil jobs, Bengali was a language that had been

spoken by the Bengalis for a many centuries and is an extension of their identity which they

were proud of.6

(Misra, 1972) The issue of Bengali was resolved when it was finally instated

as an official language, alongside Urdu.(ibid ) The fact that the 21st

Feburary is now

3Due to the lack of contemporary interpretations of the Sharia law, the ulama (Muslim legal scholars) were

unable to agree on the definition of an Islamic state. This contributed to Pakistans lack of a constitution for agood 10 years( 1948-1958) after their independence. In the end, they had settled on including a few vague

tenets of the Islamic faith.4

In 1954, the United Front with its 21 point programme, won a whopping 215 out of 237 seats, whereas the

Muslim League only had a paltry 9 seats. In 1970, the Awami League won 169 seats which amounts to 72% of

the votes.5

This is despite Urdu is only spoken by some 7 % of the Pakistani population. The first speech was made on

21st

Mar 1948, in which Jinnah referred to the contention of the language issue as instigated by Fifth

Columnists(Choudhury, 1972) The second was at Dhaka University on the 24th

March.(Oldenburg ,Philip, 1985)

The third was on the 28th

at a radio station.(Umar,1979, p 279).6

It has to be noted that the reason why the government chose Urdu, despite it not commonly spoken, was

due to its Arabian and Persian roots as opposed to that of Bengali which actually used the Sanskrit script that

was common in Hindu languages. This contention on the script of Bengali cannot be belittled as even afterinstating it as an official language in 1954 by the government, attempts at persuading East Pakistan to adopt a

Persian script for Bengali were proposed. (Nasir Islam, 1981)

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commemorated as Martyrs Day proves that language is indeed a very important factor in

national identity.

However, it would be myopic to view the emergence of Bangladesh only through the

factors aforementioned. Granted, the two factors above do offer credible explanations, yet it

is not the question of which of the two factors is more encompassing in explaining the

secession of East Pakistan but rather the emphasis should be on the explanation as to why the

Bengalis could no longer envisage themselves as having a viable sharedfuture with their

fellow compatriots in the West, which is the true basis for any nationhood.7( E.Renan, 1998 )

In short, what had shattered the very essence of the notion of nationhood for East Pakistan?

The explanation of language is limited as there was disgruntlement in the West in regards to

the Urdu issue, yet no secession took place.8( Tariq Rahman, 2002) Likewise for religion, it is

quite unfathomable for Pakistan to be formed on that basis alone with unanimous support

and face secession less than 3 decades later.

The prejudicial policies in defence, political representation and economy complicates

and accentuates the existing differences in terms of ethnicity and history between the East

and the West, thereby accumulating to a point whereby the notion of a nationhood is

shattered for the Bengalis. Despite making up some 55% of the population, the Bengalis had

never had any substantial political power in their 24 years with Pakistan,9

which leads to a

sense of being subjugated to the rule of West Pakistan felt by the Pakistanis. ( Misra, 1972) .

The same discriminatory policies were felt in the civil service sector and that of education.10

7Italics mine.

8Apart from the Bengali Language Movement in 1948-1952, there were clashes among the Sindhi speakers and

the Mojahirs in 1971 and 1972. The was also the Siraki Langauage Movement in Southern Punjab.9

The elections of 1954 cannot be considered as an instance of East Pakistani leading the government as the

cabinet lasted only 14 days. Of course, the democracy process in Pakistan has always been hampered by

periods of emergency rule have to be taken into account too.10

Despite having a slight majority in population, only 36% of civil servants were from the East. None were also

promoted to that of a Minister in key ministries, albeit some being able to rise up to Secretary only in the late1960s. There was also a greater number of institutions for education, from the primary level to that of college

in the West. There is also a greater than two fold numerical superiority in the West than the East.

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(Naftziger and Richter, 1976) (Mizra, 1972) . The economic policies for East Pakistan fared

no better, whereby its contributions far outweighs the capital that it receives.11

(ibid, 8)(ibid,

9). Furthermore, the East has always been neglected in the matters of defence.12

(Mizra, 1972)

Perhaps the 1965 war was a classic piece of evidence to the Bengalis in East Pakistan that

they were not really treated as valued peers in Pakistan, whereby Ayubs Foreign Minister

made a PR mistake by boasting in the National Assembly that East Pakistan had been

safeguarded by China during the war. (Choudhury, 1972). It would hardly be surprising that

in the face of such unfair discrimination by the West Pakistanis, who were supposed to be

their compatriots, the Bengalis in East Pakistan would be disenchanted with the whole notion

of being part of the nation called Pakistan, leading to Mujibs 6 point program13

(Nasir Islam,

1981), and providing the powder-keg of negative emotions which required only a spark to set

it off as seen in 1971 with Operation Searchlight, and the subsequent civil war, events which

are all too familiar.

Granted, the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation in 1971 has proven both

the failure of Islam as a social glue and the importance of languages in the construct of

national identity. Nonetheless, given its limitations as aforementioned, the unjust

discriminatory policies imposed on the Bengalis in East Pakistan by the West accentuated the

differences between them and concretized the irreversible formation of two distinct groups. It

would indeed be fair to say that once the formation was complete, the whole basis of Pakistan

as a nation was shattered as the Bengalis in the East could no longer envisage a shared and

viable future together with the West, rendering the whole notion of Pakistan as a nation for

11Between 1958-1968, the West brought in 41% of the foreign exchange but was spending to the tune of 70%.

Whereas the east brought in 59% but was allocated a miserly 30%. Taxes imposed on the East exacerbated the

problem. In terms of industrial investment, the East was allocated some 4% of the capital meant for

investment from 1948-1958.12

Despite its economic contributions, East Pakistan receives only 10% of the defence expenditure and its

military representation is that of only 4% in 1963.13Basically, Mujibs 6 point program is meant to remedy the discriminatory policies set by the West by

proposing a greater sense of autonmy, 2 different currencies and regional control of foreign exchange.

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