I read a book recently, and it helped me understand matters better from the 1971 dimension. Some might think it was overly exaggerated and propagated by East Pakistan's hunger for power. To have suggested that East part with West Pakistan, it would seem - as Muslim Bengalis - we were going against the will of God to divide the Ummah. Yet there was more to than just religion for Bengalis... our identity also encompasses our heritage and the economic sense of well-being. Bengal has and continues to lament since 18th Century from the fall of Siraj-Ud-Daula but, by the grace of pure economics, we knew better this time. Things needed to be fundementally re-structured by West Pakistan in the administrative sense; a faction would ensue given that revenue generated had unevenly been allocated across geographical parts of Pakistan, especially with more preference towards the West of Pakistan. The guerilla uprising from the East was inevitable.
Some might ask, are we as Bangladesh any better off than when we were with (West) Pakistan? All I can say is that I'm not sure which side I would favour had I witnessed the 1971 war, yet the brutality and torture suffered by many in the name of keeping unity is enough to remind me that I am glad to have come from the dented part.
