Quotes About East Pakistan

In the first ever free general elections in Pakistan, the Awami League of East Pakistan, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a clear majority in the Pakistan National Assembly (PNA). With this, the history of the subcontinent reached a turning point in 1971.

If there were lessons to be learnt from the East Pakistan/ Bangladesh fiasco, Pakistan's civil and military leaders did not learn them. Instead of recognizing the inadequacy of the two nation theory, religious ideology and brute force in keeping the country together, the break-up was rationalized as the result of Indian hostility, malfeasance of Pakistani politicians, and the geographic remoteness of the eastern wing.

When the Bengalis of East Pakistan revolted against a system that made them second-class citizens, the Pakistani army's retaliation stunned a twentieth century that thought it had become inured to genocide.