East Pakistan Essay

The unchecked fury of a regime can lead to the unjust loss of human lives and despair among the living. The nation of Pakistan felt this fury under a vicious military rule in 1971 after its first democratic election. The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 started on March 26 and ended on December 16, resulting in up to three million Bengalis killed and the region of East Pakistan becoming Bangladesh. Yahya Khan and other Pakistani government officials were prejudiced towards the East Pakistanis for their various religious beliefs. East Pakistani citizens were dismissed despite the region having 10 million more citizens than West Pakistan. Several matters building tension up to the Bengali Genocide brought to light how the Yahya Khan regime slaughtered

On November 13th, 1970, a devastating cyclone struck East Pakistan and killed 230,000 people (Saunders). Although thousands were killed, the central government did not pay much attention. A few weeks later, they decided to have the country’s first democratic election, not caring about how many people were mourning and rebuilding. Up until this election, East Pakistanis had not been represented in the government and their pleas could not be heard out. In 1955, East Pakistanis held 51 seats in the central government while West Pakistanis held 590 (“The Birth”). The government did not allow for many Eastern citizens to hold office because they did not want them to have any say in national affairs. On December 7, Pakistan held its first democratic election with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman representing East Pakistan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto representing West Pakistan (Saunders). Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the leader of the Awami League, a Muslim opposition party formed in 1949, and due to the fact that East Pakistan had a population advantage, he gained the majority of seats. This enraged the current president Yahya Khan who postponed the National Assembly, leading to a general strike from the East. The government did not want to deal with these protests kindly and were fed up, which drove them to use brute force to silence their opposers. When East Pakistanis protested after years of oppression and silencing, the military responded with