formula for equal representation:

Seeds of Conflict in Pakistan

Four major points of discontent:
 No partnership
 The language issue
 Islam
 The economic factor

No partnership
 Denial of their full role in the decision-making process.
 It took eight and a half years to write the first constitution of
Pakistan.
 There was an unceasing effort by West Pakistani leaders to demolish
the superior political influence by reducing EB’s representative in
the central legislature.
 This was sometimes done under the aegis (support of a particular
person) of Bengali leaders, notably Prime Minister Khwaja
Nazimuddin & Mohammad Ali Bogra


1
st formula for equal representation:
 The first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, proposed a bicameral
legislature (having two chambers) at the center in which East &
West Pakistan will have equal representation.
 The two wings 200 seats each in the lower house and 60 each in
the upper house.
 It also ignored the fact eastern region has 56% population.
 The unspoken reason underlying the idea was the presence of
1,50,00,000 Hindus (15million).
 The Liaquat formula was stoutly resisted by East Bengal and
finally abandoned when Prime Minister was assassinated at a
public meeting Rawalpindi.



2
nd & 3rd proposal
#Repeated proposal by Khawja Nazimuddin for equal representation:
 He was elevated to Prime ministership, advanced a similar proposal in 1952, with the
same reaction from the east.
 Two years later Nazimuddin was removed from the office by the Punjabi establishment,
which found no further use for him.
#Third formula was by new PM, Mohammad Ali Bogra.
 His proposal was to give the desired to the weightage to East Bengal representation in
lower house.
 But this was more than offset by the complexion of the upper chamber, in which EB had
only minority representation.
 This formula suffered the fate of the other two, when Bogra in turn forced out of office.



Fourth proposal and agreement:
 Aggrement of representation was finally reached on the basis of
‘Parity’- equal membership for east and west in a unicameral
legislature.
 But East Bengal’s concurrence was also equal representation in
the administrative structure.
 Although the parity formula was incorporated in the 1956
constitutions

Equal partnership never established
 East Bengal’s share of the senior administrative posts never
exceeded 36%.
 President Yahya Khan, could find of his staff only 3 Bengalis among
19 officers of secretary post.
 Bengali representation was immeasurably less in the military services.
 In 1970, only one Bengali lieutenant-general in the Pakistan army.
 In 1970, no Bengali has ever held an equivalent rank in the air force
or navy.


Inactive Parliamentary Government, 1947-58
 National legislature was in session for only 338 days.
 Annual average only 30days.
 Legislature passed 160 laws.
 President issued 376 major ordinances.
 It took eight and a half years to write the first constitution of
Pakistan.
Yahya Khan’s initiatives & Liberation war
 These circumstances underscore the obvious justification for Bengali
resentment.
 Yahya khan did at first attempt to undo the wrong.
 He scrapped the parity formula in favour of popular representation
in the civil services.
 But by then Bengali disenchantment had become pervasive in the
face of economic strangulation.
 Yahia’s own efforts were overtaken by the army’s other more
destructive action on a national level.