The Turning point (from the book of "1971 A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh")
The Turning Point
The main theme of this chapter is the turning point of Pakistan. It is mostly about how the whole pakistan; East Pakistan and West Pakistan was turning it's back from the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan. During the Ayub regime the government of pakistan was not a constitutional type of government and the people of pakistan had enough with the Ayub regime. That's why the people of Pakistan; both East Pakistan and West Pakistan was turning it's back from the military regime.
Ayub Khan came into power in 1958. After coming into power Ayub Khan immediately brought charges of corruption and nepotism against politicians, high officials and rich businessmen. In 1959 he promulgated two orders EBDO and PODO. Under EBDO many politicians from West Pakistan and East Pakistan lost the right to engage in politics. Literally, Ayub Khan banned all politicians and political parties from the whole Pakistan. In 1959 he introduced a new political system known as Basic Democrats. The election of Basic Democrats took place throughout the country on 11 January 1960 and Ayub Khan was elected as president.
Ayub Khan's plan was to modernize Pakistan, for the first ten years of Ayub Khan's rule Pakistan began rapidly to industrialize: large scale manufacturing grew over the same period at nearly 17 percent a year. But a series of protests in 1968 racked the regime and eventually brought down the field marshall. The uprising that shook the regime of Ayub Khan was, of course, fired by specific, economic, social, political context of Pakistan. There were several issues at this time which eventually brought down Ayub Khan.
Firstly, the Vietnam war, also known as the Second Indochina War, was happening. In this Vietnam war the USA was waging a long war in asia. But most of the common people all over the world were not supporting the USA. Even the people of Pakistan were not supporting them. But the government of Pakistan was supporting the USA. It was like the people of Pakistan were against the USA but the government of Pakistan was a Friend of USA which created a disconnection between the rulers and the common people and the students.
Furthermore, that time many socialist, communist revolutions were happening in latin America, Europe and other parts of the world. And the People of Pakistan were watching or listening to what was happening in other countries. They were not separated from the world because people could watch or listen to news on radio and television. That way there was a distant growing between the ruler and the common people.
Secondly, the student movement had gathered steam from earlier protests over educational issues. In 1962 Ayub Khan decided to extend undergraduate education from two to three years, to tighten the grading criteria, and to provide only one opportunity for failed students to make good but the students felt these steps would delay their entry into the employment market and undermine their career prospects. This decision of Ayub Khan led to wide-spread protests in both the easter wings and western wings, especially in east pakistan.
Thirdly, the economic dimensions of the political moment. Ayub Khan's policy of economic development was privatization. He emphasized on private ownership and private development in industries, mills and factories rather than government ownership and government development or government expansion on the mills, industries and factories. In this process, twenty-two families owned or controlled sixty six percent of the country's industrial wealth and eighty seven percent of banking and insurance. So, the economic policy of Ayub Khan made the rich people horribly rich but the amount of absolute poverty of Pakistan increased too much and middle class people started struggling horribly. Which means his policy totally failed and his economic policy couldn't bring happiness to the common people. So, his failed economic policy also made a discontent between the ruler and common people.
Furthermore, the movement of Pakistan had a generational dimension. In 1947 which generation made Pakistan independent were all the political leaders in 1968. In this 20 years the university education increased. The students of the new generation become aware of the western democracy, they become aware of the Vietnam war and the cold war. This new generation didn't see the divide of 1947, they don't even have any concern about it. But in 1968 they could see the regime of Ayub Khan. They had forgotten that in 1947 the people of East Pakistan and West Pakistan protested together to get independence from the British. This new generation is only concerned about Ayub Khan and his regime. That time a revolutionary idea was becoming very popular among the students. Many students were learning about Marxism, Leninism, Maoism. This communist based idea was getting very popular among the students. But Ayub khan was a very anti-communist politician. So, the people who believed in Marxism, Leninism, Maoism also started protesting to bring down Ayub Khan.
All this was possible owing to technological advances. Throughout 1968, the English and vernacular newspapers in pakistan extensively covered the protests in the United States, Western Europe and other parts of the world. Even television came to Pakistan in 1968. The people of Pakistan were able to watch whatever was happening in other parts of the world. In addition to technology, the students in Pakistan had a direct link with the British student movement in the person of Tariq Ali. Ali was a student politician, his role in organizing protests against the Ayub regime made him a marked man. That's why his parents bundled him to oxford. And in 1965 he was elected president of the oxford union. By 1968, he had become the face of the protesting youth in Britain.
The protest of 1968 began on 7 November with a minor incident involving a group of students from Gordon College in Rawalpindi. Some students were caught with a few thousand rupees worth of contraband near the afgan border. Though this kind of smuggling happened regularly, charges were leveled on them. That is why the students of the college organized a strike. Soon they were joined by students from another college in Rawalpindi. The police opened fire on their protests and one student was killed. Thereafter, the situation rapidly worsened. Students from various colleges were joining the fray. Soon, the students in East Pakistan joined the fray. On 6 December, they issued a general strike in Dhaka. And on 25 December a demonstration of 10000 students was joined by nearly 20000 workers. Their sole demand was for Ayub khan to quit. Young protesters began describing him as a dog. All of this was happening because people had enough with the Ayub regime and his dictatorship. They wanted a new constitutional type of government who can solve the issues of Pakistan.
By late 1968 the movement had spread beyond Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar and reached the smaller cities and towns of Punjab and Sindh. Meanwhile in East Pakistan, Awami league, NAP and other Bengali nationalist groups began to demand complete provincial autonomy for East Pakistan. After failing to cool down the protests Ayub Khan invited other opposition parties for negotiations. But PPP and NAP boycotted the negotiations. However Mujib's Awami League did participate in the negotiations but the talks ultimately failed.
By early 1969 the movement had also spread in the country's rural area. The best that Ayub Khan could come up with at that time was the setting up of a constitution commission, but Yahya Khan shot the idea down, claiming the situation was far worse than they imagined. Yahya declared that he would carry out his duty to the country and Ayub Khan finally decided to resign, handing over power to General Yahya Khan who immediately imposed the country's second martial law.
At last Ayub Khan was a powerful leader. Though his political policy brought him down, he knew what he was doing and what could happen. I think he could survive more years if he would set up a constitution commission by the time movement was spreaded. He could bring provinces in Pakistan without handing over power to General Yahya Khan.
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