Economic Oppression of West Pakistan on East Pakistan
The oppressors of west
Pakistan had been using east Pakistan as their colony since the emergence of
Pakistan. West Pakistan was enriched by extracting wealth from east Pakistan.
Contrarily, little or no
planned initiative was taken to develop the ancient agriculture-based economy
of the east. Rather the fruits from the produce of the farmers ultimately found
their way to west Pakistan.
The rulers didn`t take
any decisive step to develop an environment to speed up industrialization in the
east. Some West Pakistani industrialists set up some industries to reap the
benefits of cheap labor and raw materials in the east. The profits earned by
those industries were transferred to the west rather than being reinvested in
the east. In Pakistan there were twenty-two large industrial families of which
only one was from the east.
The lion`s share of
foreign loans and donations from especially the western rich countries were
spent for the west. While the west used to enjoy the benefits, the east had
only to bear the obligations.
The inhabitants of East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) made up the majority of its population, and exports from East Pakistan (such as jute) were a majority of Pakistan's export income.
East Pakistanis did not feel they had a proportional share of political power and economic benefits within Pakistan.
Most of the high administrative positions were occupied by the West Pakistanis.
|
Year |
Spending on West Pakistan (in crore
rupees) |
Amount spent on West as percentage
of total |
Spending on East Pakistan (in crore
rupees) |
Amount spent on East as percentage
of total |
|
1950-55 |
1,129 |
68.31 |
524 |
31.69 |
|
1955-60 |
1,655 |
75.95 |
524 |
24.05 |
|
1960-65 |
3,355 |
70.5 |
1,404 |
29.5 |
|
1965-70 |
5,195 |
70.82 |
2,141 |
29.18 |
|
Total |
11,334 |
71.16 |
4,593 |
28.84 |
|
% of total population |
West: 36.23 |
East: 63.77 |
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|
Source: Reports of the Advisory Panels for the Fourth Five Year Plan 1970–75, Vol. I, published by the planning commission of Pakistan (quick reference: crore = 107, or 10 million) - Wikipedia |
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