I personally believe even though our country was split in half, losing Bangladesh was a blessing in disguise. 30 years on, BD is still an LDC. It is hit yearly by monsson floods that destory’s vital infrastructure and industry. The economy is small and with no real comparative advantage.
Basically how could Pakistan benefit if Bangladesh was part of it? The costs would be higher than the benefits.
Imdad feel free to respond here.
I remember I prematurely said such a thing infront of a very experienced Pakistan Studies teacher in grade 10, and when asked, I said it was due to economical reasons. He replied, a part of your country revolted and parted ways. Thats national shame, and not some economic victory to rejoice about. I guess he was right. If we were to loose NWFP or Baluchistan, we would feel the same way he felt, since most of us were born after the 71 disaster.
Pakistan and BD should have never been 1 country. What country can function divided by the largest enemy possible? There were no land, water or air links. All had to go through Indian territory. It was a stupid idea to consider it one nation.
Economically and politically we are better off. Socially that is up in the air. Put it this way how would such a nation function when there were two cultures, two ways of life and two very different socio-economic conditions.
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*Originally posted by CM: *
Pakistan and BD should have never been 1 country.
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I agree with you 100 percent, What happened in 71 was just a matter of time it was not a question of IF but WHEN. When I used your logic to justify the state of BD I was told angoor khatey hain.
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I do see CM and Spock's points although they are at the opposite ends. Although E. Pakistan was never really close to W.Pakistan, it was still created under a united banner of Pakistan. To lose any part of your country is a shame but we were able to emerge as a more economically compact unit. The present day Pakistan exists in a state of symbiosis where the Baluchistan/NWFP provides natural resouces, Punjab the agricultural output and Sindh the commerce/manufacturing.
I do agree with CM's analysis relating economics to geography for BD. I see the rest of South Asia becoming an economic powerhouse except for Bangladesh. The population, the area, topography have created an unfortunate mix that will not be conducive to massive growth. To be fair, BD can get a lot better economically, however it will always be outpaced by PK/Ind/SL.
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*Originally posted by RajputFury: *
I do see CM and Spock's points although they are at the opposite ends. Although E. Pakistan was never really close to W.Pakistan, it was still created under a united banner of Pakistan. To lose any part of your country is a shame but we were able to emerge as a more economically compact unit.
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Exactly... We did loose half of our country, and 55% of our population, people who fought side by side for a seperate Pakistan. Economic, political and social reasons are secondary.
yes sometimes bad things are good.
I never said it was a good thing that we split. But looking at it realistically it would have brought west pakistan down with it. It is a national shame but i personally think we are better off. Pakistan has prospered in the last 30 years. BD has not. It has developed but not the pace of the rest of the subcontinent.
Pakistan and BD should never have been 1 nation. It was folly from the start.
epicurean this the ummah that sold us out to the West? I rather be closer to the west if it means they know what honor, loyalty, respect and unity mean.
I have no clue what you mean by the spying bit.
Hmm the separation of East Pakistan was inevitable in the way West Pakistnis wanted it, we could’ve had some nomial form of unity which would have spared us all the bloodshed. I also think The Bangladeshi’s constitution would have given Provinces like NWFP and Baluchistan a far better deal.
I disagree with one element of the debate, Bangladesh has been a relative economic success story compared to present day Pakistan, it’s export of Jute drove most of the development in West Pakistan during the 1960’s. Despite the fact that it was impoverished due to the civil war and devastation afterwards it’s economy is relatively on par with us..it also has had major success stories in poverty alleviation. The gRameen bank being an excellent example. All this is despite the fact that Bangladesh has far less positive going for it compared to Pakistan. As one writer said Pakistan is a country so rich in poyential only a fool could mismanage it..sadly we have had plenty of those.
Bangladesh Pakistan:
Population below poverty line: Population below poverty line
35% (2001 est.) : 35.6% (FY 95/96 est.)
GDP growth rate:4.8% GDP growth rate: 4.4% (FY01/02est.)
[link](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bg.html) [link2](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/pk.html)
Zakk Mongolia can have a 6% growth rate. That means nothing. The US has a 3 percent growth rate. Does that mean BD is better than the US economically? Of course not.
The two economies are as different as day and night. BD is an LDC. Pakistan is not. BD doesnt have a large diversification of industry. Pakistan comparatively does. BD doesnt have any comparative advantage and deals in all the same products/goods as India. They are gonna lose out anyway.
A la our conversation in digichat, poverty lines arent the same. So the stats cant be compared.
BD loses millions yearly on floods and natural disasters. Stuff they can prepare for, which they dont. Ok fine they are an LDC. But just think how much pakistan would have to pour in to BD today to bring it to par with present day pakistan.
Pakistan moved ahead. BD lagged behind in the past 30 years. Personal opinion they can not economically survive as a nation.
You forgot these stats:-
GDP:
Pakistan - $295.3 billion
Bangladesh - $238.2 billion
GDP - per capita:
Pakistan - $2,000
Bangladesh - $1,800
Unemployment rate
Pakistan - 7.8%
Bangladesh - 40%
Exports
Pakistan - $9.8 billion
Bangladesh - $6.2 billion
I can go on and on, and pull up stats from a variety of sources, including the fact that an astonishing 20 -25 million people have left Bangladesh in the last 30 years to escape the terrible economic conditions in that country, and how Pakistan had the fastest growing economy in all South Asia in 2003 - a year after your stats. Not to mention how the Bangla government treated the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, until recently - so much for treating provinces better?
PAKISTAN FIRST :jhanda: 
Pakistan exports > $12 bn. for this year. Seeing how the CIA website is a little outdated, I wouldnt be surprised if we havent already crossed the $300bn mark in GDP. :k:
This is a classic case of sour grapes. Just because BD was lost, now you say it's a good thing. No matter how many people were butchered in 71.
If economic reasons are the only reason for Pakistani unity, then I will be happy if we lose Punjab and we can use all of our revenue in Sindh where it belongs.
Imdad is it your goal in life to be as anti-Pakistan as possible?
Anyway sour grapes or not the economic reasoning stands. Sindh doesnt account for a majority of our revenue. Karachi does. So lets get of Sindh as well. Lets keep on Karachi.
CM using economic indicators as a reasoning, we'd have to cut out Dera Bugti Khan as well..even though it generates several hundred million dollars worth of gas in Pakistan it is the poorest district in the country.
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Put it this way how would such a nation function when there were two cultures
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I don't buy the two cultures argument completely, myself. The then-West Pakistan contained 5 distinct cultures (Pakhtun, Baluch, Sindhi, Punjabi, and Mohajir), upon which we have been trying to overlay with some success a new, Pakistani culture, which never really existed before.
If you took pre-71 Pakistan and considered it as a whole, Bengali culture was the majority cultural affiliation of Pakistan, with 5 smaller cultures existing on the other side of the country.
It would have been folly to impose the culture of one ethnic group within Pakistan on the others, as the West Pakistani cultural groups would never have accepted Bengali culture, any more than Bengalis would haved willingly accepted Pakhtun or Sindhi culture.
What we did was try to replace the culture and identity of Pakistan's ethnic groups. The 5 cultures in West Pakistan took this more or less willingly, but the largest culture in Pakistan, the Bengali culture, was unwilling to be pushed aside for the sake of the new nation.
I only buy the argument that it was so far away and we had India in between, so it was a logistical nightmare for Pakistan.
The rest of the excuses... different culture, floods, poor economy etc... are a wash. We don't spin off parts of our country just because people have a different culture or are poor or have floods. Its inane.
End of the day, we (West Pakistanis) behaved badly and as a result the people of East Pakistan rose up and kicked us out. That is the simple truth. And instead of clapping and gloating over losing half of our country, if we learn the lessons of this split to make sure the remaining Pakistan does not get smaller, that will be a big help.
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*Originally posted by Zakk: *
CM using economic indicators as a reasoning, we'd have to cut out Dera Bugti Khan as well..even though it generates several hundred million dollars worth of gas in Pakistan it is the poorest district in the country.
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Zakk if you are gonna get anal about it, lets cut off all parts that arent a viable economic engine of growth for pakistan? This is getting absurd really. I guess people (not pointing at Zakk here) understand sarcasm.
BD would have been a burden on Pakistan today. It would have been 1 for 30 years. I dont see why people cant argue one specific side of a story. Yes we were kicked out. Yes we were wrong. But that does not change the fact that Bangladesh would have been a burden on us.
Lets go over the simple points again. In the 50's and 60's like Zakk pointed out 60% of our Revenue came from BD. In 1971 we split. For better or worse its been done to death. We split.
Since then BD is still an LDC. Pakistan is not an LDC it never has been one. Rather is one of the most important developing country in the International Trade field.
Medic what are you on about? You just proved my point. Two or more different cultures of which none were really willing to accept the others dominance.
Heck i will quote you even:
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The 5 cultures in West Pakistan took this more or less willingly, but the largest culture in Pakistan, the Bengali culture, was unwilling to be pushed aside for the sake of the new nation.**
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By 1971 there was supposedly a "west pakistan culture" and an "east pakistan culture", neither of which would accept the others dominance. So how was Pakistan supposed to function?
I love the way people "see" points within the thread. All i said losing it was a blessing in disguise. Faisal please dont be an idiot. I know its hard but try. Economically BD has not progressed much. It was a blessing in disguise that we lost it. Its time people forget the past and move on.
To recap of all the illiterates around:
If anybody doesnt understand this i suggest you go back to 1st grade.