Setting the Record Straight

Byline: Munir Ishrat Rahmani December 16 last year saw a number of Pakistan's well known intellectuals, politicians and anchors discussing on various television channels the events leading to the fall of East Pakistan on this day in 1971. A majority of them found fault with the handling of that province by the federal government of that time and the attitude of the military, bureaucracy and politicians of the other four provinces of Pakistan. It was generally conveyed that the people of East Pakistan were maltreated and denied their rights. Interestingly, some of the politicians and intellectuals agreed that the secession of the eastern wing could have been avoided if the National Assembly's inaugural session had taken place in March 1971 in Dhaka, as was scheduled. What was amusing was that some of the speakers were actually present during that important phase of Pakistan's history and were still active in their respective field.