The Awami League in the Political Development of Pakistan

8/3/2019 The Awami League in the Political Development of Pakistan

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The Awami League in the Political Development of PakistanAuthor(s): M. RashiduzzamanReviewed work(s):Source: Asian Survey, Vol. 10, No. 7 (Jul., 1970), pp. 574-587Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2642956 .

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THEAWAMILEAGUE NTHE POLITICAL EVELOPMENTOF PAKISTAN / M. Rashiduzzaman

In hekaleidoscopic olitics fPakistan everal olitical arties ave risenandfallen.Although oneofthemhas been really ffective,heir ole hasbeen ignificant. hile heWestPakistan olitical cenewas largely omi-nated ycertain nfluentialersons r familiesPirs,Zamindars, hansandNawabs), East Pakistanpresented differenticture.Here,party oliticsfirstrystalizedtself nder he eadership ftheEastPakistanAwamiMus-lim League,1whichplayed prominentole n the anguagemovementftheprovincen 1952, and in the defeat f theMuslimLeague in the1954elections y formingn electorallliancewith heminor arties. he AwamiLeaguewas a constituentftheUnited ront abinet n 1954 whichwasdis-missed y theCentralGovernmentfter nly womonthsn officend t eda coalition abinet orabouttwo years n East Pakistanuntil he promul-gation fmartialaw in October 958. Its leader,H. S. Suhrawardy,lsoserved s PrimeMinister f Pakistan n theAwami-Republicanabinet ttheCenter n 1956-57.But its mostdistinguishedontributionas madewhile hepartywas in opposition,y arousing hepeopleof East Pakistanagainst hemaladministrationf theMuslimLeaguecabinet.While heAwamiLeagueclaims o be an All-Pakistan arty t has beenprimarilyased in theEasternWing and its success n the West is stilllimited. he AwamiLeague leader,SheikhMujiburRahman,gavea newturn o Pakistanpoliticswhenhe put forward six-pointrogramwhichwould llocatemaximumower o theprovince,nd atthe ametime educethe trengthftheCentralGovernment.2heentireweight fthepartywasthrownn favorof the anti-Ayubmovement hich preadthroughouthecountrynthe arlymonthsf 1969 and it is likely hat heAwamiLeaguewillplayan even moreactiverole n the future.Thepurpose f thispaper s to examine hecircumstanceshich ed totheemergence f theAwamiLeague in East Pakistan,ts role in building'In 1955,the name ofthe organizationwas changedfrom ast PakistanAwamiMus-limLeague (EPAML) to East Pakistan AwamiLeague (EPAL) and it was opened toall communities.2SheikhMujiburRahman,6-Point ormula,OurRightto Live,Dacca, March,1966.

574


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M. RASHIDUZZAMAN 575up opposition,ts organizationalharacter,he xtent f tsmobilizationndelectoral upport nd ts role n thedemands or egional utonomyn Pak-istan.These are thevital queriesrelating o any political arty, ut an ex-haustive reatments not yetpossible.The inadequacy f the materials nthepolitical arties f Pakistanhas made t difficulto give as detailed nanalysis n several spects f the AwamiLeague as willbe possible n thefuture.BUILDING UP AN OPPOSITION

Ifanyoneman hould e given redit or heriseof an oppositionn EastPakistan,t is Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani.MaulanaBhasanibe-came a popularfiguren the193O'swhenhe organized he peasantmove-ment nEastBengal nd Assam.Later, n the1940's he gave his supportothe Pakistanmovemented by the MuslimLeague. Maulana Bhasani wasfrustratedytheclosed-door olicy ftheMuslim eague nPakistan, ow-ever, nd eventually,t was underhis leadership hat the East PakistanAwamiMuslim eague was born tDacca, on June 3, 1949.3The politicalclimate or n opposition artywas not favorable n Pakistan t that ime.Only fewmonthsftert came ntobeing n Awami eagueprocession ndmeetingn Dacca was lathi baton) charged nd teargased y the police.After hisncident,ineteen wami eague eaders,ncluding aulana Bha-sani,were rrested nder hePublicSafety rdinance an emergencyrovis-ion authorizinghepolice to arrest nybody). n 1951,the AwamiLeaguepublicmeetingcheduled o be addressed y H. S. Suhrawardyouldnotbeheld s thegovernmentmposed ection 44 (a specialpowerwhich ans theassembly f more hanfive ersons) n certain reas of the ity.4 This re-pressive olicy owards he oppositionwas the natural onsequence f anattitudeypefied y a statementf Liaquat Ali Khan, the PrimeMinisterofPakistan, t Mymensingh,ast Pakistan,n December 950: "Pakistanhas beenachieved y the Muslim eague. As long as I am alive no otherpolitical party will be allowed to work here.",5Althoughthe popularityof some of the individual Awami League lead-ers such as Bhasani and Suhrawardywas undoubtedlygreat,thepartyre-mainedweak in organizational strength uring ts initialyears. It professedto be more progressivethan the Muslim League, but in structurewas nowfundamentally ifferents, until1955, both partieshad restrictedmember-shiptoMuslims.There was a sharp cleavage between he secular elements ftheAwamiLeague who wanted tomake it a non-communal rganizationandthosewho insistedon retaininga Muslim character.The firstdraft of theAwamiLeague Manifestopublished by itsGeneralSecretary, hamsul Huq,

3AtaurRahmanKhan, Two Years of Ministership an autobiographyn Bengali),(Dacca, 1965) p. 24. See also Shamsul Huq, East-PakistanAwamiMuslim League DraftManifest, Dacca) p. 11.'The Azad,December20, 1951.'The Sainik, December20,1950.


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576 THE AWAMI LEAGUE OF PAKISTANclearly tated hat hemain objective fthepartywas to establishn Isla-mic ocial order.0 he secular roup,ed by SheikhMujiburRahman, ameto prominence henShamsulHuq was in jail as a politicalprisoner. heconfusion ithinheAwamiLeague on this ssue,however,ontinued orseveralyears.Only fewmonths efore he1954 electionsn EastPakistan,A. K. Faz-lul Huq,the ormer remier fundivided engal, evived is oldProj Par.tywith henomenclaturef Krishak ramikParty workers nd peasantsparty r KSP).7 Political activitiesn the province ad greatly ncreasedontheeve ofelections.With he blessings f Fazlul Huq, a newpoliticalparty, heNizami-i-Islam,lso was formed, ith he objective f establish-ingan administrationased on the principles f Islam. A leftwingpartycalled heGanatantri al (Democratic arty) had also emerged ith pro-gram alling or ecularpolitics nd the conomicmancipationf thepeo-ple.9On the ve of electionsn East Bengal, heAwamiLeagueappeared obe the trongestftheparties. he Muslim eague's fear hat United rontofall theopposition artieswouldbe formedn theprovinceo contest heimpendinglections oon becamea reality. he KSP was notas strong stheAwamiLeague organizationallyut the popularity f itsleader,A. K.Fazlul Huq,was a decisive actor n the opposition. oon thetwo eadersoftheKrishak ramikParty nd theAwamiLeague,FazlulHuq and Mau-lana Bhasani,respectivelyame to terms nd decided to form UnitedFront gainst heMuslim eague on thebasis of a "common rogram."'0Thedecision ftheAwamiLeaguetoenter n electoral lliancewith heweaker pposition artiess still matter fcontroversy.he deaofa jointfrontwith ther pposition artieswas suggested yMaulanaBhasani,1"who hadbeenpersuaded ysome eftistlementso make thismove, theleftwingorganizations ereveryweak at that ime nd it was notpossi-blefor hemo contestheelectionsn their wn trength). oreover, ha-sani wasnotparticularlyonfidentbout heAwamiLeague'schances s anindependentoliticalorganizationn theelections,s theMuslimLeaguewas busymobilizingll its resources n theeve ofelections. n therightwing,HamidulHuq ChoudhuryndYusufAli Choudhury-bothfwhomhad beenexpelled rom heMuslimLeague-were also eagerfora jointfrontgainst he governing arty.

'See also ShamsulHuq, op. cit.'The Azad,August 23, 1953.The full textofthe originalKrishak SramikPartyPro-gram typescript)was made available totheauthorby SyedAzizulHuq, Deputy LeaderofthePartyfrom 954 to1958.8TheAzad,August2, 1953."Ibid.,Novermber8,1953.'?TheAzad,December6, 1953."Related to the author by Tajuddin Ahmed,the presentGeneral Secretaryof theEast PakistanAwamiLeague whowas also a prominent wamiLeaguer in 1953.


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M. RASHIDUZZAMAN 577MOBILIZATION ANDELECTORAL SUPPORT

The 21-point lectoral rogram nnounced y the UnitedFrontof theAwamiLeague andKSP struck popular esponsemong he tudents,heintellectuals,heworkers nd thepeasants. t provided n alternativeo allthosewhowanted o seethe nd of heMuslim eagueadministration.hilethepro-governmentlementsescribed heelectoral rogram s utterlym-practical nd mpossiblef mplementation,12hepublic onsideredt to bea "Charter f Freedom"forEast Pakistan.13Soonthe lectionampaign ook wodistinctatterns.heMuslim eague,as usual,emphasizedts contributionowards heachievementf PakistanandcalleduponthepeopletovoLe ourt in order o maintainhe ntegrityofthenascent tate.The UnitedFront eaders, n the otherhand,empha-sized heirprogram.heydecided ocontest ll theMuslim eatsoftheEastPakistanAssemblynd top leaders ike Bhasani,Fazlul Huq and Suhra-wardy oured heremotestarts ftheprovince omobilize upport n theirbehalf.'4 he strategyf theUnited ront eaderswas tohammer pon thefailure ftheMuslim eagueadministrationnvariousfields,nd particu-larly nthe anguage ssue.Publicfeelings anhighon thisquestion nd itwaseasyto mobilize upport. nothermportantssue was the ow priceofjute which ausedfrustrationmong he utegrowers f theprovince. en-ter-provinceelationslso figuredrominentlyntheelectionampaign l-though n 1954 it was not as sensitive n issue as it became ater.15The top eadersof theUnitedFront ndMuslim eaguewerekeptbusyinwhirlwindours hroughouthe engthnd breadth ftheprovince d-dressing ig publicgatheringsnd meeting mportantocal leaders.Theactual ampaigning asdonebyordinary artyworkers. mong heUnitedFront ampaigners,herewas a largenumberfstudents orkinghrough-outtheprovince. hetwomainstudents'rganizationsftheprovince,heEast PakistanStudentsUnion (reputedforits leftisteanings) and theEast Pakistan tudents' eague, ombinedosupportheUnitedFront an-didates. tudentsrom he ities pread ut ntherural reas andmobilizedpupils nthevillage chools owork or heUnited ront lectionampaign.Theresults f1954 electionsn East Pakistanwere onclusive. heUnitedFrontwon210 of the237 Muslim eats ntheprovincialssemblyndob-tainednearly 4% of thevotes. n contrast heMuslim eague wononly9seats nd securedessthan 7%oofthevotespolled n thecontestedonsti-

"2AbulMansur Ahmed,FiftyYears of Politics (a political authobiography rittennBengali) (Dacca, 1968) p. 256.3Ibid.,p. 258."4This mpression s gathered from diary of A. K. Fazlul Huq recorded n 1954which was made available to the authorthrough he courtesy f his son Faizul Huq."5Thefeelings gainst the Centerwerenotso high n 1954. Regionalism s a politicalphenomena ecame moreprominentt a subsequent tage.


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578 THE AWAMI LEAGUE OF PAKISTANtuencies.16Among the most exciting spects of the election was the defeat ofseveral ministersncludingNurulAmin,the Muslim League ChiefMinister.This spectacular United Frontvictory,however,has been interpreted ndifferent ays. According to the MuslimLeague, the people of East Pakis-tan had been swayed by passions which the United Front was able to rouse.On the otherhand,from he opposition point of view, it was a revolt of theEast Pakistanis through he ballot box,'7 was a clear and emphatic verdictofthe province against the Muslim League and a positiveexpression of sup-portfor he 21-pointprogram.POOR ORGANIZATIONALCHARACTER

The Awami League in opposition had been a more disciplined and orga-nized body. Internaldeterioration tartedwhen the partygained office t theprovincial level and then at the center n the autumn of 1956. For sometime,the Awami League had provided an umbrella for all kinds of politi-cal elementswho were inclined to oppose the Government.Having achievedpower,the party now had to divert ts activities towardsthe consolidationof its position. There was, however, a strong group of leftwing agitation-ists among the Awami Leaguers, led by Maulana Bhasani, who refused toaccept thisnew role.The first lash betweentheAwami League administration nd the Mau-lana took place over the question of the pro-western olicy pursued by H.S. Suhirawardy,he thenPrime Minister of Pakistan. In spite of his longcareer in politics,Maulana Bhasani appeared not to understandthe spiritofparliamentary oliticswhich assumesthatthe cabinet should be leftalonetomake itsowndecision.The first eeds ofconflict etweenSuhrawardyandhis colleagues in the provincial cabinet on the one hand and Maulana Bha-sani and his followerson theotherwere sown at theKagmari conference nFebruary1957. Maulana Bhasani's predilectionforgivingdirectives o thecabinetwas dislikedby manyof theministersn the central and provincialgovernments lthough theydid notformally rotest hisat thetime n orderto maintainthe solidarityof theparty.'8The differences hich started t Kagmari took a serious turn a few weeks'later. In March 1957, the Organising Secretary of the Awami Leaguewas suspended by General Secretary Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for hisalleged activities against theinterest f the party."'9 In protest,ninemem-bers oftheAwamiLeague WorkingCommittee endered heirresignations.20

"6Basedon the electionresultspublished n StatisticalYear Book, 1954-55, Dacca:GovernmentfEast PakistanPress)."Abul ManusrAhmed, p. cit.,p. 260."8See Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, East Pakistan Awami League SpecialCouncilSession, (Kagmari, 1957). Several Awami League leaders confirmed his viewin their onversations ith he author.'9ttefaq, March31, 1957.20Ibid.,May 22,1957.


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M. RASHIDUZZAMAN 579PrimeMinister uhrawardyried o patchup thesplit n theparty uringits wo-dayessions nDacca,butfailed.2' he East PakistanAwami eagueCouncil essionheld n June 957 was dominated y the followers f Suh-rawardy nd his foreign olicywas approved y more han evenhundredAwami League Councillors.22Maulana Bhasani had earlier submittedhisresignation rom he Presidentshipf the party nd came out withpub-licly criticized Suhrawardy's policy.23 The attitude of Maulana Bhasaniand his followerslso hardened ecauseofthehostilityhown y the pro-Suhrawardy roup n theAwamiLeague. EarlierSheikhMujiburRahmanhad proposed n amendmento theparty onstitutionurbing hepowers fthe President o nominate ll themembers ftheWorking ommittee.24The semblence f his associationwith he partywas finally everedwhenMaulana Bhasaniresigned rom vena.primarymembershipn theAwamiLeague2.5The resignationfMaulanaBhasani was a real set-back or he AwamiLeague. A fewweeks ater theEPAL lost "organizational ontrol"n thedistrictsfFaridour, abna, Rangpur, ograandDinajpur, nwhichmostof theAwamiLeaguersdefiedministerialnstructionsnd alignedthem-selveswithBhasani.26nDacca itself,heBhasanites adsomehowapturedthe cityAwamiLeague.27 t appeared hat hesupportersf Suhrawardywerenotas dedicated o organizational ork s the followersfBhasani.While heAwamiLeagueworkers ere hasing heirministersoget"per-mits" nd other avors,hefollowersf Bhasaniwerepreparingo establisha new politicalparty, he NationalAwamiParty NAP).28Theweakorganizationalharacterf heAwami eague nEastPakistanwas furtheremonstratedn thepersonal lashesbetween hiefMinisterAtaurRahmanKhan and SheikhMujiburRahman, he General ecretaryoftheparty.29 he atter ad taken he ead nseparatingheAwami eaguefrom heUnitedFrontn 1955 andhad made a majorcontributionowardsthedevelopmentf theorganization.utthereweremanyAwamiLeaguerswho felt hatSheikhMujiburhad damanged he nterestf East Pakistanby destroyingheUnited ront.30 heparting etween he heikh nd ChiefMinister taurRahmanKhanoccurredwhen heformerendered isresig-

"MorningNews,June13, 1957.22Ibid., une14, 1957.23Ibid."MorningNews,June7, 1957.See also Constitutionnd RegulationofEast PakistanAwamiLeague (Dacca) p. 8."Ibid., July 5,1957.28Ibid., uly , 1957.27Ibid.28TheNAP was formed ollowingheDemocraticWorkersConventionwhich was con-venedbyMaulana Bhasani fromJuly25 to 26, 1957.29Morning ews,September , 1957.30AbulMansurAhmed, p. cit.,p. 456.


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580 THE AWAMI LEAGUE OF PAKISTANnation,31 on the plea that he should devote more time to organizational ac-tivitiesto strengthen he Awami League. Sheikh Mujibur's love for theorganization ppeared to many suspicously ike a love for power.He wantedto strengthen is hold over the organization t was felt, n order to dictateterms o the Awami League administration.32AlthoughSheikh Mujibur Rahman was expected to strengthen he AwamiLeague, he was not successful n checking organizational weakness at vari-ous levels of the party. The Awami League at the district nd sub-divisionallevels was seriously suffering romfactionalism, nd there were instancesin which two separate executive committeeswere found in one branch oftheparty.33When the Awami League assumed office, usinessmen began toenter the party and soon became prominent nd cornered the old workersoftheparty.34Gradually, the Chief Minister Ataur Rahman found himselfin open clash with he General Secretaryof the party.H. S. Suhrawardytooknote of the internal feud of the party and tried to settle the differencesthrough he good offices f Abul Mansur Ahmed, an Awami League minis-ter ofthe central cabinet, but his efforts ere not successful.33The internal onflictsn the Awami League werefurtherggravatedwhentheworkingcommitteeof the party recommendedthe resignationof twoAwami League Ministersfromthe East Pakistan cabinet. This was a directaffront o the ChiefMinister,who made a strong protestto the Presidentof the EPAL (Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish) and demanded thatproof should be given by the working committee f the allegations broughtagainst two of the ministers n his cabinet.36Eventually the matterwasdroppedon behalf of the organizationbut the fear of party pressuresfromoutside continuedto haunt the ministers.Ataur Rahman Khan, the ChiefMinister,held that theAwami League executivehad no right o exerta uni-lateralinfluence n his cabinet, which restedon the coalition of severalpar-ties.37 The feud withintheAwamiLeague was ripeningwhile thefate of itscabinetwas hanging in the balance. Some independent supportersmovedaway fromthe coalition for purely personal considerations. But it was thefactionalfeuds nthe Awami League which owered the prestigeof the partyin theeyesofthepublic, and eventally heAwami League cabinetcollapsedwhenthe NAP decidedto oppose t.38

3Ittefaq,May31,1957."2AbulMansurAhmed, bid.3"Ataur ahmanKhan,op. cit.,p. 248.34Ibid."5See lso Abul MansurAhmed, p. cit.30Ataur ahmanKhan, op. cit.,p. 310.37Ibid.38TheAwami League Governmentn East Pakistan headed by Ataur Rahman Khanresigned nJune 19, 1958 when t osta voteon a cut motion n thebudget.The AwamiLeague Government as, however, estored n August afterabout two months f Gov-ernor'srule in the province nd this was theninth nd the last cabinet n East Pakis-tan under parliamentary overnment rom1947 to 1958. Mr. Khan himself was nowheading heAwamiLeague coalitionfor he third ime.


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M. RASHIDUZZAMAN 581With.hepromulgationf Martial aw inOctober 958 thepolitical ar-ties were bannedand all political ctivitiesweresuspendedn Pakistanuntil he ntroductionf thenewConstitutionn 1962.The AwamiLeague

is yet o recover romhe etbackst has sufferedince tsrevival nJanuary1964.TheAwamiLeaguelent ts support o the Combined pposition arties'presidentialandidate,Miss FatimaJinnah,n 1964 and therewas littlescopeto consolidatets ownposition. he 1965warwithndiaalso broughtmanifold ifficultiesor opposition olitics n Pakistan. n real terms,hefirstttempto mobilize heAwamiLeaguewas onlymade in 1966whena 6-point rogramwas announced. rom1966 to 1969,theAwamiLeaguesufferedrganizationallyecause mostof its top leaderswere in j ail.Theso-calledAgartalaConspiracyase" against heikhMujiburRahmanandothersn1968made omepeople pprehensivebout oining heAwamiLeague.Since tsrevival,heAllPakistanAwamiLeagueCouncilhasnevermet,39nd the only ctiveunit s the East PakistanAwamiLeaguewhichhasheldthree ouncil essions ince1964.40Lastly, he mpositionfMar-tialLaw onMarch25, 1969had a general etback on theactivitiesf allthe olitical artiesn Pakistan.DEMANDS ORREGIONAL UTONOMY

TheMuslim eague n East Pakistan ad faced hedilemma f ervingwoconflictingoyalties-theEast Pakistanipeopleand theAll-PakistanMus-limLeague coupledwith hecentral dministration. ith ts claim to bea nationalparty, he AwamiLeaguefaced a similar ituationwhen t as-sumedofficesn the1950s.Butbeingan opposition arty ormanyyears,theAwamiLeaguewas morefree o ventilate hegrievancesf East Pakis-tan.The EastPakistanAwamiLeague,started n 1949 as a purely rovin-cial organization,as subsequently ergedwith heJinnah wamiLeaguein WestPakistanorganized yH. S. Suhrawardy. evertheless,heEastPakistanAwami eaguecontinuedoretaintsprovincialharacter,ndthefirstmanifestof theAwamiLeague clearly tated hat t stood for"theright fself-determinationftheregionalunits," nd had also demandedthatEast Pakistan houldhaveitsown defense orces.41AwamiLeaguepressurensupport fregional emands ncreased.Afterthe ssassinationfLiaquatAliKhan,KhawajaNazimuddin ecamePrimeMinisterfPakistan nd twasduring visit oDacca thathe declared hat

"9Preparationsre beingmade to hold the firstAll-PakistanAwamiLeague CouncilSessionatDacca in thenearfuture.'0SheikhMujiburRahmanis now simultaneouslyhePresidentof the East PakistanAwamiLeague and theAll-PakistanAwamiLeague.4"ShamsulHuq, East PakistanAwamiMuslimLeague DraftManifesto, . 13,17. TheManifesto id notelaborate heright fself-determination.


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582 THE AWAMI LEAGUE OF PAKISTANUrdu houldbe the ole state anguagenPakistan.42 sharpreaction ol-lowedthis peech.OnJanuary 1, 1952,an All-Parties ctionCommitteewas formed--consistingf representativesf the oppositionuch as theAwamiLeague, TamaddunMajlis, the Islamic brotherhood,he YouthLeague andthe tudentodies ofvarious chools, olleges ndDacca Uni-versity-43 to launch a province wide movement n supportof Bengali asa stateanguage. n theFebruary 952 languagemovementntheprovince,somestudents erekilled, nd many eadingAwamiLeaguers, ncludingMaulana Bhasaniand SheikhMujiburRahman,were ailed.The21-point lectoral rogram fthe1954United ront lso includedcategorical emand ortherecognitionfBengali as one ofthestate an-guages nPakistan. ater,MaulanaBhasaniwent venfurther ithhisde-mand hatBengalibe introducedt all stages feducation nd administra-tion, ndthat heCentral overnment'sowers hould e restrictedothreesubjects-i.e., defense, oreign olicy and currency-and hat other ub-jects houldbe leftwith heprovince overnments.44TheAwamiLeaguehad tomoderatetsdemand orEast Pakistan's u-tonomywhileSubrawardywas PrimeMinister f Pakistan.While thissituation rovided omeprotectionortheAwamiLeague cabinet n EastPakistan gainst hecentral overnment'snterferenceith heprovincialadministration,heAwamiLeagueministrynEastPakistan lso couldnotpress tsdemands oofar andthus mbarrasstsAwamiLeaguecolleaguesattheCenter.45ressure orregional utonomy,owever,ontinued tthepartyevel.At theKagmari essionof theAwamiLeagueCouncil n 1957,MaulanaBhasanibluntly tated hattheEasternWingshould ay "goodbye"toWestPakistan fthe atter ailed o concedeherdemands.46n hisletter fresignationrom heAwamiLeague,Maulana Bhasanichargedthat heAwamiLeague governmentad failedto giveautonomy o EastPakistan.47The draftmanifestof theAwamiLeague aftertsrevival n 1964 de-manded ull utonomyor heregions fPakistan, s wellas theremovalofdisparitiesetween hetwowings fPakistann theeconomic,dminis-trative nd political pheres ytreating hetwowingsofPakistan s two

2The Azad, January 8, 1952. Quaid-e-AzamM. A. Jinnahmade the first nnounce-ment n 1948 to the effect hatUrdu alone should be the state language of Pakistanwhichwas protestednEast Pakistan."Ibid., February , 1952.See also History fLanguage Movement a Bengali pamph-let), (Dacca, 1952).44Address fMaulana Bhasani at EPAML's Council Session,Dacca, 1955.4"Onone occasionPrimeMinister uhrawardy laimed that98% autonomy ad beengivento theprovinces nderthe 1956Constitution. his statement ut theEast Pakis-tanAwamiLeague cabinet nto very wkwardposition.6lttefaq, ebruary 5,1957."7The akistanObserver, uly 5,1957.


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M. RASHIDUZZAMAN 583separate economies.48The culmination of the Awami League demand forregional autonomy came in March 1966 when Sheikh Mujibur Rahmanputforwardhis Six-Point Programwhich maybe summed up as follows 4

(1) The constitution hould provide for a Federation of Pakistan in itstrue sense on the basis of the Lahore Resolution and the parliamentaryformofgovernmentwithsupremacyof a Legislature directly lected on thebasis of universal adult franchise.(2) The federalGovernment hould deal with only two subjects, Defenseand Foreign Affairs, nd all otherresiduarysubjects shall be vested in thefederating tates.(3) Two separate but freely onvertible urrenciesfortwo wings shouldbe introduced; or if this is not feasible, thereshould be one currencyforthe whole country,but effective onstitutionalprovisions should be intro-duced to stop theflight f capital fromEast to West Pakistan. Futhermore,a separate Banking Reserve should be established and separate fiscal andnmonetaryolicy be adopted for East Pakistan.(4) The power of taxation and revenuecollection shall be vested in thefederating nits and the federal centerwill have no such power. The federa-tionwill be entitled o a share in the state taxes to meet its expenditures.(5) There should be two separate accounts for the foreign exchangeearningsof the twowings; theforeign xchangerequirements f thefederalgovernment hould be met by thetwo wingsequally or in a ratio to be fixed;indigenous productsshould move free of dutybetween the two wings andthe constitution hould empowerthe units to establish trade link withfor-eign countries.(6) East Pakistan should have a separatemilitia or paramilitaryforce.The im-pact f the six-pointdemand of the Awami League was feltfarand wide. The centralgovernmentdubbed it as a demand for the separa-tionoftheEasternWing from he restof thecountry, nd launched a prop-aganda campaign which called for a strong central governmentanddecriedtheautonomists.On June6, 1966, therewas a province-widehartal(strike) in East Pakistan sponsoredby theAwami League to press the de-mands embodiedinthesix-point rogram.50 heikhMujibur Rahman,along

48SheikhMujibur Rahman,East PakistanAwamiLeague DraftManifesto,Dacca, p.5. The real purposeoftheAwami League demand forregionalautonomys to establisha balance of powerfor East Pakistanwhichwould introducefastereconomicdevelop-ment n the province. t has been arguedrepeatedly hatWest Pakistan has been thebeneficiaryf theCentralGovernmentxpenditure,nd this mbalance can be set rightonly by givingthe East Wing greater utonomy. ee also K. B. Sayeed, The PoliticalSystem f Pakistan,Chapter (Boston: HoughtenMifflinompany, 967) and UnhappyEast Pakistan, (a pamphlet) (St. Peter: Jersey,962).4"SheikhMujiburRahman, 6-PointFormula, op. cit. See also Tajuddin Ahmed,EastPakistan AwamiLeague Manifesto,Dacca, 1969)."0Therewereseveralclashes between hepolice and the strikers uringwhich tenper-sonswerekilled.ThePakistanObserver, une8, 1966.


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584 THE AWAMI LEAGUE OF PAKISTANwith everal of his lieutenants,were again putintotheprison.51The govern-ment lso blamed "foreign nterests" n theagitation ed by thesix-pointers.Afterabout a year several East Pakistani civil servants and militaryoffi-cerswerearrested n thecharge that heyhad conspiredto separatetheEastWing by violentmeans in collusion with India. Eventually,the so-called"Agartala Conspiracy case" was initiatedagainst Sheikh Mujibur Rahmanand 34 others foralleged high treason. The trial was opened at the DaccaCantonment y a special tribunalconsisting fsenior udges of theSupremeCourtand High Courts ofPakistan. Eleven oftheaccused turnedapprover-witnesson behalf of the government they were pardoned by the Govern-ment) but therest, ncluding SheikhMujibur Rahman, denied the chargesbroughtagainst them.The "Agartala Trial" was soon synchronisedwiththe country-widemovement gainst the Ayub regimewhich also demand-ed greater utonomyfor East Pakistan.The opposition eadersmetat Daccaand formed heDemocraticAction Committee DAC) whichdemanded therestoration fparliamentarydemocracyand a directfranchise.The formationof the DAC was warmlywelcomed by the studentcom-munityof East Pakistan who spearheaded the anti-Ayubmovement n theprovince.Two leading studentparties in East Pakistan, the East PakistanStudents'League (aligned withthe Awami League) and the East PakistanStudents'Union (aligned with theNAP), formed a Students'Action Clom-mittee (SAC). The political demands incorporated in the lipoint pro-gramformulatedby SAC included: parliamentarydemocracy on thebasisof adult franchise; full autonomyforEast Pakistan and also autonomyfortheformerprovincesof West Pakistan; restriction f the Federal Govern-ment to only three functions,defense, foreignpolicy and currency. Italso proposed thatEast Pakistan be given the power to form a militia orparamilitary force and that the headquarters of the Navy be trans-ferred o theprovince.52For all practical purposes,the eleven-point tudentprogramwas an expanded versionof theAwami League's six-pointdemandforautonomy.Under great pressure,President Ayub was compelled to withdrawthe"Agartala Conspiracy" case against Sheikh Mujibur Rabman and his co-defendants.He also agreed to meet the opposition eaders at a Round TableConferenceto discuss the constitutionalproblems of the country.SheikhMujibur Rahman emergedfrombeing theprimarydefendant n a treasontrial to the status of a leader dominatingnational opinion. The feelings ntheEast Wing ran high againstWest Pakistan and the central administra-tion. During the political turmoil,the army (mostly fromWest Pakistan)

"While SheikhMujibur Rahmanwas in jail, the Awami League became a dividedhouse,withtwo clear divisions-the six-pointers nd the pro-PDM (Pakistan Demo-craticMovement, n alliance of the major oppositionparties in Pakistan formed n1967 tofight heAyubregime). Undoubtedly,hesix-pointersormed hemajority ac-tion ntheparty.52Pakistan bserver, anuary , 1969.Also 11-PointPrograrrmea pamphlet).


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M. RASHIDUZZAMAN 585had been used to putdown agitations nd manyhad beenkilled n EastPakistan. n WestPakistan, he political agitation urned gainst Ayubbecause of his "failure" n the 1965 war with ndia, butEast Pakistanlookeduponhis political ystem s the nstrumentfWestPakistan's omi-nation.The political oncessionmade by PresidentAyubdid notsatisfythe people n the Eastwhere he agitations nd violencegradually preadinto the rural areas. In this context, heikhMujiburRahmancouldnotmoderate is demandfor regional utonomywithout isking is politicalfuture. t theRoundTable Conference,e demanded ull utonomyor heEasternWing and representationn thecentral egislaturen thebasis ofpopulation whichwouldgive a majority o East Pakistan).53After greeing t theconferenceable to introduce parliamentaryys-temand direct dultfranchise, residentAyub s reported o have askedSheikhMujiburRahmanprivatelyover dinner)not to push his demandsfor egional utonomynd proportionalepresentationntil hese wobasicreforms ad beenpassed in the NationalAssembly.54 nly fourdays be-foreMartialLaw was again imposed, heikhMujibur Rahman ubmitteddraft onstitutionalmendmentso the President, hich nvisaged fed-eral parliamentaryystemwithregional utonomy ased on the six-pointprogram f the AwamiLeague and SAC's eleven-pointemand.55 resi-dentAyubwas shocked o learnthat heikhMujiburRabmanwas in factplanning o place before heNationalAssembly is own draft ill. He ap-prehended hatRahman's mendment ight ust be carriedwith he sup-port fSindhis, engalis, athans nd Baluchimembers r that heprivatebill would reate nothertalematen theAssemblytself. ventually,resi-dentAyub handed over powerto the Army tating hatSheikhMujiburRahman's amendment would liquidate the Central Government ndArmy."56OnNovember 8, 1969,President eneralMohammed ahyaKhanan-nounced hatPakistanwouldgo to thepolls in October1970 to electaNationalAssemblywhichwillframe constitutionor thecountry.incethis announcementasmade,themartial aw restrictionsn political c-tivities ave been relaxedand thepoliticalparties re nowpropagatingtheirviewsfreely. he AwamiLeague has launched vigorous lectioncampaign n East Pakistanwiththe six-point rogram s their lectionmanifesto.ater,on March30, 1970 President ahya Khan announcedtheLegal Framework rderwhichwouldgovern heconduct felectionsas well s therole ofthefuture ationalAssemblyconsistingf313mem-bersofwhom 69 will be from ast Pakistan)in framing Constitution.

"3See AddressbySheikhMujibur Rahman at the Round Table Conferenceheld atRawalpindi, Dacca, 1969).6&The imes,April 9, 1969."5A opyoftheDraftofthe Bill wasmade available totheauthorby Tajuddin Ahmed,Secretary fEPAL. See also PakistanObserver,March25, 1969."6TheTimes,April 9, 1969; see also PakistanObserver,March 26, 1969.


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586 THE AWAMI LEAGUE OF PAKISTANThe Orderdeclared hat he futureonstitutionfPakistanmustpreservefive undamentalrinciples: n Islamic deology; erritorialntegrity;reeelections ndthe ndependencef udiciary; a federalystem nsuringu-tonomyo theprovinces s well as adequate egislative,dministrativendfinancial owers or heCentralGovernment;nd fullopportunitieso thepeopleofall regions orparticipationnnational ffairs. he Order tipu-latesthat f thePresident efuses o authenticateheconstitution,heNa-tionalAssembly ould tanddissolvednd thathe wouldbe the olearbiterin interpretinghe Order.TheAwamiLeague as well as someother olitical arties n East Pakis-tanhavechallenged hese rovisionsf LegalFrameworkrderwhich heyargue mounto thenegation fdemocraticrinciples. heAwamiLeagueis particularlypprenhensivef thefact hatthe Legal Framework rdermaybe utilized y thePresident o refuse uthenticationf anyConstitu-tionwhichwouldgivemaximumutonomy o EastPakistan n conformitywithhe arty'six-pointlectionmanifesto.CONCLUSION:

Oneconclusionwhich merges rom he bove s that heAwamiLeagueis notyet strong artyn organizationalerms.tsmaincontributionnthe 1950'shad beenthebuilding p ofoppositionn thecountrynd alsoin thepoliticizationfthemasses.The AwamiLeague can rightlylaimthattgavethefirstessons nagitational olitics oPakistan.Nevertheless,its organizationaloyaltieswerenotsignificantlyetter hanthoseof theMuslim eaguewhichwas routed n the1954 elections.It is noteworthyhat heAwamiLeague has been able to cultivate heloyaltyfthe tudentsndit s throughhem hat thas beenable tomain-tain contactwith hepeople.Duringthe anguagemovementn 1952 theAwamiLeague was able to wintheconfidencefthestudents'ommunitywhich lso played significantole n all other nti-governmentgitationsinEastPakistan, s wellas in theanti-Ayub ovementn early1969.TheEast PakistanStudents' eague (EPSL) is campaigning or theAwamiLeague six-pointrogram,57nd it is well-knownhat heLeague is nowworking loselywiththe AwamiLeague on all other mportantoliticalissues.Therealstrengthf theAwamiLeague in Pakistan s thepopularityfits eader, heikhMujiburRahman,whoreceived hero'swelcome tDaccaand elsewheren theProvincewhenhewas released n 1969after woyearsin jail. A volatile nd a fierypeaker, is approach o politics s stillper-sonaland he is essentiallyuidedby political nstincts. e feelsthathecanhelpthepeoplethrough is sufferings.e wants o communicate i-

"7The eft wing National Awami Party (NAP) is also supportedby a student'sor-ganization,heEast Pakistan Students'Union (EPSU), whichat the moments sharplydividedntopro-Moscowndpro-Peking actions.


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M. RASHIDUZZAMAN 587rectly ith hepeople hrough ublicmeetings.incehewas released romprison, heikhMujibur Rahmanhas been touring heprovince o bringhis party loser o thepeople.But thispersonal pproach o party uildingis likely o be replacedbyoneplacinggreater mphasis n organizationalskill n thenear future. he most erious hallenge o theAwamiLeaguecomes romhe eftist ationalAwamiPartywhich as demonstratedetterorganizing bility t thegrassrootsevel.58 o many, heAwamiLeagueisan organization f themiddleclass in East Pakistan.While t fights orregional utonomy,hey rgue, heAwamiLeague only roposes oreplacethenon-Bengaliourgeois ya Bengalibourgeois. o meet heNAP's chal-lenge,however, heAwamiLeague has recentlytarted rganizing abourLeagues as componentlementsn theparty.

The realstrengthftheAwamiLeague is not tsorganizationalkillbutthegrowing opularity f its program f regional utonomywith he 70millionBengalis n East Pakistan.We have alreadynotedthat a popularmovementtartedn East Pakistanfollowinghe announcementf AwamiLeague six-point rogram nd the hanging attern f Pakistan olitics aseventuallyed to what s undeniably separatistmovement.ven themoststringentepressivemeasures nd centralized dministrationannot halttheprocess.As thechampion f the ause of regional utonomy,hefutureof theAwami League lies in its capacityto sustainand strengthenhe-movement.

"8There s no studyof the NAP as yet,but this impression s gatheredfrom ts ef-forts o bringtheworkers nd peasantswithin he fold of the organization.MaulanaBhasani,the NAP leader has recently tarted rganizing he peasants n the rural areasofEast Pakistan.M. RASHIDUZZAMAN is a Reader in Political Science at the University f Dacca,East Pakistan.

The Awami League in the Political Development of Pakistan

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