Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Hum.), Vol. 63(1), 2018, pp.

59-89

THE INVISIBLE REFUGEES: MUSLIM ‘RETURNEES’

IN EAST PAKISTAN (1947-71)
Anindita Ghoshal*

Abstract

Partition of India displaced huge population in newly created two states who sought
refuge in the state where their co - religionists were in a majority. Although much
has been written about the Hindu refugees to India, very less is known about the
Muslim refugees to Pakistan. This article is about the Muslim ‘returnees’ and their
struggle to settle in East Pakistan, the hazards and discriminations they faced and
policy of the new state of Pakistan in accommodating them. It shows how the dream
of homecoming turned into disillusionment for them. By incorporating diverse
source materials, this article investigates how, despite belonging to the same
religion, the returnee refugees had confronted issues of differences on the basis of
language, culture and region in a country, which was established on the basis of one
Islamic identity. It discusses the process in which from a space that displaced huge
Hindu population soon emerged as a ‘gradual refugee absorbent space’. It studies
new policies for the rehabilitation of the refugees, regulations and laws that were
passed, the emergence of the concept of enemy property and the grabbing spree of
property left behind by Hindu migrants. Lastly, it discusses the politics over the so-
called Muhajirs and their final fate, which has not been settled even after seventy
years of Partition. This article intends to argue that the identity of the refugees was
thus ‘multi-layered’ even in case of the Muslim returnees, and interrogates the
general perception of refugees as a ‘monolithic community’ in South Asia.

Note
I have categorically used the term ‘returnees’ to denote the ‘refugees who migrated to
and fro India and East Bengal (Pakistan)’ in many sentences including in the title of
this article, as it was mentioned in the contemporary official and legal documents
(I.B. records, files of the Home-Political department and External Affairs). Also, I
have mostly mentioned the term ‘East Bengal’ in this article to denote the
geographical area of the Eastern wing of Pakistan, while writing up till mid-1950s.
As, the name ‘East Bengal’ officially continued within that geographical territory
until the Constitution of 1956 formally renamed the Eastern wing as ‘East Pakistan’.
For describing the land after 1956, I used the term ‘East Pakistan’ in my writing.

* Assistant Professor in History, Diamond Harbour Women’s University, Kolkata, India,

Email: [email protected]
60 Anindita Ghoshal

Introduction
The independence of Indian subcontinent created more problems than it actually
solved. Afflicted by gruesome communal riots, intimidations and threats, a huge
insecure minority population in either part of the partitioned country left their home
and hearth to migrate to the other part in search of a new home, security and safety.
This much of the story is generally known. What is not known is that, in this search
for a new home alone, more than a million people just vanished forever. For the rest
of the people, who were now termed as ‘refugees’, the search did not end ever and
continues to this day. However, of the two infant nation states, Pakistan was born out
of political bargains chiefly based on religion in favour of a particular community
called the Muslims. Geographically distanced by thousands of miles, Islam was the
‘only positive bond’ behind the ideological unification of two wings of Pakistan, East
and West. Yet from the very beginning, the religious notions were engraved in the
general psyche and body politic of this nation in such ways that it reshaped the ethno-
cultural and psychological makeup of a new nation in the map of South Asia. Hence,
neither the migration of refugees was smooth in Pakistan; more so for the ‘not so
religious’ professional classes, nor the reception in that ‘swopno-bhumi’ or ‘utopia’,
was as welcoming as it was hoped.1
This is but just one part of the struggle. The other part is that soon the Bengali and
non-Bengali Muslim refugees had realised that it was going to be a long struggle
before they were accommodated or rehabilitated both spatially and economically in
their new homes. There were numerous incidents of hostility, discrimination and
gross apathy towards them, right from the time of their arrival up till the journey of
the so-called permanent settlement. In most cases, the domiciles started treating both
the Bengalis and non-Bengali refugees as ‘others’, ‘outsiders’ and even ‘encroachers’
from another land.2 Thus, the refugees had to struggle from pillar to post, for every
meal, every concession. Home was a distant dream; even rehabilitation had to be
fought for, primarily in case of the Bengalis in the country where the dominant ruling
class were the Urdu speaking Punjabi Muslims. There were many layers of
contradictions and confusions at every level. The ideological and cultural
contradiction between Western and Eastern wings did not affect linguistic issues
only; it had also reflected equally in the relief and rehabilitation policies towards the

1 The Bihari killing in 1971 and the general psychology behind this killing is rightly
depicted in the film ‘Swopnobhumi’ (The Promised Land), directed by Tanvir Mokammel,
released in 2007.
2 M. R. Akhtar Mukul, Bhasani Mujiber Rajniti, Sagar Publishers, Dhaka, 2001, pp. 20-26.
The Invisible Refugees 61

refugees.3 It was again clearly visible in distributing requisitioned and acquisitioned

houses, evacuee properties to the uprooted populace. The Urdu and Hindi speaking
non-Bengali Biharis or Muhajirs were treated comparatively well in comparison to
the Bengali refugees. 4 But, in some of the areas in which the refugees were
apparently sheltered and later permanently rehabilitated, the host communities turned
tremendously hostile to those settlements, as they did not want to share their lands
and resources. In some other areas, they were unwelcome due to their separate
cultural identities. In fact the refugee resettlement led to the spatial reorganisation of
the existing cities, urban centers, muffosil towns and other suburban areas.5
The story of displacement, migration, temporary relief and permanent rehabilitation,
struggle for settlement in a new space after Partition, chiefly in India and the Western
part of Pakistan has already formed a part of the growing historical literature in this
subcontinent. Yet, although the refugee studies are growing, the predicament and role
of the Muslim refugees in East Pakistan amidst the huge traumatic experience and the
change in their identities have hardly been studied. The socio-economic positions of
these refugees from adjacent border districts of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura or other
places were diverse. They did not follow a definite pattern and hence was diversified.
Thus, this article actually studies the reverse history of the migration of the Muslim
refugees / returnees from India to the then East Bengal and their changing position in
an altered society and state. It tries to investigate how the issues of differences
initially submerged in the question of a single religious identity, but later surfaced in
a critical manner after their migration to Pakistan. It discusses the process in which
from a space that displaced huge Hindu population in East Pakistan, however soon
emerged as a gradual refugee absorbent space. New policies had to be formulated for
sheltering and rehabilitating the refugees and the resistance that the state faced from
within in doing so. It studies the regulations and laws that were passed, the
emergence of the concept of enemy property, and the grabbing spree of property left
behind by Hindu migrants. Lastly it discusses the politics over so called Muhajirs and
the final fate of the Muhajirs, which has not been settled even after seventy years of
Partition and independence. It however intends to provide information as well as

3 L. Ziring, Bangladesh From Mujib to Ershad: An Interpretive Study, Oxford University

Press, Karachi, 1992, pp. 6-7.
4 National Archives of Bangladesh (hereafter NAB), Government of Bengal (hereafter GB),
‘East Bengal Province’, Home - Police, B Proceedings, Bundle No. 102, June 1951, p. 6.
5 J. Chatterji, ‘Dispositions and Destinations: Refugee Agency and Mobility Capital in the
Bengal Diaspora, 1947-2007’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 55, no. 2,
2013, pp. 279-80
62 Anindita Ghoshal

perspective on their struggle that they faced in a different socio-economic, political

and cultural space. This article intends to argue in favour of the idea of ‘multi-layered
identity of the refugees’ and also interrogates the general perception of refugees as a
‘monolithic community’ in South Asia.
East Pakistan: a Refugee Absorbent Space

Partition of 1947 had displaced massive numbers of people who migrated from one
side of the border to the other in search of security and shelter. Thus, Hindu families
who migrated from the then Pakistan to India, and Muslims from India to Pakistan
were generally termed as ‘refugees’. 6 Yet in case of the Hindu refugees, India
initially tried hard not to recognise them legally as ‘refugees’, since this term meant
to provide social security along with other few mandatory privileges. Thus, they were
rather termed as displaced persons (1946-47), optees and migrants (early 1950s),
evacuees and illegal aliens or migrants (late 1950s), infiltrators/ Pakistani minorities/
fugitives (after 1964) and sharanarthi (during the Liberation War of 1971) in the
official records or reports. In case of the Muslim refugees to East Pakistan, the
administrators of both dominions termed them mostly as ‘Muslim returnees’ in
official documents for keeping parity in policy-making processes.7 But after crossing
the borders, refugees having different mother tongues did not receive equal
treatment. Rather, the politics of connection to one culture or one’s ‘otherness’
played vital roles to the respective authorities.8 Policies and opportunities were meant
to be the same officially for both Bengali and non-Bengali refugees, yet the West
Pakistani officials had received the Bengalis with some notion of disapproval.9 Also
in reality, East Pakistan became the hinterland of the Urdu speaking West Pakistani
dominance and the Centre was seen more sincere towards the non-Bengali
Muslim refugees.10 The administration was prompt to provide them immediate relief

6 NAB, GB, Department- Political, B Proceedings, List no. 118, Bundle no. 48, May - July,
1949.
7 The term ‘returnees’ used several times in many references to denote the Bengali and non-
Bengali Hindu/ Muslim refugees, migrated to and fro the then India and East Bengal
(Pakistan), as referred in the I.B. records, files of the Home-Political departments and,
especially in the files of the Ministry of External Affairs, which is available in the National
Archives of India, New Delhi.
8 R. Roy (ed.), Paschim theke Purbobanga: Deshbodoler Smriti, Gangchil, Kolkata, 2015,
pp. 22-3.
9 Maleka Begum, interviewed in Kolkata, India, 24 August 2017
10 P. Oldenburg, ‘A Place Insufficiently Imagined: Language, Belief, and the Pakistan Crisis
of 1971’, The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 44, no. 4 (August, 1985), p. 716.
The Invisible Refugees 63

measures and later viable rehabilitation. 11 Similarly again, for very few Bengali
provincial officers, the issue of ‘linguistic resemblance’ became the only ‘positive
bond’ to understand the crisis of the Bengali refugees.12
Actually, apart from the discriminatory attitude of Pakistani Center that had clearly
been reflected in the policies of the state machinery, there were many other reasons
behind maltreatment of other linguistic communities.13 The Nawab family and the
Dhaccaias (original residents of Dacca) named as kuttis (the business communities),
were basically non-Bengalis.14 They were naturally seen more inclined towards the
West Pakistanis, as well as, the non-Bengali refugees. Though they were compelled
to adopt some Bengali cultural traits and picked up Bengali for professional
purposes, they generally became residents of designated areas in Dhaka like,
Gandaria (probably derived from term ‘grand area’), where the Provincial
Government based in Dhaka later arranged rehabilitation of the non-Bengali
refugees.15 The Bengali refugees from Calcutta, other small cities and district towns
of different Indian states often targeted Dhaka to obtain similar jobs and other
professional opportunities. Their key aim was to allocate spaces for pursuing smooth
livelihood in a land that was meant to be made only for them. But in comparison to
Calcutta, Dhaka in late 1940s was just like any other muffosil town of West Bengal.
Interestingly, the then Bengali Muslim residents of Calcutta often described the
Daccaia Muslims as bangal with a derogatory tone. The social status of this
traditional class, i.e. the Daccaias was not respectable; as though they were wealthy
they lacked in education and were not culturally advanced.16 In the context of the
urban faculties, the then Dhaka was not even a growing city. Sirajul Islam
Choudhury described in his autobiography, how getting a ration card was a huge task
in Dhaka after they migrated as ‘optees’ there, while even rationing system was not
regular. 17 Anisuzzaman also mentioned in his autobiography, when they finally
decided to settle down in Dhaka, the basic urban facilities were not available. He
stated that electricity or running water facilities were irregular, even bread and butter

11 Azad, 20 July 1949.

12 Sirajul Islam, interviewed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 16 July 2012.
13 K. Sinha-Kerkhoff, Tyranny of Partition: Hindus in Bangladesh and Muslims in India,
Gyan Publishing House, Delhi, 2006, p. 68.
14 Tanvir Mokammel, interviewed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 26 December 2010.
15 Kamal Lohani, interviewed in Dhaka, 30 January 2014.
16 Anisuzzaman, Kal Nirobodhi (An Autobiography), Sahitya Prakash, Dhaka, 2003, p. 109.
17 S. I. Choudhury, Dui Jatrar Ak Jatri (Autobiography), Pearl Publications, Dhaka, 2012,
p. 15.
64 Anindita Ghoshal

were not available, general public transports like bus and tram did not start operating
as city services.18
Within such a chaotic situation and with diverse expectations, both the Bengali and
non-Bengali refugees arrived in East Bengal. Interestingly, while most of the
refugees migrated by compulsion, some immigrated just to try their luck; few were
expecting a superior status in the agrarian society of the post-Partition Eastern wing.
East Pakistan came out as a perfect place to them for migration for numerous
reasons.19 The population exchange program was never opted and implemented in
this region and the ratio of influx and exodus of refugees was uneven. The refugee
migration process was endless to and from this region. Such physical, practical and
professional vacuums however made the absorption procedure comparatively
comfortable. 20 But, Bengal borderland remained open up to the early 1980s. The
migration procedure was slow and came in several waves. There were shifts in
intentions and ideas towards the migrating populace, by the policy makers of the
respective bordering states. For instance, the Government of Tripura complained that
the Muslims had taken years to decide whether to settle permanently in East
Pakistan.They often left a relative in their own houses in Tripura, though made all
necessary arrangements for their permanent rehabilitation in the Pakistani part of the
divided Bengal. Thus, the state Governments had to work hard for many years and
negotiate with the administrators of the other side of the border, to spot the evacuee
properties left finally by the Bengali Muslims for resettlement of the Hindu
refugees.21
East Pakistan: on the Policy Making Front
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in his first lecture at the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
declared the idea of maintaining ‘complete sovereignty’ in Pakistan.22 He portrayed a
liberal view of nationhood by saying, ‘We are starting with the fundamental principle
that we are all citizens and equal citizen of one state…We should keep that in front of

18 Anisuzzaman, ‘Kal Nirobodhi’, pp. 109-11.

19 O. Ahad, Jatio Rajniti: 1945 theke 75, Khoshraj Kitab Mahal, Dhaka, 1982, pp. 5-7
20 Sirajul Islam Choudhury, interviewed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 26 December 2014.
21 Purbadesh, 12 February 1952.
22 The staunch Muslim League activists were trying hard to create a definite image of
Pakistan to communicate its ideology to the world. They were not sure, how far the
Islamic adaptation in culture and daily life would be acceptable to a (modern) state-
system. NAB, File no. 3M-2, Government of Bengal, Department- Political, Proceedings-
B (291 to 293), Serial no. 49, November 1953.
The Invisible Refugees 65

us as our ideal and you will find that Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims
will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith
of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state’.23 In a celebratory
message on Jinnah’s birthday, Prime Minister Khwaja Nazimuddin repeated that
solemn pledge: ‘Pakistan is not the state of Muslims alone; it belongs to all peoples
and communities who live in it and who are loyal to it’.24 Maulana Bhasani, a peasant
leader of East Bengal, also echoed similar views, ‘Today the country is a free country
and should be guided by the opinions of the people’.25 These so-called nationalist
leaders initially and formally perceived Pakistan as, ‘free from its colonial experience
of non-participatory, non-democratic and non-representative politics.’ 26 It rather
should now to be completely reversed.
Hence the involvement of everyone, irrespective of communities, castes and classes
made the celebration of creation of this new nation state in the map of South Asia
truly colourful. The merry mass feeling of achieving independence, chiefly creating a
separate state was like what nationalist leaders dreamt of. Hence, ‘Muslims all over
East Bengal welcomed the birth of the new nation with the azan (call to prayer)’ and
‘crowds of holidaymakers’ thronged streets, ‘some riding trucks and some even on
elephants’.27 The highlight of the day was a procession by the Hindus and Muslims in
Dhaka, where leaders of all major political parties had given lectures. Tajuddin
Ahmed, a young socialist / nationalist who later became the first Prime Minister of
the independent Bangladesh, described in his diary, ‘the celebration of independence
was in full swing from 3 pm onwards…in front of almost one-lakh people, both
Hindus-Muslims, Nawab of Dacca and Khwaja Nazimuddin were chief speakers of
the meeting in the Victoria Park in Dhaka’.28 Being the new provincial capital and
Pakistan’s ‘second capital’, Dhaka afforded pompous celebration of the day in
comparison to other muffosil towns. Erection of gates and decoration of the whole
city set the mood. Public and private buildings were illuminated at night, and

23 M. A. Jinnah, ‘Presidential Address to Constituent Assembly of Pakistan’, no. 11, August

1947, in Speeches and Writings of Mr. M. A. Jinnah, J. Ahmed (ed.), Vol. II, Sh.
Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, 1964 (reprint), p. 402.
24 Ananda Bazar Patrika, 1 January 1948.
25 East Bengal Legislative Assembly Proceedings, Official Report, Dhaka, East Pakistan
Government Press, vol. 1, no. 3, 1948, p. 7.
26 S. Dutta, Bangladesh: A Fragile Democracy, Shipra, New Delhi, 2004, p. 4332.
27 A. Kamal, State Against the Nation: The Decline of the Muslim League in Pre-
independence Bangladesh, 1947-54, The University Press Ltd., Dhaka, 2009, p. 11.
28 T. Ahmed, Tajuddin Ahmeder Diary; 1947-1948, vol. 1, Pratibhas, Dhaka, 2005, p. 37.
66 Anindita Ghoshal

fireworks dazzled the sky. 29 Other majority-minority Hindu-Muslim towns like

Barisal, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Mymensingh celebrated this auspicious occasion by
arranging processions and meetings where ‘remarkable scenes of amity and concord
were witnessed’.30 The insiders noticed, ‘signs of radiant glow of fulfillment of a
long cherished desire of winning freedom’ were almost ‘in every face of the vast
population’.31
The idea of making the Eastern wing a ‘premium colony’ of Western Pakistan was
there from the beginning. Yet Pakistan tried promoting, proving, claiming and
counter-claiming ideas to make a modern liberal democratic secular state system
(which was supposed to be administered by freedom-fighters, nationalists, ex-leaders
and statesmen), as they thought the journey should not start with migration of
minorities. They rather started official campaigning for ‘staying back’ of minorities.32
Hitherto, the real hurdle for Pakistan was punching up everything diverse or deal
contradictory issues to make the ‘spirit of Partition’.33 The real problem was how to
deal with East Bengal and exercise power simultaneously ‘in a manner consistent
with the dignity, prosperity and security of its citizens and act in its own enlightened
self-interest’.34 The ‘Report of the Basic Principles Committee’ of 1953 pointed out
two major challenges, one, how to embark upon ‘wide divergences to demonstrate’
of Western Pakistanis with identical pattern of more or less homogeneous population

29 From a colonial political economy, the journey of Pakistan as a ‘nation-state’ was

ideologically quite different. Outlook-wise they presented their goals to achieve and
voiced themselves, than that of her half-sister origin state, India. A. Kamal, ‘East Bengal
at Independence’, in History of Bangladesh; 1904-1971, S. Islam (ed.), vol. 1, Political
History, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 2007, p. 328.
30 The Statesman, 15 August 1947.
31 Kamal, ‘State Against the Nation’, p. 12.
32 Both India and Pakistan declared to follow some rules hereafter. A. M. Ahmed, Amar
Dakha Rajnitir Ponchas Bochhor (Autobiography), Khosraj Kitab Mahal, Dhaka, 2006,
p. 235.
33 The United Front on 9 April 1954 also mentioned in the Twenty One Programme,
‘According to the Lahore Resolution, East Bengal will get complete autonomy. Our
defense, currency and foreign policy will be joint subjects with the Center. Army
headquarters will be in West Pakistan and naval headquarters are to be set up in East
Pakistan, so that this wing can become strong enough to safeguard her freedom. R. L.
Park, ‘East Bengal: Pakistan’s Troubled Province’, Far Eastern Survey, vol. 23, no. 5,
May 1954, p. 73.
34 I. Niaz, The Culture of Power and Governance of Pakistan; 1947-2008, Oxford University
Press, Karachi, 2010, p. 5.
The Invisible Refugees 67

hailing from the Eastern wing; and two, how to hold these elements together and
make a strong and powerful Central government of Pakistan.35
The tone of resistance to West Pakistan hegemony began to be heard from Eastern
benchers in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan after the brief phase of ‘romance
and reconciliation’.36 The East Bengali representatives, Bhupendra Kumar Datta, Sris
Chandra Chattopadhyay, Dhirendra Nath Datta were vehemently opposed to a
motion on giving titles to someone. They argued against the resolution by saying,
‘We aim at the establishment of socialistic form of Government and in all socialistic
countries titles have been dispensed with’, and hence, ‘No title should be conferred at
least in the year 1947’.37 They opposed class- based post - colonial political order,
firmly criticised the semi – feudal - elitist society of West Pakistan. Dhirendra Nath
Datta opined that the house should not encourage any form of provincialism.38 The
exclusion of Bengali provincial political elites from the policymaking parts made the
gulf wider.39 The name ‘East Bengal’ officially continued until the Constitution of
Pakistan, 1956 that formally renamed the Eastern wing as ‘East Pakistan’. 40 The
Pakistani bureaucratic authorities initiated a formal change of name in a ceremony,
chiefly to avoid the demand of provincial autonomy by the then Hindu Bengali elites
and other residents of East Bengal.41 This step came out as a shattering blow to the
East Bengalis. The name symbolised not merely a territorial expression for them. It
meant their societal values as well as culture that were integral to their respective
identities.42
Homecoming
Both the Bengali and non- Bengali Muslim refugees arrived in a land of consistent
contradictions, when the Eastern wing of Pakistan was suffering from inflation and

35 Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Debates, Official Report, Karachi, Government of

Pakistan Press, CAP. L. XV- 12-53, 23 October 1953, p. 350.
36 T. Ali, Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State, Penguin, 1983, p. 48.
37 Dawn (Editorial) 5 September 1947.
38 M. Mansur, Dhirendranath Dutta: Jibon o Kormo, Bangla Academy, Dhaka, 2012, p. 52.
39 I. Talbot and G. Singh, The Partition of India, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
2009, p. 146.
40 R. Jahan, ‘Political Development’ in Bangladesh on the Threshold of the Twenty-First
Century, A. M. Chowdhury, and Fakrul Alam (eds.), Asiatic Society of Bangladesh,
Dhaka, 2002, p. 43.
41 S. Upreti, Nationalism in Bangladesh: Genesis and Evolution, Kalinga Publication, Delhi,
2004, p. 34.
42 N. Zaman, A Divided Legacy: The Partition in Selected Novels of India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh, The University Press Ltd., Dhaka, 1999, pp. 12-3.
68 Anindita Ghoshal

acute shortages of basic goods.43 Cut off from Calcutta made it ‘desperately poor,
water-logged, economically dependent on the unreliable jute crop and physically
distanced from the Pakistani capital one thousand miles away’.44 A military officer of
Pakistan stationed in Dhaka remarked in August 1947, ‘the Province was in the grip
of disorder and chaos’. He observed, ‘the resources, offering success against such
conditions’ and ‘were now in sharp contrast, entirely inadequate’.45 ‘The child state’
was not ready even to design a minimal system of administration. Shortage of human
resources including officers made the situation more difficult, ‘only one Dakota flight
to Dacca sufficed almost to exhaust the list of officers of that caliber. They were
senior officers who had opted for Pakistan’.46 The treasury was almost empty and:
Dhaka, a small district town was called upon suddenly to house not only the
provincial Governor and its vast staff but also paraphernalia and several Central
Government Departments. The new Government was a fugitive in its own home.
Orders had often to be passed in scraps of waste paper and messages exchanged on bits
of empty cigarette packets. Typewriters were few and far between. Telephones were a
rare possession, a luxury rather than a convenient instrument of administration.
Officers often acted as their own messengers. There was practically no furniture.47
The spatial dimension of Dhaka too has changed after emerging as the ‘second
capital’ of Pakistan. The popular route to be in their promised land was, first a train
journey from Sealdah to Goalando. After crossing the Padma river by steamers, again
they had to board another train to reach Dhaka. 48 Partition facilitated greater
urbanisation of Dhaka by diverse types of migrations. Between 1951 and 1961, there
was rise of 45.11 percent in urban population (2.60 million) compared to that of

43 The cultural and social separateness between the East and West wings made contradictions
much bigger, ‘Pakistan is a unique country which are separated by a distance of more than
1000 miles. These two wings differ in all matters, viz, the language, the tradition, the
culture, the costume, the custom, the dietary, the calendar, the standard time practically
everything is different. There is in fact nothing common in the two wings particularly in
respect of those, which are the sine qua non to form a nation. P. N. Luthra, ‘Problem of
Refugees from East Bengal’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 6, no. 50, December
1971, p. 2469.
44 Y. Khan, The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan, Penguin/ Viking, New
Delhi, 2007, p. 189.
45 Kamal, ‘East Bengal at Independence’, p. 335.
46 NAB, GB, ‘East Pakistan Forges Ahead’, Home - Political, Bundle, p. 1.
47 Kamal, ‘State Against the Nation’, p. 19.
48 B. Umor, Amar Jibon, 1931-1950 (Autobiography), Vol. 1, Jatiya Sahitya Prakash, Dhaka,
2014, p. 119.