SHEIKH MUJIBAR RAHMAN'S ADDRESS TO THE

ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE

 

 

Mr. President and Gentlemen.

 

The nation today is experiencing a crisis which has shaken its very foundations. For all of us who love the nation and recall the sacrifices which were made to create Pakistan, this is a time of grave anxiety. On order to resolve the crisis, it is imperative that its nature should be understood and its causes identified. Nothing would be more catastrophic than the failure to come to grips with the basic issues which underlie the upheaval which has taken place in the country. These issues have been evaded for twenty one years. The moment has arrived for us to face them squarely. I am convinced that a comprehensive solution must be found for our problems, for clearly the situation is too grape for pallia­tives and half measures. What is at stake is our survival.

 

BASIC ISSUES

 

It is this conviction that obliges me to expound a comprehensive e solution to our basic problems. If the demands that have been expressed by different sections of the people are carefully examined, it will be seen that there are three basic issues which underlie them.

The first is that of deprivation of political rights and civil liberties.

 

The second is the economic injustice suffered by vast majority of the people, comprising workers, peasants, low and middle income groups. w^-ho have had to bear the burden of the costs of development in the form of increasing inflation, while the benefits of such development are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few families. who in their turn are concentrated in one region.

 

The third is the sense of injustice felt by the people of East Pakistan who find that under the existing constitutional arrangements their basic interests have consistently suffered in the absence of effective political power being conferred upon them. The former minority 

provinces of West Pakistan feel similarly aggrieved by the present constitutional arrange­ment.

 

POLITICAL RIGHTS

 

The issue of deprivation of political rights finds expression in the 11-points Programme of the students of East Pakistan, as also in the 6-points Programme of the Awami League, as a demand for the establishment of a parliamentary democracy, based on the principle of the supremacy of the Legislature, in which there is representation of all units on the basis of population, and to which representatives are directly elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise.

 

The issue of economic injustice is reflected in the 11-points Programme in the form of clearly formulated demands for re-organisation of the economic and education system of the country. The 6-points Programme of my party clearly recognises the need for radi­cal economic re-organisation, and the demand for regional autonomy, as outlined in it, is itisisted upon as an essential pre-condition for economic re-organisation and the imple­mentation of effective economic programmes.

 

REGIONAL AUTONOMY

 

The issue of justice for the different regions and units of Pakistan is the basis of the demand for the establishment of a Federation providing for full regional autonomy, as embodied in the 6-points Programme as also in the 11-points Programme. This is also the basis of the demand for dismemberment of One Unit and the establishment of a subfederation in West Pakistan.

 

The Democratic Action Committee has held detailed deliberations regarding these grave and challenging national issues. There has always been complete unanimity in the Democratic Action Committee on the imperative necessity of effecting the following constitutional changes.

 

(A) The establishment of a Federal Parliamentary Democracy,

 

(B) The introduction of a system of direct elections based on universal adult franchise.

A consensus has also been apparent among the members of the Committee on the following matters.

 

(A) The dismemberment of One Unit and the establishment of a sub federation in West Pakistan.

 

(B) Full regional autonomy being granted to the region.

 

ESSENTIALS

 

The Committee further agreed that its members should be at liberty to present further proposals, which in their view were essential for achieving an effective and lasting solution of the problems that are at the root of the present crisis,

 

Since we are here for the very purpose of seeking to find such an effective and lasting solution,-I have felt it my bounden duty to press before this Conference with all earnestness that everyone sitting at this table should realise that constitutional changes to provide for representation on the basis of population in the Federal Legislature as well as for the granting of full regional autonomy, as outlined in the 6-points Programme, are essential for achieving a strong, united and vigorous Pakistan.

 

ONE MAN ONE VOTE

 

I would like to state that the Awami League is a party of the freedom-fighters for Pakistan. Its founder, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, is indeed one of the founders of Pakistan. I recall with some pride that, under his leadership, my colleagues and I were in the vanguard of the struggle for Pakistan. Such proposals as I am presenting before the conference are based on the conviction that they are absolutely essential in order to preserve and indeed to strengthen Pakistan.

 

The demand for representation in the Federal Legislature to be on basis of population stems from the first principle of democracy viz. one man one vote. In the national forum, as envisaged in the six-point scheme, only national issues would arise for consideration. The representatives would, therefore, be called upon to deal with matters from a national point of view, and hence the voting would not be on a regional basis. Further, national political parties would be represented in the Federal Legislature, which would ensure that voting would be on a party, and not on regional, basis. Indeed, the experience of the last twenty-one years bears out the fact that voting in the National Assembly has invariably been on Party basis.

 

FALSE PREMISES

 

It is the principle of parity in representation of each Wing which is based on the false premise that representatives in the Federal Legislature are likely to vote on a regional basis. It is thus the parity principle that places an unjustified emphasis on regionalism as a factor in national politics. The entire historical experience of the last 21 years fully bears out the fact that East Pakistan has always subordinated its regional interest to the overriding national interest, notwithstanding the fact that it had the majority of the popu­lation.

 

It should not be necessary to recall that in the first Constituent Assembly, East Pakistan had 44 representatives as against 28 from West Pakistan, yet this majority was never used to promote any regional interest. Indeed, six West Pakistanis were elected to the Consti­tuent Assembly from East Pakistan.

 

SACRIFICES

 

Despite being a majority, East Pakistan accepted the principle of parity not only in representation in the Legislature but also in other organs of the State. It is painful to record that parity so far as representation in the legislature was concerned this was promptly implemented, but the benefit of parity in representation in the other organs of the State, including the Civil, Foreign and Defence Services, was never extended to East Pakistan.

 

East Pakistan had even acquiesced in the Federal Capital as well as all the Defence Headquarters being located in West Pakistan. This meant that the bulk of the expenditure on Defence and Civil administration, amounting to about Rs. 270 crores or over 70 per cent of the Central Budget is made in West Pakistan. Should our West Pakistani brethren persist in refusing us representation on a population basis in the Federal Legislature, East Pakistani will feel constrained to insist on the shifting of the Federal Capital and the Defence Headquarters to East Pakistan.

 

POSITIVE STEP

 

It would be a positive step toward cementing the relations between the two Wings of Pakistan if our West Pakistani brethren were to affirm their confidence in their East Pakistani brethren by not opposing the demand for representation in the Federal Legis­lature on the basis of population. Such a step would pay rich dividend by way of building up mutual confidence and trust between the people of East and West Pakistan.

 

The adoption of the Federal scheme presented in the 6-points Programme is an essen­tial pre-requisite for the achievement of a political solution for the problems of the country . I would reiterate that the spirit underlying the 6-point Programme is that Pakistan should present itself to the community of the nations as one single united nation of one hundred and twenty million people. This object is served by the Federal Government being trusted with the three subjects of defence, foreign affairs and currency. It is the same objective of having a strong and vigorous Pakistan that requires that due regard be paid to the facts of geography by granting full regional autonomy to the regions in order to enable them to have complete control in all matters relating to economic management.

 

I cannot too strongly emphasise the imperative necessity of removing economic injustices, if we are to put our society back on an even keel. The 11-points Programme of the students for which I have expressed support contains proposals regarding the re­ordering of the economic and education system. These demands stem from the basic urge for the attainment of economic justice.

 

I would, however, like at this time to confine myself to outlining the constitutional changes which are necessary for the attainment of economic justice between man and man, and between region and region.

 

 

ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT

 

The centralisation of economic management has steadily aggravated the existing economic injustices to the point of crisis. I need hardly dilate on the subject of the 22 families, who have already achieved considerable notoriety both at home and abroad on account of the concentration of wealth in their hands resulting from their ready access to the corridors of power. Monopolies and cartels have been created and a capitalist system has been promoted, in which the gulf between the privileged few and the suffering multitude of workers and peasants has been greatly widened. Gross injustices have also been inflicted on East Pakistan and the minority provinces of West Pakistan.

 

The existence of per capita income disparity between East and West Pakistan is known to all. As early as 1960, the Chief Economist of the Planning Commission estimated that the real per capita income disparity between East and West Pakistan was 60.

 

GROSS INJUSTICE

 

The mid-plan review made by the Planning Commission and other recent documents show that the disparity in real per capita income has been steadily increasing and therefore would be much higher than 60 per cent today. Underlying such disparity, is the disparity in general economic structure and infrastructure of the two regions in the rates of employ­ment, in facilities for education, in medical and welfare services. To give just a few examples, power generating capacity in West Pakistan is 5 to 6 times higher than in East Pakistan, the number of hospital beds in 1966 in West Pakistan was estimated to be 26,200 while that in East Pakistan was estimated to be 6,900 between 1961-1966, only 18 poly­technic institutes were established in East Pakistan as against 48 in West Pakistan. Fur­ther, the disparity in the total availability of resources has been even higher. More than 80 per cent of all foreign aid has been utilized in West Pakistan in addition to the transfer of East Pakistan's foreign exchange earnings to West Pakistan. This made it possible for West Pakistan over 20 years to import Rs 3,109 crores worth of goods against the total export earnings of Rs 1,337 crores, while during the same period East Pakistan imported Rs 1,210 crore worth of goods as against its total export earnings of Rs 1,650 crores. All these facts underline the gross economic injustice which has been done to East Pakistan. There has been a failure to discharge the constitutional obligation to remove disparity between the provinces in the shortest possible time. The annual report on disparity for the year 1968 places before the National Assembly records that disparity has continued to increase.

A BOLD PLAN

 

The centralisation of economic management has thus failed miserably to meet the objective of attaining economic justice. It has failed to meet the constitutional obligation to remove economic disparity between region and region. Instead, therefore, of persisting in centralized economic management which has failed to deliver the goods, we should adopt a bold and imaginative solution to this challenging problem. The federal scheme of the 6-point Programme, is, in my view, such a bold and imaginative solution.

 

It is quintissence a scheme for the responsibility for economic management to the regions. This proposal is born of the conviction that this alone can effectively meet the problems, which centralised economic management has failed to overcome. The unique geography of the country, resulting in lack of labour mobility, as well as the different levels of development obtaining in the different regions, require that economic management should not be centralised.

 

The specific proposals embodied in the 6-point Programme with regard to currency, foreign trade, foreign exchange earnings and taxation are all designed to give full responsi­bility for economic management to the regional government. The proposals with regard to currency are designed to prevent flight of capital and to secure control over monetary policy. The proposal regarding foreign trade and foreign exchange are demanded to ensure that the resources of a region are available to that region and to ensure it to obtain the maximum amount of foreign exchange resources for development purposes. The proposals regarding taxation is designed to ensure control by the regional governments over fiscal policy, without in any way depriving the Federal Government of its revenue requirements.

 

SUBSTANCE

 

The substance of these proposals are as follows:

 

(a) With regard to currency, measures should be adopted to prevent flight of capital from one region to another and to secure control over monetary policy by the regional government. This can be done by adopting of two currencies or by having one currency with a separate Reserve Bank being set up in each region, to control monetary policy, with the State Bank retaining control over certain defined matters. Subject to the above arrangements, currency would be a Federal subject.

 

(b) With regard to foreign trade and aid, the regional governments should have power to negotiate trade and aid, within the framework of the foreign policy of the country, which shall be the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

(c) The foreign exchange earnings of each region should be maintained in account in each regional Reserve Bank and be under the control of the regional governments, the Federal requirements of foreign exchange would be met by appropriations from the two regional accounts on the basis of an agreed ratio.

 

(d) With regard to taxation, it is proposed that the power of tax levy and collection should be left to the regional governments, but the Federal Government should be empo­wered to realise its revenue requirements from levies on the regional governments. It should be clearly understood that it is not at all contemplated that the Federal Government be left at the mercy of the regional governments for its revenue needs.

 

ENORMOUS PROMISE

 

I would emphasize that there would be no difficulty in devising appropriate consti­tutional provisions whereby the Federal Government's revenue requirements could be met consistently with the objective of ensuring control over fiscal policy by the regional governments. The scheme also envisages that there would be just representation on a population basis of persons from each part of Pakistan in all Federal services, including Defence services.

 

If these principles are accepted, the detailed provisions can be worked out, by a committee consisting of experts to be designated by both parties.

 

 

This scheme holds enormous promise of removing the canker of economic injustice from the body politic of Pakistan, while at the same time removing the mistrust and frustration which centralised economic management has fostered over the years.

I am confident that the people of West Pakistan would give their wholehearted support to this scheme.

 

APPEAL

 

I urge the participants in this conference to come forward with open minds and with large hearts, in a spirit of fraternity and national solidarity, to adopt the Federal scheme presented above as the only means of overcoming what has been one of the most for­midable problems confronting the country, i.e. that of the attainment of economic justice. No source has fed the current crisis more than the sense of economic injustice. Let us remove it, let us tackle problems at their source. Any attempt to avoid coming to grips with these basic problems will jeopardise our very survival.

 

Neither Almighty Allah nor history will forgive us if at this time of national crisis we fail to rise to the occasion and to adopt bold solutions in order to restore the formidable problems which have created a national crisis. This is a great opportunity, and one which may not present itself again, to face our national problems squarely. We must, there­fore, strain every nerve to agree upon and implement the required solutions. Let us strive together to lift our beloved Pakistan out of the tragic situation in which she is placed, and to lay the constitutional foundations for a real, living, Federal Parliamentary Demo­cracy, which will secure for the people of Pakistan full political, economic and social justice. Only thus strong and united Pakistan can face the future with hope and con­fidence.

 

Pakistan Zindabad.

 

 

(THE DAWN, Karachi, March 14, 1969)

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Bangladesh Documents, vol - I, page no - 33 - 38