[cricket_pagol]

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
Also, let us not forget the 'silence' of our 'West' Pakistani brothers with regards to systematic exploitation of OUR resources which financed the construction of Islamabad, the modernization of Rawalpindi and Lahore, and fattened the pockets of the Punjabi and less frequently, the Sindhi elite at the expense of our comparative underdevelopment, despite 'investments' in and around Dhaka. At the height of those 'investments' under Ayub Khan who required a "higher standard" for Bengalis than Punjabis, they spent only 40% or less on us - the majority of the population and source of jute, the main cash crop and export - of what they spent on themselves in EVERY public sector. The "industrial investments" in Bangladesh, all tightly managed by Punjabi and in some cases the Sindhi elite, were made because of reasons of financial and other logistical expediency, NOT the rightful development of the source of that wealth.

So, let's stick to the facts and not leave "the Pakistani people" out of it any more than we need to, shall we? People do good or bad things because of who they are for whatever real reasons, sadly, being 'Pakistani' is not one of them. Those who supported our just cause in the 'West' were VERY few and far between.

Peace ...

I cannot agree with you 100%. I think the ruling elite in Pakistan should be blamed for this economic exploitation, not the general public. You can only blame the general public for not trying to find out what's happening in Bangladesh. It's like how many average bangldeshis know and care about what's happening in the Hill tracts district. Why were the tribal people fighting? Why was the army deployed there... was the army brutal on the local people? This was never a major issue among the general public, we did not want to know much about it and the media obliged. Everybody wanted peace in the hill tracts, but it was never a defining issue. Growing up in dhaka I hardly knew anything about the problems in the hill districts... I remember that if somebody was sent to the hill tracts for government position or for the army, it was considered as punishment. I only a learned a bit when the AL government negotiated with them, but the issues was very politicized. BTW, this analogy is from my personal observation.

Here is what wikipedia says about the Chittagong hill tracts

During the 1970s and 80s, there were attempts by the Government to resettle the area with Bengali people. These attempts were resisted by the tribals, who with the latent support of neighbouring India, formed a guerilla force called Shanti Bahini. As a result of the tribal resistance movement, successive governments turned the Hill Tracts into a militarised zone. A good source of information on Shanti Bahini and, indeed, on the Chittagong Hill Tracts people, is the letter to the editor of the New York Times by Professor Bernard Nietschmann published on October 25, 1986 (archived by the Fourth World Documentation Project) at the Center for World Indigenous Studies website.


The Bengali people have been accused of committing genocides against the minority tribal people with silent support from the law enforcers. One often citied incident took place in 1992 in Mallya^[1] and / or Logang^[2]. The Bangladeshi army, too, have been accused of numerous human rights violations within the Hill Tracts, and their personnel have been accused of torture, killings and abduction. Amongst these, the disappearance of Chakma political activist Kalpana Chakma in 1996 attracted widespread condemnation.

Here is amnesty internal report on human rights in Chittagong hill tracts
Did you know that this incident sited by amnesty international. i did not until a couple of minutes ago. To be fair, violence was committed by both sides.

6.2 Killings at Babu Chara Bazar
One incident represents a stark reminder of tactics used by the army in the past condoning reprisal attacks on the Jumma people by army personnel and non-tribal settlers. According to reports, three people were killed in at Babu Chara Bazar in Dighinala Thana area of Khagrachari on 16 October 1999 in a clash between the army personnel and the Jummas. The clash reportedly occurred after an incident in which a Bangladeshi army personnel allegedly molested a Jumma woman. The woman shouted at him and the army personnel and another colleague who came to defend him were beaten by a number of young Jumma people. Subsequently, a contingent of army personnel came to the area aided by some 150 Bengali settlers and jointly attacked the Jummas in the Bazar. Two Jummas, Dipon Joyoti Chakma, a high school student, and Sukamal Chakma died of their injuries while the body of a Jumma man who was believed to have been killed during the attack was discovered in a nearby muddy paddy. Three Jumma homes were reportedly set on fire, Benuban Buddhist Temple was ransacked, Buddhist monks were ill-treated and statues of Buddha were damaged. Although the government is reported to have set up an inquiry into the incident, no news about its progress or outcome has emerged so far raising fears that this incident will not be properly investigated and those found responsible punished.

My apologies for getting off topic with this post.