726 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড Pakistan's budget last year about Rs 350 crores was earmarked for defense expenditure out of a total of about Rs 750 crores. About Rs 150 crores was see apart for annual loan repayment while maintenance of administration was alloted about Rs 100 crores. The rest-Rs 150 crores—was mainly spent on the development of West Pakistan where most of the private and public sector units are located. Strangely, the Rs 350 crores meant for defense expenditure was lifted fully from East Pakistan. East Pakistan used to raise about 65 per cent of the budget expenditure by selling her jute, tea and tobacco and most of this revenue was spent on the army. Since 1965 West Pakistan has received Rs c from the United States also as defence aid. All things considered, there was a glaring economic imbalance between West Pakistan and East Pakistan. The latter was treated not a shade better than a colony. Another disturbing factor was the heavy land rewards to the retired Pakistan Army officers who are hardly recruited from the East. Once the army officers of the west are out of active service, they get land ranging between 50 and 300 bighas. In other words this privileged class of West Pakistani army officers is turned into feudal overlords and become a powerful tool of the machinery of exploitation. These are some of the long- standing grievances of East Pakistan against the western wing or late what hurt East Pakistan was the refusal of the army men to come to their help at the time of the devastating cyclone. American troops had to be invited to clear the huge masses of corpses from storm-ravaged localities. The army apart, no political leader from the west also cared to visit the cyclone-hit areas in East Pakistan.
