6th September 1955
Mr. Ataur Rahman Khan (East Bengal: Muslim): Mr. Speaker, Sir, at the outset I want to congratulate Sardar Abdur Rashid for the brave and the most sincere speech that he has delivered today in this House. (Hear, hear). He has exposed the ruling Coterie's game for the last few months. He has exposed to the House the nature of those people who are at the helm of affairs of this country. .Sir, Mr. Daultana had said the other that the integration of West Pakistan provinces into one Unit will revolutionize the mind but I think myself completely revolutionized after have heard Mr. Rashid this morning. I feel that all the ideas and all the thoughts that came into my mind before have all changed and we have got to restart afresh our thinking and our working in this August House.... when we have heard Sardar Rashid, each and every member should think 100 times as to whether he should go on with this work of integrating the provinces of West Pakistan into one unit? Because, what is it? .It is the outcome of a conspiracy, a plan well laid out for the purpose of vested interests, for the purpose of the benefit of the Coterie which has been ruling or misruling the country for the last eight years. Sir, I tell you a few things also, a few assurances that were given to us by which we have had to change our views in East Pakistan. You, Sir, know that for the last eight years, we have been fighting against the idea of parity. We do not believe in parity. We believe in democracy. We believe in representation of the people, the principle that we possess and preached in East Bengal. Be it majority or minority they should rule the country. Now, Sir, I address you personally to think as a man of Bengal. Can you say that a man of Bengal has got any confidence in the leaders of West Pakistan, I mean the Central leaders? No, not one soul, you will find, who has any confidence in these leaders. For the last eight years they have broken all the provinces, they have shattered all their hopes and aspirations and they have shattered the very root of our confidence. No one has got any confidence in them. Now, Sir, after long eight years, when the Constituent Assembly was dissolved and a new Constituent Assembly has come into existence we are trying to think in a different manner, trying to remove all the mistrust that we and people in East Bengal have had and trying to start with fabula rasa, a clean state, in order to hurry up with the framing of the Constitution, all our hopes have again been shattered during the last few days. Why? It is very clear. The same game which has been pervading the minds of the leaders for the last eight years is being played again. They have not forsaken that game You know. Sir......... very well what were our demands. All our demands have been legitimate, reasonable. I take one example. For instance, this question of state languageBengali to be one of the State languages of Pakistan................... It is the desire and will, legitimate and reasonable claim of 4 crores and 20 lakhs of people of East Bengal, which has been trampled down. Nobody had shown any regard for that. Not even a good. gesture has ever been made. People have died for that. People have been killed by the Muslim League coterie there. A large number of youthful, valiant, chivalrous young boys laid their lives on the 21st or 22nd of February, 1952, in support of the language, their mother tongue. They did not disregard Urdu. They did not refuse Urdu as one of the State languages of Pakistan as was misunderstood by so many people here also, that these gentlemen are against Urdu. Urdu was never disregarded by us. We say Urdu and Bengali should be the State languages of Pakistan. Even after the great and supreme sacrifice that the young people of our country have made, the movement is going on. This idea is in the heart of
