পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (প্রথম খণ্ড).pdf/৪৯৩

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ প্রথম খণ্ড
৪৬৮

the Constitution for their welfare and development and this matter should not be left to the administration or maladministration of the Ministry. The feeling there is of such a nature that it is extremely doubtful if the Ministry of that place can withstand the pressure, as is borne out by the fact that it hesitates to call a meeting of the Legislature and put its confidence to the test.......... in approaching constitutional proposals, I do so with only and objective. It must ensure and promote the stability and integrity of Pakistan. To me and my party, all of us residing within Pakistan as its citizens and subjects are one nation, namely, Pakistani Nation, irrespective of the provinces or the regions from which we come, irrespective of the origin, of our race, and tribe, irrespective of the religion, caste or creed. We are one State and we are one people.... To my mind. Sir, as a Pakistani, I say that I cannot visualize any period of time when there will be secession between the two wings of Pakistan. I cannot conceive even the idea of secession. We have got to live together.... What keeps us together is this: the realization that neither part of Pakistan can live without the other. We are dependent upon each other in a hundred thousand ways and therefore it will be fartuous on the part of any one to say “Let us seek our own destiny elsewhere without the help and cooperation of the other".. . . . . . To me the development and the understanding is necessary on both sides. East Pakistan is as much concerned with the welfare of West Pakistan and Pakistan as I hope the West Pakistan is concerned with the welfare of East Pakistan and Pakistan as a whole, but then if you really have a genuine desire to reach a mutual settlement which is absolutely essential for the governments of East Pakistan and West Pakistan, we must get together as soon as possible, instead of fighting each other, even on the floor of this House There is no denying the fact that there has hardly been any development in East Bengal worth the name, compared to the development on this side of the country. We wish this country well. We are happy that it has been developed. After all whole Pakistan is being strengthened it is advisable if both the wings are developed equally and it would certainly be weakened if one side is developed only and the other remains undeveloped. But surely the people from East Bengal too have the right to come forward and claim some consideration from you. Surely, they have got the right to come and say that during all these years East Bengal has been impoverished in several ways. I do not want to juggle with figures. These things are facts which are before us. There has hardly been any development in that part of the country. By putting a jute mill or a paper mill in that wing you think that is sufficient development for 4 crores of the population that are living between wind and water, whose subsistence is so low that the slightest alteration in prices pushes them to starvation. Mind you the British Government did not take a pice out of India for the administration of India. They took nothing from here to England for that purpose and the money that went from here went as interest on the capital in business or trade. Has it been forgotten that the main brunt of our charge against the British was that our country was getting impoverished because money was being sent out of the country to England? 'And this is exactly what. unfortunately, is happening in East Pakistan. Money is going out from there and it is not being replenished; our people, there, are getting poorer and poorer.

 ....Sir, there resources of East Bengal have been utilized for the purpose of the development in this part of the country but the development of East Bengal could proceed side by side. East Bengal is riverine. Canals have been dug here but we have got natural