Then again, Sir, there is no provision whatsoever for any textile mills in Eastern Pakistan. Probably the Finance Minister sitting over here, 1,500 miles away, did not gather information regarding the shortage of cloth from which the poor people of East Bengal suffer. Whatever, my friend, Khwaja Nazimuddin, may say and give his good wishes and dood for the masses and whatever Mr. Hamidul Huq Chowdhury, the Finance Minister of East Bengal, may say for his failure or for the matter of that he may throw the blame on somebody else in supplying their quota of cloth to the villagers. people really go naked. Now, Sir, if the difficulties were there before the advent of Pakistan, if the difficulties are now increased the common people, who have got no education, and for whom there is no provision for education in the Budget, would blame Pakistan all the more if they go naked, if they have got no cloth to cover their shame and even to bury their dead. These are instances in Eastern Pakistan where dead bodies have had to be buried without cloth...
So, Sir, I think this part of the Honorable the Finance Minister's Budget is also disappointing because there is no provision for giving us additional quota of cloth by having some sort of textile mills in Eastern Pakistan.
I am glad, Sir, that the Honorable the Finance Minister has put taxes on Cigars and Cigarettes, Motor cars and Wireless sets, but, Sir, I think that he could alleniate the difficulties and sufferings of the poor masses if he had also taxed cycles and bicycles. In Bengal, Sir, we have cycles and also rickshaws, but at the same time, Sir, I would request the, Honorable the Finance Minister, if he has this in his mind to tax cycles also-not to make it a Central Subject. At least my friends from East Bengal have lost their sales-tax..
The Honourable Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan: No, Sir, you have not lost it. You are getting everything back.
Mr. Azizuddin Ahmed: But the compensation, Sir, would be so inadequate that it is as good as robbing Peter for paying Paul! So, Sir, if the sales-tax goes, if the income- tax goes, which was already out of the Province, and if the agricultural income-tax also goes what is to be done to improve the lot of these poor people and probably the Provincial Governments will have no more item to tax...
Mr. Ghyasuddin Pathan (East Bengal: Muslim):... Sir, while offering my sincere congratulations to the Honorable the Finance Minister for his honest efforts in strengthening and re-organizing the defence side, I should like to draw his attention to certain facts: There is no doubt that Pakistan needs complete re-organisation and strengthening of its defence in the context of new circumstances. It is needless to mention that of the two parts of the State, Eastern unit of Pakistan is surrounded by foreign countries on all sides. This is a plain country with not many natural barriers except at the time of rainy seasons when water serves the purpose of obstacles in the way of invasion. We have got the largest population both in number and in density. I will be borne out by pre-British History in India that Bengalis were a martial race and did win laurels in many battle fields. It was due to a mischievous policy of the British rulers that the raising of army from amongst the Bengalis was stopped. It must be admitted that in the freedom
