East Pakistan: Secession on the basis of the Consent of the Majority and Cultural Aspect of Language

Secession is described as the act of separating from a body. Popularly, the term is associated with groups that form independent bodies after seceding from larger bodies. These larger bodies might be a territory within a country or a whole country. It is vital to point out that the group who is initiating the secession might or might not be successful in the process due to the action being a disincentive to the larger body. Therefore, the larger body can actively become a deterrent to the act of secession.

One of the principal reasons for secession can be attributed to the intent of the people. Given the consent provided by the group who is initiating the secession, it becomes a difficult situation for the larger body to dissuade the separation. Thus, the percentage of the population that consents to the secession is a crucial indicator of whether the secession is likely to be successful or not.

Secession has also been reasoned on the grounds of protecting cultural aspects from impertinence by the larger body. In relation to language, this has been a predominant characteristic in the example of East and West Pakistan. East Pakistan (today Bangladesh) was linguistically disparate from West Pakistan; East Pakistan had a Bengali-speaking majority while West Pakistan’s state language was Urdu.

The Independence War of Bangladesh — the war that seceded East Pakistan from West Pakistan — in 1971 was primarily cited to have been initiated because of Urdu being declared as the only state language of Pakistan (Khan, 2015). The tensions concerning the status of the state language between East and West Pakistan consequently led to the secession. However, it must be noted that East Pakistan succeeded to secede from West Pakistan, becoming the independent nation of Bangladesh, on premises other than the cultural aspect of language. Disagreements on economic issues (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2017) also acted as an important catalyst for the secession.

As shown by the formation of Bangladesh in 1971, the consent of the majority, coupled together with important cultural aspects such as language, can be a strong indicator of a triumphant secession. Though justifications for secession might include other factors, notably the role disparate economic affairs played into the war, the combined force of the peoples’ consent and the language component is likely to at least intensify the idea of secession within the populace.

Reference:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2017) Historical Background. 18 September [Online]. Available at: https://mofa.gov.bd/site/page/27839bef-6d06-4e43-a6d8-b4be6a09c201/Historical-Background# [Accessed 9 July 2022]

Khan, M Ilyas (2015) Uncommon tongue: Pakistan’s confusing move to Urdu. BBC News. 12 September [Online]. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34215293 [Accessed 11 July 2022]

Raisa Anan Mustakin is a student from the University of Nottingham Malaysia. She has recently completed a foundation year in Arts and Education. Currently, she is looking forward to a bachelor’s degree in International Relations. She is a passionate advocate for Human rights, especially Children’s rights.