Forty-four years have passed since Bangladesh became independent, but Pakistan has not yet paid Bangladesh its shares of money from different heads – donations and reserve, for example – which it should have paid right after the war.
According to a government estimate, Pakistan owes Bangladesh Tk18,000 crore in various heads.
The pre-1971 West Pakistan government used to deprive the then East Pakistan financially by allocating smaller amounts in budget than what was actually needed. Every other province used to get allocation in accordance with their areas and population, but the Pakistan government never followed that rule for East Pakistan.
In 1970, the West Pakistani rulers misappropriated a massive $200m fund that came as donation in the form of relief materials and cash from different countries after one of the deadliest ever cyclonic storms hit East Pakistan in November of that year.
That storm, similar in intensity to a category 3 hurricane, took more than 500,000 lives in the coastal areas of Bangladesh.
After independence, the Pakistan government said it could not send the money because the war broke out.
But that claim could not be true. The cyclone hit in November 1970 and the Liberation War of Bangladesh began on March 26, 1971 which means that the West Pakistani rulers got nearly four months to disburse the money.
But, not a dime was spent, neither were any relief materials distributed. The money was initially kept at the Dhaka branch of the State Bank of Pakistan and was later transferred to the bank’s Lahore branch during the war.
After independence, the Bangladesh government placed three specific demands to the Pakistan government, several times.
The demands were: unconditional apology for committing genocide during the war; repatriating the Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh; and payment of the money that actually belonged to Bangladesh.
But the Pakistan government never met any of those demands.
When the war began, undivided Pakistan had a foreign exchange reserve of $4.32bn, a share of which was Bangladesh’s legal right. Bangladesh has been seeking bilateral talks with Pakistan for many years but there has been no response from the other end.
Foreign Affairs Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has recently said in parliament that Bangladesh has been pressuring the Pakistan government for many years. The financial issues have been raised in all bilateral talks since 1977 but without any response.
According to government estimates, the Tk18,000 crore that Pakistan owes Bangladesh includes $2.16bn – half of the wartime reserve of undivided Pakistan – and $200m as the cyclone relief.
Former law minister Shafique Ahmed believes that making Pakistan pay the money is still very much possible. “But that has to be done through mutual understanding. Legal battles take time and there is no certainty of success.”
He also said that since Bangladesh-Pakistan relations have been cold in recent times, it would require non-stop efforts from this side.
However, senior Supreme Court lawyer ZI Khan Panna thinks that convincing Pakistan to pay the money back will be a very tough ask.
“Pakistan has never been a friend of Bangladesh, so no talks will work out. Moreover, the United Nations is not known to have ever played any roles in such cases.”
Law Minister Anisul Huq said that the government has been trying to settle the issues. “The government is very serious about the matter,” he said.
Source: Dhaka Tribune