If provinces had been given autonomy, then East Pakistan would not have been split to become an independent Bangladesh, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said.
“The reason (for) separation of East Pakistan 40 years ago was that autonomy was not given to the provinces,” the Associated Press of Pakistan quoted the Prime Minister as saying. Gilani made the remark while replying to questions in a monthly programme “PM Online” broadcast live on Pakistan Television and Aaj TV.
Alleging discrimination by the larger West Pakistan, the country’s Eastern wing waged a separatist campaign that led to the India-Pakistan war of 1971 and to the creation of Bangladesh as a free country.