THE NOTORIOUS “22 FAMILIES”
The economic drain on East Pakistan has ensured that the wealth of the country is in the West. The Government policy, dictated from the West, pushed more and more perquisites into the hands of the notorious “22 families“, of whom the London Economist wrote, “They have grown often with little enough to start with, after fleeing from India, through cotton and jute into rayon, chemical, paper fertilizers…” The Government helped them, particularly under Ayub whose son Gohar was financially involved of with some of them through a differential tax in favor of paying dividends. a rebate on personal income-tax for investments, and a sixyear tax holiday.
The reason brought forward for this by the Finance Minister was that it promoted capital formation, and filled the lacuna left by the migration of Hindu and Sikh industrialists from West Pakistan. But basically the interests of the 22 families are those of the Army: so long as the people are kept under, there is profit to be made.
(Extract from the Tempest Within by Dom Moraes).
Reference: Hindustan Standard 11.7.1971