Why west wants east
The rich resources of Bangladesh are both the cause of its misfortunes and inherent strength. It was its rich resources in jute , tea, etc, that had attracted West Pakistani rulers to exploit these for their own benefit and reduce East Bengal to a status of 19th century colony. And yet these represent a strong weapon on the hands of the people of Bangladesh who by denying the use of these resources to the vested interest from West Pakistan can cripple latter’s economy and after achieving their goal use them effectively to build up a prosperous future.
Till last year jute and other exports from East Bengal had provided Pakistan with the majority of its foreign exchange earnings from trade. These, along with foreign aid received, were largely used for the development of West Pakistan.
Again, East Pakistan not only became a dumping ground of a third of manufactures of industries in West Pakistan, it also became a lucrative avenue for investors from the latter in the industrial field , who acquired majority of the industrial establishments. And what is more the profits from these sources were channelled to projects in West Pakistan rather than being re-invested in Bangladesh. Naturally, this proved a heavy drain on its finances and impoverished its economy. For instance, in 1970 as much as Rs. 900m is reported to have been transferred from the east to the west. No wonder the struggle of Bangladesh had called for either two separate currencies for the two wings or one common currency, with constitutional safeguards against the flight of capital from East to West Pakistan.
The chart deals with major industrial units in Bangladesh. It indicates the country’s economic landscape.
As will be seen from the chart jute industry occupies a preeminent position. The number of jute mills was 29 in 1866-67 with an output of 4 lakh tons of jute goods. In the same year there were 22 textile mills manufacturing over 70 million yards of fabrics and nearly 75 million pounds of yarn. 18 match factories, 28 aluminum works, a fertilizer factory, a cement factory, 7 glassworks, newsprint factories, a steel plant and dockyards in Chittagong and Khulna.
Reference: Hindustan Standard 19.7.1971