DECEMBER 16, 1971. A sad day in the history of Pakistan, when this country was divided into two.

I still remember listening to Radio Pakistan which, in its hourly news bulletin, was telling its listeners that the Indian forces were far away from Dhaka. Alas, that was not the case. Tuning in to BBC, we were told that a surrender ceremony had been arranged and the Pakistan forces were to lay down their arms. Forty-three years have passed since those painful events.

At the time of independence, Bangladesh was ridiculed as a basket case by the world. A majority of the population lived below the poverty line, its ever growing population was impeding progress and corruption was taking its toll.

Forty three years down the line, Bangladesh has outperformed Pakistan on all fronts. They have been able to control their population, raised the standard of living and the value of Bangladeshi taka is more than a Pakistani rupee.

One does not find many Bangladeshis involved in global terrorism. Many Pakistani businessmen have shifted their operations there to set up industries and to earn profit. Electricity is cheaper in Bangladesh than in Pakistan, and above all, is widely available.

It is a shame that in the last two decades where the world has been progressing in leaps and bounds, our unfortunate nation has become involved in corruption, terrorism, both at the national and international level.

It is time all Pakistanis understood that unless we unite as a nation, our future is not going to be bright.

Jaffar Naqvi

Lahore

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DECEMBER 16 is undoubtedly a dark day in the history of Pakistan. The power struggle that was unleashed after the death of the Quaid-e-Azam culminated in the division of Pakistan and resulted in the dismemberment of the country.

I do not want to sermonize on the reasons for this sad ending to the dream of the Quaid’s Pakistan. However, I would like to make a few comments.

The imposition of martial law in 1958 put a stop to the political process and very adroitly put the blame on the political classes for failure to govern since 1947. The martial law caused power to be concentrated in West Pakistan during the 60s. During this period an ideology was perpetuated to maintain the hegemony of the western part of the country. This brought a sense of deprivation among the people of East Pakistan which continued to grow and widen.

The 1970 elections further widened the gulf and made it unbridgeable. The rest is history. Pakistan lost its territorial integrity and the country was sacrificed to save an ideology that was meant to keep a certain class of people in power.

The lesson from the tragedy is that countries can only sustain, progress and prosper if justice is done as the mere rhetoric of ideologies will not suffice to keep nations united.

Malik Atif Mahmood Majoka

Melbourne, Australia

Published in Dawn December 16th , 2014