OPINION | Looting of East Bengal: Pakistan’s Unchecked Exploitation

by Shashwat Gupta Ray

East Bengal, later East Pakistan, and now the sovereign state of Bangladesh, was once the economic powerhouse of the region. With its lush green delta, vast rivers, and fertile fields, it was the breadbasket of South Asia. The land produced rice, tea, and, above all, jute, the famed “golden fiber” that dominated global trade.

Following the partition of 1947, East Bengal contributed nearly 55% of Pakistan’s export earnings. The expectation was that this prosperity would bring development and progress to both wings of the new state. Instead, East Bengal was reduced to a colony in all but name. The wealth it generated was expropriated to fuel West Pakistan’s industrial ambitions, while Dhaka and its surrounding towns languished in underdevelopment.

What emerged was a grotesque imbalance. East Bengal’s riches fed West Pakistan’s prosperity, but its own people remained impoverished, marginalized, and systematically betrayed.

The Economic Loot: Golden Fiber, Stolen Future

The epicenter of exploitation was jute, the empire-building crop synonymous with East Bengal. Jute accounted for the majority of foreign exchange earnings and kept Pakistan’s treasury solvent. Yet the wealth never returned to the east. By 1960, East Bengal generated over 70% of Pakistan’s foreign currency through jute exports, but shockingly, less than 5% of Pakistan’s industrial investment found its way to the eastern wing.

The structural imbalance was staggering. Out of 106 jute mills that existed in Bengal before partition, only three were established in East Bengal after independence, while West Pakistan’s cities like Karachi and Lahore became hubs of industrial expansion using Bengal’s capital. Similarly, out of 300 major industrial installations inherited at partition, just 34 were located in East Pakistan.

This deliberate poverty was not accidental; it was policy. Roads, ports, and factories in East Bengal were neglected to ensure that the region remained under West Pakistan’s economic thumb. The message was clear: East Bengal would supply raw materials, while the West would reap the profits.

Political Shackles and Cultural Chains

This economic drain was coupled with political repression. Despite accounting for the majority of Pakistan’s population, East Bengal was denied proportional power. Parliamentary representation was diluted, and its elected members were sidelined. Successive central governments, dominated by West Pakistani military and bureaucratic elites, routinely disregarded East Bengal’s interests.

Cultural domination reinforced this inequality. The 1948 decision to impose Urdu as the sole national language was not a clerical choice but an ideological weapon. For Bengalis, whose language was the mother tongue of nearly 56% of Pakistanis, this was an attempt to erase their identity.

The brutal police firing on university students and activists during the Language Movement of 1952 revealed the contempt in which the state held Bengali culture. Lives were lost for the right to speak one’s mother tongue, underscoring that Pakistan’s project was not just about siphoning wealth but erasing dignity.

The Six-Point Rebellion

By the 1960s, the simmering resentment in East Bengal erupted into defined political demands. In 1966, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the Six-Point Program, a political manifesto that directly challenged Pakistan’s exploitative design. The Six Points demanded East Bengal’s control over taxation, trade, and foreign earnings, along with increased autonomy in monetary and fiscal matters.

For East Bengalis, the Six-Point Program was not a theory but survival. Their reality was emblematic of exploitation: their resources built West Pakistan’s factories, funded its infrastructure, and paid for its military expansion, while Dhaka remained starved of electricity, industries, and modern roads.

To them, the Six Points became a new constitution of hope, a clarion call for autonomy that foreshadowed independence.

The Great Betrayal of 1970

The 1970 election marked a turning point. The Awami League swept 167 of 169 East Pakistan seats, earning a clear national majority in Pakistan’s 300-seat National Assembly. For the first time, electoral math gave East Bengal the mandate to govern the entire state. Yet instead of honoring the democratic process, General Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto conspired to block the transfer of power.

This betrayal tore away the last illusions of partnership. The denial of democratic rights revealed Pakistan’s underlying intent: East Bengal was never seen as an equal but as a subordinate colony. This outrage sparked massive protests across East Bengal, pushing the nation toward revolt.

Operation Searchlight: A Colonial Massacre

On March 25, 1971, the Pakistani army launched Operation Searchlight under the cover of darkness. What followed was not a counterinsurgency; it was a campaign of annihilation. Dhaka University was shelled, students were butchered, and villages were set ablaze.

Mass killings, systematic rapes, and looting defined the campaign. Beyond the bloodshed lay an economic motive: to seize resources and terrorize the population into submission. Banks were emptied, industries dismantled, and food stocks confiscated. Trains ferried looted goods westward even as famine loomed in the east.

Billions of dollars of East Bengal’s capital and reserves were stolen during 1971, reinforcing the grotesque colonial logic that West Pakistan would rather destroy East Bengal than lose control over its wealth.

Liberation Through Fire and Blood

But if the intention was to break Bengal’s spirit, the result was the opposite. On March 26, 1971, East Bengal rose to declare independence, and nine months of brutal Liberation War followed. Guerrilla fighters battled across rivers and fields while millions of refugees fled to India. Despite unimaginable suffering, the spirit of freedom remained unbroken.

Finally, on December 16, 1971, the Pakistani military surrendered in Dhaka. A new nation, Bangladesh, emerged, carving independence from the ashes of exploitation and massacre.

This was more than a geopolitical divorce; it was a rebellion of the looted against their plunderers, a declaration that resources, culture, and people’s dignity could no longer be stolen in the guise of unity.

Exploitation Breeds Liberation

East Bengal’s story is a warning etched in history: a state that feeds on its own people ultimately consumes itself. West Pakistan treated East Bengal not as a partner but as a colony, bled for profit, silenced by force, and despised for its culture.

The arrogance of domination destroyed Pakistan’s unity and gave birth to Bangladesh. Independence was not merely about reclaiming territory; it was about reclaiming dignity, wealth, and the right to live free from exploitation.

Pakistan’s legacy in East Bengal remains one of betrayal and plunder. It stands condemned in history as a predator that devoured its own foundations. Bangladesh’s liberation remains one of the 20th century’s clearest verdicts against colonial greed and arrogance, a permanent reminder that no people will forever live as slaves in their own homeland.

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About Author

Shashwat Gupta Ray is a multiple award-winning defense and strategic affairs journalist with over 20 years of experience in print and digital media. Previously Deputy Editor at Herald Group of Publications and Resident Editor at Gomantak Times, he has extensively covered major events, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and Maoist insurgencies. He is also the creator of the award-winning YouTube channel Uncovering India, which focuses on impactful social and developmental documentaries.