Does Pakistan have irredentists who want what is now Bangladesh back ‘United Pakistan’ rule

Does Pakistan have irredentists who want what is now Bangladesh back under Pakistan’s rule?Ahmad Abubakr (احمد ابوبکر), lives in PakistanAnswered Jan 20

Not that I know of. In fact, the general opinion in most of the younger generation that I have talked to on this matter seems to be quite the opposite.

Let us begin by looking at a map of South Asia.

South Asia

Note on the map the location of the two nations. Pakistan is at the western extreme of South Asia, while Bangladesh is at the eastern extreme. So we have two nations separated by about a thousand kilometers. Not to mention the fact that the nation separating the two, India, will fight against any form of unity between the two. Such ideas of unification are very unrealistic and almost everyone realizes that.

In fact as I said at the start, many believe that it was an unrealistic idea to begin with. Not the idea of the Two Nation Theory or the Separation of the Subcontinent, but rather the formation of a nation consisting of two units separated by such a large distance and a hostile nation in between. Looking at it from such a perspective, the breakaway of Bangladesh was inevitable.

Forming such a union would fail once more and cause more violence and problems. No one wants that.

In my opinion, the mistake made at the very start was the system of governance. There were several other paths that would have worked better.

• Two independent nations should have been formed. Pakistan to the west and Bangladesh to the East. With both nations working closely together. Both nations would work towards the same ideals. Just in their own respective manner.
• The formation of the confederation of Pakistan. Here we have Bangladesh running itself with largely it’s own government, language and such. Bangladesh would pretty much be it’s own nation in almost every manner. Except for a central government with minimal power providing a general guideline and both units would have a common military.
• The formation of the federation of Pakistan. Here we have a Pakistan where each of the provinces, including Bangladesh, have a great amount of autonomy. However less so than the confederation idea. Pakistan would have a single central government and military. But the individual provinces would have far greater power. So Pakistan would consist of the Republic of Bangladesh, Republic of Punjab, Republic of Sindh, etc.

So that pretty much sums it up. Most of us do not want Bangladesh back under Pakistan’s rule. Let the past be the past. It is time to work towards a better future. We wish Bangladesh the best of luck and improved relations in the future