Introduction: The 6 point movement was a Bengali
nationalist movement in East Pakistan, which eventually led
to the liberation of Bangladesh. The movement's main
agenda was to realize the six demands put forward by a
coalition of Bengal nationalist political parties in 1966, to
end the perceived exploitation of East Pakistan by the West
Pakistani rules.
The 6 Points
The six points are noted as being:
[Link] constitution should provide for a
Federation of Pakistan in its true sense based
on the Lahore Resolution and the
parliamentary form of government with
supremacy of a Legislature directly elected on
the basis of universal adult franchise.
2. The federal government should deal with only
two subjects: Defense and Foreign Affairs, and all
other residual subjects should be vested in the
federating states.
[Link] separate, but freely convertible currencies
for two wings should be introduced; or if this is
not feasible, there should be one currency for the
whole country, but effective constitutional
provisions should be introduced to stop the flight
of capital from East to West Pakistan.
Furthermore, a separate Banking Reserve should
be established and separate fiscal and monetary
policy be adopted for East Pakistan.
4. The power of taxation and revenue collection should be
vested in the federating units and the federal center would
have no such power. The federation would be entitled to a
share in the state taxes to meet its expenditures.
5. There should be two separate accounts for the foreign
exchange earnings of the two wings; the foreign exchange
requirements of the federal government should be met by
the two wings equally or in a ratio to be fixed; indigenous
products should move free of duty between the two wings,
and the constitution should empower the units to establish
trade links with foreign countries.
6. East Pakistan should have a separate militia or
paramilitary force.
