Six Point Program
By
Marzan Bintey Kamal
Introduction:
Against the Backdrop of the comprehensive political,
military, economic and cultural disparities towards East
Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the then
grass-root political party, Awami League launched his
historic six point program.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman strongly feel about the need for
autonomy. The six point program was formulated to
bridge the wide gap between the two wings of Pakistan.
The six point program was put forward in Lahore, the
very city where Sher-E-Bangla had moved the historic
Lahore Resolution in 1940. This program was virtually
“Bengali’s right to live”, which Sheikh Mujib called “our
demand for survival”.
Background:
In the wake of Indo-Pak war of 1965 over Kashmir issue the West
Pakistani leaders did not want to miss the opportunity to turn political
dissatisfaction with Tashkent agreement into a major political issue. So
they called for an All Pakistan National Conference on 5 th February,
1966. Sheikh Mujib did not want to attend the conference as he knew as
to an open discussion would not be welcomed to that conference. Later
on he made up his mind to participate in the conference. He issued the
six point program on 12th February, 1966. The program initially
consisted of 7 points. Later on, it was reduced to 6 points. Tajuddin
Ahmed helped him edit the points. The main exponents of Six Point
Formula were Tajuddin Ahmed, Mujibur Rehman, and Nurul Islam.
As usual it was not accepted in the conference. Sheikh Mujib was
identified as a separatist. After being rejected Sheikh Mujib placed
these points in front of the working committee of Awami League on 21 st
February, 1966. Immediately it was ratified by the working committee.
On 7th June 1966 the people of East Pakistan protested on the streets to
establish six-point program throughout the country. That’s why 7 th June
is regarded as six-point day.
Rehman Sobhan
Tajuddin Ahmed
Nurul Amin
Reasons:
• Bengali people always objected the 1946 amendment of Lahore
Resolution which changed the political concept of Pakistan from
‘Independent States’ to a ‘Single State’.
• In 1948, Bengalis political and cultural rights were snatched by
declaring Urdu as the state language of Pakistan. Later on, the
language movement reached its climax in 1952.
• The first constitution of Pakistan was abrogated by Ayub Khan.
• Military rule was imposed in 1958 in order to deny the political
rights of Bengali people.
• All political parties in Pakistan were banned by Ayub Khan.
• The voting right of people was snatched in the name of basic
democracy.
• There were only 22 Bengali ministers in the cabinet of Pakistan.
• All the chief secretaries of East Pakistan (1947-71) were non-
Bengalis. Even the major secretaries of East Pakistan were non-
Bengalis.
• Basic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cement factories were
constructed in West Pakistan.
Points:
• The character of the constitution shall be federal. The form of the
government shall be parliamentary. All elections would be held on
the basis of Universal Adult Franchise and direct voting.
• The federal government will deal with only foreign affairs and
defense. Other powers will rest with the provinces.
• There will be two separate freely convertible currencies or a single
currency with the provision of two state banks in the two wings
of Pakistan under a federal reserve bank.
• The provincial government shall have the authority to levy all
taxes and collect them. The federal government would receive its
share from the federal units to meet the financial obligation.
• There will be separate accounts for the foreign exchange of the
two wings. The requirements of the center will be met by the two
wings on the basis of equal rate.
• The federal states shall have the authority to form regional armed
forces, militia or para-militia forces to protect the territories.
Discriminatory policies of West Pakistan
towards East Pakistan:
There was parity system in Pakistan. But to function democracy
properly Sheikh Mujib opted for one man one vote policy based
on the universal adult franchise as the man power was the main
strength of the East Pakisan.
The power was centralized in West Pakistan. The west Pakistani
central government would control everything, be it foreign policy
or defense or fiscal matter. Sheikh Mujib wanted to ensure the
power of the provincial government through his six point
program.
The central would collect the taxes and look after the financial
matter of the provinces. Sheikh Mujib wanted to limit the control
of center in this regard. So he wanted to establish two state banks.
He maintained that the particular provincial government would
collect the taxes for the province.
West Pakistan was given a priority in terms of foreign aid. USA would
send 66% foreign aid to East Pakistan and 34% to West Pakistan. But,
West Pakistan used to consume 66% aid which offered injustice to
East Pakistan. On the other hand West Pakistan used to export jute
from East Pakistan to the world and earn a lot of foreign currencies.
But, the West expanded their cotton industries with that money as
cotton was the cash crop of West Pakistan. That’s why Sheikh Mujib
demanded for having two separate accounts for foreign exchanges in
the respective wings.
During the second Indo-pak war East Pakistan was cut off of West
Pakistan for 17 days. The borders of East Pakistan remained
unprotected as the forces had to join the war. Thinking of East
Pakistan’s safety Sheikh Mujib demanded for having own forces.
Sheikh Mujib’s most important demand was autonomy. He maintained
‘either give us independence or autonomy. This is considered as
Sheikh Mujib’s one point demand.
Impacts of the Six Point Program:
• The Six point program gained widespread support
amongst the Bengalis of East Paksitan.
• It was greatly welcomed by the Bengalis as their
Charter of Emancipation.
• It reflected the hopes and aspirations of an exploited
people.
• The seeds of independence were sown in this
program.
• It was very successful in tapping into Bengali
nationalistic feelings and attitude.
• The Magna Carta embodies the Bill of Rights in the
British Democracy, so does the six point program in
case of the emergence of Bangladesh.
Reasons for the popularity of Six Point
Program:
• Six point program threatened the economic and political
monopoly of West Pakistan.
• The export earnings of East Pakistan would no longer be
manipulated for the industrialization of West Pakistan.
• Foreign assistance would no longer be monopolized for West
Pakistan only.
• East Pakistan would no longer remain a captive market for West
Pakistani products.
• East Pakistan would no longer be exploited for maintaining a
vast war machine for West Pakistan.
• The economic priorities would no longer be determined for the
advantage of West Pakistan.
• It would end the dominance of West Pakistani bureaucrats.
• It became more popular following the Agartala Conspiracy.
