Aftermath of the Elections 1970: From Disparity to Dissection

The Election of 1970 results truthfully imitated the clumsy political certainty: the existing cleavage of the Pakistani voters along ethnic and regional lines and political schism of the state between East and West Pakistan. It provided a new political design with three assorted power centers: i) the Awami League under Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman in East Pakistan; ii) the Pakistan People’s Party of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Sindh and the Punjab; and iii) the National Awami Party (Wali Group) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (under Mufti Mahmud) in Balochistan and the North-West Frontier Province. However, at the top of these main stakeholders was the fourth and major center of preeminence, Pakistan army with their orator, General Yahya Khan. Therefore, the first ever elections in the political history of the country, Pakistan as a nation emerged divided. This split, mainly caused by economic disparity, between the two the wings ultimately resulted in the separation of East Pakistan and emergence of as an independent and sovereign state of Bangladesh.