defence of whole of Pakistan. Sir, the Central coterie, the ruling coterie, has never understood the strategic position of East Bengal and once our Commander-in-Chief had told that East Bengal is indefensible. If it is indefensible. Sir, why bother about it at all leave it where it is. Do not bother about it at all. Throw it away if you do not want to have it. Do not say that it is indefensible and on that plea you will not spend a farthing for East Bengal...................
Now, I come to the financial aspect of the Constitution. 172 crores were raised from revenue in East Bengal and out of this 45 crores were spent in East Bengal during the last 8 years. The economic policy of any country in the world is to spend the entire amount in the same area from where the revenue has been raised.
Honorable Deputy Speaker: What provision of the Constitution are you referring?
Mr. Ataur Rahman Khan: I am referring to the clause relating to Finance Commission. It is Section 114 of this Draft Constitution Bill. Mr. Hamidul Huq Choudhury on behalf of the Government has told us that all the remedies have been provided for and all the amendments have been made up in such novel innovations that they have been able to set up a National Finance Commission and that is a remedy for all our difficulties and no more injustice will be done to East Bengal after that. In reply to that I say how the remedy cannot be measured by this National Finance Commission. I will presently show how this is another hoax. But he has said it as 'novel'. I say it is a drama and I will show how it is a hoax. I told you earlier that this refined policy has made out confusion and it must have been their plan. Good intention is as easily discovered at the first view as a fraud is detected, at the last. This is how it has been detected and that it is a fraud on the people and a fraud on the intelligence' of the people. It will be shown by me just now. Let me tell you about the financial position of East Bengal. I have already told you that out of 172 crores, only 45 crores have been spent in East Bengal and 124 crores have been taken away from East Bengal and the money went to the Central coffer and there has been practically a double-edged drain. If this amount of 124 crores would have been spent in East Bengal, that would have brought further income to the country but instead of doing it, they made that Province drier and this part prosperous. So the disparity was going to be more and more, because the money spent from there never came back to its source. It is just like the heart and the body, Sir. Heart transmits the blood to the body and after going through the body, the blood returns back to the heart. Unless it comes back, the heart becomes dry. So here also it is exactly the same position. Unless that income comes back, further incomes will dry up. Therefore, Sir, if this course of action that was taken by the Central coterie here continues for another 8 years, Bengal will become totally bankrupt and it will face complete financial annihilation. That is what should have been stopped. But it has not been stopped and the proposition, therefore, has been accepted that so far as finance is concerned, Bengal has suffered a lot. In connection with this finance, Sir, I may tell you about the State Bank. Now State Bank in the country controls the foreign exchange. Finance is collected by commerce and industry and in the matter of commerce you will find that goods that were exported from East Bengal and imports that were brought did not have any ratio of balance. Sir, the greater the export of the country, the greater chance there is of goods going away unless it is balanced by import. It has not been so, so far as East Bengal is concerned. The total trade balance for
