বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (প্রথম খণ্ড)/২২
| শিরোনাম | সূত্র | তারিখ |
| প্রথম জাতীয় বাজেট আলোচনাকালে পূর্ব বাংলার দাবীদাওয়ার প্রশ্নে বিতর্ক | পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদ (আইন সভা) | ১লা মার্চ, ১৯৪৮ |
THE GENERAL BUDGET-GENERAL DISCUSSION
Constituent Assembly (Legislature)
[1st March, 1948]
Constituent Assembly (Legislature) of Pakistan Debates
VOL. 1 of 1948
Prof. Rajkumar Chakraverty (East Bengal: General):..... Sir, I congratulate the Honorable the Finance Member on his admirable speech with which he presented the Budget before this House. It was full of high sentiments and noble emotions for Pakistan which we all fully share. We have his assurance that not a single Pie would be spent so long as, according to the Finance Minister, it is an avoidable item of expenditure. We also learn that his maxim for the Finance Department is that inescapability must be the criterion of all future expenditure.
Sir, we fully share his difficulties also in presenting the first Budget of the Pakistan Government, as he has said that he has begun almost from scratch and he has to build up the future, worthy of Pakistan. But, Sir I cannot congratulate him on the contents of the Budget and the way in which he has presented the Budget before this House. The Budget lacks a sense of realism. I wish to add that in spite of his best intentions, he has not been able fully to avoid the old, outmoded way of presenting the Budget. The Budget should have been really a deficit Budget, but he has shown it to be a surplus one, and that too at the cost of poor men and the common men. Sir, the test of a Budget is not whether it is a deficit Budget or a surplus one. The test of the Budget lies in the fact whether it leads to the greatest good of the greatest member of people whether it has anything for the Common man and considered in that light the Budget has not came out as a successful one. Sir, the Honorable the Finance Member has continued the tax on the poor man's salt, which is a very essential commodity of the common man. He has increased the excise duty on hookah tobacco, which is the solace of the life of poor people. He has increased the rates of excise duty on betel nut which is another joy in the life of the Common man. He has increased the rates of the inland postcards which are very necessary in the life of the common man every day. He has increased the duty on kerosene, knowing very well that 99 per cent of the people of this land cannot do without kerosene and they have not got their houses electrically lit. He has increased the third class railway fares knowing very well that their journey is anything but comfortable while traveling in the third class. He has not only given no relief to the poor man and the common man, but he has hit them hard and he has kicked them too. The poor people will groan during the year to come under the measures of taxation he has proposed in the Budget. Sir, the Budget, he has presented follows the old bureaucratic method. He has merely cut the t's and dotted the is. He has given up nothing new worth the name in any sphere of life, whether in the matter of education or medical relief or industry, but he has given us more promises and promises in abundance, but without any fulfillment. He has said that he has set up a development Board, but the Board has not developed anything. He has said that he has set up an Advisory Planning Board, but the Board has planned nothing as yet. He has proposed to set up an Industrial Finance Corporation, but it is yet to mature. He has stated that he is going to set up an Industrial Research Institute, but it is yet under consideration, and the Budget, therefore, Sir, is a Budget of speculation and of little actual performance. Six months have elapsed since the establishment of the free State of Pakistan and I regret to have to say that nothing has been done tangible in the way of Planning and time is essence of any Planning. He has pointed out, and we all know, that over 70 per cent of the produce of jute in this Sub-continent is from Pakistan and there no jute mills worth the name in Pakistan. While he has done nothing, he has not even taken any tangible steps to set up any jute mill to cope with the production of jute in Eastern Pakistan. He has told us, and you all know there are few cotton mills in Pakistan and the production of staple cotton there is a very large in quantity. I wish he did something to establish cotton mills or increase the number of cotton mills in Pakistan so that our resources might be better realized. These are, Sir, my first reactions to the Budget.
The next thing to which I take objection to in the Budget is the encroachment on the rights of the Provincial Governments. He has proposed to take over in proceeds of the Estate duty from the Provinces. Sir, this raises very important issues, and on behalf of the Provincial Governments I think it is my duty to protest in this House against this encroachment by the Centre on the provincial sphere. Sir, we are going to have a Federation of the Autonomous States of Pakistan and these taxation proposals of the Honorable the Finance Minister strike at the very root of the autonomy of the federating units which we cannot look at with any sense of pleasure or equanimity. I must, therefore, sound a note of warning to the Central Government, that if they continue encroaching like this, the Provincial Government will took at these measures as a starting kick of the Honorable the Finance Minister and I hope he will consider the matter...
Mr. Abul Matin Choudhury (East Bengal: Muslim):.... I congratulate, Sir, the Honourable the Defence Minister on the steps that he had already taken for the nationalization of the Pakistan Army, but I suggest to him. Sir, it in making recruit for the officers' rank in the Army, Navy and the Air Force of Pakistan, he should see to it. Sir, that the Eastern Pakistan makes the necessary contribution. Defence, Sir, is a responsibility common to all the citizens of the State and there is no dearth of suitable candidates from among the millions of people in the Eastern Pakistan for officer's rank in the Army. When I speak of Eastern Pakistan, Sir, I do not speak in a spirit of provincialism. I hold the view, Sir, that interests of the State of Pakistan transcend every other consideration-sectional, parochial or provincial-and that we must suppress all disruptive in every sphere of life. if Pakistan is to survive as a compact and homogeneous State, but, Sir, that should not preclude as from ventilating the grievances of the part of the country with which we are familiar and about the conditions of which we have special knowledge. Eastern Pakistan, Sir, is fortunate in having a large body of sea-faring population inhabiting the districts of Sylhet, Chittagong, Noakhali, Comilla, Dacca, Mymensingh and Faridpur. For years these districts have been supplying crew for all Ocean-going steams for the port of Calcutta, the Port of Bombay and even for the port of Mombassa. I hope. Sir, full opportunity should be taken of utilizing the services of these men in training for our Navy. Concentration, Sir, of the training Establishments in Karachi in my view, is hindrance, a drawback to the full utilization of our available manpower for the Navy. I hope. Sir, that in locating training centers, the Defence Department will bear all these considerations in mind..
Mr. Azizuddin Ahmed (East Bengal: Muslim):... Sir, it is quite true that Pakistan as it is situated now requires a large defence force and a strong army, navy and also Air Force, and so the bulk of our revenue should go for Defence, but Sir, when I go into the Budget and find that nothing has been done for the isolated part of Pakistan, namely, the Eastern Bengal, which is surrounded on three sides by foreign Dominion and on the South by the Bay of Bengal. I feel really disappointed. Sir, it has been said that at one time Bengal was neglected and the other day our esteemed colleague, Begum Shaiesta Ikramullah, remarked that East Bengal is, if late, talked if patronizingly. It seems. Sir, that in the present scheme of things. East Bengal is really Very much neglected. Our friends over here who are in the compact area of Sind, N.W.F.P., Baluchistan and the Punjab do not give much time or thought, it seems, to the isolated position of East Bengal which is cut off from this part of Pakistan by at least 1,500 miles and surrounded on all sides by foreign, and even at times hostile, Dominion and the Bay of Bengal. Sir, I do not know what my friend, the Honourable the Defence Minister, may have to say - it may be a State Secret - for the defence of Eastern Pakistan, but. Sir, the people should be taken into confidence so that Eastern Pakistan may not be a sort of temptation to other people for aggression or for attack. So, Sir, this part of the Budget has been really very much disappointing to us, the people of Eastern Bengal.
Then, Sir, a lot of revenue of Pakistan certainly comes from the Jute Duty, but, Sir, in the present Budget we do not find any provision whatsoever for improving the port of Chittagong, so that this item of our duty might be increased. Jetties are there they require a lot of improvement but I feel, Sir, that the Honorable the Finance Minister altogether forgot Chittagong and its improvement for the purpose on exporting jute and to add additional revenue to our coffers.
Then, Sir, what is the provision we find in the Budget for improving the lot of the people who grow jute. The only luxury, Sir that they enjoy is hookah. They have got no Cinema, they have no theatre; no club life; the only luxury, Sir that these poor people enjoy is the hookah which also is being taxed...
Then, there is another luxury which the poor agriculturist enjoys and that is Pan. That, Sir, is also being heavily taxed, so that the poor man's lot is really unenviable. The poor men had already been faced with difficulties in getting kerosene and the heavy taxation which has been put on kerosene adds to them... Then again, Sir, there is no provision whatsoever for any textile mills in Eastern Pakistan. Probably the Finance Minister sitting over here, 1,500 miles away, did not gather information regarding the shortage of cloth from which the poor people of East Bengal suffer. Whatever, my friend, Khwaja Nazimuddin, may say and give his good wishes and dood for the masses and whatever Mr. Hamidul Huq Chowdhury, the Finance Minister of East Bengal, may say for his failure or for the matter of that he may throw the blame on somebody else in supplying their quota of cloth to the villagers. people really go naked. Now, Sir, if the difficulties were there before the advent of Pakistan, if the difficulties are now increased the common people, who have got no education, and for whom there is no provision for education in the Budget, would blame Pakistan all the more if they go naked, if they have got no cloth to cover their shame and even to bury their dead. These are instances in Eastern Pakistan where dead bodies have had to be buried without cloth...
So, Sir, I think this part of the Honorable the Finance Minister's Budget is also disappointing because there is no provision for giving us additional quota of cloth by having some sort of textile mills in Eastern Pakistan.
I am glad, Sir, that the Honorable the Finance Minister has put taxes on Cigars and Cigarettes, Motor cars and Wireless sets, but, Sir, I think that he could alleniate the difficulties and sufferings of the poor masses if he had also taxed cycles and bicycles. In Bengal, Sir, we have cycles and also rickshaws, but at the same time, Sir, I would request the, Honorable the Finance Minister, if he has this in his mind to tax cycles also-not to make it a Central Subject. At least my friends from East Bengal have lost their sales-tax..
The Honourable Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan: No, Sir, you have not lost it. You are getting everything back.
Mr. Azizuddin Ahmed: But the compensation, Sir, would be so inadequate that it is as good as robbing Peter for paying Paul! So, Sir, if the sales-tax goes, if the income- tax goes, which was already out of the Province, and if the agricultural income-tax also goes what is to be done to improve the lot of these poor people and probably the Provincial Governments will have no more item to tax...
Mr. Ghyasuddin Pathan (East Bengal: Muslim):... Sir, while offering my sincere congratulations to the Honorable the Finance Minister for his honest efforts in strengthening and re-organizing the defence side, I should like to draw his attention to certain facts: There is no doubt that Pakistan needs complete re-organisation and strengthening of its defence in the context of new circumstances. It is needless to mention that of the two parts of the State, Eastern unit of Pakistan is surrounded by foreign countries on all sides. This is a plain country with not many natural barriers except at the time of rainy seasons when water serves the purpose of obstacles in the way of invasion. We have got the largest population both in number and in density. I will be borne out by pre-British History in India that Bengalis were a martial race and did win laurels in many battle fields. It was due to a mischievous policy of the British rulers that the raising of army from amongst the Bengalis was stopped. It must be admitted that in the freedom movement Bengal was the first amongst other Indian provinces to plunge itself into the fight and this is one of the reasons for depriving the Bengalis from their right of participating in the Army. With the achievement of independence, the old outlook of our old masters has got to be changed. Besides, during the last war no difference was made between martial and non-martial races and the recruitment covered all the provinces of India including Bengal, which has contributed to the land and air forces. So far as Navy is concerned East Bengal is proud of having a sea-faring nation which has made name centuries ago. Indian Seamen which is mainly composed of East Bengal Seamen has entered every water on the globe, rough and smooth, and have got the appreciation and admiration of foreign admirals. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the Government to provide facilities immediately to the people of East Bengal for naval training and to develop Chittagong as a Naval Training Centre. As regards recruitment in the Air Force, East Bengal has been treated in a step motherly way. There are 6 or 7 recruiting centers in West Pakistan whereas there is only one in East Pakistan. This is not certainly giving equal facilities to all citizens of Pakistan. Again, no Training Centre has been opened in East Bengal and the Boys recruited there have got to travel at least two thousand miles to receive their first training. This is not encouraging. A training centre for Air Force must therefore be opened in East Bengal without further delay and though East Bengal is a part and parcel of the Pakistan State it must be developed into a self-sufficient unit on account of the great distance between East Pakistan and West Pakistan. In all matters of development and defense, East Bengal cannot be treated as a unit of the Pakistan State in its ordinary sense, applicable to West Punjab, Sind, Frontier and Baluchistan, because all these units in the West are a compact geographical area. East Bengal, physically situated as it is, must be regarded as a separate unit and defence and development should be made equally in the Eastern and Western zone of the Pakistan State. You must make East Bengal self-sufficient in every respect...
Sir, before I close discussion on defence, I must emphasize the immediate necessity of establishing an Ordnance Factory in the Eastern zone. It is foolish to think that in time of hostilities, Western part of the State will be able to help the Eastern counterpart with sufficient arms and ammunitions. Throughout the Budget speech recognition of the urgent necessity of East Bengal's defence is lacking. I am, however, glad to find that Pakistan Government contemplates starting a number of new training-institutions like the Military Academy, Technical and Administrative School, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Centre and School and has provided a fairly good account for setting up machineries for certain essential factories during the next year. This will certainly include ordnance and ammunition depots. I must bring it to the notice of this House that some of these institutions must be set up in East Bengal for the reasons stated above. Such a step in my opinion will be an act of foresight and political sagacity. Difficulties, excuses or platitudes may be used for depriving East Bengal of the advantages already mentioned. But such a step will be most impolitic and may give rise to a sense of frustration amongst more than half the population inhibiting the State of Pakistan. The feeling is already there and the sooner the leaders at the helm of affairs realize and remedy the same, the better for all concerned... Mr. Mahmuid Husain (East Bengal: Muslim): ... To me, Sir, there are two things which are objectionable in the method by which the Budget has been balanced. One is very fundamental. And it is this that I find in it an encroachment upon the financial autonomy of the Provinces. It is a very fundamental question and a very large question and it requires very careful thought. I cannot possibly express fully on this subject within the short time available to me. But, Sir, the kind of Pakistan that I envisage consists of autonomous units. For reasons of geography, because of linguistic difference, because of racial differences, because we are many miles apart-1,500 miles divide Eastern Pakistan from Western Pakistan-and because even within Western Pakistan there are differences which cannot be ignored and which should not be ignored, I think, Sir, our future development should be on the lines of autonomous development of provinces, complete autonomy for Provinces. That is the only manner in which we can run Pakistan. That is fundamental. I think, Sir, in the Budget this principle has not merely not been observed but there are signs of encroachment upon the financial resources of the Provinces. It really does not help us, because all you do is that you take away some money from the provinces and spend it for the Centre. It does not really solve our economic problem. Our economic problem can be solved only when we can increase our national wealth. We can raise our standard of living not by just some sort of reshuffling of the sources of income, not by taking away some money from here and giving it there. It does not solve our economic problem. My complaint is. Sir that our economic problem has not been squarely faced by the Honorable the Finance Minister. He ought to have faced these difficulties and he ought to have produced a solution. He ought to have at lease made a beginning could have been made; at least he could have given us some idea that in future this was the kind of thing he was thinking of and this was the plan by which he was trying to solve our problem........................
The Honorable Khwaja Nazimuddin (East Bengal; Muslim) [2nd March, 1948]:... Sir, I would point out that in the State where there are provinces, it is very necessary that the people of the provinces should develop and progress equally just as in the case of a carriage drawn by a pair of horses, it is no use if we have got one strong and powerful horse and the other lean and thin, the team never works. Similarly, provinces must develop and prosper together and if we are going to have one province which is economically and financially unsound, whose people are not wealthy, it is bound to affect the position of the whole state and purely from that point of view, I would like to place certain demands, if I may say so, suggestions before the Central Government. First and foremost among these is that as far as Eastern Pakistan is concerned, we must have a fair and proper share in the Armed Forces of Pakistan. This I consider very essential and it must be remembered that so long for various reasons the people of Eastern Pakistan have been almost kept out of the Armed Forces and if you are now going to place us in a position that we have got to get only a share of the new recruits, you can realize how long it will take for us to get anything like adequate representation. The Heads of the Armed Forces who have visited Eastern Pakistan have been impressed with the material that they have seen recruited in one or two battalions of the East Bengal Regiment... They feel that there is a great possibility of East Bengal supplying a large number of people into the Armed forces of Pakistan. But unless special steps are taken to see that they get their fair and proper share, it will be difficult to ensure adequate representation of the people of Eastern Pakistan...
In conclusion, I would like again to congratulate the Finance Minister and would again ask him to remember that we in Eastern Pakistan are suffering from great handicaps. We are far away from the seat of the Central Government and we are apt to be forgotten. We are anxious to help in every possible manner to maintain the solidarity of the Pakistan State. We are mostly poor people and that is the special feature of the Pakistan State. The Pakistan State is for the poor people. It is a people's Government now and not the government of any other kind and their demands should receive the special attention of the Central Government.