Abstract
Pakistan was dismembered in 1971 after a civil war in its eastern wing, followed
by Indian intervention. The regional and global geopolitics of the time played a
vital role in the division of the country into two parts. Geopolitical complexities
and the corresponding priorities of the stakeholders got involved into the
separation of East Pakistan- now called Bangladesh. The process of the
dismemberment precipitated after Indo-Pak war of 1965 which had caused fears
of insecurity amongst the people of Bengal. The fears were exploited by the
geopolitical forces that finally caused the fall of Dhaka. The story of the fall of
Dhaka accomplished when India and Pakistan signed Simla Agreement in 1972.
This paper focuses on the geopolitical dimension of the turmoil period and its end
point till the creation of Bangladesh. The study is conducted through qualitative
methods of secondary data analysis. The secondary data is analyzed under the
standards of thematic approach. Theoretical model of geographical determinism
is applied to understand how geopolitics contributed in the dismemberment of
Pakistan. Saul B. Cohen’s model of Shatter belts is helpful in this regard. Shatter
belts are the volatile geographical areas that are polarized in ways that determine
the politics of the surrounding region/s. In a nutshell, the study combines history
with the political expression of geography to know geopolitics as one of the causes
responsible for the dismemberment of Pakistan. The study applies secondary data
analysis as it is constrained by access to primary data, found in the official files of
the stakeholder countries. Still, it is an attempt to understand the dismemberment
phenomenon through the involved geopolitical lenses.
Khurshaid. (2018) Regional Geopolitical Trends and the Dismemberment of Pakistan: Assessment of Relevant Events during 1965-72, The Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Volume-26, Issue-2.
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