Economic disparities between East and West were undoubtedly factual. But according to my understanding, the growth rate between the two wings of Pakistan became nearly the same by the end of the 1960s.
I want someone to explain the reasons for the economic disparities. For example, was West Pakistani ‘colonial exploitation’ of East Pakistan responsible for the disparities, or was it for other reasons? We need cold economic analysis, not calculations made by ideologues and politically partisan people.
Usually, it’s not difficult to demonstrate economic disparity, which can be seen in GDP and per capita between places. However, I am more interested in the causations of the disparities. A better understanding of the causes and the cause and effect will help us better evaluate the claim that East Pakistan suffered from colonial style exploitation at the hands of West Pakistan. Understanding the causations of the disparities is critical to apportioning legitimate blame.
The other thing is that we have to understand the different sectors of the economy that contributed to the various elements of the GDP. And look at the economic development of East Pakistan and West Bengal during the Pakistan period and several pre-partition decades. Only then we can develop proper contextual perspectives on the economic disparities between East and West Pakistan during the 23 years of the Pakistan period.