THE BIRTH OF A NEW NATION

In 1947 the country was partitioned into India and Pakistan. 14 August 1947, the British gave Independence to Pakistan and India. Thus were born two nations: India and Pakistan, Pakistan comprising of East (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (now Pakistan). Present Bangladesh became the Eastern Wing of the then Pakistan.

East Pakistan was separated from West Pakistan by about 1,000 miles (1600 kilometers) of Indian territory. The people of the two parts of Pakistan shared a common religion, but they had little else in common. They spoke in different languages and had different cultures, traditions, and physical traits. East Pakistanis made up more than half the population of Pakistan, but West Pakistanis controlled the nation’s government, economy, and armed forces. Only about a fourth of the money spent by the government went to East Pakistan. The per capita annual income of East Pakistan was less that three-fifths that of West Pakistan.

The movement for autonomy and independence for East Pakistan started within a couple of years because of language and cultural differences and economic disparity between the two wings. Quadi Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the first Governor General, on 21 March 1948 at a public meeting in Dhaka declared, “Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan”. The students and others attending immediately protested against this pronouncement. The seeds of independence were sown through the Language Movement of 1952 to recognize Bengali as the state language. On 21st February 1952 on the demand for Bengali as the state language the student community came out, disregarding the Section 144 earlier declared by the Pakistani Police. The Police retaliated by firing at the marching procession of protestors, killing innocent civilians. The language martyrs were Salam, Barkat, Rafiq and Jabber among others.

In 1954 under the leadership of Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Hoque, H. M. Suhrawardy and Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani the Jukta Front was formed in the then East Pakistan as a challenge to the Muslim League. In the Provisional Assembly election that year Jukta Front came out victorious.

On 7 October 1958, the Pakistan Armed Forces declared a Martial Law. On 27 October 1958, General Ayub Khan took over the power from the then President Iskander Mirza.

On February 1962 the students of Dhaka University called for a successful Hartal against the martial law and arrest of some political leaders. The timing was synchronized with the arrival of Ayub Khan in Dhaka. In August 1962, the students began agitation against Ayub Khan's education policy. Thus began the popular movement the military junta Ayub Khan in East Pakistan, which culminated, with his fall in 1969.

On 5 and 6 September of 1966, the Politicians of West Pakistan organized a conference of different political parties of Pakistan. On that occasion Sheik Mujibur Rahman, general secretary of East Pakistan Awami League presented the famous 6 points demand outlining the full autonomy for East Pakistan. Unfortunately the West Pakistani leaders openly discarded the 6-points demand and declared Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a separatist.

In January 1968 Field Marshal Ayub Khan declared the involvement of some politicians, bureaucrats and armed force personnel in an armed revolt against the state. 35 Bengalis were arrested including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the famous Agartala Conspiracy case was begun on 11 June 1968 in the Dhaka Cantonment. In the backdrop of Agartala Conspiracy case, the whole of the then East Pakistan revolted against Ayub Khan and his associates.

The mass uprising of 1969.

From the end of 1968 till Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s release on February 22 1969, the streets of East Pakistan was sleepless with revolting people and students. On 23 February the Students Action Committee gave a reception to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Racecourse Maidan and bestowed on him the title of 'Bangabandhu'.

On 25 March 1969 Field Marshal Ayub Khan and his associate, the Governor of East Pakistan Monaem Khan, was forced to resign in the face of people's uprising. Another Martial Law was declared and General Yahya Khan became the new President of Pakistan.

Through the years, East Pakistan grew increasingly dissatisfied with the government of Pakistan. In November 1970, a cyclone and tidal wave struck East Pakistan and killed about 266,000 people. Many East Pakistanis accused the government of delaying shipments of relief supplies to the devastated areas.

There were two parties before division of India: Muslim League and Indian Congress. After partition Muslim League was divided into two further parts: one only Muslim League and the other was Awami Muslim League; after that a new party was formed called Awami League.

On 7th and 17th December 1970 National and Provisional elections were held respectively. The election result surprised and dumbfounded Pakistani leadership because in the National Assembly Awami League under Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman got 160 seats whereas the People's Party of Bhutto came close only with 83 seats. In the Provincial Assembly AL got 167 seats, all but two. This landslide victory for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a victory for the Bengalis, which the Pakistani leadership saw as an end to their hegemony over the Bengalis. On March 1, 1971, President Yahya Khan of Pakistan postponed the first meeting of the National Assembly, citing the reason as Mr. Bhutto’s intention not to attend the Assembly with Awami League as the major party. The streets of East Pakistan flooded with protests, and Yahya Khan sent army troops to East Pakistan to put down the protest. Sheik Mujib was imprisoned in West Pakistan.

Protests at central Shaheed Minar after Yahya Khan postponed the National Assembly and by the Central Students' Front

On March 7th. 1971 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made the historic announcement at the Dhaka Race course: " This struggle is for freedom, this struggle is for independence".

Bangabandhu delivering his historic March 7th speech.

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Text of the historic March 7th speech by Bangabandhu.

He called for unity and resistance from all 7 lakh Bengalis against the Pakistani repression and struggle for independence. Thus began the parallel government in the then East Pakistan that ran under the directive of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

On every rooftop two flags were seen to be flying: a black flag to protest the Pakistani treachery and the flag of an independent Bangladesh - green background with a map of Bangladesh on the red Sun in the centre. (This National flag was designed by Shib Narayan Das and first flown on March 2nd at the students League meeting under the Bottola (Banyan tree) of Dhaka University.)

Chatra Union workers getting ready for resistance in Dhaka University

The Pakistan Army cracked down on the innocent people, and on the night of March 25th 1971, the Pakistan Army unleashed a reign of terror unparalleled in the history of mankind. The Pakistan Army with all their might attacked the innocent students at different dormitories of Dhaka University; other places wherever they felt any resistance would come from were attacked indiscriminately including the Rajarbagh Police line and the EPR Headquarters at Peel Khana. The city of Dhaka, in one night, lit up like an inferno. Thousands of innocent people became the victim of this inhumane genocide.

The Bengalis stood up as one to defend their freedom and the fight for their liberation began. On the early hours of March 26 1971, Bangabandhu Shiekh Mujibur Rahman declared Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign state. Major Ziaur Rahman, a young Major in the Pakistan Army posted at Chittagong volunteered to make the announcement of Declaration of Independence from the Chittagong Kalurghat radio station, Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, on behalf of the undisputed leader of the brave Bengali nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Earlier a similar declaration was made by Abdul Hannan, which was heard by very few people in the country and abroad. Major Zia’s declaration was the one that spread all over Bangladesh and eventually proved to be instrumental in the struggle for independence. The brave, patriotic Bengalis under the directives from their leader built an unprecedented armed resistance against the Pakistani Army. And thus began the brutal war for independence: “Muktijuddho”.