A Presentation on History of Bangladesh

From 6-points to the Liberation War in 1971

Presented by :

1) Manzur-ul-karim Shovon(Raz) 2)Zakaria-bin-Haque(Shuvo) 3)Saidul Islam.

Preface
After the birth of Pakistan we saw a huge
discrimination between the East and the West part. First of all the West Pakistanis tried to establish Urdu as the only one state language. But after a bloody protestation of our people we succeed to establish Bengali as second state language of Pakistan. There were some other discriminations too

Discriminations Between East and West Pakistan

1. The bureaucrats were at the centre of all
administrative power since the emergence of Pakistan. The representation of East Pakistan in the bureaucracy was very nominal. Out of 42,000 officers in the central government in 1956, the number of people from East Pakistan was only 2900. 2. The proportion of East Pakistanis in the foreign services in 1962 was 20.8%

 3.The ratio of East and West Pakistanis

among the officers of defense services was 10:90. 4. It was observed in the field of education that whereas West Pakistan was allocated Rupees 1530 crore during 194855, East Pakistan was sanctioned 240 crore rupees.

 5. During the period of 1948-55 only 10%

of total expenditure of the central government were spent in East Pakistan. 6.Rupees 3,000 million were spent for the development of Islamabad until 1967, the amount spent for development of Dhaka was only Rupees 250 million. Etc.

 In this way demand for autonomy of East

Pakistan became stronger due to discriminations between East and West Pakistan. As a result Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman raised 6-point charter of demands for autonomy of East Pakistan at a convention of opposition leaders in Lahore on 5-6 February 1966.

Six points
The six points are: 1. The constitution should provide for a

Federation of Pakistan in its true sense on the Lahore Resolution and the parliamentary form of government with supremacy of a Legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise. 2. The federal government should deal with only two subjects : Defense and Foreign Affairs, and all other residuary subjects shall be vested in the federating states

 3. Two separate, but freely convertible currencies for

two wings should be introduced ; or if this is not feasible, there should be one currency for the whole country, but effective constitutional provisions should be introduced to stop the flight of capital from East to West Pakistan. Furthermore, a separate Banking Reserve should be established and separate fiscal and monetary policy be adopted for East Pakistan 4. The power of taxation and revenue collection shall be vested in the federating units and the federal centre will have no such power. The federation will be entitled to a share in the state taxes to meet its expenditures

 5. There should be two separate accounts for

the foreign exchange earnings of the two wings ; the foreign exchange requirements of the federal government should be met by the two wings equally or in a ratio to be fixed; indigenous products should move free of duty between the two wings, and the constitution should empower the units to establish trade links with foreign countries 6. East Pakistan should have a separate militia or paramilitary force

The Agartala Conspiracy Case.

Though 6-points were rejected by the opposition
leaders, Sheikh Mujib started campaign for realizing the 6-points. As there was unprecedented public baking in support of the 6points the regime arrested Mujib under the security law on 8 May 1966. To detach Mujib and the Awami League from the general masses the government discovered a conspiracy on 6 January 1968.

 This conspiracy was dubbed as the

Agartala Conspiracy. Sheikh Mujib and 29 others were arrested on charge of involvement in the conspiracy.

Mass upsurge of 1969

In protest of the Agartala Conspiracy case strike
was observed throughout East Pakistan on 29 January. Awami League, NAP(Wali), Council Muslim League, Jamaate Islami etc made an alliance to conduct strike. Meanwhile a Student Action Committee was formed jointly by Chatra League and Chatra Union in January 1969. They announced the 11point demand.

 The 6-point demand was incorporated in

the 11-point demand. Besides, other demands relevant for the Bengalee middle class, peasants and labourers were also included. As a result, 11-points received massive public support in East Pakistan. The movement intensified due to the participation of working class. The govt. failed to contain the movement with aid of police,EPR and army.

 When student leader M. Asaduzzaman

embraced martyrdom in police firing on 20 January 1969, the situation went beyond the control. Around 100 East Pakistanis were killed in the movement. The movement reached its peak when the Proctor of Rajshahi University Dr. Mohammad Shamsuzzoha was killed by Pakistani military on February 1969.

 The govt. withdrew the Agartala

Conspiracy case on 22 February 1969 and was forced to release Sheikh Mujib. Meanwhile, the movement intensified in West Pakistan. In this situation, Ayub Khan handed over power to the than Army chief, General Mohammad Yahya Khan on 24 March 1969.

Election 1970
President Yahya Khan declared that elections to the

Nation Assembly would be held on 7 December 1970 and to the Provincial Assembly on 17 December. The election saw the Awami League winning absolute majority by capturing 167 out of 169 seats in East Pakistan. PPP won 88 out of 144 National Assembly seats in West Pakistan. In the election for East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, The Awami League won 288 out of 300 seats. Then Yahya Khan announced on 14 February that the session of the National Assembly would commence in Dhaka on 3rd March 1971.

 But Bhutto refused to join that and that is why

Yahya Khan postponed the session. The people of East Pakistan erupted in anger at this and Mujib called Hartal in Dhaka on 2nd March and throughout the province next day. All governmental activities came to a halt. An announcement titled Declaration and programme for independent and sovereign Bangladesh was made by East Pakistan Chatra League on 3rd March 1971.

 Yahya Khan again summoned the session of the National Assembly

on 25th March at Dhaka. But in his speech delivered on 7th March at Dhaka Racecourse Maidan, Sheikh Mujib put forward for preconditions for joining the session of National Assembly(a) Martial law would have to be lifted immediately, (b) The military has to return to the barracks. (c) Investigations have to be made regarding loss of lives, (d) Power has to be handed over to the party having absolute majority before the commencement of the National Assembly.

 Yahya Khan arrived at Dhaka on 15th March and

held talks with Mujib up to 24th March. Bhutto arrived at Dhaka on 21st March to join the talks. Yahya khan was in fact killing time in the name of talks; meanwhile, he was bringing in military equipment and soldiers from West Pakistan. At last, after all preparations were complete, the Pakistani Army carried out a genocide in Dhaka on the night of 25th March 1971 and killed many innocent Bengalese.

Liberation War of 1971

In protest against these brutal killings, the liberation war
of Bangladesh was started on 26th March after the declaration of independence made by Shaeikh Mujib on 26th and Major Zia on 27th March 1971. On 10 April,1971 the leaders of Awami League formed the government-in-exile headed by Sheikh Mujib as the President, Syed Nazrul Islam and Tajuddin Ahmed took the charge of Vice-president and Prime Minister respectively. On 17th April the government-in-exile took oath at Baidyanathtala under Meherpur district.

Formation of Mukti Bahini

The Mukti Bahini was formed headed by Colonel Muhammad Ataul

Gani Osmani. People of different classes jointed the Mukti Bahini. The Mukti Bahini started to attack Pakistani Army through guerrilla warfare. Besides Mukti Bahini, many other forces were organized such as Kader Bahini of Tangail, Latif Mirza Bahini of Sirajganj, Akbor Hossain Bahini of Jhinaidah, Hemayet Bahini of Faridpur etc. Another Bahini named as Mujib Bahini was organised in India with the active assistance of Major General Oban of the Indian army an expert on guerilla warfare. Mujib Bahini was trained at Dehradun. Student leaders sheikh fazlul haq mani, Tofael Ahmed, Abdur Razzak and Sirajul Alam Khan were organisers of this Bahini.

Mukti Bahini cinsisted of the regular (East Bengal Regiment and EPR) and irregular (peoples force) forces. The regular force were engaged in fighting conventional way. The conventional forces were Z-force, S-force, K-force. Bangladesh Air force was created on 28th September and Navy was established on 9th November. Bangladesh was divided into 11 sectors during the war.

The Joint Command And Achieving Independence.

The joint command of the Mukti Bahini and Indian army

was underway from November 1971. Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, the chief of staff of the Eastern front of Indian army, became the commander of the join forces. The joint command started operation from the evening of 3rd December 1971. The Mukti Bahini and Indian army continued advancing inside Bangladesh and the defeat and surrender of Pakistani army became a matter of time.

 The Indian troops and freedom fighters of No.11 sector reached

Tongi on 14th December and Savar in the morning of 16th December. Major General Jamshed, commander 36th division of Pakistan army, received Major General Nagra at Mirpur Bridge near Dhaka. The Mukti Bahini and the Indian army entered Dhaka city at 10:10 a.m. At last, Lieutenant General Niazi signed the instrument of surrender at the Suhrawardy Uddyan at 5:01 p.m. on 16th December 1971.

Lieutenant General Aurora and his staff. Group Captain

AK Khandaker, Deputy Chief of Staff, Bangladesh Forces represented the Mukti Bahini.

 Thus a new country called Bangladesh

emerged in the world map after the sacrifice of 30 lakhs lives in a bloody war.

THANK YOU

Genocide
No definite survey has yet been made to ascertain the exact number
of people killed by the Pakistan army. Immediately after the War of Liberation, it was estimated to be as high as three million. The genocide committed by the Pakistan army is one of the worst holocausts in world history. The indefitite postponement of the scheduled National Assembly (due to be held on 3 March 1971 at Dhaka) and the failure of the military government of General Yahiya to transfer power to the elected representatives led to widespread public resentment in East Pakistan. Protest demonstrations were held in Dhaka, Chittagong and most other cities. The army resorted to open fire on demonstrating crowds in different cities and towns. The civil disobedience movement was organised all over the country. The government lost grip on the administration.

 Genocide started with the army crackdown at

midnight of 25 March 1971. The army cordoned Peelkhana, the headquarters of the east pakistan rifles (EPR), Rajarbagh police barracks, and the Ansar headquarters at Khilgaon. More than 800 EPR men were first disarmed and arrested, and many of them were brutally killed. A few hundred of them, however, managed to escape and later joined the liberation forces

 Pakistani forces surrounded Dhaka city with tanks and other military

vehicles. Truck loads of army men spread out through the city streets for stamping out all civil resistance. At midnight, the Dhaka University halls of residences and staff quarters were attacked with tanks and armoured vehicles. A number of teachers, students and officials were killed. Many buildings including some newspaper offices were battered with mortar shells. Many people were burnt alive in the houses set on fire. Various parts of old Dhaka, including Hindu majority Mahallas such as Shankhari Patti and Tantibazar came under mortar shells. Hundreds of inmates were gunned down. It was estimated that more than 50,000 men, women and children were killed in Dhaka, Chittagong, Jessore, Mymensingh, Kushtia and other cities within the first three days of the genocide beginning from 25 March 1971. This was termed as Operation Searc

 Soon the Pakistan army spread out into the remotest parts of the

country. In retaliation the Bangali nationalists began to organise resistance with effect from 26 March following the declaration of independence of Bangladesh. This further intensified the military action of Pakistan government. In effect, the Pakistan army started an undeclared war against the unarmed civilians of Bangladesh. The Pakistan armed forces used warplanes and gunships to contain the nationalist forces. Men, women and children of hundreds of villages, cities, and towns were killed and maimed indiscriminately. Arsoning, raping and looting knew no limit. Out of fear and intimidation millions of Bangalis left their home and took shelter in various refugee camps set up by the Government of India along the border areas

 In containing the freedom fighters the Pakistan government had

raised paramilitary forces with the designations of razakar, al-badr and al-shams. These forces joined the army in killing and terrorising the people. Many people, including intellectuals of the country were lifted by them for interrogation and only a few of them returned home. All these savageries were resorted to for exterminating the mukti bahini and their supporters. No international action was taken against the perpetrators of this most barbarous genocide according to UNO convention on genocide and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The genocide continued till the surrender of the Pakistan army on 16 December 1971

Al Badar
Al-Badr a paramilitary force formed during the liberation war of
Bangladesh in 1971 under the patronage of Pakistan government which was aimed at creating public opinion in favour of the integrity of Pakistan and also imparting active assistance to the occupation army in East Pakistan. Al-Badr was constituted in September 1971 with the spirit and zeal of the mujahids of the historic battle of Badr under the auspices of General Niazi, chief of the eastern command of the Pakistan army. The Pakistan army had to provide security support to the cadres of al-Badr. The razakar force formed earlier aimed at opposing the freedom fighters while al-Badr's objective was to create panic among the people by political murder. The members of Al-Badr are alleged to have been involved in the murder of distinguished intellectuals at Rayerbazar badhya-bhumi (place of execution) in Dhaka. Al-Badr as a force disintegrated with the surrender of the Pak-army on 16 December 1971

Razakar
Razakar a paramilitary force formed at Pakistan government
initiative to assist it and to resist the freedom fighters during the war of liberation in 1971. Razakar is a Persian term meaning 'volunteers'. At the time of partition of India in 1947, Nizam of Hydrabad, having been unwilling to the annexation of his kingdom to India, formed a volunteer corps named 'Razakar' for resisting the entry of the Indian army into his kingdom. During the liberation war in 1971 Razakar force was formed by Pakistan government in the model of the Razakar of Hydrabad. It was constituted in the month of May with an enrolment of 96 loyalist activists in the Ansar camp at Khan Jahan Ali Road in Khulna. This force was subsequently formed in different parts of East Pakistan

 At the initial stage, the razakars were subordinate to the local peace

committees. By the promulgation of East Pakistan Razakar Ordinance on 1 June 1971, General tikka khan converted the Ansars into Razakars who were recognised as the members of the Pakistan army through an ordinance of the Ministry of Defence promulgated on 7 September. The tenure of the primary training of the Razakars was 15 days. General ameer abdullah khan niazi, chief of the eastern command of the Pakistan army, took salute at the closing parade at Savar on 27 November 1971 on completion of the training of the first batch of the company commanders of Razakar force. Subsequently, the Razakar force was elevated to the status of a separate directorate. The Razakar force disintegrated with the surrender of the Pakistan army on 16 December 1971

AL Shams
Al-Shams a paramilitary force formed under
the patronage of the Pakistan government to assist the occupation army in East Pakistan during the liberation war of 1971. The name 'AlShams' is derived from an Arabic term which literally means 'the sun'. Al-Shams was constituted from among the followers of extreme rightist political parties. The force disintegrated with the surrender of the Pak-army on 16 December 1971