Independence of Bangladesh

Last updated

Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, celebrated as Independence Day, from Pakistan. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March and lasted till 16 December 1971 which is celebrated as Victory Day in Bangladesh. There is a dispute along partisan line on who declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Awami League claim Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party claim it was Ziaur Rahman. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

History

In 1905, the British Raj partitioned Bengal into East Bengal and West Bengal. [4] The British introduced the Morley-Minto Reforms in 1909 which made the electorate system based on religion and East Bengal was largely Muslim. [4] The Bengal Provincial Muslim League was created to represent Bengali Muslims. The two Bengals were joined back together in 1912 in a decision by the British which was unpopular among the Muslims which feared it would harm the interests of their community. [4] The 1946 Cabinet Mission to India decided to partition Bengal and in 1947 Bengal was partitioned again. [4] West Bengal went to India and East Bengal went to Pakistan becoming East Pakistan. [4] The Partition of India took place along religious lines with Muslim majority areas going to Pakistan. [5]

East Pakistan, where Bengali was the language spoken by the majority, opposed the move by the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, to make Urdu the national language. [4] The people of East Pakistan demanded Bengali be made a national language in the Bengali Language movement. [4] Krishak Sramik Party demanded autonomy for East Bengal in 1953 and won the provincial election against the Pakistan Muslim League in 1954. [4] A. K. Fazlul Huq, leader of the Krishak Sramik Party, becomes the chief minister of East Pakistan. [4] On 31 May 1954, the Krishak Sramik Party was removed from power. [4] Chief Minister A. K. Fazlul Huq and party general secretary Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were placed under house arrest on charges of separatism. [4]

Shaheed Minar, Dhaka commemorates the language movement. Shaheed Minar.JPG
Shaheed Minar, Dhaka commemorates the language movement.

From 1963 to 1965, East Pakistan presented a case of economic deprivation with resources from the province benefitting West Pakistan at the cost of development in East Pakistan. [4] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, now leader of the Awami League, was arrested in 1966 and charged in the Agartala conspiracy case, which accused prominent East Pakistanis of trying to separate the country with help from India, in 1968. [4] The 1969 East Pakistan mass uprising saw the charges in the Agartala conspiracy case being dropped. [4] Sarbadalia Chhatra Sangram Parishad was created to press the government of Pakistan for the Independence of East Pakistan. [4] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is released from prison on 22 February 1970 by President Ayub Khan. [4] On 10 March 1970, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman demanded autonomy for East Pakistan based on the Six Point program of the Awami League. [4] Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani ends a public event with the slogan East Pakistan Zindabad on 23 November. [4] 1970 Bhola cyclone killed 300 to 500 thousand people in East Pakistan. [5] The people of East Pakistan found relief efforts by Pakistan government inadequate and felt neglected. [4]

Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won 288 seats out of 300 seats in the provincial assembly. [4] It won 167 of 300 seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan. [4] Despite the overwhelming victory, the Awami League was not allowed to form a government by the military administration of Pakistan led by General Yahya Khan. [4] On 7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a historic speech to resist the West Pakistan administration, through refusing to follow their orders and paying taxes. [6] The crowd at the event chanted Jai Bangla (victory to Bengal). [4] On 19 March, soldiers of Pakistan Army from East Pakistan and West Pakistan had a small skirmish at the Gazipur Ordnance Factory after the East Bengal Regiment refused to fire at crowds of protesting Bengalis. [4] On 24 March, soldiers of East Pakistan Rifles raised the flag of independent Bangladesh in Jessore District. [4]

Flag of the Bangladeshi Independence movement Flag of Bangladesh (1971).svg
Flag of the Bangladeshi Independence movement

Proclamation by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

On 26 March 1971, after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independence on radio, Pakistan launched a crackdown on East Pakistan called Operation Searchlight and declared martial law, which was heard by only a limited number of people due to the broadcasting system used. [4] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was detained by Pakistan Army soon after. [4] On 27 March, Major Ziaur Rahman, officer of the East Bengal Regiment, declared the Independence of Bangladesh from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and called the actions of Pakistan Army a massacre while asking for intervention of the United Nations. [4] On 10 May Bengals members of provincial and national assembly gathered in Kolkata and created a government in exile. [4] It created the Proclamation of Independence which was read from Baidyanathtala in Meherpur District. [4]

Recognition

Bhutan recognized Bangladesh on 6 December and India a few hours later on the same day. [7] [8] [9] They were the first two countries to recognize independent Bangladesh. [8] East Germany recognized Bangladesh on 11 January 1972, becoming the third country to do so. [10] On 7 February, Israel recognised Bangladesh following a request by the foreign minister of Bangladesh, Mostaq Ahmad. [11]

Independence Day

The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March on the day Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the Independence of Bangladesh. [12] Various programs are organised in the country to mark the occasion. [12] The National Flag of Bangladesh is flown on all government buildings. [13] The Independence Day Award was introduced by the Government of Bangladesh in 1977. [14] The award is given on the Independence Day of Bangladesh on 26 March. [14] The first Independence Day was celebrated on 26 March 1972. [15] President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman addressed the nation. [15]

The national monument to the Liberation War. National Martyrs' Memorial 08.jpg
The national monument to the Liberation War.

Bangladesh Liberation War

The launch of Operation Searchlight and declaration of Independence marked the start of Bangladesh Liberation War on 26 March 1971. [16] The war lasted nine months and ended on 16 December 1971. [16] The Pakistan Army targeted religious minorities and political supporters of the Independence of Bangladesh. [17] The actions culminated in what is known as the Bangladesh Genocide. [17] During the war, 15 million refugees from East Pakistan moved to India. [17]

Victory day

Victory Day is on 16 December and it commemorates the surrender of Pakistan to Bangladesh India joint forces at the end of Bangladesh Liberation War. [18] It is celebrated as Vijay Diwas in India. [19]

Bengali language as national identity

Language played a key role in the independence movement of Bangladesh and became a key feature in nation-building after the Liberation War against Pakistan. Since the foundation and independence of Pakistan in 1947, language was a key dividing issue in the newly established state. The new Pakistani elite faced a difficult task of uniting all its citizens into a united Pakistani nation, and one immediate question that arose with the new state was about the language that would be used to conduct Pakistan’s state business. The Pakistan Educational Conference of November 1947 proposed Urdu as the national language even though it was spoken by only 3% of Pakistanis, compared to 56% who spoke Bengali. The first population census revealed that Pakistan had 78 million inhabitants, of whom 44 million (55%) lived in East Pakistan. However, the country’s rulers were concentrated in West Pakistan and used Islam to dismiss Bengali’s protests as un-Islamic or anti-Islamic. Students in East Pakistan held meetings and demonstrations and formed the Language Action Committee in December 1947 when they learned about the plans to make Urdu the national language. [20]

The Bengali language movement, or Bhasha Andolon, was started by students at schools, colleges and universities. The success of this movement forced Pakistan to change its policies and fueled the emergence of Bengali ethno-nationalism, which led to the creation of Bangladesh as an independent state and the breakup of Pakistan in 1971. When the movement began to challenge West Pakistani domination in East Pakistan, the citizens and the press in West Pakistan thought that it was orchestrated by Hindus, communists and anti-state elements trying to destabilize the state. [21] Thousands of young Bengali boys and girls from schools and universities in Dhaka assembled on the campus of Dhaka University marching and shouting slogans like “Bengali as a national language!” (rastrabhdsa bamla cai!). As soon as the students passed the campus gates, armed policemen baton-charged them; the students retaliated by throwing bricks before policemen fired tear gas into the crowd as a response. Many were injured while five people died; demonstrations, killings, and arrests would continue for a few more days. A memorial was then erected on the spot where the first killings had taken place. A 1984 textbook introduces the language movement with the following, “February 21 of 1952 was the first united expression of Bangladesh’s collective consciousness and a first bold step toward the independence movement”. The language movement became a symbol for Bengali nationalism; the claim by Bengali textbooks is that ‘Bengali’ became the primary marker of Bangladesh’s identity. [22]

Sufia Kamal, a Bangladeshi poet, wrote the poem “Our Language: The Language of Bengal” in 1952, during the time of the language movement; the poem shows how strongly language played a role in the national identity of the new state.

For our language many have died,

drawn from the arms of our mother

but down the road, smeared with their blood

I hope freedom will come to this land:

the simple language of a simple people

Will meet the demands of this our land.

The independence of Bangladesh in December 1971 regarded the national identity as a regional one, rather than a religious one like Pakistan’s foundation. The new Bengali elite envisioned the society that was taking place in the delta as distinctly Bengali, where Bangladesh stood as a nation-state, a homeland to the Bengali community that had been unjustly treated in Pakistan. The main pillars of the new nation were language, a regional style, and a search for modernity.

The Bangla Academy was an institution established in the 1950s as a result of the language movement; after independence, it became a major publisher of textbooks, dictionaries, folk literature, etc. The written and the spoken language were two distinct languages, whose differences were greater than that of other languages. The language of books was distinct, and without a trace of the popular, based on Sanskrit. This fact took a turn with Tekchand Thakur’s “Alarer Ghorer Dulal”, which was written in the language that everyone understood. From that moment on, books began to be written in the learned and popular languages in Bangladesh. [23]

Controversy

There is some dispute between the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist party, founded by Ziaur Rahman, on who declared the Independence of Bangladesh. [4] When a different party comes to power, they change the history books of Bangladesh to either prefer Sheikh Mujibur Rahman or Ziaur Rahman. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Mujibur Rahman</span> Founding father of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, popularly known by the honorific prefix Bangabandhu was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman, activist and diarist. As a politician, Mujib had held continuous positions as president or prime minister from April 1971 until his assassination in August 1975: as president from 1971 to 1972 and briefly from 1975 until his death, and as prime minister from 1972 to 1975. Mujib successfully led the Bangladeshi independence movement and restored the Bengali sovereignty after over two centuries following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, for which he is honoured as the 'Father of the Nation' in Bangladesh. In 2011, the fifteenth constitutional amendment in Bangladesh referred to Sheikh Mujib as the Father of the Nation who declared independence; these references were enshrined in the fifth, sixth, and seventh schedules of the constitution. His Bengali nationalist ideology, socio-political theories, and political doctrines are sometimes called Mujibism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziaur Rahman</span> President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981

Ziaur Rahman was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1977 until his assassination. He was the founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and served as its chairman until his assassination. He previously served as the second chief of army staff from 1975 to 1978 with a minor break.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awami League</span> Political party in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Awami League, often simply called the Awami League or AL, is one of the major political parties in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, Awami League successfully lead Bangladesh to the independence. One of the two most dominant parties in the country, along with its archrival Bangladesh Nationalist Party, it has been the ruling party since 2009, and has since been described as authoritarian.

Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad was a Bangladeshi politician. He was the fourth president of Bangladesh from 15 August to 6 November 1975, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was involved in the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975. He took on the role of president immediately after the assassination, praised the assassins as "sons of the sun" and put cabinet ministers loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in jail.

Shah Azizur Rahman was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh. However, he was the subject of considerable controversy for his collaboration with the Pakistan Army against the struggle for the independence of Bangladesh.

Mohammad Abdul Hannan was a politician of Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Kader Siddique</span> Bangladeshi politician and former freedom fighter

Abdul Kader Siddique is a Bangladeshi politician. He served as a Mukti Bahini member and organizer of the Bangladesh Liberation War. He fought with an estimated 17,000-strong guerrilla force in the Tangail region against the Pakistan Army. The army was called Kaderia Bahini. At the end of the war in 1971, Siddique's forces entered Dhaka along with the Indian forces, signaling the end of the war. He was awarded Bir Uttom by the Government of Bangladesh. Since 1999, he has been serving as the leader of his newly formed party, the Krishak Sramik Janata League.

Moni Singh was a preeminent Bengali Communist politician popularly known as Comrade Moni Singh. He was the founder of the Communist Party of East Pakistan. Singh operated a guerrilla wing of the Mukti Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and was an advisor to the Provisional Government of Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March 1971 and ended on 16 December 1971. Some of the major events of the war are listed in the timeline below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mujibnagar</span> Town in Bangladesh; capital of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh

Mujibnagar, formerly known as Baidyanathtala (Boiddonathtola) and Bhoborpara, is a town in the Mujibnagar Upazila of Meherpur District in Khulna, Bangladesh. The Provisional Government of Bangladesh was formed on 10 April 1971, however, sworn in on 17 April 1971 in this place by the elected representatives of the Bengalees, that led the Bangladesh Liberation War, who were leading the guerrilla war for the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971. The place was renamed Mujibnagar by the proclamation of independence, in honour of then imprisoned Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had declared Bangladesh independent. The actual capital of the government while in exile was Calcutta. A memorial complex covering 20.10 acres (8.13 ha) has been built at the site where the ministers of that first government took their oaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ataur Rahman Khan</span> Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1984 to 1986

Ataur Rahman Khan was a Bangladeshi lawyer, politician and writer, and served as Chief Minister of East Pakistan from 1 September 1956 – March 1958, and as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 30 March 1984 to 9 July 1986.

Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra was the radio broadcasting centre of Bengali nationalist forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. This station played an important role in the liberation struggle, broadcasting the Declaration of Independence and increasing the morale of Bangladeshis during the genocide. In 1971, radio was the only media reaching the far ends of Bangladesh. The station ran a liberation campaign throughout the liberation war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Independence Day (Bangladesh)</span> National holiday in Bangladesh

The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March as a national holiday in Bangladesh. It commemorates the country's declaration of independence from Pakistan in the early hours of March 26, 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence</span> 1971 founding document of Bangladesh

The independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, at the onset of the Bangladesh Liberation War by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman; the following day the declaration was broadcast by Major Ziaur Rahman in a radio broadcast. On 10 April, the Provisional Government of Bangladesh issued a proclamation on the basis of the previous declaration and established an interim constitution for the independence movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7 March Speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman</span> 1971 speech by the Founding Father of Bangladesh

The 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu, or the 7/3 Speech, was a public speech given by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Founding Father of Bangladesh on 7 March 1971 at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka to a gathering of over two million (2,000,000) people. It was delivered during a period of escalating tensions between East Pakistan and the powerful political and military establishment of West Pakistan. In the speech, Bangabandhu informally declared the independence of Bangladesh, proclaiming: "The struggle this time, is a struggle for our liberty. The struggle this time, is a struggle for our independence." He announced a civil disobedience movement in the province, calling for "every house to turn into a fortress".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangladeshi nationalism</span> Ideology of Bangladeshis

Bangladeshi nationalism is an ideology that promotes the territorial identity of Bangladeshis. The ideology emerged during the late 1970s, popularized by former Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman. The history of nationalism in the country dates back to the colonial era, when the region started witnessing anti-colonial movements against the British Empire. Soon, a sense of religious nationalism began to emerge which was later revolutionised into ethnolinguistic nationalism. Following independence of Bangladesh in 1971, leaders like Ziaur Rahman began to promote Bangladeshi nationalism which was based on territorial attachment of Bangladeshis. Politically, Bangladeshi nationalism is mainly professed by the center-right and rightist political parties in Bangladesh, led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Mashiur Rahman (1920–1971) was a Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, a member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly and cabinet minister in the East Pakistan government of Ataur Rahman Khan. He was instrumental in the founding of the Bangladesh Awami League and in the Bengali Language Movement, and supported Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of East Pakistan</span> Defunct government of Pakistan

The Government of East Pakistan or formerly Government of East Bengal governed the province East Bengal and was centered in its provincial capital Dhaka. The head of the province was the Governor, who was nominated by the President of Pakistan. While the head of the province of East Pakistan was the Chief Minister who was elected by the East Pakistan Assembly.

The non-cooperation movement of 1971 was a historical movement in then East Pakistan by the Awami League and the general public against the military government of Pakistan in March of that year. After the announcement of the suspension of the session of the National Assembly of Pakistan on 1 March, the spontaneous movement of the people started, but officially on the call of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the non-cooperation movement started on 2 March and continued until 25 March. The movement lasted for a total of 25 days.

Provincial elections were held in East Pakistan on 17 December 1970, ten days after general elections. A total of 1,850 candidates ran for the 300 seats in the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly. The result was a landslide victory for the Awami League, which won 288 of the 300 seats.

References

  1. ↑ "Bangladesh: Declaration of Independence and Falsehood!". South Asia Journal. 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  2. ↑ "Muktijuddho (Bangladesh Liberation War 1971) - Declaration of Independence - History of Bangladesh". www.londoni.co. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  3. ↑ League, Bangladesh Awami. "Bangabandhu and the declaration of independence". www.albd.org. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Islam, Sirajul (18 June 2021). "Declaration of Independence". Banglapedia . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh . Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  5. 1 2 "The National Archives - Homepage". The National Archives. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  6. ↑ Ahmed, Helal Uddin (18 June 2021). "Seventh March Address". Banglapedia. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Bhutan recognised Bangladesh first". Dhaka Tribune. 8 December 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Bhutan, not India, was first to recognize Bangladesh - Times of India". The Times of India. PTI. Dec 9, 2014. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  9. ↑ Correspondent, Diplomatic (2014-12-09). "Bhutan was first to recognise Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  10. ↑ Schanberg, Sydney H. (1972-01-12). "BANGLADESH GAINS RECOGNITION BY 2". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  11. ↑ "Israel Recognizes Bangladesh". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  12. 1 2 "Independence Day: Bangladesh remembers, pays homage to Liberation War martyrs". www.dhakatribune.com. 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  13. ↑ "Celebration of Bangladesh's 52nd Independence Day begins". www.dhakatribune.com. 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  14. 1 2 Khan, Sanjida (18 June 2021). "National Awards". Banglapedia. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  15. 1 2 Sajen, Shamsuddoza (2020-03-26). "Free Bangladesh celebrates first Independence Day". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  16. 1 2 Sheren, Syeda Momtaz (18 June 2021). "War of Liberation, The". Banglapedia. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  17. 1 2 3 "The Bangladesh Liberation War". Origins. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  18. ↑ UNB, Dhaka (2016-12-16). "Victory Day programmes today". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  19. ↑ Victor (2017-12-17). "Why Do India Celebrate 'Vijay Diwas' On 16th December". SSBToSuccess. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  20. ↑ Schendel, Willen van (2020). "A History of Bangladesh". Cambridge.org. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  21. ↑ Rahman, Tariq (2002). "Language, Power and Ideology 37, no. 45". Economic and Political Weekly, jstor.org. JSTOR   4412816 . Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  22. ↑ Gosh, Shreya (2014). ""Identity, Politics, and Nation-Building in History Textbooks in Bangladesh." Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society 6, no. 2". jstor.org. doi:10.3167/jemms.2014.060203 . Retrieved 2023-11-26.
  23. ↑ Chattopadhyay, Bankim Chandra (2014). ""The Bengali Language: The Language of Writing,"". Indian Literature. 3 (281): 26–35. JSTOR   44753709 . Retrieved 2023-11-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.