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 either as Bangladesh's president or as its prime minister from April 1971 until his assassination in August 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.
The Bangladesh Liberation War, also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.
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.
Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani, was a Bengali military leader. Osmani's career spanned five decades, beginning with service in the British Indian Army in 1939. He fought in the Burma Campaign during World War II. After the partition of India in 1947, he joined the Pakistan Army and served in the East Bengal Regiment, retiring as a colonel in 1967. Osmani joined the Provisional Government of Bangladesh in 1971 as the commander-in-chief of the nascent Bangladesh Forces. Regarded as the founder of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, Osmani retired as a four-star general from the Bangladesh Army in 1972.
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.
The Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad was an armed underground student political group secretly organized in 1961 by Serajul Alam Khan, a key founder of Bangladesh, that worked to wage an armed secessionist struggle against Pakistani rule and achieve the independence of East Pakistan as "Bangladesh".
Dhirendranath Datta was a Bengali lawyer by profession who was also active in the politics of undivided Bengal in pre-partition India, and later in East Pakistan (1947–1971).
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.
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.
The Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini was a Bangladeshi para-military force formed in 1972 by the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman government.
Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni was a Bangladeshi politician. He was one of the nephews of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. He was the founder of Mujib Bahini Bangladesh Liberation Force-BLF one of the major guerrilla forces of the Bangladesh Liberation War and also the founder of Bangladesh Awami Jubo League, the youth wing of Bangladesh Awami League.
Bangladesh's military history is intertwined with the history of a larger region, including present-day India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. The country was historically part of Bengal – a major power in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The India–Bangladesh Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace was a 25-year treaty that was signed on 19 March 1972 forging close bilateral relations between India and the newly established state of Bangladesh. The treaty was also known as the Indira–Mujib Treaty, after the signatories of the treaty the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The Mukti Bahini, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. They were initially called the Mukti Fauj.
Nizam Mohammad Serajul Alam Khan, commonly known as Serajul Alam Khan, also called as Dada, Dadabhai and by his initials SAK, was a Bangladeshi politician, political analyst, philosopher and writer who spearheaded the Bangladesh liberation movement under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman but also became one of the controlling forces of political polarization in post-independence Bangladesh.
Muhammad Yusuf Ali was a Bangladesh politician. He was the first minister for Education and Cultural Affairs in the first cabinet of Bangladesh.
The 3 November 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état was a military coup d'état led by Major General Khaled Mosharraf to remove the assassins of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from power.
The NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces was an armed force active in the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was organized jointly by the National Awami Party (Muzaffar) (NAP), Communist Party of Bangladesh and the East Pakistan Students Union. Its commander was Mohammad Farhad, with Pankaj Bhattacharya serving as deputy commander. Per the account of Moni Singh, the NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces had some 5,000 fighters at its peak.
Mohammad Ziauddin, BU is a retired Bangladeshi military officer, who was the Commanding Officer of the 1st East Bengal Regiment during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was awarded the Bir Uttom, the country's second highest gallantry award for his outstanding bravery in the Liberation War. His certificate number was 22.
Maleka Khan is a Bangladeshi social worker and activist for the rights of the Birangana, women raped during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
