International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

  The Bangali nationalist movement gathered strength under the leadership of Bongobondhu (friend of Bengal, a title conferred on him by popular acclaim) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, chief of the political party the Awami League. The Awami League had been founded as the Awami Muslim League in 1949, but dropped the word “Muslim” in 1955. In the course of the 1960s it became the leading political party in East Pakistan. In 1970 it won the first election to the National Assembly held on the basis of a universal adult franchise, with an overwhelming majority of seats. But the central rulers of West Pakistan refused to hand over power to the elected Bangali leaders. This resulted in a movement against the Pakistanis. The central government retaliated by declaring war against the East Pakistanis on March 25, 1971, unleashing a massive genocide on the Bangalis, forcing large numbers of them to cross the border and take refuge in India. Soon India got involved in the war. On December 16, 1971 the Pakistani army surrendered to the joint Bangladesh-India military forces in Dhaka. East Pakistan became the sovereign state of Bangladesh. Some politicians, right-wing parties such as the Jamaat-i-Islami or the Bangladesh Freedom Party, and especially the army, refer to the Liberation War as swadhinata sangram (War of Independence), emphasizing the process of transfer of power from the West Pakistani ... log in or subscribe to read full text