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The Bangladesh Liberation War (two other names are also used occasionally) refers to an approximately nine month long armed conflict between current day Pakistan and Bangladesh. The war resulted in independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan. Brief overview and figures
Reasons for warYears before the warPakistan, as a nation, was created in the Partition of India of 14 August, 1947 following the end of British rule over the subcontinent. The division was made based on religious variation. Pakistan was created out of Muslim majority territories in the West and East and India was created out of the vast Hindu majority regions in the centre. The Western zone was popularly (and for a period of time, also officially) called West Pakistan and the Eastern zone (current day Bangladesh) was called East Bengal and later, East Pakistan. The capital of Pakistan was established in Lahore in West Pakistan. Economic exploitationWest Pakistan (consisting of four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province) dominated over the East. Although East was more populous, there was a clear under-spending in the region.
Between 1948 and 1960, East Pakistan's export earnings had been 70% while it only received 25% of import earning. In 1948 (shortly after independence from Britain), East Pakistan had 11 textile mills while West had 9. In 1971, the number of textile mills in the West had grown to 150 while that in the East had only gone up to 26. A transfer of 2.6 billion dollars (in 1971 exchange rates) worth resources was also done over time from East Pakistan to West Pakistan. Difference in religious standpointsOne of the key issue was the extent to which Islam was followed. West Pakistan with an overwhelming 97% Muslim population was less liberal (in religious terms) than East Pakistan which was at least 15% non-Muslim (mainly Hindus). The difference was made further clear after Bangladeshi independence, when Bangladesh was established as a secular country favouring the name People's Republic of Bangladesh over Islamic Republic of Bangladesh. Other factors including languageClose ties existed between West Bengal, one of the Indian state bordering Bangladesh, and East Pakistan as both were composed mostly of Bengalis. West Pakistan viewed East Pakistani links with India unfavourably as relations between India and Pakistan had been very poor since independence. At one point, an attempt was made to make Urdu, a language that was only spoken in West, the only official language for all of Pakistan, when Bangla was spoken by a majority of people. East Pakistan revolted and several students and civilians lost their lives. The day is revered in Bangladesh and in West Bengal as the Language Martyrs' Day. Bitter feelings among East Pakistanis never ceased to grow, especially with repeated arrivals of military rulers. Political climaxThe political prelude to the war included several factors. Due to the differences between the two states a nascent separatist movement developed in East Pakistan. Any such movements were sharply limited especially when martial law was in force between 1958 and 1962 (under General Ayub Khan) and between 1969 and 1972 (under General Yahya Khan). These military rulers were of West Pakistani origin and continued to favour West Pakistan in terms of economic advantages. The situation reached climax when in 1970 the Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections winning 167 or the 169 seats allotted for East Pakistan, and a majority of the 313 total seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the right to form a government. However, leader of People's Party of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Instead, he proposed a notion of two Prime Ministers. Bhutto also refused to accept Rahmans' Six Points. On 3 March 1971, the two leaders of the two wings along with the President General Yahya Khan met in Dhaka to decide the fate of the country. Talks failed. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a nation-wide strike. Military preparation in West PakistanGeneral Tikka Khan was flown in to Dhaka to become Governor of East Bengal. East-Pakistani judges, including Justice Siddique, refused to swear him in. MV Swat, a ship of Pakistan Navy, carrying ammunition and soldiers, was harboured in Chittagong Port and the Bengali workers and sailors at the port refused to unload the ship. A unit of East Pakistan Rifles refused to obey command to fire on Bengali demonstrators, beginning a mutiny of Bengali soldiers. Between 10-13 March, Pakistan International Airlines cancelled all their international routes to urgently fly "Government Passengers" to Dhaka. These so-called "Government Passengers" were almost exclusively Pakistani soldiers in civil uniform. Bangobondhu's speech of 7 MarchOn 7 March 1971, Bangobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a speech at the Racecourse Ground (now called Ramna Park). In this speech he mentioned a further four-point condition to consider the National Assembly Meeting on 25 March:
He urged "his people" to turn every house into a fort of resistance. He closed his speech saying, "The struggle this time is for our freedom. The struggle this time is for our independence." Violence of 25 MarchOn the night of 25 March, Pakistan Army began a violent effort to suppress the Bengali opposition. In Bangladesh, and elsewhere, the Pakistani actions are referred to as genocide. Before carrying out these acts, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from Bangladesh. Bengali members of military services were disarmed. The operation was called Operation Searchlight by Pakistani Army and was carefully devised by several top-ranked army generals to "crush" Bengalis. Although the violence focused on the provincial capital, Dhaka, the process of ethnic elimination was also carried out all around Bangladesh. Residential halls of University of Dhaka were particularly targeted. Hindu areas all over Bangladesh suffered particularly heavy blows. By midnight, Dhaka was literally burning. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was considered a "dangerous" and hence was arrested by Pakistan Army. Awami League was banned by General Yahya Khan. Some other Awami League leaders were arrested as well, while few escaped Dhaka to avoid arrest. Declaration of independenceSoon after the beginning of the military crackdown in Dhaka on 25 March, M A Hannan made the first declaration of independence over radio. However, this was not heard by many. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an "official" declaration that read:
(Source: "The History of the Liberation Movement in Bangladesh" by J. S. Gupta) A telegram reached some students in Chittagong. They realized the message could be broadcast from Agrabad Station of Radio Pakistan. The message was translated to Bangla by Dr Manjula Anwar. They failed to secure permission from higher authorities to broadcast the message. They crossed Kalurghat Bridge into an area controlled by East Bengal Regiment under Major Ziaur Rahman. Bengali soldiers guarded the station as engineers prepared for transmission. At 19:45 on 26 March 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman broadcast the following message which is considered the official declaration of independence.
26 March 1971 is hence considered the official Independence Day and according to all Bangladeshi sources, the name Bangladesh was in effect henceforth. Certain sources, especially of Indian and Pakistani origin, continue to call Bangladesh, East Pakistan until 16 December. The main WarPolitical technicalityMilitary operationFormation of Mukti BahiniFormation of the First Republic
Foreign interventionUSA and USSRUnited NationsIndiaInternational awareness
End of WarReaction in West Pakistan to the WarNomenclature justificationsThree names are frequently used to refer to the exact same warfare. Pakistani Civil WarThis name is mainly used by current day Pakistan Army and by certain unofficial Indian sources. The name describes either the period 26 March 1971 - 16 December 1971 or the period 26 March 1971 - 03 December 1971. The main issue arises from the validity of the declaration of independence on 26 March. This is entirely a matter of political technicality. There is a certain logic used by proponents of this nomenclature. According to them no country accepted Bangladesh's independence declaration and hence the region contemplated continued to be East Pakistan. So, the war was a civil war in effect. Indo-Pakistani War of 1971This name is used by armies of all three countries to describe the period between 03 December 1971 and 16 December 1971. Indian Army does not explicitly use the term to describe the war in their (India's) Eastern Front at any point. Instead, India only refers to the war on the Western Front as the Indo-Pakistani War. (Note that Indian Parliament recognized the People's Republic of Bangladesh as an independent country on the 6 December 1971.) There is no verifiable definite claim from the Pakistan Army or Government. Bangladesh clearly uses only the terminology Liberation War of Bangladesh for the war on Bangladeshi territory. The proponents of this terminology also question validity of declaration of independence of Bangladesh since there was no foreign government that acknowledged the independence. So, according to them, the war was effectively between Indian Army and Pakistan Army. Liberation War of BangladeshThis terminology is officially used in Bangladesh by all sources and by Indian official sources. The proponents claim that having won 167 out of 169 seats of East Pakistan, Awami League had people's mandate to form a democratic government. This gave Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the leader of the party the right to declare independence of the country. Since Major Ziaur Rahman claimed status of the temporary Head of the Republic, a Bangladesh government was in existence as early as 26 March 1971. Hence Bangladesh was in existence. There was also a Bangladesh Army which effectively meant the war was not between India and Pakistan but between Pakistan and Bangladesh backed by India. The terminology is politically preferred by both India and Bangladesh for a few reasons.
Current day influence of the War
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