Lecture-05

Election of 1970, Non-cooperation movement and Declaration of

Independence The Liberation War of 1971 and Birth of Bangladesh :
Result of the Election, Non-cooperation movement, The speech of 7 March 1971,
Operation Searchlight , Declaration of Independence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, Genocide and Refugee

During the second term in jail (1966 to early 1969), Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s
charisma grew so much that a mass uprising took place in his favour in early 1969 and
Ayub administration was compelled to release him on 22 February 1969
unconditionally. On the following day of his release, the Sarbadaliya Chatra
Sangram Parishad (All Parties Students Action Committee) organized a mass
reception to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Ramna Racecourse (presently Suhrawardy
Uddyan) and accorded him the title ‘Bangabandhu’ (Friend of the Bengalis).

Elections of 1970:
On 25 March, 1969, martial law again proclaimed and General Aga Mohammad
Yahya Khan, the army commander in chief was designated chief martial law
administrator (CMLA). The 1962 constitution was abrogated and Ayub Khan
announced his resignation. Then Yahya Khan took the power and promised elections
on the basis of adult franchise to the National Assembly which would draw up a new
constitution. Yahya Khan also entered into discussions with leaders of political
parties. On 28 November 1969, Yahya Khan made a nationwide broadcast
announcing his proposals for a return to constitutional government. General elections
for the National Assembly were set for 5 October 1970, but were postponed to
December as the result of a severe cyclone that hit the coast of East Pakistan. The
National Assembly was obliged within 120 days to draw up a new constitution which
would permit maximum provincial autonomy. He also reserved the right to
‘authenticate’ the constitution.

The general elections of December 1970 made Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
the sole spokesman of East Pakistan. The people gave him the absolute mandate in
favour of his six-point doctrine. In the elections of 1970, the Awami League obtained
167 seats out of 169 allotted for East Pakistan. But, the Pakistan civil and military

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ruling clique refused to transfer the power to the majority leader Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman and his party. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman also refused to yield to the pressure
put on him for undue accommodation.

Any constitutional agreement clearly depended on the consent of three persons:

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, accredited leader of East Pakistan, Bhutto of West Pakistan
and Yahya Khan as the ultimate authenticator representing the military government.
In his role as intermediary and head of state, Yahya Khan tried to persuade Bhutto and
Mujib to come to some kind of accommodation. This effort proved unsuccessful as
Mujib insisted on his right as leader of the majority to form a government, a stand at
variance with Bhutto who claimed ‘two majorities’ in Pakistan. Bhutto declared that
his party would not attend the inaugural session of the assembly, thereby making the
establishment of civilian government difficult.

Historic speech of 7 March 1971

On 1 March, Yahya Khan, who earlier had referred to Mujib as the ‘future prime
minister of Pakistan’ dissolved his civilian cabinet and declared and indefinite
postponement of the National Assembly. In East Pakistan, the reaction was
immediate. Strikes, demonstrations and civil disobedience increased in tempo until
there was open revolt. Directed by Mujib, Banglais declared that they would pay no
taxes and would ignore martial law regulations on press and radio censorship. The
writ of the central government all but ceased to exist in East Pakistan. As a reaction to
Yahya’s act, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared virtual independence of East Pakistan.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made a historic address on 7 March 1971 at
the Ramna Racecourse Maidan in Dhaka to a gathering of over two million people
which is known as The 7th March Speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The speech is
regarded by many in Bangladesh as the de facto declaration of independence of the
country. The Bengali people were inspired to prepare for potential war to gain
autonomy. During the speech, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mijibur Rahman proclaimed,
“This time the struggle is for freedom; this time the struggle is our independence”,
inspiring people from all walks of life to prepare for the war that the Pakistani regime
would inflict upon the unarmed Bengalese 18 days later, committing one of the worst
genocide in human history. He also announced the “non-cooperation” movement in
the province.

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However, Mujib, Bhutto and Yahya Khan held negotiations in Dhaka in late March in
a final attempt to defuse the growing crisis; simultaneously, General Tikka Khan, who
commanded the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan, prepared a contingency plan for a
military takeover and called for troop reinforcements to be flown in via Sri-Lanka.
Eventually, in an atmosphere of distrust and suspicion, the talks broke down and on
25 March, Yahya Khan and Bhutto flew back to West Pakistan.

25 March 1971: Genocide Night

Operation Searchlight of 25 March is a dark night of Bangladesh. It was a planned
military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army started on 25 March, 1971 to curb
the Bengali nationalist movement by taking control of the major cities. The operation
ordered by the central government in West Pakistan. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman’s historic address on 7 March 1971 made this point quite clear to the
Pakistani military junta. The civil disobedience movement was begun then.
Meanwhile talks started between Mujib and Yahya to resolve the outstanding issues.
While holding talks, the Pakistani military junta was bringing more troops to
Bangladesh and at the same time wantonly killing innocent civilians all over the
country. This clearly showed that they were totally insincere about handing over
power to the elected representatives of Bangladesh. No sooner the talks failed, the
genocide began, with the Pakistan army’s crackdown on the people of East Pakistan
on the midnight of 25 March 1971. The Bengali soldiers serving in the then Pakistn
Armed Forces and para militia forces declared instantly their solidarity with the
people’s liberation war.

The Pakistani Army was ordered to launch operation on Bengali people at midnight of
25 March. According to the plan for Operation Searchlight two headquarters were
established. Major General Rao Farman Ali with 57 Brigade under Brigadier Arbab
was responsible for operation in Dhaka city and its suburbs while Major General
Khadim Raja was given the responsibility of the rest of the province. Lieutenant
General Tikka Khan assumed the overall charge of the operation. The students and the
nationalist political activists put up resistance outside the cantonment. Road blocks
were raised to obstruct the march of the Pakistani column to the city areas. The
wireless set fitted jeeps and trucks loaded with troops groaned on the streets of Dhaka
City at midnight of 25 March. The military forces killed everyday in sight on the

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footpath and destroyed everything on their way. The tanks roared through the streets
of Dhaka blasting indiscriminately at the people and official and residential buildings.
They gunned down clusters of settlements and set fire on them.

The student halls of residence at Dhaka University were raided and numerous students
residing there were brutally killed and wounded. They also killed many teachers of
Dhaka University. The Hindu concentrated areas of old Dhaka were particularly
targeted. They started killing the people, burnt their house, looted their valuables and
raped their women. The genocide that was perpetrated on the unarmed people was
flashed in the world press. The Pakistani Army and Rajakar, Al Badar forces killed
many innocent people including students, civilians, children, political members, old
peoples and many others and they also raped many Bengali girls and women during
the Operation Searchlight on the midnight of 25 March 1971.

Liberation War: 26 March to 16 December 1971

The liberation war of Bangladesh began on 26 March 1971 and ended with the
liberation of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971. On 26 March Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman was taken prisoner by the Pakistan army. At about the same time, Major
Ziaur Rahman announced Bangladesh’s independence on behalf of Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from Kalurghat radio station at Chittagong. There were
spontaneous uprisings throughout Bangladesh following the call of independence.
These uprisings were participated by government officials, political activists, students,
workers, peasants, professionals and members of the public. After initial resistance,
many freedom fighters crossed over into Indian Territory to have safe sanctuary, due
mainly to the enemy’s overwhelming superiority of trained soldiers and modern
weapons. The scattered and temporarily retreating rudimentary liberation forces were
soon brought under a unified command.

On 4 April, the senior officers of the liberation army assembled at the headquarters of
2nd East Bengal at Telipara, a semi hilly area covered by tea gardens where Colonel
MAG Osmany, Lieutenant Colonel Abdur Rob, Lieutenant Colonel Salahuddin
Mohammad Reja, Major Kazi Nuruzzaman, Major Khaled Mosharraf, Major Nurul
Islam, Major Shafat Jamil, Major Mainul Hossain Chowdhury and other were present.
In this meeting four senior commanders were entrusted with the responsibility of

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operation areas. Sylhet-Brahmanbaria area was placed under the command of Major
Shafiullah, Comilla-Noakhali area was given to Major Khaled Mosharraf while
Chittagong-Chittagong Hill Tracts was given to Major Ziaur Rahman, Kushtia-Jessore
area was placed under command of Major Abu Osman Chowdhury. In this meeting
the organisational concept of the freedom fighter forces and the command structuture
were chalked out. Colonel MAG Osmany was to command the liberation forces, later
named as Mukti Bahini.

Refugees:
On 27 March, Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi expressed full support of
her government to the freedom struggle of the Benglais. Indian Border Security Force
(BSF) opened Bangladesh-India border to allow the tortured and panic stricken
Bengalis to have safe shelter in India. The governments of West Bengal, Bihar,
Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura established refugee camps along the border. These
camps became ready ground for recruitment of the freedom fighters. The students,
peasants, workers and political activists joined the Mukti Bahini with high spirit to
liberate Bangladesh from the Pakistan army. They were given training on tactics and
the use of arms and explosives. On completion of training, they were posted to
different sectors to fight the enemy.

Mujibnagar Government:
An exile government called the People’s Republic of Bangladesh alias Mujibnagar
Government headed by Tajuddin Ahmed was formed on 10 April. On the next day
Tajuddin Ahmed announced the names of three more regional commanders; Captain
Newazish for Rangpur region, Major Najmul Haque for Dinajpur-Rajshahi-Pabna and
Major Jalil for Barisal-Patuakhali region. All these regions were later named as
sectors. All of Bnagladesh was divided into eleven such sectors and different sub-
sectors for operational purpose during the Sector Commander’s conference held from
10 to 17 July 1971.

The proclamation of Independence was formally announced by the Bangladesh

Government-in-exile on 17 April 1971 during the Liberation War which is known as
Mujibnagar Day. The acting president was Syed Nazrul Islam. In the exercise of
power conferred by the Proclamation, the Acting President Syed Nazrul Islam issued

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the Laws Continuance Enforcement Order to ensure continuity of all the existing
laws.

Razakars: Collaborators
The Razakar was the paramilitary force organized by the Pakistan Army in East
Pakistan during the Bangaldesh Liberation War in 1971. It is also alleged that
Razakars were recruited by the Shanti Committee which was formed by several pro-
Pakistani leaders including Nurul Amin, Ghulam Azam and Khwaja Khairuddin. The
first recruits included 96 Jamaat Party members who started training in an Ansar
Camp at Shahjahan Ali Road, Khulna. Together with the Al-Badr and Al-Shams
paramilitary forces, the Razakars were under Pakistani Army command and also
worked for them. They helped Pakistani Army to kill the people of East Pakistan.

Sectors of the Liberation War

Mukti Bahini consisted of the regular and the irregular forces. The regulars were later
called Niomito Bahini (regular force) and the Gono Bahini (irregular force). The
regulars included East Bengal Regiment and EPR troops. The irregular forces which
after initial training joined different sectors consisted of the students, peasants,
workers and political activists. Irregular forces were inducted inside Bangladesh
territory to adopt Guerilla warfare against the enemy. The regular forces were
engaged in fighting in conventional way. The first conventional brigade named as ‘Z’
Force was created in July. Major Ziaur Rahman was appointed commander of this
brigade and the brigade was named as ‘Z’ Force after the first letter of his name. The
brigade consisted of 1, 3 and 8 East Bengal. Second regular brigade ‘S’ Force was
created in October and consisted of 2 and 11 East Bengal. ‘S’ Force was named after
the initial letter of the name of its commander Shafiullah. Similarly the ‘K’ Force
created with 4, 9 and 10 East Bengal which was commanded by Khaled Mosharraf. In
the War of Liberation in 1971 the whole geographical area of the then East Pakistan
was strategically divided into eleven sectors with a sector commander for each of
them. For better efficiency in military operations each of the sectors were divided into
a number of sub-sectors under a commander.

Sector 1

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It comprised the districts of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts and the entire area
of the Noakhali district. The sector commander was Major Ziaur Rahman, later
replaced by Major Rafiqul Islam.

Sector 2
The districts of Dhaka, Comilla, Faridpur and part of Noakhali district included in
sector two. The sector commander was Major Khaled Mosharraf, later replaced by
Major ATM Haider.

Sector 3
It comprised the area between Sylhet and Brahmanbaria. The sector commander was
Major KM Shafiullah, later replaced by Major ANM Nuruzzaman.

Sector 4
It comprised the area from Habiganj sub-division of Sylhet district. The sector
commander was Major Chittaranjan Datta, later replaced by Captain A Rab.

Sector 5
This sector comprised the area from Durgapur of Sylhet district and the entire are up
to the eastern borders of the district. The sector commander was Major Mir Shawkat
Ali.

Sector 6
It comprised Rangpur district and part of Dinajpur district. Wing Commander M
Khademul Bashar was the sector commander of this sector.

Sector 7
This sector comprised the districts of Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra and part of Dinajpur
district. The sector commander was Major Nazrul Haq.

Sector 8
It comprised the districts of Kushtia, Jessore, Khulna, Barisal, Faridpur and
Patuakhali. The sector commander was Major Abu Osman Chowdhury, later replaced
by Major MA Manzur.

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Sector 9
This sector comprised the districts of Barisal, Patuakhali and parts of the district of
Khulna and Faridpur. The sector commander was Major MA Jalil.

Sector 10
This sector was constituted with the naval commandos. Eight Bengali officers of
Pakistan Navy trained in France were the pioneers in forming this force.

Sector 11
It comprised the districts of Mymensingh and Tangail. Major M Abu Taher was the
sector commander of this sector. After Major Taher was seriously wounded in a
battle, he was replaced by Squadron Leader Hamidullah.

Bir Sreshtho: The Most Valiant Hero

The Bir Sreshtho is the highest military award of Bangaldesh. It was awarded to seven
freedom fighters who showed utmost bravery and died in action for their nation. They
are considered martyrs. The other three gallantry awards are named, in decreasing
order of importance- Bir Uttom, Bir Bikrom and Bir Protik.

All of these awards were introduced immediately after the Liberation War in 1971.
Many people - children, women, men, farmers, intellectuals, leaders - gave their life
to protect the honour of Bangladesh and fight for her freedom. Out of all these
shaheeds only 7 Heroes have been awarded with the highest gallantry award - the Bir
Srestho. In our liberation war almost everyone sacrificed in some form or the other.
But these heroes had displayed unprecedented dedication, unselfishness and courage,
which will remain as sources of inspiration for the future generations to come. The
award recognises their skill, technical and military proficiency, leadership, and above
all, their courage in the hour of need. Each of the young men sacrificed their life for
the greater good of the Bengalis:
1. Mohammad Ruhul Amin (1934 - 1971)
2. Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh (1936 - 1971)
3. Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf (1943 - 1971)
4. Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman (1945 - 1971)

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 5. Sepoy Mostafa Kamal (1947 - 1971)
6. Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir (1949 - 1971)
7. Sepoy Hamidur Rahman(1953 - 1971)

Mukti Bahini: The Freedom Fighters

On 12 April 1971 Colonel (later General) MAG Osmany assumed the command of
armed forces at Teliapara (Sylhet) headquarters. Osmany made the commander-in-
chief of Bangladesh Armed Forces on 17 April 1971. Serious initiative for organising
the Bangladesh liberation army was taken between 11-17 July. The liberation forces
started carrying out massive raids enemy fronts from October 1971. After the signing
of the Indo-Soviet Treaty in August 1971, India began to demonstrate more interest in
the Bangladesh War. And finally, India entered the War on 3 December 1971. In fact,
joint command of the Mukti Bahini and the Indian army was underway from
November 1971. Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Commander, Eastern
Command of Indian Army, became the commander of the joint forces. The joint
command of the Mukti Bahini and the Indian army, however, started operation from
the evening of 3 December. They continued advancing inside Bangladesh and the
defeat and surrender of the Pakistan army became a matter of time.

At least 3 million Bangladeshi were killed during the liberation War by the Pakistani
Army. On 16 December 1971, commander of the 14 division of Pakistan army Major
General Jamshed surrendered to Indian General Nagra near Mirpur Bridge in Dhaka.
At 10:40 am, the Indian allied force and Kader Siddiqui entered Dhaka city. That
signalled the end of 9 month long War of Liberation of Bangladesh. Eventually, on 16
December 1971, Bangladesh became an independent country.

References:
BANGLAPEDIA-National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Editor: Prof. Sirajul Islam.

Bangladesh Revisited- A Comprehensive Study of as Asian Nation by Prof.

Muhammad Ruhul Amin, Department of International Relations, University of
Dhaka.

Bangladesh National Culture and Heritage, by Mr. A F Salauddin Ahmed.

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Topic 02: Rule of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 1972-1975
(Democratic Rule): Return of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , Formulation of
constitution, Reorganization of war-torn countries, Assassination of
Bangabandhu and his family and changing the ideology of Bangladesh

Mujib Government (1972-1975) Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib returned to

Bangladesh on 10 January 1972, after being freed from Pakistani prison.
The very next day he issued a Provisional Constitutional Order to initiate
parliamentary system and to introduce cabinet form of government.
Within two months all Indian troops were withdrawn from Bangladesh
and civil administration was restored in all districts. The constitution of
1972 was framed taking nationalism, socialism, democracy, and
secularism as the state principles. Parliamentary elections were held for
the first time under the new constitution on 7 March 1973. In this
election, out of 300 seats Awami League won 292, National Awami Party
(NAP) 1, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal 1, Jatiya League 1 and independent
candidates won 5 seats. Later in the year elections to local bodies were
also held.
Mujib's vision was to ensure the leadership of the political elite over the
civil-military bureaucratic elite who ruled the country right from the
British down to the Pakistani period. of course, the Bangali civil
bureaucracy and the military initially accepted their subordinate roles
because the nationalist movement had all along supported the idea of a
parliamentary democracy where politicians provided leadership. The
bureaucracy and the military were also institutionally weak as many
senior members of the two institutions were interned in Pakistan and
could not return to Bangladesh till 1973. The political parties were also
weak and fractionalised.
Sheikh Mujib relied on his charisma and personal popular support to
establish rule of law. However, this also led to further weakening of the
existing institutions and the rise of a 'personality cult'. A faction of the
Awami League's student wing dubbed the four principles of state
ideology'nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism'as Mujibbad
(Mujibism).

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Although the state apparatus was weak, it had to tackle massive
problems: establishing law and order, disarming civilian freedom fighters,
rehabilitating refugees, reconstructing infrastructure, managing industries
left by non-Bengali owners, negotiating with the international community
for recognition and assistance, and so on. An effort was made to establish
industries and factories, banks and insurance companies, though the
state's limited capacity was seriously challenged by these tasks of
economic and political management.
Bangladesh society was also in great turmoil. On the one hand there was
a popular demand for holding war crime trials of the Pakistani prisoners
of war and their collaborators and on the other there was strong pressure
from the friends of Pakistan in the international community to drop the
war crime trials. The experiences of the liberation war radically altered
the vision of different groups. Many, particularly young freedom fighters,
expected a revolutionary change in society. Within a year after
independence, one faction of the student wing of the Awami League
started a new political party Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) - calling for
the establishment of scientific socialism. Various factions of communist
parties were engaged in class warfare in different parts of the country.
Some freedom fighters started more peaceful initiatives establishing non-
government organisations (NGOs) to raise consciousness of marginalised
groups and deliver services to the poor. The NGO movement, which was
later to emerge as a major force in society, started its existence in the
years immediately following the birth of Bangladesh.
Faced with these contradictory pressures Sheikh Mujib tried to maintain
balance among opposing groups. War crime trials were dropped and the
Pakistani prisoners of war were eventually freed. Then Mujib turned his
attention to the radical leftist opposition. A paramilitary counter
insurgency force, Rakkhi Bahini' composed of Awami League
loyalists'was created by him to tackle the militants.
Awami League was under pressure for the massive reconstruction and
rehabilitation of the country; but the progress was slow. As a result
discontent with the Awami League regime started growing. At the same
time, there were allegations of corruption against many Awami League
leaders. The internal dispute of Awami League surfaced. On the one side,
militant youth leaders of the Awami League demanded for the
establishment of a revolutionary government under Sheikh Mujib. On the

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other, older moderate leaders were supporting to continue the
parliamentary democratic rule. The 1974 flood, food deficit, shortage of
foreign currency, unwillingness of the international banking system to
provide loan, and failure to get instantaneous aid in spite of the formation
of 'Bangladesh Aid Agency' resulted in a famine in Bangladesh. The law
and order situation deteriorated. Mujib finally decided to provide a one
party presidential form of government with restrictions on the freedom of
press and judiciary by the fourth amendment of the constitution in
January 1975.
On 24 February 1975, Sheikh Mujib dissolved all political parties to form
a single national party called Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League
(BAKSAL), which had five fronts: peasants, workers, youth, students,
and women. Breaking the long-standing tradition of the British and
Pakistani periods, members of the civil bureaucracy and the armed forces
were allowed to join the party.
Sheikh Mujib termed it as the 'second revolution'. Some economic and
administrative reforms were introduced with the formation of one party
government. Reform in the monetary sector, reduced control on imports,
renewed initiative on food production, new strategy on export promotion,
reduced control on industrial sector, open market policy in the pricing of
commodities were introduced. Initiatives were taken for reform of district
administration through appointment of a political governor in each
district, which was earlier a subdivision and for the supply of essential
commodities to the villagers co-operative institutions were established.
However, before Sheikh Mujib could fully implement his new ideas he
was assassinated along with his family members and some of his
colleagues by a group of ambitious junior military officers on 15 August
1975. Mujib's constitutional process was thus 'aborted'.

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