angladesh Liberation War

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For Indian intervention in the conflict, see Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
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Bangladesh Liberation War
মুক্তিযুদ্ধ
(Muktijuddho)
Part of the Indo-Pakistani conflicts and the Cold War

Clockwise from top left: Martyred Intellectuals Memorial;

Bangladesh Forces howitzer; Lt. Gen. Amir Niazi signs the
Pakistani Instrument of Surrender to Indian and Bangladeshi
forces in the presence of Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh;[1] the
PNS Ghazi.
Date 26 March – 16 December 1971
Location Predominantly:
East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh)

Spillover:
Eastern Front:

 India–East Pakistan border

 India–East Pakistan enclaves
 parts of East and Northeast India

Western Front:

 India–West Pakistan border

o Line of Control (Kashmir)
 o Zero Point

Indian Ocean:

 Bay of Bengal (Eastern Front)

 Arabian Sea (Western Front)

 Indian–Bangladeshi victory[2][3][4]
Result  Surrender of Pakistani forces

Territorial East Pakistan secedes from Pakistan as the

changes People's Republic of Bangladesh
Belligerents
Pakistan
(Govt. of East Pakistan)
Provisional Government of
Bangladesh
 Pakistan Armed
Forces
 Mukti Bahini
(26 March – 16 December
1971)

 India Paramilitary Forces / Militias:

 Indian Armed  Jamaat-e-Islami

Forces  Nagorik Shanti Committee
(3–16 December 1971)  Razakars
 Al-Badr
 Al-Shams

Commanders and leaders

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
(President of the Provisional
Government of Bangladesh)
Tajuddin Ahmad
(Prime Minister of the Provisional
Government of Bangladesh)
Gen M. A. G. Osmani
(Cdr-in-C, Bangladesh Forces)
Maj. K. M. Shafiullah
(Commander, S Force)
Maj. Ziaur Rahman
(Commander, Z Force)
Maj. Khaled Mosharraf
(Commander, K Force)
Gp Capt. A. K. Khandker
(Second-in-Command, Bangladesh
Forces)
Yahya Khan
(President of Pakistan)
Nurul Amin
(Prime Minister of Pakistan)
Abdul Motaleb Malik
(Governor of East Pakistan)
Gen. A. H. Khan
(Chief of Staff, Army GHQ)
Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi 
(Commander, Eastern Command)
Maj. Gen. Rao Farman
Ali 
(Mil. Adv., Govt. of East Pakistan)
Maj. Gen. Khadim
Hussain 
(GOC, 14th Infantry Div.)

V. V. Giri
(President of India)
Indira Gandhi
(Prime Minister of India)
Gen Sam Manekshaw
(Chief of Army Staff)
Lt Gen J. S. Arora
(GOC-in-C, Eastern Command)
Lt Gen Sagat Singh
(GOC-in-C, IV Corps)
Maj Gen Inderjit Singh Gill (AOC, Eastern Air Cmnd. (1969–
(Dir., Military Operations)
Maj Gen Om Malhotra
(COS, IV Corps)
Maj.Gen J. F. R. Jacob
(COS, Eastern Command)
Maj.Gen Shabeg Singh
(Cdr Training of MB)
V.Adm Nilakanta Krishnan Motiur Rahman Nizami
(FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval
Command)
AM Hari Chand Dewan
(AOC-in-C, Eastern Air Command)
175,000[5][6]
250,000[5]
Rr. Adm. Mohammad
Shariff 
(FOC, Eastern Naval Command)
Capt. Ahmad Zamir 
(CO, Pakistan Marine Corps, East)
Cdr. Zafar Muhammad  †
(CO, PNS Ghazi)
Air Cdre. Inamul Haque 
(AOC, Eastern Air Command)
Air Cdre. Zafar Masud
71))
Syed Khwaja Khairuddin
(Chair, Nagorik Shanti Committee)
Ghulam Azam
(Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami)
(Leader, Al-Badr)
Maj. Gen. Mohd. Jamshed
(Commander, Razakar)
Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry
(Leader, Al-Shams)
Strength
~91,000 regular troops[note 1]
280,000 Paramilitary forces[note
1]

~25,000 militiamen[8]
Casualties and losses
~8,000 killed
~10,000 wounded
~30,000 killed[9][10]
90,000—93,000 captured[12]
1,426–1,525 killed[11]
(including 79,676 troops and
3,611–4,061 wounded[11]
10,324—12,192 local
militiamen)[11][13][14]
Civilian deaths:[10] Estimates range between 300,000 and
3,000,000.

 v
 t
 e

Bangladesh Liberation War

Part of a series on the
History of Bangladesh

 Etymology
 Timeline
 Traditional
 Urheimat

Ancient
Classical
Medieval
Modern
Contemporary
Related articles
 Bangladesh portal
 v
 t
 e

The Bangladesh Liberation War[note 2] (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, pronounced [mukt̪ iɟud̪d̪ʱo]), 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 erstwhile 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. It pursued the systematic
annihilation of nationalist Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, religious minorities and
armed personnel. The junta annulled the results of the 1970 elections and arrested Prime
minister-designate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The war ended on 16 December 1971 when the
military forces of West Pakistan that were in Bangladesh surrendered in what remains to date the
largest surrender of soldiers since the Second World War.[17]

Rural and urban areas across East Pakistan saw extensive military operations and air strikes to
suppress the tide of civil disobedience that formed following the 1970 election stalemate. The
Pakistan Army, which had the backing of Islamists, created radical religious militias — the
Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams — to assist it during raids on the local populace.[18][19][20][21][22]
Urdu-speaking Biharis in Bangladesh (an ethnic minority) were also in support of Pakistani
military.[clarification needed] Members of the Pakistani military and supporting militias engaged in mass
murder, deportation and genocidal rape. The capital Dhaka was the scene of numerous
massacres, including Operation Searchlight and the Dhaka University massacre. An estimated
10 million Bengali refugees fled to neighbouring India, while 30 million were internally
displaced.[23] Sectarian violence broke out between Bengalis and Urdu-speaking immigrants. An
academic consensus prevails that the atrocities committed by the Pakistani military were a
genocide.

The Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence was broadcast from Chittagong by members of

the Mukti Bahini—the national liberation army formed by Bengali military, paramilitary and
civilians. The East Bengal Regiment and the East Pakistan Rifles played a crucial role in the
resistance. Led by General M. A. G. Osmani and eleven sector commanders, the Bangladesh
Forces waged a mass guerrilla war against the Pakistani military. They liberated numerous towns
and cities in the initial months of the conflict. The Pakistan Army regained momentum in the
monsoon. Bengali guerrillas carried out widespread sabotage, including Operation Jackpot
against the Pakistan Navy. The nascent Bangladesh Air Force flew sorties against Pakistani
military bases. By November, the Bangladesh forces restricted the Pakistani military to its
barracks during the night. They secured control of most parts of the countryside.[24]

The Provisional Government of Bangladesh was formed on 17 April 1971 in Mujibnagar and
moved to Calcutta as a government in exile. Bengali members of the Pakistani civil, military and
diplomatic corps defected to the Bangladeshi provisional government. Thousands of Bengali
families were interned in West Pakistan, from where many escaped to Afghanistan. Bengali
cultural activists operated the clandestine Free Bengal Radio Station. The plight of millions of
war-ravaged Bengali civilians caused worldwide outrage and alarm. India, which was led by
Indira Gandhi, provided substantial diplomatic, economic and military support to Bangladeshi
nationalists. British, Indian and American musicians organised the world's first benefit concert in
New York City to support the Bangladeshi people. Senator Ted Kennedy in the United States led
a congressional campaign for an end to Pakistani military persecution; while U.S. diplomats in
East Pakistan strongly dissented with the Nixon administration's close ties to the Pakistani
military dictator Yahya Khan.

India joined the war on 3 December 1971, after Pakistan launched preemptive air strikes on
North India. The subsequent Indo-Pakistani War witnessed engagements on two war fronts. With
air supremacy achieved in the eastern theatre and the rapid advance of the Allied Forces of Mukti
Bahini and Indian military, Pakistan surrendered in Dacca on 16 December 1971.

The war changed the geopolitical landscape of South Asia, with the emergence of Bangladesh as
the seventh-most populous country in the world. Due to complex regional alliances, the war was
a major episode in Cold War tensions involving the United States, the Soviet Union and the
People's Republic of China. The majority of member states in the United Nations recognised
Bangladesh as a sovereign nation in 1972.