Historical context of the liberation war of Bangladesh

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Historical context of the liberation war of Bangladesh

Introduction: The war of liberation of Bangladesh started on March 26, 1971 but the freedom struggle of Bengalis lasted for ages. Finally, after a long 9-month bloody struggle, in exchange for the blood of 3 million martyrs and the honor of innumerable mothers and sisters, it came to an end with the final victory on 16 December 1971. On this day, independent and sovereign Bangladesh emerged on the map of the world. The history of the liberation war of Bangladesh is on the one hand tragic, mournful, heartbreaking and on the other hand glorious and heroic in the glory of sacrifice.

Background of the Liberation War: There is a historical background behind the liberation war of Bangladesh. On 23 June 1757, Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, was defeated by the British in a conspiratorial battle in the desert of Palashi. From there the sun of Bengal's independence set. The Bengali nation came under the rule of the British. They ruled for two hundred years. The Bengali nation has been crushed in the threshing floor of foreign rule, exploitation, deprivation and oppression. The spirit of protest, movement and struggle has been born in the minds of the people of this country at different times from the desire for freedom and dust-looted dreams cherished in the corner of the mind. As a result, the British were forced to leave the country. In 1947, two independent states, India and Pakistan, were born. Bangladesh was a part of independent Pakistan under the name of East Pakistan but the Bengalis still could not become truly independent. Because the Pakistani ruling class continues to exploit the Bengalis anew. The people of East Pakistan continue to be subjected to extreme socio-economic, political and cultural exploitation. They even conspired to take away our spoken language Bengali. In East Pakistan, Bengali is the mother tongue of 56 per cent of the people and Urdu is the state language of 6 per cent of Pakistanis. The students and people of this country did not accept it. The people of East Bengal erupted in violent protests. As the Bengalis were aware of this nefarious conspiracy, a constant resistance was formed against the Pakistani rulers. Later this resistance was transformed into liberation war and freedom struggle.

Independence Movement: The seeds of the independence movement have been sown since the first Governor General of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, declared Urdu as the only state language of Pakistan in 1947. The 'All-Party State Language Struggle Council' was formed to prevent Urdu as the state language. When Urdu was declared the state language again in 1952, protests broke out again. In 1952, the 'I want Bangla as the state language' movement intensified. Shots were fired to quell the movement. Salam, Rafiq, Jabbar, Barkat and many others were martyred. The collapse of the Muslim League in the 1954 elections and the unprecedented victory of the United Front shook the foundations of power of the Pakistani ruling class. In 1965, in the name of basic democracy, Ayub Khan usurped the political rights of the people of this country by holding a mock election. From here the movement for independence became intense. The historic 6-point demand was raised in 1976 for the realization of the rights of the Bengalis. In 1978, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested in Agartala conspiracy case. But it was not possible to stop him in the face of mass movement. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other political leaders were released in 1986. Although the Awami League won an absolute majority in the 1970 general election, the Pakistani ruling class began to procrastinate in the name of handing over power. In this context, Bangabandhu called for non-cooperation movement. On March 7, 1971, at a historic rally at the Racecourse Ground in Dhaka, he declared, "This time the struggle is for our liberation." This time the struggle is the struggle for independence. 'At the call of Bangabandhu, a tumultuous movement started all over Bengal. This made the government of Pakistan even more ruthless. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested at midnight on 25 March. That same night, the then military dictator General Yahya Khan lashed out at the Pakistani army over the innocent Bengali people. Cruel and barbaric genocide goes on in the darkness of night. Before his arrest that night, in the early hours of March 26, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh. The war of liberation began. Bangabandhu's declaration of independence was broadcast from the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra at Kalurghat in Chittagong. Spontaneous coups for independence took place all over Bangladesh.

Formation of expatriate government: The whole of Bangladesh was on fire in the face of Pak army killings. On 10 April 1971, the Mujibnagar government, an expatriate government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, was formally formed under the leadership of Tajuddin Ahmed. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was made the President of the Government of Bangladesh. In his absence, Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam served as President. Tajuddin Ahmed is the Prime Minister. Colonel (Retd.) Ataul Gani Osmani became the Commander-in-Chief of the War of Liberation. The liberation struggle started with the formation of this government.

Formation of Muktabahini: In order to accelerate the freedom struggle, Bangladesh was divided into 11 sectors under the leadership of General Ataul Gani Osmani. The Mukti Bahini was formed with the help of countless students, police, EPR, Ansar and military and civilians. In order to liberate the country from the clutches of the Pakistani aggressors, they took part in the war of liberation with training in war tactics, weapons and use of explosives. The more the days go by, the better organized the Mukti Bahini becomes. The Mukti Bahini used guerrilla warfare to defeat the enemy. The huge enemy force was not able to deal with the freedom fighters even with modern weapons and training.

Recognition and Recognition of India: Neighboring India extended a helping hand in the liberation war of Bangladesh. India furthered our freedom struggle through the shelter of Bangladeshi refugees, various weapons, armies and diplomatic cooperation. Realizing the inevitability of defeat in the war, Pakistan called the war a Pak-India war and sought to gain international advantage. But the United Nations failed to implement its plan to end the war because Soviet Russia vetoed it. On the same day after the Pakistan airstrikes on December 6, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi recognized Bangladesh.

Final Victory: In a joint struggle of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini at 4:31 pm on 16 December, at the historic Race Course Ground in Dhaka, Pakistan's Army Chief Niazi surrendered to the Bangladesh Mukti Bahini and the Indian Allied Forces along with 93,000 soldiers. Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora on behalf of Bangladesh and Lieutenant General Niazi on behalf of Pakistan signed the surrender document. As a result, the long 9-month struggle came to an end and the red-green flag of independent sovereign Bangladesh was born on the world map.

Conclusion: The red memories of the students-teachers, farmers-workers, journalists, intellectuals and the people of this country are associated with the liberation war of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is standing on the blood of millions of martyrs. Therefore, in order to pay homage to the freedom fighters, we have to devote ourselves to building the country. We have to wake up with patriotism like them without remembering them - only then the success of the liberation war will be reflected.