Early Bangladesh History

[TheAngel_TheSaint]

The province of Bengal was almost impossible to administer, even though Assam was made a separate province in 1874. In 1905, largely at the initiative of the viceroy, Lord Curzon, two new provinces were created: Western Bengal, with Bihar and Orissa, and Eastern Bengal and Assam. The division, made on a geopolitical rather than an avowedly communal basis, followed one of the branch rivers of the Ganges from Rajmahal in the north to the sea. It gave Eastern Bengal, with its capital at Dhaka, a population of 31 million, all but 6 million being Bengalis. Behind Curzon's move, besides greater efficiency, was the intention of encouraging the Bengali Muslims as a counterweight to the “seditious” Bengali Hindus.

The partition elicited vociferous protest in Western Bengal, especially in Calcutta. A prominent part was played by Tagore, whose family had vast holdings along the Padma. The campaign included a boycott of British manufactures under the slogan “swadeshi” (literally “of our own country,” but also meaning “India-made goods”). The Muslim notables, still loyal to the British, decided that they also needed to organize. Their principal leaders were in northern India, but in December 1906 they gathered at Dhaka under the patronage of Nawab Salimullah and set up the All-India Muslim League. Their efforts secured separate electorates and separate constituencies for the Muslims under the 1909 Reforms, but the campaign against the partition of Bengal went on, and in 1912 the province was reunited (Bihar and Orissa being separated and Assam reverting to separate status).

The boundaries of East Pakistan....The boundaries of East Pakistan, which the region became, were determined by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, chairman of the Boundary Commission, as there was total disagreement among his Hindu and Muslim colleagues. The boundary he defined did not follow any clear natural feature, as in the 1905 partition, nor was it wholly based on communal proportions. Excluded wholly or partly from East Pakistan were Murshidabad, Nadia, Jessore, and Dinajpur, each approximately 60 percent Muslim.

On both sides of the new boundary, those who believed themselves a threatened minority moved into what they perceived as a place of refuge. Along with Muslim Bengalis arriving from Hindu majority districts, there were many Muslims who came from Bihar. One district, Purnea, had an actual Muslim majority and had been claimed by Jinnah. About one million Biharis settled in the new state. At independence, Suhrawardy lingered in Calcutta, and Nazimuddin became chief minister of East Pakistan....

In the meantime, Pakistan(now bangladesh) faced serious internal problems. A liberal statement of constitutional principles was promulgated in 1949, but parts of the proposed constitution ran into orthodox Muslim opposition. On Oct. 16, 1951, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated by an Afghan fanatic. His death left a leadership void that prime ministers Khwaja Nazimuddin (1951–53) and Muhammad Ali (1953–55) and governor-general Ghulam Muhammad (1951–55) failed to fill. In East Bengal, which had more than half of the nation's population, there was increasing dissatisfaction with the federal government in West Pakistan. In 1954, faced with growing crises, the government dissolved the constituent assembly and declared a state of emergency. In 1955, the existing provinces and princely states of West Pakistan were merged into a single province made up of 12 divisions, and the name of East Bengal was changed to East Pakistan, thus giving it at least the appearance of parity with West Pakistan.

In Feb., 1956, a new constitution was finally adopted, and Pakistan(now bangladesh) formally became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations; Gen. Iskander Mirza became the first president. Economic conditions remained precarious, even though large shipments of grain from the United States after 1953 had helped to relieve famine. In foreign relations, Pakistan's conflict with India over Kashmir remained unresolved. Pakistan joined the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization in 1954 and the Central Treaty Organization in 1955. After 1956 the threat to the stability of the Pakistan government gradually increased, stemming from continuing economic difficulties, frequent cabinet crises, and widespread political corruption


The Ayub Khan Regime
Finally, in Oct., 1958, President Mirza abrogated the constitution and granted power to the army under Gen. Muhammad Ayub Khan. Ayub subsequently assumed presidential powers (in 1960 he was elected to a five-year term), abolishing the office of prime minister and ruling by decree. Under the dictatorship, a vigorous land reform and economic development program was begun, and a new constitution, which provided for a federal Islamic republic with two provinces (East and West Pakistan) and two official languages (Bengali and Urdu), went into effect in 1962. The new city of Islamabad, N of Rawalpindi (which had been interim capital since 1959), became the national capital, and Dhaka, in East Pakistan, became the legislative capital.

In 1965, Ayub was reelected and a national assembly of 156 members—with East and West Pakistan each allocated 75 seats, and six seats reserved for women, who had previously been denied the vote under Islamic strictures—was elected. A treaty with India governing the use of the waters of the Indus basin was signed (1961). Communal strife was constantly present in the subcontinent—in Jan., 1961, several thousand Muslims were massacred in Madhya Pradesh state in India, and there were reprisals in Pakistan; in 1962 there was further communal conflict in Bengal. .

A series of conferences on Kashmir was held (Dec., 1962–Feb., 1963) between India and Pakistan following the Chinese assault (Oct., 1962) on India; both nations offered important concessions and solution of the long-standing dispute seemed imminent. However, Pakistan then signed a bilateral border agreement with China that involved the boundaries of the disputed state, and relations with India again became strained. Pakistan's continuing conflict with India over Kashmir erupted in fighting (Apr.–June, 1965) in the Rann of Kachchh region of NW India and SE West Pakistan and in an outbreak of warfare (August–September) in Kashmir.

Bangladesh and Bhutto
The Awami League, under Sheik Mujibur Rahman, in a campaign for full autonomy in East Pakistan, won an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly by taking 153 of the 163 seats allotted to East Pakistan. The opening session of the National Assembly, scheduled to meet in Dhaka in Mar., 1971, was twice postponed by Yahya Khan, who then canceled the election results, banned the Awami League, and imprisoned Sheik Mujib in West Pakistan on charges of treason. East Pakistan declared its independence as Bangladesh on Mar. 26, 1971, but was then placed under martial law and occupied by the Pakistani army, which was composed entirely of troops from West Pakistan.

In the ensuing civil war, some 10 million mainly hindu refugees fled to India.In November 1971,Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to the US was generally seen as a move to get the go-ahead from America for an invasion of Pakistan.India on Dec. 3, 1971, sent troops into East Pakistan. Following a two-week war between Pakistan and India, in which fighting also broke out along the India-West Pakistan border, Pakistani troops in East Pakistan surrendered (Dec. 16) and a cease-fire was declared on all fronts.

Following Pakistan's defeat, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, came to power in West Pakistan. Sheik Mujib was released from prison and eventually allowed to return to Bangladesh. Relations with India remained strained over the issue of the more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers who had surrendered after the civil war and become prisoners of war, over Pakistan's refusal to recognize Bangladesh, and over Bangladesh's declared intention to bring to trial some Pakistani soldiers on war-crimes charges. A summit meeting held in Shimla, India, in July, 1972, resulted in an easing of tensions and an agreement to settle differences between the two nations peacefully.

Revenge was brought against those who had collaborated. Local paramilitary forces, known as Razakars, had been raised. The Bengali force was called Al-Badr, while another, Al-Shams, was recruited from Urdu speakers—still called Biharis, though most had been born locally. A terrible retribution ensued, with Kader Siddiqi as public executioner. The Biharis had to flee into enclaves where their numbers gave some security, but many were killed. Hundreds of thousands of Biharis were placed in overcrowded refugee camps, where decades later many still awaited immigration to Pakistan.

Mujib preached a secular state, and the new national anthem was a poem by Tagore. In 1973 an election gave Mujib a landslide majority, but the euphoria soon turned sour. Prices escalated, and in 1974 a great famine claimed 50,000 lives. Faced with crisis, Mujib became a virtual dictator; corruption and nepotism reached new depths. On Aug. 15, 1975, Mujib was assassinated along with most of his family.

Right-wing, pro-Pakistan army officers were behind the killing, but there also have been allegations of U.S. support. The reconstructed army split into rival factions. Some of those who had fought in the resistance were politicized, especially the soldiers. The 1,000 officers and 28,000 soldiers who had been serving in the West since 1970 were not repatriated until 1973–74; they were allegedly pro-Pakistan and jealous of the fighters whom Mujib had favoured.


Reproduced by kind permission of britannica.com

[Edited by TheAngel_TheSaint on 12th July 2002 at 19:16]

[S_BIBI]

lemme think sorry i don't know anything about b'desh history.