The Bangladesh War of Independence or the Bangladesh Liberation War refers to an armed conflict between West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) that lasted for roughly nine months in 1971. The war resulted in Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan.
Pakistan’s partition from India in 1947 had arisen from the ‘two-nation’ thesis that Muslims and Hindus in India were both ‘nations’ whose people could not live together. Pakistan was the first modern-state founded solely on the basis of religion, since although India had a Hindu majority its population, with Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and Christians was multi-religious and its constitution was secular. When East Bengal was included in the partition, many thought this mistaken because of the cultural differences between Bengal and the peoples of what became West Pakistan. When the West tried to impose Urdu as the official language in the East, a linguistic-cultural opposition movement began.
Bangladesh would be founded on the basis of cultural and linguistic identity. Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and animists, united by a common language and a common culture, struggled for their freedom. Few families were unaffected by the war. Most lost relatives. Bengal have been conquered by others but have not had a history of aggression. The people have traded, written poetry, sung songs and have developed a rich cultural tradition of which they are proud. However, denied equal rights with West Pakistan and the right to form a government even though the largest number of seats in Pakistan’s Parliament were held by East Pakistani members, they bravely asserted their right to self-determination. The atrocities committed by Pakistani soldiers during this war are regarded as genocide.
During the Partition of India, Pakistan, as a country, gained independence on August 14, 1947 following the end of British rule over South Asian countries. The division was made based on religion. 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 center. The Western zone was popularly (and for a period of time, also officially) called West Pakistan and the Eastern zone (modern-day Bangladesh) was called East Bengal and later, East Pakistan. The capital of Pakistan was established in Karachi in West Pakistan and then moved to Islamabad in 1958.
West Pakistan (consisting of four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province) dominated the divided country and received more money than the more populous East.
Year Spending on West Pakistan (in crore Rupees)
Spending on East Pakistan (in crore Rupees) Percentage Spent on East
1950/51-54/55 1129 524 46
1955/56-59/60 1655 524 32
1960/61-64/65 3355 1404 42
1965/66-69/70 5195 2141 41
Total 12834 4300 34
(Source: Reports of the Advisory Panels for the Fourth Five Year Plan 1970-75, Vol. I, published by the planning commission of Pakistan)
Between 1948 and 1960, East Pakistan’s export earnings had been 70 per cent while it only received 25 per cent of import earning. In 1948 (shortly after independence from the UK), 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. Moreover it was felt that much of the income generated by the east was primarily diverted towards fighting wars in Kashmir.
One of the key issue was the extent to which Islam was followed. West Pakistan with an overwhelming 97 percent Muslim population was less liberal (in religious terms) than East Pakistan which was at least 15 per cent non-Muslim (mainly Hindus). Bengalis’ are proud of their common literary and cultural heritage in which Muslim, Hindu and Christian writers are held in high esteem across the religious divide. The difference was made further clear after Bangladeshi independence, when Bangladesh was established as a secular country under the name ‘People’s Republic of Bangladesh’ rather than as the Islamic Republic of Bangladesh. This was in tribute to all those, Muslim and non-Muslim, who had taken part in the independence struggle.
Close ties existed between East Pakistan and West Bengal, one of the Indian states bordering Bangladesh, as both were composed mostly of Bengalis. West Pakistan viewed East Pakistani links with India unfavorably as relations between India and Pakistan had been very poor since independence.
In 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared in Dhaka, capital of East Pakistan, that “Urdu, and only Urdu,” a language that was only spoken in the West by Muhajirs and in the East by Biharis, would be the sole official language for all of Pakistan, while Bangla was spoken by the majority of people. East Pakistan revolted and several students and civilians lost their lives on February 21, 1952. 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. Later, in remembrance of the 1952 killings, UNESCO declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day.
The already tense situation was further aggravated by a tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan in 1970. It was a particularly devastating year as the deadliest cyclone on record-the Bhola cyclone-struck Bangladesh claiming nearly half a million lives. The apathy of West Pakistan leadership and its failure in responding quickly was a further platform for the Awami League, that capitalized on this tragedy. The Pakistan Army failed to do relief work of any significance to alleviate the problem, which further antagonised the already estranged Bengali populace.
The 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 a 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 of 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, the leader of Pakistan People’s Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to allow Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Instead, he proposed a notion of two Prime Ministers. Bhutto also refused to accept Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Six Points which would result in autonomy for East Pakistan. On March 3, 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.
General 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 the Pakistani Navy, carrying ammunition and soldiers, was harbored 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 commands to fire on Bengali demonstrators, beginning a mutiny of Bengali soldiers.
Between March 10 and 13, Pakistan International Airlines canceled all their international routes to urgently fly ‘Government Passengers’ to Dhaka. These so-called ‘Government Passengers’ were almost exclusively Pakistani soldiers in civil uniform.
On March 7, 1971, Bangobondhu (friend of the Bengalis) (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) gave a speech at the Racecourse Ground (now called the Suhrawardy Udyan). In this speech he mentioned a further four-point condition to consider the National Assembly Meeting on March 25:
The immediate lifting of martial law.
Immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks.
An inquiry into the loss of life.
Immediate transfer of power to the elected representatives of the people before the assembly meeting March 25.
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.”
On the night of March 25, 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. The only Hindu residential hall-the Jagannath Hall-was destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces, and an estimated 600 to 700 of its residents were murdered. The Pakistani army denies any cold blooded killings at the university, though the Hamood-ur-Rehman commission in Pakistan states that overwhelming force was used at the university. This fact and the massacre at Jagannath Hall and nearby student dormitories of Dhaka University are corroborated by a videotape secretly filmed by Prof. Nur Ullah of the East Pakistan Engineering University, whose residence was directly opposite to the student dormitories.
Hindu areas all over Bangladesh suffered particularly heavy blows. By midnight, Dhaka was literally burning, especially the Hindu dominated eastern part of the city. Time magazine reported on August 2, 1971, “The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred.”
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was considered dangerous and, hence, 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.
On March 26, the nation waged an armed struggle against the Pakistani occupation forces following the killings of the night of 25 March. The Pakistani forces arrested Sheikh Mujib, who, through a wireless message, had called upon the people to resist the occupation forces [source: The Daily Star, March 26 2005]. Mujib was arrested on the night of March 25-26, 1971 at about 1:30 A.M. (per Radio Pakistan’s news on March 29, 1971) which means effectively on March 26, 1971.
On March 26, 1971, M. A. Hannan, an Awami League leader from Chittagong, is said to have made the first announcement of the declaration of independence over radio,
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration on March 25, 1971 that read:
“Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between EPR and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pakistan on the other, are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May God aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla.”
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 March 26, 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman broadcast another announcement of the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur which is as follows.
This is Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendro. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction of Bangobondhu Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that the independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his direction, I have taken command as the temporary Head of the Republic. In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I call upon all Bengalis to rise against the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the last to free our Motherland. By the grace of Allah, victory is ours. Joy Bangla.
Kalurghat Radio Station’s transmission capability was limited. The message was picked up by a Japanese ship in Bay of Bengal and then re-transmitted by Radio Australia and later the British Broadcasting Corporation.
March 26, 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, continued to use the name “East Pakistan” until the following December 16.
As political events gathered momentum, the stage was set for a clash between the Pakistan Army and the insurgents. Though smaller Maoist style paramilitary bands started emerging, the Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) emerged increasingly visible. Headed by Colonel Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani, a retired Pakistan Army officer, this band was raised as Mujib’s action arm and security force before assuming the character of a conventional guerrilla force. After the declaration of Independence, the Pakistan military sought to quell them, but increasing numbers of Bengali soldiers defected to the underground “Bangladesh army.”
These Bengali units slowly merged into the Mukti Bahini and bolstered their weaponry. They then jointly launched operations against the Pakistan Army killing many in the process. This setback prompted the Pakistan Army to induct Razakars, a paramilitary force, from the local populace to bolster their numbers. These people were essentially viewed as traitors and with suspicion by local Bengalis, as a vast majority of these recruits were Bihari Muslims who had settled during the time of partition. This helped Pakistan stem the tide somewhat as the monsoon approached in the months of June and July.
Undeterred by this setback, Mukti Bahini regrouped as they gained in strength and capability. Aided by the Indian government in West Bengal, they were equipped and trained to counter the Pakistan Army. As there was no action during the monsoon, it was seen by the Pakistan military brass as a weakening of the Bangladesh cause. However it was merely the lull before the storm. After sensing the enormity of the issue, the army was beefed up as the troop strength was increased to more than 80,000. This caused a rise in tensions across the border as India realized the gravity of the situation. The Indian military were preparing for the eventual onslaught with the aid of the separatists and waited for the end of the monsoon season to enable easy passage. The Indians aimed to bypass the villages and towns and instead concentrate on the cities and the highways which ultimately would lead to the capture of Dhaka.
Pakistan decided to nullify such an attack and on December 3 launched a series of preemptive air strikes. The attack was modeled on the Operation Focus employed by Israel Air Force during the Six-Day War. However the plan failed to achieve the desired success and was seen as an open act of unprovoked aggression by the Indians. Indira Gandhi then ordered the immediate mobilisation of troops and launched the full scale invasion. This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 with fighting commencing in West Pakistan.
The Indian Army, far superior in numbers and equipment to that of Pakistan, executed a three-pronged pincer movement on Dhaka launched from the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura. In all these places the Mukti Bahini and the local Bengalis played a vital role in aiding the Indian Army. Many soldiers were ferried in the night by the locals across rivers and valuable information on the location and whereabouts of different military strongholds were gleaned.
It was backed up by the Indian Air Force which achieved near air supremacy towards the end of the war as the entire East Pakistan airbase with all the flights were destroyed. The Indian Navy, also annihilated the eastern wing of the Pakistan Navy and blockaded the East Pakistan ports, thereby cutting off any escape routes for the stranded Pakistani warriors. The fledgling Bangladesh Navy (comprising officers and sailors who defected from Pakistan Navy) aided the Indians in the marine warfare, carrying out attacks, most notably Operation Jackpot.
Meanwhile, on the ground, nearly three brigades of Mukti Bahini along with the Indian forces fought in a conventional formation. This was supplemented by guerrilla style attacks on Pakistanis who were facing hostilities on land, air, water in both covert and overt ways. Undeterred, Pakistan tried to fight back and boost the sagging morale by incorporating the Special Services Group commandos in sabotage and rescue missions.
This however could not stop the juggernaut of the invading columns whose speed and power were too much to contain for the Pakistan Army. On December 16, within just 12 days, the capital Dhaka fell to the Mitro Bahini-the allied forces. Lt. Gen. Niazi surrendered to the combined forces headed by its commander Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora by signing the Instrument of Surrender at Ramna Racecourse, 16:31 Indian Standard Time. Bangladesh became liberated.
—Internet
Pakistan’s partition from India in 1947 had arisen from the ‘two-nation’ thesis that Muslims and Hindus in India were both ‘nations’ whose people could not live together. Pakistan was the first modern-state founded solely on the basis of religion, since although India had a Hindu majority its population, with Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and Christians was multi-religious and its constitution was secular. When East Bengal was included in the partition, many thought this mistaken because of the cultural differences between Bengal and the peoples of what became West Pakistan. When the West tried to impose Urdu as the official language in the East, a linguistic-cultural opposition movement began.
Bangladesh would be founded on the basis of cultural and linguistic identity. Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and animists, united by a common language and a common culture, struggled for their freedom. Few families were unaffected by the war. Most lost relatives. Bengal have been conquered by others but have not had a history of aggression. The people have traded, written poetry, sung songs and have developed a rich cultural tradition of which they are proud. However, denied equal rights with West Pakistan and the right to form a government even though the largest number of seats in Pakistan’s Parliament were held by East Pakistani members, they bravely asserted their right to self-determination. The atrocities committed by Pakistani soldiers during this war are regarded as genocide.
During the Partition of India, Pakistan, as a country, gained independence on August 14, 1947 following the end of British rule over South Asian countries. The division was made based on religion. 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 center. The Western zone was popularly (and for a period of time, also officially) called West Pakistan and the Eastern zone (modern-day Bangladesh) was called East Bengal and later, East Pakistan. The capital of Pakistan was established in Karachi in West Pakistan and then moved to Islamabad in 1958.
West Pakistan (consisting of four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province) dominated the divided country and received more money than the more populous East.
Year Spending on West Pakistan (in crore Rupees)
Spending on East Pakistan (in crore Rupees) Percentage Spent on East
1950/51-54/55 1129 524 46
1955/56-59/60 1655 524 32
1960/61-64/65 3355 1404 42
1965/66-69/70 5195 2141 41
Total 12834 4300 34
(Source: Reports of the Advisory Panels for the Fourth Five Year Plan 1970-75, Vol. I, published by the planning commission of Pakistan)
Between 1948 and 1960, East Pakistan’s export earnings had been 70 per cent while it only received 25 per cent of import earning. In 1948 (shortly after independence from the UK), 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. Moreover it was felt that much of the income generated by the east was primarily diverted towards fighting wars in Kashmir.
One of the key issue was the extent to which Islam was followed. West Pakistan with an overwhelming 97 percent Muslim population was less liberal (in religious terms) than East Pakistan which was at least 15 per cent non-Muslim (mainly Hindus). Bengalis’ are proud of their common literary and cultural heritage in which Muslim, Hindu and Christian writers are held in high esteem across the religious divide. The difference was made further clear after Bangladeshi independence, when Bangladesh was established as a secular country under the name ‘People’s Republic of Bangladesh’ rather than as the Islamic Republic of Bangladesh. This was in tribute to all those, Muslim and non-Muslim, who had taken part in the independence struggle.
Close ties existed between East Pakistan and West Bengal, one of the Indian states bordering Bangladesh, as both were composed mostly of Bengalis. West Pakistan viewed East Pakistani links with India unfavorably as relations between India and Pakistan had been very poor since independence.
In 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared in Dhaka, capital of East Pakistan, that “Urdu, and only Urdu,” a language that was only spoken in the West by Muhajirs and in the East by Biharis, would be the sole official language for all of Pakistan, while Bangla was spoken by the majority of people. East Pakistan revolted and several students and civilians lost their lives on February 21, 1952. 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. Later, in remembrance of the 1952 killings, UNESCO declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day.
The already tense situation was further aggravated by a tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan in 1970. It was a particularly devastating year as the deadliest cyclone on record-the Bhola cyclone-struck Bangladesh claiming nearly half a million lives. The apathy of West Pakistan leadership and its failure in responding quickly was a further platform for the Awami League, that capitalized on this tragedy. The Pakistan Army failed to do relief work of any significance to alleviate the problem, which further antagonised the already estranged Bengali populace.
The 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 a 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 of 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, the leader of Pakistan People’s Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to allow Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Instead, he proposed a notion of two Prime Ministers. Bhutto also refused to accept Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Six Points which would result in autonomy for East Pakistan. On March 3, 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.
General 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 the Pakistani Navy, carrying ammunition and soldiers, was harbored 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 commands to fire on Bengali demonstrators, beginning a mutiny of Bengali soldiers.
Between March 10 and 13, Pakistan International Airlines canceled all their international routes to urgently fly ‘Government Passengers’ to Dhaka. These so-called ‘Government Passengers’ were almost exclusively Pakistani soldiers in civil uniform.
On March 7, 1971, Bangobondhu (friend of the Bengalis) (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) gave a speech at the Racecourse Ground (now called the Suhrawardy Udyan). In this speech he mentioned a further four-point condition to consider the National Assembly Meeting on March 25:
The immediate lifting of martial law.
Immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks.
An inquiry into the loss of life.
Immediate transfer of power to the elected representatives of the people before the assembly meeting March 25.
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.”
On the night of March 25, 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. The only Hindu residential hall-the Jagannath Hall-was destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces, and an estimated 600 to 700 of its residents were murdered. The Pakistani army denies any cold blooded killings at the university, though the Hamood-ur-Rehman commission in Pakistan states that overwhelming force was used at the university. This fact and the massacre at Jagannath Hall and nearby student dormitories of Dhaka University are corroborated by a videotape secretly filmed by Prof. Nur Ullah of the East Pakistan Engineering University, whose residence was directly opposite to the student dormitories.
Hindu areas all over Bangladesh suffered particularly heavy blows. By midnight, Dhaka was literally burning, especially the Hindu dominated eastern part of the city. Time magazine reported on August 2, 1971, “The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred.”
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was considered dangerous and, hence, 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.
On March 26, the nation waged an armed struggle against the Pakistani occupation forces following the killings of the night of 25 March. The Pakistani forces arrested Sheikh Mujib, who, through a wireless message, had called upon the people to resist the occupation forces [source: The Daily Star, March 26 2005]. Mujib was arrested on the night of March 25-26, 1971 at about 1:30 A.M. (per Radio Pakistan’s news on March 29, 1971) which means effectively on March 26, 1971.
On March 26, 1971, M. A. Hannan, an Awami League leader from Chittagong, is said to have made the first announcement of the declaration of independence over radio,
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration on March 25, 1971 that read:
“Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between EPR and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pakistan on the other, are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May God aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla.”
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 March 26, 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman broadcast another announcement of the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur which is as follows.
This is Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendro. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction of Bangobondhu Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that the independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his direction, I have taken command as the temporary Head of the Republic. In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I call upon all Bengalis to rise against the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the last to free our Motherland. By the grace of Allah, victory is ours. Joy Bangla.
Kalurghat Radio Station’s transmission capability was limited. The message was picked up by a Japanese ship in Bay of Bengal and then re-transmitted by Radio Australia and later the British Broadcasting Corporation.
March 26, 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, continued to use the name “East Pakistan” until the following December 16.
As political events gathered momentum, the stage was set for a clash between the Pakistan Army and the insurgents. Though smaller Maoist style paramilitary bands started emerging, the Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) emerged increasingly visible. Headed by Colonel Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani, a retired Pakistan Army officer, this band was raised as Mujib’s action arm and security force before assuming the character of a conventional guerrilla force. After the declaration of Independence, the Pakistan military sought to quell them, but increasing numbers of Bengali soldiers defected to the underground “Bangladesh army.”
These Bengali units slowly merged into the Mukti Bahini and bolstered their weaponry. They then jointly launched operations against the Pakistan Army killing many in the process. This setback prompted the Pakistan Army to induct Razakars, a paramilitary force, from the local populace to bolster their numbers. These people were essentially viewed as traitors and with suspicion by local Bengalis, as a vast majority of these recruits were Bihari Muslims who had settled during the time of partition. This helped Pakistan stem the tide somewhat as the monsoon approached in the months of June and July.
Undeterred by this setback, Mukti Bahini regrouped as they gained in strength and capability. Aided by the Indian government in West Bengal, they were equipped and trained to counter the Pakistan Army. As there was no action during the monsoon, it was seen by the Pakistan military brass as a weakening of the Bangladesh cause. However it was merely the lull before the storm. After sensing the enormity of the issue, the army was beefed up as the troop strength was increased to more than 80,000. This caused a rise in tensions across the border as India realized the gravity of the situation. The Indian military were preparing for the eventual onslaught with the aid of the separatists and waited for the end of the monsoon season to enable easy passage. The Indians aimed to bypass the villages and towns and instead concentrate on the cities and the highways which ultimately would lead to the capture of Dhaka.
Pakistan decided to nullify such an attack and on December 3 launched a series of preemptive air strikes. The attack was modeled on the Operation Focus employed by Israel Air Force during the Six-Day War. However the plan failed to achieve the desired success and was seen as an open act of unprovoked aggression by the Indians. Indira Gandhi then ordered the immediate mobilisation of troops and launched the full scale invasion. This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 with fighting commencing in West Pakistan.
The Indian Army, far superior in numbers and equipment to that of Pakistan, executed a three-pronged pincer movement on Dhaka launched from the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura. In all these places the Mukti Bahini and the local Bengalis played a vital role in aiding the Indian Army. Many soldiers were ferried in the night by the locals across rivers and valuable information on the location and whereabouts of different military strongholds were gleaned.
It was backed up by the Indian Air Force which achieved near air supremacy towards the end of the war as the entire East Pakistan airbase with all the flights were destroyed. The Indian Navy, also annihilated the eastern wing of the Pakistan Navy and blockaded the East Pakistan ports, thereby cutting off any escape routes for the stranded Pakistani warriors. The fledgling Bangladesh Navy (comprising officers and sailors who defected from Pakistan Navy) aided the Indians in the marine warfare, carrying out attacks, most notably Operation Jackpot.
Meanwhile, on the ground, nearly three brigades of Mukti Bahini along with the Indian forces fought in a conventional formation. This was supplemented by guerrilla style attacks on Pakistanis who were facing hostilities on land, air, water in both covert and overt ways. Undeterred, Pakistan tried to fight back and boost the sagging morale by incorporating the Special Services Group commandos in sabotage and rescue missions.
This however could not stop the juggernaut of the invading columns whose speed and power were too much to contain for the Pakistan Army. On December 16, within just 12 days, the capital Dhaka fell to the Mitro Bahini-the allied forces. Lt. Gen. Niazi surrendered to the combined forces headed by its commander Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora by signing the Instrument of Surrender at Ramna Racecourse, 16:31 Indian Standard Time. Bangladesh became liberated.
—Internet
