- Date:
- March 26, 1971 - December 16, 1971
- Location:
- Pakistan
- Participants:
- Pakistan
- Context:
- 1971 India-Pakistan War
- Key People:
- Yahya Khan
Bangladesh Liberation War
What was the Bangladesh Liberation War?
What sparked the Bangladesh Liberation War?
What was Operation Searchlight?
What was the outcome of the Bangladesh Liberation War?
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict between Bengali nationalists in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the Pakistani government, based in West Pakistan. Fighting began on March 26, 1971, a day after West Pakistani government forces launched a crackdown in East Pakistan to quash protests calling for Bengali political autonomy. They went on to perpetrate widespread atrocities against East Pakistan’s civilian population. In response, civilian insurgents and Bengali military defectors from the Pakistan Army began a guerrilla campaign against West Pakistani troops and pro-Pakistani militias. The rebels received training and military support from India, whose involvement escalated into a separate war with Pakistan in December 1971. The India-Pakistan war ended on December 16, when Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered, effectively securing victory for the Bangladeshi liberation movement as well. The Bangladesh Liberation War and the India-Pakistan War of 1971 resulted in the deaths of between 300,000 and 3,000,000 people and the displacement of tens of millions of people from what is now Bangladesh.
For a comprehensive history of the wars fought between India and Pakistan, see India-Pakistan conflict.
Background
In February 1966 the Awami League, led by Mujibur Rahman, issued a charter of six demands calling for greater autonomy for East Pakistan. The six points were as follows:
- A federal constitution with a parliamentary government chosen through elections in which all adults can vote
- Federal control limited to defense and foreign affairs
- Two separate currencies for East Pakistan and West Pakistan or a single currency with safeguards to prevent the drain of capital from the east to the west
- Taxation and revenue powers to rest with federating units rather than the central government
- Separate foreign exchange accounts for East Pakistan and West Pakistan, with both wings able to trade independently
- Separate military or paramilitary force for East Pakistan, with naval headquarters based in the east
The push for Bangladeshi liberation had its roots in events at the beginning of the century. The partition of Bengal in 1905 had deepened the rift between Hindus and Muslims in the region, and many Muslims felt left out and unfairly treated under British colonial rule. Amid this growing discontent, the All India Muslim League was founded a year later to advocate for the political rights of Indian Muslims and a separate homeland. That vision took shape in 1947, when British India was partitioned into India and one noncontiguous Muslim country of Pakistan, with West Pakistan (formed from the western region of Punjab) and East Pakistan (formed from the eastern region of Bengal), separated by about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of Indian territory. Initially, Bengali Muslims hoped that being part of Muslim-majority Pakistan would ensure greater civil liberties than they had experienced under British colonial rule. However, East and West Pakistan shared very little beyond religion, and soon the West Pakistan-based government began imposing a series of discriminatory measures. In 1948 the government attempted to impose Urdu as the sole national language of Pakistan despite a majority of the population speaking Bengali. After years of student-led protests, Pakistan recognized Bengali and Urdu as national languages in 1956. Bengali culture was also marginalized. Bengali women were discouraged from wearing the sari, a traditional regional attire that came to be associated with Hindu women, and the work of iconic Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore was banned.
This discrimination also extended to political and economic spheres. Although Pakistan’s first constitution (adopted in 1956) gave East Pakistan an equal share in the National Assembly, it was revoked in 1958, when Mohammad Ayub Khan took power in a military coup. Under the rule of Ayub Khan’s military junta, economic aid, development, and military power were further concentrated in West Pakistan. East Pakistanis increasingly felt that their region was being systematically drained of resources as the central government’s trade and taxation policies heavily favored West Pakistan. For instance, although jute from the east was Pakistan’s largest export product, almost all the earnings were spent in West Pakistan.
The push for autonomy
In 1966 the Awami League party (formed in 1949), led by the popular orator Mujibur Rahman (also called Sheikh Mujib), announced a six-point demand for political and economic autonomy, which West Pakistan ignored. West Pakistan also neglected to send sufficient aid to East Pakistan in the wake of the Bhola cyclone in 1970, which left an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people dead. Yahya Khan, who had succeeded Ayub Khan as Pakistan’s president in 1969, ordered general elections the following year. Securing 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, the Awami League won a majority in the National Assembly and earned the right to form the next Pakistani government, with Mujibur Rahman as its leader. On March 3, 1971, Yahya Khan, under pressure from West Pakistani leaders, particularly Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, prevented Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League from assuming power, prompting widespread protests and calls for independence in East Pakistan.
Conflict
On March 25, 1971, Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight, a massive military intervention in the east, intended to quash the independence movement by targeting intellectuals, activists, and the Hindu minority. West Pakistan began using heavy artillery in urban centers, particularly Dhaka. Many students were among those killed. On March 26, shortly before he was arrested and moved to West Pakistan, Mujibur Rahman declared Bangladesh’s independence. In April, Awami League leaders who had fled to neighboring India set up a government-in-exile. Despite the 1947 partition, deep cultural and linguistic ties endured between West Bengal in India and the Bengali-speaking population of East Pakistan. Moreover, East Pakistan’s land border with India was easily accessible, allowing Awami League leaders to organize the resistance movement from across the border. Rebels and Pakistani military defectors also organized an effective guerrilla campaign from India.
Pakistani soldiers and allied militiamen committed sexual violence in East Pakistan on a massive scale. An estimated 200,000 to 400,000 women were sexually assaulted during the war, and tens of thousands were forcibly impregnated. Some were killed, and many others died by suicide. Shortly after the war the new Bangladeshi government honored the survivors of sexual assault by giving them the title Birangona (“War Heroine”). Bangladeshi Prime Minister Mujibur Rahman also established a rehabilitation program aimed at financially empowering the survivors.
In response to Operation Searchlight, Bengali units in the Pakistani army and militant student activists mobilized a loosely organized resistance movement. This growing insurgency became known as the Mukti Bahini (Bengali: “Liberation Force”), which led guerrilla operations with the Indian military’s backing. The West Pakistani army and its local allies also targeted civilians indiscriminately. From May to October 1971 they systematically destroyed villages, collectively punishing civilians for the guerrilla insurgency. It was during this phase of the war that the occupying forces began to target women, sexually assaulting and enslaving an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 women. American diplomat Archer Blood in Dhaka warned the White House of a “reign of terror” unleashed by Pakistani troops. However, in the context of the Cold War, the United States, under Pres. Richard Nixon, feared that an outcome favoring India’s interests would expand Soviet influence in Asia. The Soviet Union was India’s principal military supplier, and in August 1971 India signed a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union, an event that alarmed the West. Consequently, the United States continued its support of Pakistan, illegally sending weapons to Yahya Khan’s government despite being restricted by Congress.
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While global powers aligned themselves based on Cold War calculations, the conflict in East Pakistan worsened. Many Bengalis stayed in East Pakistan to fight as part of the guerrilla force, but far more fled the country during the conflict. It is estimated that as many as 15 million refugees crossed the border into India in 1971. Faced with a growing crisis, India chose to intervene militarily; although there were strategic incentives for this decision, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi claimed that India participated in the war “for purely humanitarian reasons.” War between the two countries broke out on December 3, 1971, when Pakistan launched Operation Chengiz Khan, a series of air strikes targeting air bases in northwestern India. Most of the fighting was concentrated in East Pakistan, but some clashes also broke out along India’s border with West Pakistan. India’s forces quickly overwhelmed troops in East Pakistan, who surrendered on December 16. The victory secured Bangladesh’s independence, which is now commemorated on the same date.
Aftermath
Mujibur Rahman was released from prison and returned to the newly independent country of Bangladesh; he became Bangladesh’s first prime minister in January 1972. Under the new Bangladeshi government, many Bihari muhajirs (Muslims who migrated from Bihar, India, during the 1947 partition) were persecuted for allegedly collaborating with the Pakistani military and voting for the Muslim League rather than the Awami League in the 1970 elections. Many Bihari muhajirs were killed, and hundreds of thousands were placed in refugee camps. Some Bihari muhajirs, dubbed “stranded Pakistanis,” continue to reside in camps. In Pakistan Yahya Khan was deposed and replaced by a civilian government led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have adopted diametrically opposed institutional recollections of the war. Pakistan has not officially taken accountability for the war crimes committed in 1971. The Hamoodur Rahman Commission, a judicial inquiry established in December 1971 by Pakistani President Bhutto, estimated the death toll to be close to 26,000 people. Bangladesh has claimed that about 3,000,000 people died and has sought to bring Pakistani collaborators to justice, starting war crimes tribunals in 1973 and 2009. Internal conflict over the validity of these tribunals continues to this day.