Independence of war in Bangladesh

A Long Way to
Freedom
The people of Bangladesh
discovered their identity
through the Language
Movement in 1952. The
struggle to establish their
identity and national spirit
began soon after 1947
when they realized that
under Pakistan created on
the two nation theory
they was little scope for
the distance culture of
Banglees to flourish . The
refusal of the central
government to grant
status to Bangla
language became the focal
point of struggle, because
language was the most
important vehicle of the
cultural expression of the
people of this land.
The contradiction of the
two Pakistans , the racial
oppression and the
exploitation of the West
over the East was
gradually unveiled. The
struggle for the
consciousness of identity
and cultural freedom
which began with the
advent of the student
movements of the 60's
gained momentum in the
mass movement of 1969.
Though it brought about
the fall of a mighty
military ruler like Ayub
Khan, the ultimate goal
was not achieved. After
this, came the election of
1970 with absolute
victory of Sheikh Mujibur
Rahaman.
In the elections of
December 7, 1970 the
Awami League won 160
out of 162 seats in East
Pakistan, all but two, and
would have had a clear
majority in the new
assembly had it been
convened. Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman became the
majority party leader of
the Pakistan National
Assembly .
The military rules of
Pakistan refused to allow
the Awami League to
form a government.
Major General Ziaur
Rahman on behalf of
Mujib declared
independence. A full scale
movement of non-
cooperation with the
military government
began on the 26th of
March, 1971 which is
celebrated as the
Independence Day every
year. Thus Bangladesh
plunged into a civil war.
The Pakistan Army
began their genocide by
attacking the innocent
Bangalees of Dhaka city.
The dwellers of Dhaka
city never confronted
such intolerable days.
The Pakistani army
massacred 35,000 Bengali
intellectuals and unleashed
a brutal war against the
Bangalees of East Pakistan
to prevent their
secession. But no one
let the dream encircled
flag fall down to dust .
During the nine month
struggle which ensued an
estimated three million
Bengalis died and and ten
million refuges fled into
India Sheikh Mujib was
imprisoned in west
Pakistan. A Bangladesh
Government in exile was
established. The actual
military campaign took
place in December and
lasted only ten days. The
Indian Army launched a
massive offensive against
the Pakistani forces to
support the Bangladesh
movement . On
December 16, 1971, the
Pakistan army
surrendered.