History of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is known as an independent country in 1971 after achieving independent from Pakistan in the Liberation War. The borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal and India in August 1947, when the region became East Pakistan as a part of the newly formed State of Pakistan following the Radcliffe Line. It was separated from West Pakistan by 1,600 km (994mi) of Indian Territory. The British East India Company gained official control of Bengal following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. In 1858, authority in India was transferred from the Company to the crown, and the rebellion was brutally suppressed. Rule of India was organized under a Viceroy and continued a pattern of economic exploitation. The Bengali Language Movement, also known as the Language Movement Bhasha Andolon, was a political effort in Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan), advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as an official language of Pakistan. When the state of Pakistan was formed in 1947, its two regions, East Pakistan (also called East Bengal) and West Pakistan, were split along cultural, geographical, and linguistic lines. In 1948, the Government of Pakistan ordained Urdu as the sole national language, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East Pakistan. The students of the University of Dhaka and other political activists defined the law and organized a protest on 21 February 1952. The movement reached its climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day. The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest led by the Awami Muslim League, later renamed the Awami League. After years of conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956. The On 17 November 1999, UNESCO declared 21 February International Mother Language Day for the whole world to celebrate. After the Awami League won all the East Pakistan seats as well as majority of the Pakistan’s National Assembly in the 1970-71 elections, West Pakistan opened talks with the East on constitutional questions about the division of power between the central government and the provinces, as well as the formation of a national government headed by the Awami League. The talks proved unsuccessful, however, and on March 1, 1971, Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending National Assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan. On March 2, 1971, a group of students, led by A S M Abdur Rob, student leader & VP of DUCSU (Dhaka University Central Students Union) raised the new (proposed) flag of Bangladesh under the direction of Swadhin Bangla Nucleus. Rather he decided that he will declare his next steps on March 7 public meeting. On March 3, 1971, student leader Shahjahan Siraj read the 'Sadhinotar Ishtehar' (Declaration of independence) at Paltan Maidan in front of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib along with student and public gathering under the direction of Swadhin Bangla Nucleus. On March 7, there was a historical public gathering in Suhawardy Udyan to hear updates on the ongoing movement from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, the frontier leader of movement that time. Although he avoided the direct speech of independence as the talks were still underway, he influenced the mob to prepare for any imminent war. The speech is considered a key moment in the war of liberation, and is remembered for the phrase, "Ebarer Shongram Amader Muktir Shongram, Ebarer Shongram Shadhinotar Shongram....".

"Our struggle this time is a struggle for our freedom, our struggle this time is a struggle for our independence....". After the military crackdown by the Pakistan army began during the early hours of March 26, 1971 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested and the political leaders dispersed, mostly fleeing to neighbouring India where they organized a provisional government afterwards. Before being held up by the Pakistani Army Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a hand note of the Bangladesh Declaration of Independent and it was circulated amongst people and transmitted by the then East Pakistan Rifles ' wireless transmitter. The world press reports from late March 1971 also make clear that Bangladesh’s declaration of independence by Bangabandhu was widely reported throughout the world. Bengali Army officer Major Ziaur Rahman captured Kalurghat Radio Station in Chittagong and read the declaration of independence of Bangladesh on the evening hours of March 27, 1971.This is Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction of Bangobondhu Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that Independent People's Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his direction, I have taken the command as the temporary Head of the Republic. The Provisional Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was formed on April 10 in Meherpur, (later renamed as Mujibnagar a place adjacent to the Indian border). Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was announced to be the head of the state. Tajuddin Ahmed became the prime minister of the government, Syed Nazrul Islam became the acting president and Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed the Foreign Minister. There the war plan was sketched with armed forces established named "Muktifoujo". Later it was named "Muktibahini" (freedom fighters). The two nations had fought a war in 1965, mainly in the west, but the pressure of millions of refugees escaping into India in autumn of 1971 as well as Pakistani aggression reignited hostilities with Pakistan. Indian sympathies lay with East Pakistan, and on December 3, 1971, India intervened on the side of the Bangladeshis which led to a short, but violent, two-week war known as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The Bengal Renaissance refers to a social reform movement during the 19th and early 20th centuries in Bengal during the period of British rule. The Bengal renaissance can be said to have started with Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1775-1833) and ended with Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Bengal in the 19th century was a unique blend of religious and social reformers, scholars, literary giants, journalists, patriotic orators and scientists, all merging to form the image of a renaissance, and marked the transition from the ‘medieval’ to the ‘modern’. Bangladeshi people are also very proud of their national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. He is greatly remembered for his active voice against the oppression of the British rulers in the 20th century. He was imprisoned for writing his most famous poem of “Bidrohee”.