What had taken place before 1971 that ignited the Liberation War?
From 1952 through 1971, there were several key events that sparked violent outrage between the East and West during the Liberation Movement. After the declaration of Urdu as the new national language during the early 1950s, violent riots broke out among the East Pakistanis and West Pakistanis broke out. The police shot and killed several students at a demonstration in Dhaka on February 21, 1952 during the Language Movement. Eventually, even though the Pakistani government agreed to declare Urdu and Bangla as equal official languages, the conflicts between the East and the West gained more momentum with the 1954 General Election and then the Education Movement of 1962. During the 1954 General Election, the
United Front won most of the seats in the East Bengal Legislative Assembly. These elections definitely changed the structure of party politics in Pakistan. Later on, the Liberation Movement finally shifted into high gear with the launch of Sheikh MujiburRahman's Six-Point Movement for autonomy in 1966. The keystone of these points demonstrated the theme of autonomy. In these six points, Sheikh Mujib proclaims three essential concepts that reveal how to createand maintain a free state. The first few concepts of his six-points involved law. It stated that the federal government should deal with only two subjects: Defense and Foreign Affairs. It also stated that the constitution should provide for a Federation of Pakistan in its true sense based on the Lahore Resolution and parliamentary form of government with supremacy of a Legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise. The Liberation Movement was initiated by events such as the 1952 Language Movement. It gained momentum with the 1954 General Election and the Education Movement of 1962. The Liberation Movement finally shifted into high gear with the launch of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Six-Point Movement for autonomy in 1966: 1. The constitution should provide for a Federation of Pakistan in its true sense based on the Lahore Resolution and the parliamentary form of government with supremacy of a Legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise. 2. The federal government should deal with only two subjects: Defence and Foreign Affairs, and all other residual subjects should be vested in the federating states. 3. Two separate, but freely convertible currencies for two wings should be introduced; or if this is not feasible, there should be one currency for the whole country, but effective constitutional provisions should be introduced to stop the flight of capital from East to West Pakistan. Furthermore, a separate Banking Reserve should be established and separate fiscal and monetary policy be adopted for East Pakistan. 4. The power of taxation and revenue collection should be vested in the federating units and the federal centre would have no such power. The federation would be entitled to a share in the state taxes to meet its expenditures. 5. There should be two separate accounts for the foreign exchange earnings of the two wings; the foreign exchange requirements of the federal government should be met by the two wings equally or in a ratio to be fixed; indigenous products should move free of duty between the two wings, and the constitution should empower the units to establish trade links with foreign countries. 6. East Pakistan should have a separate militia or paramilitary force. In retaliation, Pakistani military rulers accused Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of treason and put him behind bars. This trial was known as the Agortola Conspiracy Case. Pakistan's actions were responded to with a tremendous student protest in 1968 that reached every stretch of Bengal. The events lead to the people's uprising in 1969, manifested by the Students 11-Point Movement against Pakistani military rule. |
Genocide of '71
The mass killings in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1971 vie with the annihilation of the Soviet POWs, the holocaust against the Jews, and the genocide in Rwanda as the most concentrated act of genocide in the twentieth century. In an attempt to crush forces seeking independence for East Pakistan, the West Pakistani military regime unleashed a systematic campaign of mass murder which aimed at killing millions of Bengalis, and likely succeeded in doing so.
On February 22, 1971 the generals in West Pakistan took a decision to crush the Awami League and its supporters. It was recognized from the first that a campaign of genocide would be necessary to eradicate the threat: "Kill three million of them," said President Yahya Khan at the February conference, "and the rest will eat out of our hands."
On March 25 the genocide was launched. The university in Dhaka was attacked an students exterminated in their hundreds. Death squads roamed the streets of Dacca, killing some 7,000 people in a single night. It was only the beginning. "Within a week, half the population of Dacca had fled, and at least 30,000 people had been killed.
The Bangladesh genocide is the least known and least researched genocide. World leaders had turned their eyes from one of the worst genocides in modern history. But, it has since become the "forgotten genocide".
After the declaration of Urdu as the new national language, riots broke out. The police shot and killed several students at a demonstration in Dhaka on February 21, 1952 during the Language Movement. It was clear that this issue was vitally important to the people. At last, the government agreed to declare Urdu and Bangla as equal official languages. February 21 is now called Marty's Day or "Language Movement Day" to honor those students who died fighting for our language and standing up for their beliefs. A memorial was built at the site where the students were killed. Each year, hundred and thousands of people bring flowers to the memorial to honor those who were killed.