Vietnam: The Long Struggle Against Superpowers 

History

Background

In 1905, the British Raj partitioned the Bengal Presidency into East Bengal and West Bengal.[5] The British introduced the Morley-Minto Reforms in 1909 which made the electorate system based on religion and East Bengal was largely Muslim.[5] The Bengal Provincial Muslim League was created to represent Bengali Muslims. The two Bengals were reunited in 1912 in a decision by the British which was unpopular among the Muslims which feared it would harm the interests of their community.[5] The 1946 Cabinet Mission to India decided to partition Bengal and in 1947 Bengal was partitioned again.[5] West Bengal went to India and East Bengal went to Pakistan becoming East Pakistan.[5] The Partition of India took place along religious lines with Muslim majority areas going to Pakistan.[6]

Path to independence

Shaheed Minar, Dhaka commemorates the language movement.

An organization called "Inner Group" was formed in 1947 before the independence of Pakistan. It was active in the 1950s with Indian help to separate East Bengal from Pakistan and form a new state. Members of the organisations from Bengal Provincial Muslim League following the ideals of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose [citation needed] were close to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This organization based in Dhaka wanted to engage in armed struggle with the help of Great Britain under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[7] East Pakistan, where Bengali was the language spoken by the majority, opposed the move by the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, to make Urdu the national language.[5] The people of East Pakistan demanded Bengali be made a national language in the Bengali Language movement.[5] Krishak Sramik Party demanded autonomy for East Bengal in 1953 and won the provincial election against the Pakistan Muslim League in 1954.[5] A. K. Fazlul Huq, leader of the Krishak Sramik Party, becomes the chief minister of East Pakistan.[5] On 31 May 1954, the Krishak Sramik Party was removed from power.[5] Chief Minister A. K. Fazlul Huq and party general secretary Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were placed under house arrest on charges of separatism.[5]

After Ayub Khan imposed military rule in Pakistan in 1958, some members of Awami League formed a separatist organization called "East Bengal Liberation Front" in Jamalpur, they asked Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for help in the war of independence, but he refused because of the Nehru–Liaquat Pact. Later, when the government arrested the leaders of the organization, it became inactive. In 1961, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called upon the leaders of the East Pakistan Communist Party to jointly agitate with the Awami League for the independence of East Pakistan. When a group of Communist Party leaders led by Moni Singh sought permission from the Soviet Union to join the freedom movement, the party was reluctant to join as they did not receive a positive response.[7] In 1962, a separatist organization called the "Provisional East Bengal Government" was formed which proposed the independence of East Pakistan.[8] In 1963, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wrote to prime minister Nehru to discuss the declaration of independence of East Pakistan and the formation of a government-in-exile in London. But Nehru did not want to talk to Mujib as the Sino-Indian war was going on.[7] From 1963 to 1965, East Pakistan presented a case of economic deprivation with resources from the province benefitting West Pakistan at the cost of development in East Pakistan.[5] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, now leader of the Awami League, was arrested in 1966 and charged in the Agartala conspiracy case, which accused prominent East Pakistanis of trying to separate the country with help from India, in 1968.[5] The 1969 East Pakistan mass uprising saw the charges in the Agartala conspiracy case being dropped.[5] In a party meeting on 5 December 1969, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proposed to name East Pakistan "Bangladesh" if it became independent.[9] Sarbadalia Chhatra Sangram Parishad was created to press the government of Pakistan for the independence of East Pakistan.[5] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is released from prison on 22 February 1970 by President Ayub Khan.[5] On 10 March 1970, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman demanded autonomy for East Pakistan based on the Six Point program of the Awami League.[5] Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani ends a public event with the slogan East Pakistan Zindabad on 23 November.[5] 1970 Bhola cyclone killed 300 to 500 thousand people in East Pakistan.[6] The people of East Pakistan found relief efforts by Pakistan government inadequate and felt neglected.[5]

Flag of the Bangladeshi Independence movement

Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won 288 seats out of 300 seats in the provincial assembly.[5] It won 167 of 300 seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan.[5] Despite the overwhelming victory, the Awami League was not allowed to form a government by the military administration of Pakistan led by General Yahya Khan.[5] On 7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a historic speech to resist the West Pakistan administration, through refusing to follow their orders and paying taxes.[10] The crowd at the event chanted Jai Bangla (victory to Bengal).[5] On 19 March, soldiers of Pakistan Army from East Pakistan and West Pakistan had a small skirmish at the Gazipur Ordnance Factory after the East Bengal Regiment refused to fire at crowds of protesting Bengalis.[5] On 24 March, soldiers of East Pakistan Rifles raised the flag of independent Bangladesh in Jessore District.[5]