1971 Bangladesh Liberation War: What Went Wrong in Dhaka?
Separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan was an accumulation of unresolved disputes and misunderstandings that exploded on the 26th of March 1971, with its independence. Some mistakes were made when Pakistan separated from the subcontinent in 1947 and some interferences came after the independence from unwanted sources causing some high-frequency tensions between the two states of Pakistan that turned out to be irreversible.
The Mistakes Made During the Independence of Pakistan
During the partition, time was of the essence. The first mistake was to accept and build two wings of one country, separated by thousands of kilometers of hostile Indian territory. There was no way to connect East and West Pakistan and bridge the gaps that were beginning to crack the united front that Pakistan was attempting to convey to the world.
Some other decisions were made in a rush that greatly impacted the parts of the country. When Pakistan was a new state the population of East Pakistan was larger than West Pakistan. So, appointing Urdu as the national and official language of the country severely offended the people residing in East Pakistan as the larger population spoke Bangla.
There were protests all over Pakistan that came to a culmination on February 21, 1952, when the police ended the lives of six students who were protesting against Urdu being the state language.
How it All Ended in the Establishment of Bangladesh
Protests and unrest persisted until May 7, 1954, when the constituent assembly, with the support of the Muslim League, resolved to grant Bengali official status. It was subsequently recognized as an official language of Pakistan alongside Urdu under Article 214(1) of the first Constitution, enacted on February 29, 1956. However, the foundations of discord had already been laid.
Two aspects became the agents to expedite the final separation. Firstly, the legitimate grievances of East Pakistanis were leveraged by India to exacerbate divisions and fuel resentment and hostility.
Secondly, some West Pakistani politicians, unwilling to accept an East Pakistani-led leadership following the relatively free and fair 1970 elections, obstructed the military government from transferring power to the elected victors. It was made worse when Indian forces refused access to aircraft flying to and from the two parts of Pakistan.
In The End
It all culminated in the harrowing War of 1971, which led to the separation of East Pakistan and its declaration of Independence on March 26, 1971, as Bangladesh. To learn the nitty-gritty details of how Indian forces intervened between united Pakistan and how corrupt politics played a larger role in the separation, watch Jhaur, a RAVA Documentary Film recounting the moments that occurred during the conflict.