The fury of the Bengali population was compounded when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who led Awami League to win a majority in Parliament in the 1970 elections, was blocked from taking office.[88] A massive civil disobediencemovement erupted across East Pakistan, with open calls for independence.[89]Sheikh Mujibur Rahman addressed a huge pro-independence rally in Dacca on 7 March 1971. The Bangladeshi flag was hoisted for the first time on 23 March 1971, Pakistan's Republic Day.[90]
On 26 March 1971, the Pakistani military junta[91] led by Yahya Khan launched Operation Searchlight, a sustained military assault on East Pakistan,[92][93] and detained the Prime Minister-elect[94][95] under military custody.[96] The Pakistan Army, with the help of supporting militias, massacred Bengali students,intellectuals, politicians, civil servants and military defectors during the 1971 Bangladesh genocide.[97] Several million refugees fled to neighboring India. Estimates for those killed throughout the war range between 300,000 and 3 million.[98]
Global public opinion turned against Pakistan as news of atrocities spread,[99]with the Bangladesh Movement gaining support from prominent political and cultural figures in the West, including Ted Kennedy, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Victoria Ocampo and Andre Malraux.[100][101][102][103] TheConcert for Bangla Desh was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City to raise funds for Bangladeshi refugees. It was the first major benefit concert in history and was organized by Beatles star George Harrison and Indian Bengali sitarist Ravi Shankar.[104]
During the liberation war, Bengali nationalists announced a declaration of independence and formed the Mukti Bahini(the Bangladeshi National Liberation Army). The Provisional Government of Bangladesh operated in exile fromCalcutta, India. Led by General M. A. G. Osmani and eleven Sector Commanders, the Mukti Bahini held the Bengali countryside during the war, and waged wide-scale guerrilla operations against Pakistani forces. Neighboring India and its leader Indira Gandhi, a longstanding nemesis of Pakistan, provided crucial support to the Bangladesh Forces and intervened in support of the provisional government on 3 December 1971. The Soviet Union and the United States dispatched naval forces to the Bay of Bengal amid a Cold War standoff during the Indo-Pakistani War. Lasting for nine months, the entire war ended with the surrender of Pakistan's military to the Bangladesh-India Allied Forces on 16 December 1971.[105][106] Under international pressure, Pakistan released Mujib from imprisonment on 8 January 1972, after which he was flown by the Royal Air Force to a million strong homecoming in Dhaka.[107][108] Indian troops were withdrawn by 12 March 1972, three months after the war ended.[109]
The cause of Bangladeshi self-determination was widely recognized around the world.[99] By the time of its admission for UN membership in August 1972, the new state was recognized by 86 countries.[99] Pakistan recognized Bangladesh in 1974 after pressure from most of the Muslim world.[110]
No comments:
Post a Comment