Road to Bangladesh

A
1. Three major stages/phases to reach the state from 1757 to 1947
- From social to political articulation- 1757 to 1857
- From political protest to political party and network mobilization- 1857 to 1905
- From the East Bengal sub-state(1905) to the subsumed state after the "independent state" plan was killed by Muslim
League in 1946 and United Bengal move by Congress in 1947
2. Post 1911 saw scenario politics of conflict rise with divisions at all levels - faith community identity, territorial identity,
political party identity, elite identity, social and other paradigms- that a common political platform became very difficult.
3. Another conflict was between the North Indian centre and the various sub-centers. And within the centre were the
Margins. Delhi was the national centre, Kolkata was the sub-centre and East Bengal was the Margin.
4. A major effort that could have made a difference was the Bengal Pact of 1923-24 when Chittaranjan Das formed the
Swarajya Party with both Hindu-Muslim members and won the Bengal elections. ( Check Banglapedia for details) He made
a proposal for ending faith group feuds which he believed masked economic grievances.
5. The main objective was to create higher economic access for the Muslims who were left behind although the majority
population. So he supported affirmative action for the majority group. He felt that once both communities had equitable
space in the economy , hostility would decline. He also suggested measures to reduce hostility at the social level.
6. While the Muslim community welcomed it, the Hindu middle class opposed and launched a movement against BP which
increased conflict. It was obvious that political power belonged to the minority who were not keen to share economic
benefits with the majority.
7. Congress Party also was against it and ultimately it was voted out. Thus ended the final programe based effort to sustain
a united Bengal. The opportunity and a foundation for an alliance building was lost more or less gone as history shows.
6. In 1937, the first elections were held based on Separate Electorate in which Muslim League and Krishak Sramik Party
led by Fazlul Haq won majority of the Muslim sets. Congress won the Hindu votes. KSP tried to form an alliance with
Congress but found no response. Thus a ML-KSP coalition formed the first cabinet in Bengal won through election.
7. In 1940, the All Indian Muslim League met to pass the Lahore Resolution which stated that there would be "two
independent sovereign states" , one in the east and one on the West. It was the first official expression of state formation
of Bengal.
8. Politics in Bengal from then on was based on an independent state basis led by the Bengal Muslim League. East Pakistan
Renaissance Society held several programmers and published booklets on the new state. Abul Hashim also published the
"Independent East Pakistan manifesto. "
9. During this period of Bengal ML ascendance, KSP led by F. Haq drifted away and formed an alliance with Hindu
Mahasabha supported by the Congress. This displeased the peasantry much and in the critical elections of 1946, BML
swept every Muslim seat except one. Haq won only one seat.
10. In 1946, AIML changed the Lahore Resolution from Independent "states" to "state" claiming it was a "typing error". It
made Pakistan a central single state that ultimately killed it in 1971. This was an unethical act as Jinnah/AIML never
challenged the independent "East Pakistan" activities from 1940 to 1946. They did so after the election of 1946 so the
allegation of political dishonesty on its part can't be ignored.
11. In 1947 the United Bengal movement was proposed by HUSEYN SHAHEED SUHRAWARDY who sought support of Bengal ML
and Bengal Congress. It was in reaction to the One Pakistan state plan and resistance to North Indin centres. The departing
British Government agreed to discuss and later consider the 3rd Dominion-Bengal- outside of India and Pakistan. However,
Delhi Congress led by Nehru was against it and ultimately it was rejected. The Partition of Resolution was moved by Bengal
Congress and voted in by them. In both cases North Indian leadership destroyed the state aspiration of the Bengal margin
which was clustered around East Bengal.
From subsumed state to full state :1947- 1971
1. The journey from a subsumed state to a full state of Bangladesh began even before 14th August 1947 as young radicals
formed a cluster - The Inner Group- to make Bangladesh/Bengal an independent state. This group thought that Sk.Mujib
would be the leader of the future state.
2. Between 1948 to 1952, a series of rural and urban resistances took place which though different in content showed
how the state itself was weak in structure. From evidence nothing shows that Pakistan was a single state . it resembled two
states stuck forcibly under 1 flag. As the economic relationship soured , the forces of independence grew stronger.
3. The position of Pakistan based on central control was spelt out by Jinnah in his visit to East Pakistan in 1948. It was to be
a centre controlled, only for Muslims ideologically, anti provincial rights based anti- Indian state. None of his vision fitted
East Pakistan which was a peasant /village based society which saw Pakistan as its main enemy.
4. The firing of 1952 mobilized the urban educated class and in 1954, almost all the parties joined hands to form the
United Front that swept the elections of 1954. It was dissolved by the centre on several grounds including failure to
control law and order issues.
5. But a critical point was the charge brought against the UF's leader Fazlul Huq that he had spoken of " independence " if
the demands of East Pakistan were not met. This shows Pakistan was already aware and worried about the issue which
had already emerged openly.
6. Between 1954-1958, resentment grew even amore amidst high hunger and poverty and political unrest that scared the
Pakistan ruling class. In 1958, martial law was imposed by the army chief Ayub Khan.
7. Soon after various groups began planning "independence and East Bengal Liberation Party was formed in Jamalpur
which shows that it wasn't an urban issue but affected small towns as well. This was crushed but Pakistanis were shocked
that this move elicited no protested. It showed the alienation of the Pakistani ruling class from Bangladesh/East Pakistan.
8. In 1962, Sk. Mujib met the leaders of the Communist Party of Bangladesh to discuss independence. When the move
failed , Sk. Mujib contacted his Inner Group friends and with their help went to india. However reports say that any talks or
contacts failed. No move is noted after that.
9. In 1966, the 6 points were announced at Lahore which completely changed the political scenario. It was considered
incompatible with the state of Pakistan particularly by the military rulers. In East Pakistan, the AL with its 6-points became
the political dominant.
10. In 1968, several mid-ranking naval and air force officers were caught in what was billed as the Agartala conspiracy case.
Later Sk. Mujib was added to the list. However people refused to accept either the trial or Sk. Mujib as 'guilty" of anything
and a street movement began. Ultimately the agitation crumbled the Government, Ayub Khan was toppled and a new
military ruler Yahya Khan was installed. Sk. Mujib and all others were freed.
11. An election was held under martial law in 1970 which saw the AL and Sk. Mujib win an overwhelming majority.
However, 6 points was the main obstacle which if implemented would reduce the clout of the army and West Pakistan.
Thus the army decided to crack down. Negotiations were held but it was time killing for the army to prepare to crackdown.
12. On 7th march , Sk. Mujib delivered a speech which reached much of Bangladesh through radio mobilizing society to
prepare for the crackdown that came on the night of the 25th march which saw some resistance by the police and
para-military Bangladeshis forces. Even as people died Bangladesh was born and the entire people resisted the Pak army
with whatever weapons could muster making the subsumed state real.