Victory Day (বিজয় দিবস – Bijoy Dibos), 16th December 1971 (Declaration of Independence, March 26, 1971)
Victory Day (বিজয়দিবস – Bijoy Dibos):
is a national holiday in Bangladesh celebrated on December 16 to
commemorate the victory of the Allied forces High Command over the
Pakistani forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The
Commanding officer of the Pakistani Forces General AAK Niazi surrendered
his forces to the Allied forces commander Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora,
which marked ending the 9 month-long[1] Bangladesh Liberation War and
1971 Bangladesh genocide and officially secession of East Pakistan into
Bangladesh.
History: The Bangladesh Liberation War (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ
Muktijuddho) was a South Asian war of independence in 1971 which
established the sovereign nation of Bangladesh. The war pitted East
Pakistan and India against West Pakistan, and lasted over a duration of
nine months. It witnessed large-scale atrocities, the exodus of 10
million refugees and the displacement of 30 million people.
The
war broke out on 26 March 1971, when the Pakistan Army launched a
military operation called Operation Searchlight against Bengali
civilians, students, intelligentsia and armed personnel, who were
demanding that the Pakistani military junta accept the results of the
1970 first democratic elections of Pakistan, which were won by an
eastern party, or to allow separation between East and West Pakistan.
Bengali politicians and army officers announced the declaration of
Bangladesh’s independence in response to Operation Searchlight. Bengali
military, paramilitary and civilians formed the Mukti Bahini (Bengali: মুক্তিবাহিনী
“Liberation Army”), which engaged in guerrilla warfare against
Pakistani forces. The Pakistan Army, in collusion with religious
extremist militias (the Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams), engaged in the
systematic genocide and atrocities of Bengali civilians, particularly
nationalists, intellectuals, youth and religious minorities Neighbouring
India provided economic, military and diplomatic support to Bengali
nationalists, and the Bangladesh government-in-exile was set up in
Calcutta.
India
entered the war on 3 December 1971, after Pakistan launched pre-emptive
air strikes on northern India. Overwhelmed by two war fronts, Pakistani
defences soon collapsed. On 16 December, the Allied Forces of
Bangladesh and India defeated Pakistan in the east. The subsequent
surrender resulted in the largest number of prisoners-of-war since World
War II.
Recognition of Bangladesh:
The Surrender of Pakistan Armed Forces marked the end of the Bangladesh
Liberation War and the creation of Bangla Desh (later reduced to a
single word). Most United Nations member nations were quick to recognize
Bangladesh within months of its independence.
Celebration:
The celebration of Victory Day has taken place since 1972. The
Bangladesh Liberation War became a topic of great importance in cinema,
literature, history lessons at school, the mass media, and the arts in
Bangladesh. The ritual of the celebration gradually obtained a
distinctive character with a number of similar elements: Military Parade
by Bangladesh Armed Forces at the National Parade Ground, ceremonial
meetings, speeches, lectures, receptions and fireworks. Victory Day in
Bangladesh is a joyous celebration in which popular culture plays a
great role. TV and radio stations broadcast special programs and
patriotic songs. The main streets are decorated with national flags.
Different political parties and socioeconomic organizations undertake
programs to mark the day in a befitting manner, including the paying of
respects at Jatiyo Smriti Soudho, the national memorial at Savar near
Dhaka.
Background:
In August 1947, the Partition of British India gave birth to two new
states; a secular state named India and an Islamic state named Pakistan.
But Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas
to the east and the west of India. The western zone was popularly (and
for a period of time, also officially) termed West Pakistan and the
eastern zone (modern-day Bangladesh) was initially termed East Bengal
and later, East Pakistan. Although the population of the two zones was
close to equal, political power was concentrated in West Pakistan and it
was widely perceived that East Pakistan was being exploited
economically, leading to many grievances.
On
25 March 1971, rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in
East Pakistan was met by brutal suppressive force from the ruling elite
of the West Pakistan establishment in what came to be termed Operation
Searchlight.
The
violent crackdown by West Pakistan forces led to East Pakistan
declaring its independence as the state of Bangladesh and to the start
of civil war. The war led to a sea of refugees (estimated at the time to
be about 10 million) flooding into the eastern provinces of India.
Facing a mounting humanitarian and economic crisis, India started
actively aiding and organizing the Bangladeshi resistance army known as
the Mukti Bahini.
Political Differences:
Although East Pakistan accounted for a slight majority of the country’s
population, political power remained firmly in the hands of West
Pakistanis. Since a straightforward system of representation based on
population would have concentrated political power in East Pakistan, the
West Pakistani establishment came up with the “One Unit” scheme, where
all of West Pakistan was considered one province. This was solely to
counterbalance the East wing’s votes.
After
the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s first prime minister,
in 1951, political power began to be devolved to the President of
Pakistan, and eventually, the military. The nominal elected chief
executive, the Prime Minister, was frequently sacked by the
establishment, acting through the President.
East
Pakistanis noticed that whenever one of them, such as Khawaja
Nazimuddin, Muhammad Ali Bogra, or Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was elected
Prime Minister of Pakistan, he were swiftly deposed by the largely West
Pakistani establishment. The military dictatorships of Ayub Khan (27
October 1958 – 25 March 1969) and Yahya Khan (25 March 1969 – 20
December 1971), both West Pakistanis, only heightened such feelings.
The
situation reached a climax when in 1970 the Awami League, the largest
East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a
landslide victory in the national elections. The party won 167 of the
169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 313
seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the
constitutional right to form a government. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
(a Sindhi), the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, refused to allow
Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Instead, he proposed
the idea of having two Prime Ministers, one for each wing. The proposal
elicited outrage in the east wing, already chafing under the other
constitutional innovation, the “one unit scheme”. Bhutto also refused to
accept Rahman’s Six Points. On 3 March 1971, the two leaders of the two
wings along with the President General Yahya Khan met in Dhaka to
decide the fate of the country. Talks failed. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
called for a nationwide strike.
On
7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (soon to be the prime minister)
delivered a speech at the Racecourse Ground (now called the Suhrawardy
Udyan). In this speech he mentioned a further four-point condition to
consider the National Assembly Meeting on 25 March:
· The immediate lifting of martial law.
· Immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks.
· An inquiry into the loss of life.
· Immediate transfer of power to the elected representative of the people before the assembly meeting 25 March.
He
urged “his people” to turn every house into a fort of resistance. He
closed his speech saying, “Our struggle is for our freedom. Our struggle
is for our independence.” This speech is considered the main event that
inspired the nation to fight for its independence. General Tikka Khan
was flown in to Dhaka to become Governor of East Bengal. East-Pakistani
judges, including Justice Siddique, refused to swear him in.
Between
10 and 13 March, Pakistan International Airlines cancelled all their
international routes to urgently fly “Government Passengers” to Dhaka.
These “Government Passengers” were almost all Pakistani soldiers in
civilian dress. MV Swat, a ship of the Pakistani Navy, carrying
ammunition and soldiers, was harbored in Chittagong Port and the Bengali
workers and sailors at the port refused to unload the ship. A unit of
East Pakistan Rifles refused to obey commands to fire on Bengali
demonstrators, beginning a mutiny of Bengali soldiers.
Operation Searchlight:
A planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army —
codenamed Operation Searchlight — started on 25 March to curb the
Bengali nationalist movement by taking control of the major cities on 26
March, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military,
within one month. Before the beginning of the operation, all foreign
journalists were systematically deported from East Pakistan.
The
main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last
major town in Bengali hands in mid-May. The operation also began the
1971 Bangladesh atrocities. These systematic killings served only to
enrage the Bengalis, which ultimately resulted in the secession of East
Pakistan later in the same year. The international media and reference
books in English have published casualty figures which vary greatly,
from 5,000–35,000 in Dhaka, and 200,000–3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a
whole.
According to the Asia Times,
At
a meeting of the military top brass, Yahya Khan declared: “Kill 3
million of them and the rest will eat out of our hands.” Accordingly, on
the night of 25 March, the Pakistani Army launched Operation
Searchlight to “crush” Bengali resistance in which Bengali members of
military services were disarmed and killed, students and the
intelligentsia systematically liquidated and able-bodied Bengali males
just picked up and gunned down.
Although
the violence focused on the provincial capital, Dhaka, it also affected
all parts of East Pakistan. Residential halls of the University of
Dhaka were particularly targeted. The only Hindu residential hall — the
Jagannath Hall — was destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces, and an
estimated 600 to 700 of its residents were murdered. The Pakistani army
denies any cold blooded killings at the university, though the
Hamood-ur-Rehman commission in Pakistan concluded that overwhelming
force was used at the university. This fact and the massacre at
Jagannath Hall and nearby student dormitories of Dhaka University are
corroborated by a videotape secretly filmed by Prof. Nurul Ullah of the
East Pakistan Engineering University, whose residence was directly
opposite the student dormitories.
Hindu
areas suffered particularly heavy blows. By midnight, Dhaka was
burning, especially the Hindu dominated eastern part of the city. Time
magazine reported on 2 August 1971, “The Hindus, who account for
three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the
brunt of the Pakistani military hatred.”
Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman was arrested by the Pakistani Army. Yahya Khan appointed
Brigadier (later General) Rahimuddin Khan to preside over a special
tribunal prosecuting Mujib with multiple charges. The tribunal’s
sentence was never made public, but Yahya caused the verdict to be held
in abeyance in any case. Other Awami League leaders were arrested as
well, while a few fled Dhaka to avoid arrest. The Awami League was
banned by General Yahya Khan.
Atrocities:
During the war there were widespread killings and other atrocities –
including the displacement of civilians in Bangladesh (East Pakistan at
the time) and widespread violations of human rights – carried out by the
Pakistan Army with support from political and religious militias,
beginning with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971.
Bangladeshi authorities claim that three million people were killed,
while the Hamoodur Rahman Commission, an official Pakistan Government
investigation, put the figure as low as 26,000 civilian casualties. The
international media and reference books in English have also published
figures which vary greatly from 200,000 to 3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a
whole. A further eight to ten million people fled the country to seek
safety in India.
Large
sections of the intellectual community of Bangladesh were murdered,
mostly by the Al-Shams and Al-Badr forces, at the instruction of the
Pakistani Army. Just 2 days before the surrender, on 14 December 1971,
Pakistan Army and Razakar militia (local collaborators) picked up at
least 100 physicians, professors, writers and engineers in Dhaka, and
murdered them, leaving the dead bodies in a mass grave. There are many
mass graves in Bangladesh, and as years pass, more are being discovered
(such as one in an old well near a mosque in Dhaka, located in the
non-Bengali region of the city, which was discovered in August 1999).
The first night of war on Bengalis, which is documented in telegrams
from the American Consulate in Dhaka to the United States State
Department, saw indiscriminate killings of students of Dhaka University
and other civilians. Numerous women were tortured, raped and killed
during the war; the exact numbers are not known and are a subject of
debate. Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000 women raped, giving
birth to thousands of war babies. The Pakistan Army also kept numerous
Bengali women as sex-slaves inside the Dhaka Cantonment. Most of the
girls were captured from Dhaka University and private homes. There was
significant sectarian violence not only perpetrated and encouraged by
the Pakistani army, but also by Bengali nationalists against non-Bengali
minorities, especially Biharis.
On
16 December 2002, the George Washington University’s National Security
Archive published a collection of declassified documents, consisting
mostly of communications between US embassy officials and United States
Information Service centers in Dhaka and India, and officials in
Washington DC. These documents show that US officials working in
diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms selective
genocide and genocide to describe events they had knowledge of at the
time. Genocide is the term that is still used to describe the event in
almost every major publication and newspaper in Bangladesh, although
elsewhere, particularly in Pakistan, the actual death toll, motives,
extent, and destructive impact of the actions of the Pakistani forces
are disputed.
Liberation War: March to June
At
first resistance was spontaneous and disorganized, and was not expected
to be prolonged.[45] But when the Pakistani Army cracked down upon the
population, resistance grew. The Mukti Bahini became increasingly
active. The Pakistani military sought to quell them, but increasing
numbers of Bengali soldiers defected to the underground “Bangladesh
army”. These Bengali units slowly merged into the Mukti Bahini and
bolstered their weaponry with supplies from India. Pakistan responded by
airlifting in two infantry divisions and reorganizing their forces.
They also raised paramilitary forces of Razakars, Al-Badrs andAl-Shams
(who were mostly members of the Muslim League, the then government party
and other Islamist groups), as well as other Bengalis who opposed
independence, and Bihari Muslims who had settled during the time of
partition.
On
17 April 1971, a provisional government was formed in Meherpur district
in western Bangladesh bordering India with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who
was in prison in Pakistan, as President, Syed Nazrul Islam as Acting
President, and Tajuddin Ahmed as Prime Minister. As fighting grew
between the army and the Bengali Mukti Bahini an estimated 10 million
Bengalis, mainly Hindus, sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam and
West Bengal.
June – September
Bangladesh
forces command was set up on 11 July, with Col. M A G Osmani as
commander in chief, Lt. Col. Abdur Rab as chief of Army Staff and Group
Captain A K Khandker as Deputy Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air
Force. Bangladesh was divided into Eleven Sectors each with a commander
chosen from defected officers of the Pakistani army who joined the Mukti
Bahini to conduct guerrilla operations and train fighters. Most of
their training camps were situated near the border area and were
operated with assistance from India. The 10th Sector was directly placed
under a Commander in Chief (C-in-C) and included the Naval Commandos
and C-in-C’s special force. Three brigades (11 Battalions) were raised
for conventional warfare; a large guerrilla force (estimated at 100,000)
was trained.
Guerrilla
operations, which slackened during the training phase, picked up after
August. Economic and military targets in Dhaka were attacked. The major
success story was Operation Jackpot, in which naval commandos mined and
blew up berthed ships in Chittagong on 16 August 1971. Pakistani
reprisals claimed lives of thousands of civilians. The Indian army took
over supplying the Mukti Bahini from the BSF. They organised six sectors
for supplying the Bangladesh forces.
October – December
Bangladesh
conventional forces attacked border outposts. Kamalpur, Belonia and
Battle of Boyra are a few examples. 90 out of 370 BOPs fell to Bengali
forces. Guerrilla attacks intensified, as did Pakistani and Razakar
reprisals on civilian populations. Pakistani forces were reinforced by
eight battalions from West Pakistan. The Bangladeshi independence
fighters even managed to temporarily capture airstrips at Lalmonirhat
and Shalutikar. Both of these were used for flying in supplies and arms
from India. Pakistan sent 5 battalions from West Pakistan as
reinforcements.
Declaration of Independence:
The violence unleashed by the Pakistani forces on 25 March 1971, proved
the last straw to the efforts to negotiate a settlement. Following
these outrages, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration
that read:
Today
Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night,
West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at
Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent
and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of
Bangladesh. Violent clashes between E.P.R. and Police on the one hand
and the armed forces of Pakistan on the other, are going on. The
Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent
Bangladesh. May Allah aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla.
Sheikh
Mujib also called upon the people to resist the occupation forces
through a radio message. Mujib was arrested on the night of 25–26 March
1971 at about 1:30 a.m. (as per Radio Pakistan’s news on 29 March 1971).
A
telegram containing the text of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s declaration
reached some students in Chittagong. The message was translated to
Bangla by Dr. Manjula Anwar. The students failed to secure permission
from higher authorities to broadcast the message from the nearby Agrabad
Station of Radio Pakistan. They crossed Kalurghat Bridge into an area
controlled by an East Bengal Regiment under Major Ziaur Rahman. Bengali
soldiers guarded the station as engineers prepared for transmission. At
19:45 hrs on 27 March 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman broadcast the
announcement of the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh
Mujibur. On 28 March Major Ziaur Rahman made another announcement, which
was as follows:
This
is Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendro. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction
of Bangobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that the
independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his
direction, I have taken command as the temporary Head of the Republic.
In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I call upon all Bengalis to rise
against the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the
last to free our Motherland. By the grace of Allah, victory is ours. Joy
Bangla.
The
Kalurghat Radio Station’s transmission capability was limited. The
message was picked up by a Japanese ship in Bay of Bengal. It was then
re-transmitted by Radio Australia and later by the British Broadcasting
Corporation. M A Hannan, an Awami League leader from Chittagong, is said
to have made the first announcement of the declaration of independence
over the radio on 26 March 1971. There is controversy now as to when
Major Zia gave his speech. BNP sources maintain that it was 26 March,
and there was no message regarding declaration of independence from
Mujibur Rahman. Pakistani sources, like Siddiq Salik in Witness to
Surrender had written that he heard about Mujibor Rahman’s message on
the Radio while Operation Searchlight was going on, and Maj. Gen. Hakeem
A. Qureshi in his book The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Soldier’s Narrative,
gives the date of Zia’s speech as 27 March 1971.
26
March 1971 is considered the official Independence Day of Bangladesh,
and the name Bangladesh was in effect henceforth. In July 1971, Indian
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi openly referred to the former East Pakistan
as Bangladesh. Some Pakistani and Indian officials continued to use the
name “East Pakistan” until 16 December 1971.
Surrender & Aftermath:
On 16 December 1971, Lt. Gen A. A. K. Niazi, CO of Pakistan Army forces
located in East Pakistan signed the instrument of surrender. At the
time of surrender only a few countries had provided diplomatic
recognition to the new nation. Over 90,000 Pakistani troops surrendered
to the Indian forces making it the largest surrender since World War II.
Bangladesh sought admission in the United Nations with most voting in
its favor, but China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally. The
United States, also a key ally of Pakistan, was one of the last nations
to accord Bangladesh recognition. To ensure a smooth transition, in 1972
the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan. The treaty
ensured that Pakistan recognized the independence of Bangladesh in
exchange for the return of the Pakistani PoWs. India treated all the
PoWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule 1925. It
released more than 90,000 Pakistani PoWs in five months.
Further,
as a gesture of goodwill, nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war
crimes by Bengalis were also pardoned by India. The accord also gave
back more than 13,000 km² of land that Indian troops had seized in West
Pakistan during the war, though India retained a few strategic areas;
most notably Kargil (which would in turn again be the focal point for a
war between the two nations in 1999). This was done as a measure of
promoting “lasting peace” and was acknowledged by many observers as a
sign of maturity by India. But some in India felt that the treaty had
been too lenient to Bhutto, who had pleaded for leniency, arguing that
the fragile democracy in Pakistan would crumble if the accord was
perceived as being overly harsh by Pakistanis.
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