Introduction

On April 17 Mujibnagar Government was formed. Every year we celebrate the formation of
Mujibnagar government on 17th April. The Mujibnagar Government was formed with political
leaders. Its oath was taken at Meherpur under Baidyanathala. Mujibnagar Government laid the
Mukti Bahini for the Independence of Bangladesh.

The Mujibnagar government played a very important role in directing the Liberation War
under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971.The Mujibnagar
Government is also called War cabinet. The cabinet was made up of frontline leaders and
government workers.

Context of forming the Mujibnagar government 

Throughout history the Mujibnagar government is known as Bangladesh’s first official

government. The Mujibnagar government formed the government on 10 April 1971 to conduct
the war of Liberation. The Liberation war was started in the context of 1970 elections. Since the
Awami League was winning the election, their legal right was to form a government. The
absence of the towering personality of Sheikh Mujib very adversely affected their moves and
decisions.[CITATION Muh78 \p 258 \l 1033 ] Many of the Central Leaders fled on the night of
March 25 and entered India by crossing the border. Tajuddin Ahmed was the first to visit India.
Tajuddin Ahmed was the general secretary of that time. He was the trusted lieutenant of Seikh
Mujib .He was also the most capable planner and administrator in the Awami League. Arriving
in India, he went to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Delhi. On April 2, he arrived in Delhi with
his other colleagues Barrister Amirul Islam, an elected representative from Kushtia and Professor
Dr. Rehman Sobhan.[CITATION Muh781 \p 259 \l 1033 ]

Prefessor Dr. Rehman Sobhan was the first to show economic inequality between the two
Pakistan. Inequality of budget expenditure, defense, civil service. They waited for two to three
days because they were not being given an appointment with Indira Gandhi. They had a really
difficult time to convince the authority that they wants Independence. They want to fight and
they need help. They wanted both moral and physical support from India. They wanted help in
training and equipping a guerilla force.[ CITATION Ind17 \l 1033 ] The Indian authorities cannot
help Bangladesh directly. It will be against the international law. Along the border they will built
refugee camps. Those who cross the border after the 25 th will be allowed to stay in the refugee
camp. When the context of the war of liberation began, the internal condition of India was bad. A
movement started in India just before the outbreak of the 1970 war. Naxalbari movement. The
movement was started by two Leaders. They wanted to establish socialism in India. [ CITATION
Ind17 \l 1033 ] Indira Gandhi was very much annoyed with this thing. A new doubt arose in Indira
Gandhi’s mind as to whether the Bengalis would return to their country. Or they will join the
movement that is going on in west Bengal. Tajuddin Ahmed and the rest of his colleague met
Indira Gandhi and moved to Calcutta. On his return from Delhi on 8 march 1971 Tajuddin met
Bengali leaders in Calcutta.[CITATION Muh78 \p 262 \l 1033 ]

They set up a headquarters in Calcutta, called the Headquarters of the Bangladesh Government.
The members of the government were: Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib as the President; Syed
Nazrul Islam as the Vice President; Tajuddin Ahmed as the Prime Minister; Khondokar Mostaq
Ahmad as the Foreign Minister; M Mansur Ali as the Finance Minister and AHM kamruzzaman
as the Home Minister.[ CITATION Ban20 \l 1033 ] It also stipulated that in the absence of the
president the vice president should be the acting head of state. It was propagated in front of local
and foreign media that this government was formed on the basis of 1970 elections. East Pakistan
was renamed Bangladesh. The government was formed on the 10 th but was sworn in on the 17 th
of April. The oath was taken at Baidyanathala in Meherpur, Khustia. The oath taking was
witnessed by hundreds of foreign journalists. Oath taking ceremony was conducted by Abdul
Mannan. He was the member of the national assembly. The declaration of independence was
read out there. Professor. Mohammad Yusuf Ali read out the letter of independence. What the
government has done is Proclamation of Independence. [CITATION Muh78 \p 263 \l 1033 ] It
supported the Declaration of Independence. This proclamation of Independence was supported
by nearly all the elected representatives who had been able to escape the clutches of Yahya Khan.
By the beginning of July some 121 members of the National assembly and 229 members of the
provincial assembly were there to uphold the proclamation and fight for the liberation of
Bangladesh.[CITATION Muh78 \p 263 \l 1033 ] Tajuddin Ahmad also took the charge of Defense
Ministry and appointed Colonel MAG Osmany as the commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh
Forces, later named as Mukti Bahini.[ CITATION Ban20 \l 1033 ]
Role in directing Liberation War

Mujibnagar government helped the Guerrila forces by training them. The Mujibnagar
government organized the freedom fighters, collected weapons for the freedom fighters and
trained them. Indira Gandhi issued a statement on March 27 after the attack began on March
25.She express her full support on the freedom of Bengalis. India opened the border for people to
take shelter in India. Government of west Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura established
refugee camps along the border. 2 crores Bengalis took shelter in those camp. Tajuddin Ahmed
announced the formation of an army. He established Zonal command for the liberation forces.
[CITATION Muh78 \p 269 \l 1033 ] The first task of Government was regrouping of the scattered
armed elements and organizing them into a fighting force under central command. From the first
week of April, those in the Bangladesh government were recruiting members of the Mukti
Bahini from the refugee camps. In April Mukti Fauj was established but in mid-July it was
renamed Mukti Bahini. Students, Farmer, workers, political members join the Mukti bahini.
After two weeks of training, they were given arms. They could not supply arms due to shortage
of arms of Indian Government. Especially there were no heavy Equipment. Initially the arms
were collected from Bangladesh. [CITATION Muh78 \p 270 \l 1033 ]

From early May, the Soviet Union began sending weapons. The guerrilla forces used Chinese
sub machine gun, Sks rifle, Sten gun, Sub-Machine gun etc. weapon. [ CITATION The17 \l 1033 ]
In November, the Indians started providing artillery support. Military Leadership was provided
by trained military officers. Some freedom fighters were formed inside Bangladesh. The
liberation war groups were known by a few names. One of these groups was the famous Kaderia
Bahini in Tangail. They had 17000 soldiers. Latif Mirza Bahini of Sirajganj and Akbar Hossain
Bahini of Jhenaidah. Hemayet Bahini was in Faridpur. Hemayat bahini had 1000 soldires.
Hemayet was a soldier of East Pakistan rifles. He was there when the fighting broke out on the
night of March 25 in Peelkhana. He somehow survive and joined the Liberation war. There were
two forces in Barisal one is Quddus Mollah and Gafur Bahini[CITATION Muh78 \p 272 \l 1033 ].
Chhatra League leaders and activists formed Mujib Bahini. The mukti Bahini is divided into
regular and irregular forces. Irregular forces are formed with ordinary people. The mukti Bahini
was divided into eleven sectors. Between July and September eleven sectors were formed. The
number of regular soldiers had swollen to ten to twelve thousand. Ten commanders from eleven
sectors were given. It was decided that sector commanders would try to liberate areas of the
country on the one hand and on the other give greater attention to guerrilla operations in
Bangladesh. The sector commanders guided most of the gurilla operations. All attention was
given to guerilla operations inside the country and military engagements in border areas.
Harinath was the headquarters of Sector 1. Major Ziaur Rahman was the Sector Commander.
There was no commander in sector10. Sector 10 was given under the Navy.[ CITATION Lib71 \l
1033 ]
Again there was a sub-sector commander of each sector. Some naval officers and man had also
joined the liberation force and in July a naval unit was established.[ CITATION BBC11 \l 1033 ]

Conclusion

The role of Mujibnagar government is very important in the war of liberation. Mujibnagar
government is known as the first official government of Bangladesh. Without the Mujibnagar
government, the victory of liberation could not have been achieved in a short time. The Oath
taking ceremony took place on 17 April 1971.The Mujibnagar government has created Gurrilla
forces and given them direction and leadership against the Pakistani forces. The freedom fighters
have been able to occupy Bangladesh through gurilla operations.

References

Muhith, AMA, (1978). Bangladesh: Emergence of a Nation, Dhaka: University Press Limited

Zahid Hossain, (2020), Mujibnagar Government: First Milestone of 'Bangladesh', Bangladesh

Awami League. http://www.albd.org/articles/news/31116/Mujibnagar-Government:-
First-Milestone-of-'Bangladesh'
https://www.thedailystar.net/supplement/victory-day-2016-special/the-guerrillas-dhaka-1971-
1330306

https://www.com/watch?v=mYehpS9_PRk

Mark Dummett, (2011), Bangladesh war: The article that changed history, BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201

Prabhash K Dutta, (2017), 50 years of Naxalbari movement: Classic case of fight for right cause
with wrong means, India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/naxalbari-
movement-maoism-charu-mazumdar-kanu-sanyal-jangal-santhal-979195-2017-05-25

Sectors and Sector Commanders - Liberation War

https://sites.google.com/site/bdliberationwar1971/sectors-and-sector-commanders