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Term paper Gen226 - Histo

Emergence of Bangladesh (East West University)

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Acknowledgement

This GEN-226 course assignment provided me with an excellent opportunity for learning and
development. I thus think of myself as being quite thankful that I was given the chance to
take part in it. It gives me great pleasure to convey my heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Md.
Emran Jahan, a professor in the history department at East West University and
Jahangirnagar University, who is my honored teacher and under whose direction I was given
this chance. Despite his extreme workload, he finds the time to help me with my issues,
provide direction, and keep me on the right track, which has enabled me to complete my
report effectively. Additionally, I want to thank all my friends from the bottom of my heart.

Abstract

I have chosen this topic for my research paper because 1947-1971 was marked by many
melodramatic events to get Bangladesh today. This period of time has given many lessons
for politics of the future. It has a different influence on the politics nowadays in Bangladesh.
This nationalism started with the language movement in 1952 and goes through the creation
of the Jukta Front in 1954, Bangla being the state language in 1956, Ayub Khan beginning
the new martial law administration 1958, the declaration of 6 points programme in 1966,
the Agartala conspiracy case 1968, the mass upsurge in 1969, the election of 1970 and came
to an end as the new country Bangladesh in 1971.

Research Questions / Purpose / Objective

My research will be based on the course readings, various citations, newspaper articles,
blogs, and books by renowned authors who have either personally witnessed or have a
thorough understanding of the circumstances that led to independence and the subsequent
actions and reactions.

My research question would mainly focus on the following:

1. What cause the emergence of Bangladesh?

2. What melodramatic events contributed to Bangladesh's creation?
3. What were the effects of such circumstances?

We have thoroughly researched our queries throughout the project and provided
comprehensive answers, along with any relevant background information and arguments.

The objective of our research is to show:

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1. How the Bangali nationalism arose.

2. How Bangladesh's independence was affected by events between 1948 and 1971.
3. Shaikh Mujibur Rahman's Contribution to the Emergence of Bangladesh

The key areas that we intend to focus on are:

1. Language movement.
2. United Front (Jukto Front).
3. 1956 constitution.
4. Rule of Ayub Khan 1958 – 1969.
5. 1970s election.
6. Liberation war 1971.

Introduction

The partition of British India gave birth to two new countries, India and Pakistan. Pakistan
was divided into two parts: East Pakistan and West Pakistan. Except for religion, Pakistan's
two wings were about 1500 kilometers apart and shared no common border, culture, or
social structure. East Pakistan's citizens were unhappy as a result of West Pakistan's
economic and political exploitation of East Pakistan after it gained independence.

Partition of Bangla 1947

By August 1947, Mountbatten had come to believe that the

only way to guarantee the quick end of British authority in
India was to consent to Partition. London decided that each
group would cast a separate vote in the provinces that would
be divided, and the provincial assembly would decide
whether to join India or Pakistan. On June 20, 1947, the
Assembly members made a decision about the partition of
Bengal. Partition in 1947 roughly followed the same
demographic trends as it had in 1905, with the exception that
only the Muslim Sylhet region of Assam, which had been
part of East Bengal, remained after partition. This was almost
certainly because of the wedge that Britain's "divide and rule" policy had driven between
Hindus and Muslims in Bengal.

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Independence Of Pakistan

The Indian Independence Act 1947, passed by

the Parliament of the United
Kingdom, divided British India into two new
independent dominions: the Dominion of
India (later to become the Republic of India) and
the Dominion of Pakistan (later to become
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan). Pakistan
gained its independence on August 14, 1947.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Khawaja
Nizamuddin were appointed as Pakistan's first
governor and prime minister, respectively. And Karachi was chosen as the capital of the
newly established Pakistan.

Language Movement

The Language Movement started in 1948, peaked with the murder of 21 February 1952, and
came to an end when Bangla was declared one of Pakistan's official languages. Urdu will
become the official language of Pakistan, just as Hindi was the official language of India,
according to the country's top leaders and intellectuals who spoke Urdu. However, the
intellectuals and students of East Pakistan urged that Bangla become one of the official
languages. After much debate on the subject, East Pakistan finally demanded that Bangla
serve as both the official language and the primary language of instruction in East Pakistan,
as well as one of the two state languages used by the federal government, alongside Urdu.
The first movement on this issue was mobilized by Tamaddun Majlish, headed by Professor
Abul Kashem.

On February 23, 1948, the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan met in Karachi. Out of the 6
crore 90 lakh population of Pakistan, 4 crore 40 lakh were from East Pakistan with Bangla as
their mother tongue. Central leaders, including Liaquat Ali Khan, and Khwaja Nazimuddin,
chief minister of East Bengal, opposed the motion. On receiving the news that the motion had
been rejected, students, intellectuals, and politicians in East Pakistan became agitated.
Khwaja Nazimuddin had succeeded Liaquat Ali Khan as prime minister of Pakistan. He
reiterated that Urdu would be Pakistan's sole official language. The declaration was
immediately protested, with the Language Movement spreading throughout East Pakistan. A
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new party, the Awami Muslim League, was formed in 1949 under the leadership of Maulana
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani. The Central Language Action Committee (CLAC) met on the
campus of Dhaka University on February 20, 1952. On the university grounds, thousands of
students from various universities and institutions gathered while armed police stood outside.
The police used baton charges when the students came out in groups and began yelling
slogans; even the female students were not exempt. As the enraged students made their way
towards the Assembly Hall, the cops opened fire on them (at present, part of Jagannath Hall,
University of Dhaka). Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, and Abul Barkat, a political science
MA student, were slain, and a nine-year-old kid also perished. The next day, February 22, was
a day of public demonstrations and police reprisals. Since 1952, 21 February has been
observed every year to commemorate the martyrs of the Language Movement. UNESCO
proclaimed February 21 as "International Mother Language Day".

Provincial Election of 1954

The first election for the East Bengal Provincial Assembly was held between March 8 and 12,
1954. Under the provision of reserved seats for non-Muslims in a separate electorate, the
number of seats for the Assembly was fixed at 309. The Awami Muslim League, Krishak
Sramik Party, the Ganatantri Dal (Democratic Party) and Nezam-e-Islam formed the United
Front based on a 21-point agenda. Notable pledges included making Bangla one of the state
languages; granting autonomy to the province; reforms in education; ensuring the
independence of the judiciary; making the legislative assembly effective. In the election, the
United Front won 215 of the 237 seats held by Muslims. While the independents received 12
seats, Khilafat-e-Rabbani only received one. The Muslim League was defeated for a variety
of reasons. Since 1947, the party has been cut off
from the populace. The party lost many devoted
leaders and members when they formed new
parties. The Awami Muslim League, the Krishak-
Sramik Party, the Ganatantri Dal and the Nezam-e-
Islam formed the United Front to form the
provincial government in 1954. A rift surfaced at
the very outset on the question of the formation of
the cabinet. Governor's rule was imposed in the
province, which lasted until June 2, 1955. In the
third week of May, there were bloody riots between Bengalese and non-Bengalese workers in
different mills and factories in East Bengal. The United Front government was blamed for
failing to control the law-and-order situation.

Pakistan: Constitution of 1956

According to Section 8 of the Indian Independence Act of 1947, the Government of India Act
of 1935, with a few modifications and adaptations, would serve as
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Pakistan's operating constitution during the country's transitional period. In fact, this was the
case until the 23rd of March 1956, when the Constitution of the Republic of Pakistan was
adopted and put into effect. The 1956 Constitution included 234 articles divided into 13
divisions and 6 schedules. The main features of the Constitution of Pakistan were as follows:
Urdu and Bangla were declared the state languages of Pakistan. The President, who must be a
Muslim and should not be less than 40, was the head of state. The National Assembly
consisted of 300 members: 150 elected from East Pakistan and 150 from West Pakistan for a
period of five years. The Constitution provided for the Supreme Court of Pakistan and High
Courts for the two provinces.

Martial Law 1958

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On October 7, 1958, army leader Ayub Khan proclaimed martial law in Pakistan and

suspended the Constitution in connivance with the country's then-President Iskander Mirza.
President Mirza named Ayub Khan the Chief Martial Law Administrator on October 8.
However, On Oct 27 Ayub decided to bid farewell to Mirza. Three generals, Burki, Azam and
Khalid Shaikh, spoke to Mirza who was told that he must quit. Mirza understood the whole
thing. He was asked where he wished to go, he cited London. But since at that time no flight
was available, Mirza and his wife were sent to Quetta. After overnight stay there, both were
given a Viscount plane which took them to London bringing an end to a chapter of the early
history of Pakistan. Following that, Ayub Khan's rule began, which lasted until 1969.

Basic Democracies

General Ayub Khan President of Pakistan, introduced the concept of basic democracy under
the Basic Democracies Order, 1959 having
made an attempt to initiate a grass-root
level democratic system. Of course, most
of the political parties of East Pakistan had
different ideas about his scheme, and
considered it a bid to usurp power in the
hands of Ayub Khan and other vested
groups. The system of Basic Democracies
was initially a five-tier arrangement. They
were: (i) union councils (rural areas), town
and union committees (urban areas); (ii)
thana councils (East Pakistan), tehsil
councils (West Pakistan); (iii) district
councils; (iv) divisional councils; (v) provincial development advisory council. The most
important feature of the basic democracy system was that it formed the national electoral
college consisting of 80,000 members from East and West Pakistan for the elections of
President, members of national assembly and of the provincial assemblies. The basic
democracies performed political and electoral functions to legitimate the government through
popular support and participation. In the referendum for presidential elections held on
February 14, 1960, the basic Democrats voted for Ayub Khan. The monopolization of

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electoral rights by the basic Democrats was strongly despised by the vast rural and urban
masses. As a political institution, it failed to legitimize the regime and lost its legitimacy after
the fall of General Ayub in 1969.

Sharif Education Commission Report and Student’s Movement, 1962

The Commission on National Education (1958) was formed by the Government of Pakistan
on 30 December 1958 with S. M Sharif, the West Pakistan Education Secretary, as the
chairman and ten educationists as members. President Ayub Khan, while inaugurating the
Commission in January 1959, set out the mandate to evolve a national system of education
that would reflect the spiritual, moral, and cultural values of independent Pakistan. The
Commission, in its report submitted in December 1959, viewed education as a productive
activity and a national investment in human resource development and recommended the
following: (a) Support should be given to the development of residential secondary schools;
(b) the secondary school curriculum should include a core of compulsory subjects as well as a
few optional ones with a technical and vocational bias; (c) intermediate courses should be
conducted by boards of secondary education rather than universities; (d) degree courses, both
pass and honors, should be three years long; and (e) comprehensive scholarships should be
provided. (f) Provision should be made for adequate facilities for female education.

The policy set aims and objectives relevant to the needs of a new state but failed to provide a
clear-cut strategy to attain them for lack of an implementation plan. The Sharif Commission
Report was rejected outright by the students in East Pakistan, who found the whole tone and
tenor of the report reactionary and against the interests of the Bengalis. When the movement
gained momentum in 1964, the government was compelled to declare a truce and declare an
instant end to the implementation of the commission's report.

ELECTIONS OF 1965

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Pakistan conducted presidential elections on January 2, 1965. Given that it was the year of
the first indirect elections, it was a momentous occurrence. There were 80,000 "basic
Democrats" present for the voting. These fundamental Democrats served in local and state
governments. The fact that a woman was running for the nation's top political post made the
elections noteworthy. Before the start of the Basic Democracy elections, which were to
establish the Electoral College for the Presidential and Assembly elections, candidates for the
1965 elections were declared. The Convention Muslim League and the Combined Opposition
Parties were the two main parties running for office. COP’s nine-point platform includes
democratizing the 1962 Constitution, restoring direct elections, and granting adult voters
voting rights. The Convention Muslim League nominated Ayub Khan, but Miss Fatima
Jinnah was proposed by the COP. After independence, she didn't engage in any political
activities. Because she was strongly in favor of democratic values, she accepted the
nomination. She ran for office because she supported the opposing party. Miss Fatima Jinnah
lost the election of 1965, and Ayub Khan
was elected as the President of Pakistan. On
the indirect ballot, Ayub Khan defeated
Fatima Jinnah by taking 64% of the vote.
The PML secured a thumping majority of
120 seats in those elections. The opposition
could clinch only 15 seats. The Combined
Opposition Party (COP) won 10 seats.

Indo-Pak war 1965

In August 1965, Pakistan launched a clandestine operation code-named "Operation

Gibraltar." The aim was to send infiltrators into Indian Kashmir to carry out insurgent
activities. Pakistan started a radio station called "Sada-e-Kashmir," purportedly the voice of
the mujahedin fighting for Kashmir's liberation. The Pakistani leadership expected that it
would trigger a general uprising among the Kashmiris. Most of the infiltrators were arrested
or killed in encounters. After that On September 1, 1965, Pakistan launched Operation Grand
Slam and the Indo-Pak War, which formally began on September 6, 1965. During the war,
West Pakistan withdrew Pakistan Army from East Pakistan, which makes East Pakistan
insecure. In this war Pakistan Air Force (PAF) pilots of Bangali origin displayed exceptional
professional skill and valour. Flight Lieutenant Saiful Azam and Flying Officer Hassan won
SJ while Leading Aircraftman Anwar Hussain (posthumous) won a TJ. Sqn Ldr M. K.
Bashar, who was a sector commander during the Liberation War and later became Chief of
Bangladesh Air Force, won Tamgha–e-Basalat (Tbt), a high military award for flying the
largest number of bomber missions into India during the war. This war ended 17 days later,
on September 22, 1965, with a cease-fire. Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and
Pakistan President Ayub Khan at a meeting in Tashkent that resulted in a ceasefire followed
by the Tashkent Treaty. This peace deal, known as the Tashkent Declaration, was signed by
the warring parties on January 4, 1966, in Tashkent.

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Six-point Programme

The Awami League published a charter of demands known as the "Six-Point Programme" to
remove the division between Pakistan's two wings and the internal colonial control of West
Pakistan in East Pakistan. On this subject, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman spoke up.
On February 6, 1966, the leaders of West Pakistan's opposition groups met in Lahore for a
national conference to determine the post-Tashkent political direction. In this conference, the
Six Points were first proposed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. However, it was rejected by the
leaders of West Pakistan. Then the six-point
program along with a proposal of movement for
the realization of the demands was placed before
the meeting of the working committee of the
Awami League on February 21, 1966, and the
proposal was carried out unanimously. A booklet
on the six-point program with introductions from
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and
Tajuddin Ahmad was published. Another booklet, Amader Banchar Dabi: 6-dafa Karmasuchi
(Our demands for existence: 6-points Programme), was published in the name of Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman and distributed at the Awami League council meeting on March 18, 1966.

Six Points

1 The Constitution should provide for a Federation of Pakistan in its true sense under the
. Lahore Resolution and the parliamentary form of government with the supremacy of a

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Legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise.

2 The federal government should deal with only two subjects: defense and foreign
. affairs, and all other residuary subjects shall be vested in the federating states.

3 Two separate, but freely convertible, currencies for two wings should be introduced; or
. if this is not feasible, there should be one currency for the whole country, but effective
constitutional provisions should be introduced to stop the flight of capital from East to
West Pakistan. Furthermore, a separate banking reserve should be established, and a
separate fiscal and monetary policy should be adopted for East Pakistan.

4 The power of taxation and revenue collection shall be vested in the federating units,
. and the federal center will have no such power on the issue. The federation will be
entitled to a share of the state taxes to meet its expenditures.

5 There should be two separate accounts for the foreign exchange earnings of the two
. wings; the foreign exchange requirements of the federal government should be met by
the two wings equally or in a fixed ratio; indigenous products should move duty-free
between the two wings; and the Constitution should empower the units to establish
trade links with foreign countries.

6 East Pakistan should have a separate militia or paramilitary force.

.

The opposition leaders of West Pakistan looked at Mujib's six-point program as a device to
disband Pakistan, and hence they rejected his proposal outright. The Ayub government
projected Sheikh Mujib as a separatist and later instituted the Agartala conspiracy case
against him.

Agartala Conspiracy Case

The Pakistani government accused Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman, the leader of the Awami League, as well as
certain active-duty and former military soldiers and
high-ranking government officials in the Agartala
Conspiracy Case in 1968. They were accused of
taking part in a plot to split apart Pakistan with the
assistance of the Indian government. A large-scale
mobilization in East Pakistan forced the Pakistani
government to drop the lawsuit. Initially, the
government decided to court martial the accused,
but subsequently, in the interest of the proper

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holding of the general elections of 1970, the government resolved to frame charges only
against 35 concerned political personalities and high government officials under civil law.
The persons included in the charge sheet were Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sgt. Johirul Huq,
Ruhul Kuddus, Fazlul Haq, and others. The case was entitled "State vs. Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman and Others." However, it is more commonly known as the Agartala conspiracy case.
And a martial court was set up in the Dhaka cantonment. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan
Bhasani organized a mass movement against the conspiracy of the government. He
demanded the immediate withdrawal of the case and the release of all prisoners, including
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Sergeant Zahurul Haq, the 17th accused in the case, was
mercilessly shot to death while in confinement. As a result, the Ayub government was
ultimately compelled to withdraw the
Agartala Conspiracy Case on February 22,
1969.

Mass Upsurge, 1969

The student rebellion of 1968 against

Pakistani President Ayub Khan's
authoritarian government served as the
catalyst for the "Mass Upsurge" of 1969. The industrial belts' working class, as well as low-
and middle-income populations, quickly transformed the movement into a fight for
economic liberation.The racial repression and deprivation of the Bangalis within the
framework of Pakistan, beginning with the language movement, had a direct influence on
the mass uprising of 1969. On the call of the main opposition parties, namely the two
factions of NAP (Bhasani and Muzaffar), a hartal was observed throughout East Pakistan on
December 8. Repression Resistance Day was very successfully observed throughout the
province on December 10. On January 4, 1969, leaders of the East Pakistan Students' Union
declared their 11-point program. The demand for Sheikh Mujib's release and withdrawal of
the Agartala Conspiracy Case began to get the utmost priority. The Democratic Action
Committee (DAC) was formed immediately after the 11-Point Programme was launched on
January 8, 1969, by eight political parties. They demanded a federal form of government,
election on the basis of universal adult franchise, immediate withdrawal of emergency, and
release of all political detainees. Some right-wing DAC parties refused to support the SAC's
11-point program, but the movement gradually gained momentum. Maulana Bhasani
declared that there would be no payment of taxes if the 11-point demands were not fulfilled
and all political prisoners were not released within two months. Sergeant Zahurul Huq, an
under-trial prisoner in the Agartala Conspiracy Case, died of a bullet injury in the Dhaka
Cantonment. Dr Mohammad Shamsuzzoha, Proctor of Rajshahi University, was bayoneted to
death on February 18, 1969. Students, with the assistance of peasants, put on trial the local
tax collectors, the subordinate police, and their officers, and garlanded them with shoes.
Thousands of workers saw the gherao movement as a fruitful means of achieving their
demands. Low-income groups and mid-level employees joined processions for their long-
cherished but unfulfilled demands. In these conditions, Sheikh Mujib emerged from prison
and announced his desire to attend the Round Table Conference (RTC) that Ayub had called.

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He pleaded with the populace to preserve law and order. In contrast, Maulana Bhasani
declined to join the RTC and earned the moniker "prophet of violence" when he described
the 1969 uprising as a conflict between the oppressor and the oppressed, in keeping with his
typical beliefs and values. General Ayub Khan, Pakistan's strongman, eventually forced to
cede control to General Yahya Khan, commander of the Pakistan Army. Martial Law was
reinstated, but it was also agreed that elections based on the universal adult franchise would
be held soon, and parliamentary democracy would be established.

General Elections, 1970

On March 24, 1969, Muhammad Ayub Khan handed power to General Mohammad Yahya
Khan, who was the then-Army Chief. On March 25, 1969, martial law was implemented.
Eight months later, on November 28, 1969 he declared, elections for the National Assembly
and Provincial Assemblies will take place. The "Legal Framework Order," issued on March
28, 1970, provided the general framework for that election. Yahya Khan cancelled the unitary
status of West Pakistan and created four provinces there. Elections to the National Assembly
would be held on October 5, 1970, and to the Provincial Assembly on October 22, 1970.
Under the Legal Framework Order, the number of seats in
the National Assembly was fixed at 313 (including 13 for
women). The Awami League termed the election a
"referendum" for its 6-point and 11-point demands.
Although critical of the Legal Framework Order, all
parties except the Bhasani NAP and the National League
decided to participate in the election. The dates for
elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies were
fixed for December 7 and December 17, 1970,
respectively. But when 2 lakh people died after a
devastating cyclone that struck East Pakistan on November 12, elections to 9 National
Assembly seats and 21 Provincial Assembly seats took place after one month. Awami League
won absolute majority by capturing 167 out of 169 seats in East Pakistan. The Pakistan
People's Party (PPP) won 88 out of 144 National Assembly seats in West Pakistan. Awami
League failed to win any seats in West Pakistan, while the PPP could not win any in East
Pakistan. In the election for the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, the Awami League won
288 out of 300 seats. Awami League Chief Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared that the people
of East Pakistan had given a mandate in favor of the 6 and 11 points, it could not be bypassed
while framing the constitution. Yahya Khan announced on February 14 that the session of the
National Assembly would commence in Dhaka on March 3 for the purpose of framing the
constitution. Yahya Khan postponed the session of the National Assembly scheduled for
March 3 through an announcement on March 1, 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared a
state of emergency in Dhaka on March 2 and throughout the province the following day. An
announcement titled "Declaration and Program for Independent and Sovereign Bangladesh"
was made by the East Pakistan Chatra League at Dhaka's Paltan Maidan on March 3. On
March 15, Yahya Khan came in Dhaka, where he met with Mujib till March 24. On March
21, Bhutto traveled to Dhaka to take part in the negotiations. Yahya Khan was really
importing military hardware and personnel from West Pakistan while he seemed to be
holding talks. Finally, on the night of March 25, the Pakistani Army carried out a genocide in

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Dhaka once all the necessary preparations were finished. The independence struggle in
Bangladesh was initiated as a form of protest these cruel executions. The nine-month armed
liberation conflict, which had its beginning on March 26, 1971, and continues.

Liberation war 1971

The war of independence is a glorious

period in the history of our country. The
war was fought against the Pakistan
army in 1971. Through this war,
Bangladesh emerged as an independent
country. It was also a war of supreme
sacrifice. About three million people died in this war, Most of them died in the genocide
carried out by the Pakistani army. On March 25, the army launched a massive attack in which
there were heavy casualties. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was arrested and flown to West
Pakistan. Before that, he declared the independence of Bangladesh. Most of the Awami
League leaders fled and set up a government-in-exile in Calcutta, declaring Bangladesh an
independent state. Internal resistance was mobilized by some Bengali units of the regular
army, notably by Major Zia ur-Rahman. Eventually, on Dec. 3, 1971, the Indian army
invaded the territory of its neighbor. On December 16, 1971, Dhaka fell to the Mitro Bahini,
the elite of the Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army. An Instrument of surrender' was signed by
the defeated Pakistani General Nazi and by Indian Commander General Aurora. This is now
Bangladesh which became liberated and independent. December 16 is recognized as the
Victory Day in Bangladesh, while March 26 is recognized as the Independence Day with
sovereignty, Bangladesh is progressing in all aspects. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
was released from jail and returned to a hero’s welcome, assuming leadership of the new
Bangladesh government in January 1972. Our victory in the war of independence was a hard-
earned one.

The Return Of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

BANGABANDHU Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to Bangladesh from imprisonment in

Pakistan on January 10, 1972. He was released on January 8 after serving nine months in
Paksitan's Mianwali prison. He was accompanied by Dr. Kamal Hossain, who was also jailed
in Pakistan. Bangabandhu had stopped in London and New Delhi on his way home. He was
our Nelson Mandela, but in a Pakistani jail. Our War of Liberation was fought in his name
under the leadership of his closest associates.

Conclusion

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Inferiority on the social, economic, and political levels will never lead to national success.
Without a doubt, Bangladesh has fared far better after being freed from Pakistan. There are
still development issues in every socioeconomic and political sphere. The fact that
Bangladesh has succeeded to gain its sovereignty and independence, however, is a great
accomplishment since it means that, unlike before the Liberation War, it now has the ability
to address its own issues without the influence or involvement of a higher political authority.
Bengali is the mother tongue of the Bangladeshi people, and they may speak it proudly
without worrying about being persecuted or attacked. Muslims can freely associate with
followers of other faiths without fear of prejudice or being viewed as less than them.

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