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History of Bangladesh |
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Before
Independence |
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The history of Bangladesh
is related to that of the larger area of Bengal,
which became independent of Delhi by 1341. After
a succession of Muslim rulers, it was conquered
by Akbar, the great Mughal emperor in 1576. By the
beginning of the 18th cent., the governor of the
province was virtually independent, but he lost
control to the British East India Company, which
after 1775 was the effective ruler of the vast area,
which also included the Indian states of West Bengal,
Orissa, Jharkhand, and Bihar.
Bengal was divided by the British in 1905 into West
Bengal and East Bengal, with East Bengal being more
or less coterminous with modern Bangladesh. Since
the new province had a majority Muslim population,
the partition was welcomed by Muslims, but it was
fiercely resented by Indian nationalist leaders
who saw it as an attempt to drive a wedge between
Muslims and Hindus. The partition was withdrawn
in 1911, but it had pointed the way to the events
of 1947, when British India was partitioned into
the states of India and Pakistan.
Pakistan consisted of two “wings,” one
to the west of India, and the other to the east.
The eastern section was constituted from the eastern
portion of Bengal and the former Sylhet district
of Assam and was known until 1955 as East Bengal
and then as East Pakistan. Pakistan's two provinces,
which differed considerably in natural setting,
economy, and historical background, were separated
from each other by more than 1,000 mi (1,610 km)
of India. The East Pakistanis, who comprised 56%
of the total population of Pakistan, were discontented
under a government centered in West Pakistan; the
disparity in government investments and development
funds given to each province also added to the resentment.
Efforts over the years to secure increased economic
benefits and political reforms proved unsuccessful,
and serious riots broke out in 1968 and 1969.
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Independence
to the Present |
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The movement for greater
autonomy gained momentum when, in the Dec., 1970,
general elections, the Awami League under the leadership
of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (generally known as Sheikh
Mujib) won practically all of East Pakistan's seats
and thus achieved a majority in the Pakistan National
Assembly. President Muhammad Agha Yahya Khan, hoping
to avert a political confrontation between East
and West Pakistan, twice postponed the opening session
of the national assembly.
The government's attempts to forestall the autonomy
bid led to general strikes and nonpayment of taxes
in East Pakistan and finally to civil war on Mar.
25, 1971. On the following day the Awami League's
leaders proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh.
During the months of conflict an estimated one million
Bengalis were killed in East Pakistan and another
10 million fled into exile in India. Fighting raged
in Dhaka, Chittagong, Comilla, Sylhet, Jessore,
Barisal, Rangpur, and Khulna. Finally India allied
itself with Bangladesh, which it had recognized
on Dec. 6, and during a two-week war (Dec. 3–16)
defeated the Pakistani forces in the east. Sheikh
Mujib, who had been chosen president while in prison
in West Pakistan, was released, and in Jan., 1972,
he set up a government and assumed the premiership;
Abu Sayeed Choudhury became president.
Rejecting Pakistan's call for a reunited country,
Sheikh Mujib began to rehabilitate an economy devastated
by the war. Relations with Pakistan were hostile;
Pakistan withheld recognition from Bangladesh, and
Bangladesh and India refused to repatriate more
than 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war who had surrendered
at the end of the conflict. Armed Bengali “freedom
fighters” fought Bihari civilians in Bangladesh,
particularly after Indian troops withdrew from Bangladesh
in Mar., 1972.
Tensions were eased in July, 1972, when President
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan (who assumed power
after the fall of the Yahya Khan government) and
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India agreed to
peacefully settle the differences between their
countries. Pakistan officially recognized Bangladesh
in Feb., 1974. Subsequently, India and Pakistan
reached consensus on the release of Pakistani prisoners
of war and the exchange of hostage populations.
Bangladesh was gradually recognized by most of the
world's nations. It joined the Commonwealth of Nations
in 1972 and was admitted to the United Nations in
1974. In 1972 the country's major industries, banks,
and shipping and insurance firms were nationalized.
Despite Mujib's popularity as the founder of independent
Bangladesh, high rates of inflation and a severe
famine resulted in a governmental crisis. In 1975,
after becoming president under a new constitutional
system, he was assassinated in a military coup;
after two additional coups later in the year, Maj.
Gen. Zia ur-Rahman emerged as ruler, beginning a
period of military control that lasted into the
1990s.
In 1981, Zia was himself assassinated in a failed
coup attempt; his successor was replaced (1982)
in a bloodless coup by Lt. Gen. Hussain Mohammad
Ershad, who assumed the presidency. In an effort
to gain legitimacy, Ershad later resigned his military
office and won a disputed presidential election.
He was forced to resign in Dec., 1990, amid charges
of corruption, for which he was later jailed (2000).
Elections held in Feb., 1991, brought the Bangladesh
Nationalist party (BNP) to power, and Khaleda Zia,
the widow of Zia ur-Rahman, became prime minister.
In 1994, nearly all opposition members of parliament
denounced Zia's government as corrupt and resigned
their seats. After a series of general strikes called
by the opposition, parliament was dissolved in Nov.,
1995; major opposition parties also boycotted the
ensuing Feb., 1996, elections. Zia was returned
to power, but the opposition mounted protests; she
resigned and an interim government headed by Habibur
Rahman was installed.
New elections held in June, 1996, resulted in a
victory for the opposition Awami League, led by
Hasina Wazed, daughter of Bangladesh's first prime
minister. As she struggled with the country's ongoing
economic problems, a series of opposition-led strikes,
beginning in 1998, once again paralyzed the country.
In July, 2001, a caretaker government headed by
Latifur Rahman was appointed in advance of parliamentary
elections in October. Zia and the BNP won a landslide
victory in the voting, and she again became prime
minister. In 2003 the Awami League began a series
of rallies and occasional strikes to mobilize opposition
to the government. Deadly attacks on rallies in
Aug., 2004, and Jan., 2005, provoked a series of
nationwide and local strikes and protests by the
League, which accused the government of trying to
assassinate Hasina Wazed.
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Dhaka
Division
