Introduction to the history of the development of independent Bangladesh
History can be based on a nation, a period, a land a region, or any other characteristic. The history of the development of independent Bangladesh is the history of the struggle and independence of the people of East Pakistan under the then Pakistan after 1947. For 24 years the people of this region have been subjected to exploitation and deprivation by Pakistani rule. The Pakistani colonial type of rule made the development of Bengal inevitable. It is well known that Pakistan was formed based on nationalism through the Indian Independence Act of 1947. Present-day Bangladesh was then known as East Pakistan. The distance between West Pakistan and East Pakistan was about 1200 miles. The peoples of the two widely separated lands had nothing in common except religion. Although Pakistan became independent under the leadership of the Muslim League, its leadership was mainly in the hands of the then-West Pakistani bourgeoisie and later the military. The arrogance of Ayub, Bhutto, and Yahya’s leadership has repeatedly prevented the majority of East Pakistanis from getting their rightful rights. The common people of East Pakistan have been crushed and defeated time and again in the chess game of politics. But the struggle for the rights of ever-loving Bengalis did not stop there. Although it has been protracted over time it has intensified resulting in independence. The motivation of this rebellion came from the motivation of success in the anti-colonial movement. The rebellious nature of the people of Bengal can be found in the descriptions of various historians. The Mughal period historian Ibn Battuta Sube called Bengal a ‘blissful hell’. So no attempt to subdue the people of Bengal ultimately succeeded.
Various deprivations in the political sphere forced the people to take action throughout independent Bangladesh. Despite being the majority of the people, according to the democratic rules, where the leadership of the entire Pakistan is supposed to be in the hands of the East Pakistanis, in terms of political leadership, the West Pakistanis continue to look askance at the people of Bengal, and all the governance arrangements revolve around West Pakistan. After the partition of India, after East Bengal became the most populous region, Pakistan’s capital was Karachi, later Islamabad. While the cost of upgrading Karachi to the capital at that time was estimated at 200 crores, the cost of upgrading Islamabad was estimated at 20 crores. There, the cost of upgradation of Dhaka is estimated to be only 2 crores. In the 1954 provincial election, Bhasani, Shere Bangla A. K. The Pakistani leadership did not take it well when the United Front led by Fazlul Haque, Suhrawardy won against the Muslim League. After just two months, the Fazlul Haque government was dismissed and the Governor’s rule was imposed. East Pakistan saw 7 changes of government and three times governor’s rule in just 4 years. In this regard, the people of these areas did not take well to the repeated snubbing of the Pakistani central leadership. About 9 (1947-56) years after the establishment of Pakistan, the constitution of Pakistan was made but it could not survive for more than 2 years. Army chief Ayub Khan seized power, suspended the constitution, and began to rule the country in his way. He introduced a new type of democracy, fundamental democracy, where the general public did not have the opportunity to participate directly. Later, in the face of mass agitation, Yahya Khan ruled as per his will for 2 years in the name of election and imposed an unjust war on Bangladesh by depriving the leader of the majority party Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a democratic election. The 24-year (1947-71) Pakistan period was governed by the constitution for only 2 years and the rest of the time the country was governed by the hands of Pakistani leaders and their military allies. Where the people of the then East Pakistan as well as the political leadership were not allowed to participate freely or legally.
Economically, the people of this country were deprived and exploited. According to the statistics, 43.7 percent of the entire population of Pakistan lived in West Pakistan and 56.3 percent lived in East Pakistan. Despite the large population, only 25-30% of the central government’s development expenditure was allocated to the AA region. Where 60-65% of the foreign earnings were from the export of East Pakistan products. 60% of the revenue of the central government was earned from this country while almost three-fourths of it was spent in West Pakistan. East Pakistan’s exports were agricultural products of various stages including jute, tea, and leather. No new industrial plant has been built in these areas. Rather, the raw materials of the country were taken to West Pakistan and converted into manufactured goods. Even 43% of the small factories in the country were owned by West Pakistanis. They also held three-fourths of central government jobs. West Pakistan was home to various economic and administrative activities, including the national defense office, the main building of the State Bank, the international airport, and foreign embassies.
During the Pakistan era, the country was largely neglected in the cultural field. The first conflict was with West Pakistan over language. The people of this area were of non-communal mentality. Differences in religion could not loosen the bonds of harmony and cooperation between people. From time immemorial, the bond of amity and harmony between Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians has been maintained in the Bengal region. Therefore, even though Pakistan was created based on two-nation theory, the people of this country are Bangla instead of Muslim.
