In Pakistan, although the Eastern wing of Pakistan was more populous than the Western one, political power since independence rested with the Western elite.
This caused considerable resentment in East Pakistan and a charismatic Bengali leader called, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, most forcefully articulated that resentment by forming an opposition political party called the Awami League and demanding more autonomy for East Pakistan within the Pakistani Federation.
Great differences began developing between the two wings of Pakistan. While the west had a minority share of Pakistan’s total population, it had the maximum share of revenue allocation, industrial development, agricultural reforms and civil developments. Pakistan’s military and civil services were dominated by the fair-skinned, Persian cultured Punjabis and Afghans.
80% to 90% of the jobs were occupied by the East Pakistanis, majority of them from Punjab.
In the Pakistani general elections held in 1970, the Sheikh's party won the majority of seats, securing a complete majority in East Pakistan.
In all fairness, the Sheikh should have been Prime Minister of Pakistan, or at least the ruler of his province.
In March 1971, the two sides conducted talks to reach some sort of compromise, but on 25 March, Bhutto and Yahya Khan, the outgoing of president of Pakistan, broke off the talks.
The dawn of 1971 saw a great human tragedy unfolding in erstwhile East Pakistan. Entire East Pakistan was in revolt.
In the West, General Yahya Khan, who had appointed himself President in 1969, had given the job of pacifying East Pakistan to his junior, General Tikka Khan.
After the military crackdown by the Pakistan army the night of 25 March 1971 ordered by Tikka Khan, which left thousands of Bengalis dead, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was arrested and the political leaders dispersed, mostly fleeing to neighboring India whey they organized a provisional government afterwards.
The same day, the Pakistani Army began airlifting two of its divisions plus a brigade strength formation to its Eastern Wing.
Attempts to disarm Bengali troops were not entirely successful and within weeks of the 25 March massacres, many former Bengali officers and troops of the Pakistani Army had joined Bengali resistance fighters in different parts of East Pakistan.
The Pakistani Army conducted several crackdowns in different parts of Bangladesh, leading to massive loss of civilian life.
Survivors compare it to the Nazi extermination of Jews. The massacres in Dhaka and in Chittagong were in Nazi style. Geography prevented the Pakistani army from getting too deep into the interior.
At the same time, the Pakistani Administration in Dhaka thought it could pacify the Bengali peasantry by appropriating the land of the Hindu population and gifting it to Muslims.
An estimated ten million people i.e. 15% of the total population include both Hindus and Muslims, sought refugees in the India States of Assam, Tripura and West Bengal. West Bengal was the worst affected by the refugee problem and the Indian government was left holding the enormous burden.
Repeated appeals by the Indian government failed to elicit any response from the international community and by April 1971, the then Indian Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, decided that the only solution lay in helping Bengali freedom fighters, especially the Mukti Bahini, to liberate East Pakistan, which had already been re-christened Bangladesh by its people.
On December 3, 1971, India intervened on the side of the Bangladeshis. On December 16, 1971, Pakistani forces surrendered and Bangladesh or Country of Bangla was finally established the following day.
This is one of the marvels of world history because in early 1900s the then East Bangla was the originator of Muslim separatism.
India-Pakistan war and establishment of Bangladesh
