How did we get here
Nawshaba Khuda
The historic Bangla language movement of the mid-twentieth century is an inspirational part of Bangladeshi heritage. The heroics, sacrifices, passion for the mother tongue and patriotism to the motherland made the powerful rulers of the then Pakistan yield to public demand and accept Bangla as one of the official languages of the country. It is a tragic tale with a happy ending: Bangla eventually achieved the status it deserved, at the cost of valuable lives. Now, 21st February, the day some brave Bengalis laid down their lives for their mother tongue sixty-five years ago, has been recognized and celebrated around the world after UNESCO declared it as International Mother Language Day.
Pakistan and India became independent from British rule in 1947 based on a two-nation theory with the Muslim majority areas falling under Pakistan and the Hindu majority areas under India. The Muslim majority region of Bengal, which following Partition was to form East Pakistan, showed overwhelming support to be with the new nation of Pakistan though the Bengalis were geographically, linguistically, and culturally many miles apart from West Pakistani.
The ruling elites, almost entirely based in West Pakistan, single-handedly decided to make Urdu the only official language of the new country, whereas majority of the population living in East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) could not speak Urdu as Bangla was their main language. Urdu was, and still is, a minority language in Pakistan; less than 8% speak it as their mother tongue today. But the ruling class refused to acknowledge East Pakistan’s linguistic right. On 21st March 1948, the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah infamously declared in Dhaka, “Urdu and Urdu alone shall be the state language of Pakistan.”
Today we celebrate International Mother Language Day, but do we know the story behind this? So, let’s look at a brief history of the Bangla language movement.
July 29, 1947:
Bengali Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah defends the Bangla language.
Dec 6, 1947:
East Pakistani students became agitated and held a meeting on the Dhaka University campus demanding that Bangla be made one of the state languages of Pakistan.
Feb 23, 1948:
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was in session at Karachi-then the capital of Pakistan. Assembly member Dhirendranath Datta proposed legislation in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to allow members to speak in Bangla and authorize its use for official purposes. Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and the Muslim League denounced the proposal as an attempt to divide the Pakistani people, thus the legislation was defeated
March 11, 1948:
A general strike was observed in the towns of East Pakistan in protest the omission of Bangla from the languages of the Constituent Assembly, the absence of Bangla letters in Pakistani coins and stamps, and the use of only Urdu in recruitment tests for the navy. The movement also reiterated the earlier demand that Bangla be declared one of the state languages of Pakistan and the official language of East Pakistan.
March 19, 1948:
Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the governor general of Pakistan, came to visit East Pakistan. He addressed two meetings in Dhaka, in both of which he ignored the popular demand for Bangla. He reiterated that Urdu would be the only state language of Pakistan.
March 21, 1948:
Mohammad Ali Jinnah declares in Dhaka University convocation that while the language of the province can be Bangla, the "State language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Anyone who tries to mislead you is really an enemy of Pakistan."
March 28, 1948:
Before Jinnah left Dhaka, he delivered a speech on radio reasserting his "Urdu-only" policy.
September 11, 1948:
Mohammad Ali Jinnah dies. Nazimuddin becomes new Governor-General of Pakistan
February 7, 1949:
Central Pakistan education advisory board recommends Arabization of Bangla (language shift by gradual adoption of the Arabic language) after receiving recommendation from Fazlur Rahman
March 11, 1950:
The Dhaka University Language Action Committee was formed with Abdul Matin as its convener.
December 6, 1950:
East Bengal Language Committee, presided by Maulana Akram Khan, was formed by the East Bengal government to prepare a report on the language problem. The Committee completed its report.
October 16, 1951:
Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan dies. Nazimuddin becomes new Prime Minister and Ghulam Muhammad, a public servant, becomes Governor-General
January 27, 1952:
Khwaja Nazimuddin came to Dhaka from Karachi. Addressing a meeting at Paltan Maidan, he said that the people of the province could decide what would be the provincial language, but only Urdu would be the state language of Pakistan.
January 28, 1952:
The students at Dhaka University in a protest meeting call the Prime Minister and the Provincial Ministers as puppets of West Pakistan.
January 30, 1952:
A strike was observed at Dhaka University.
January 31, 1952:
The representatives of various political and cultural organizations held a meeting on 31 January chaired by Moulana Bhasani. An All-Party Central Language Action Committee was formed with Kazi Golam Mahboob as its convener. At this time the government also proposed that Bangla be written in Arabic script.
February 4, 1952:
Abdul Matin forms "Dhaka University's State Language Committee" in language protest. Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrobhasha Kormi Porishod decides to declare February 21 as the day for strikes throughout the province terming the day as "Bhasha Dibosh" (Language Day). Gaziul Haq and Abdul Matin led student procession. Students of the University of Dhaka and other institutions gathered on the university premises and warned the government to withdraw its proposal to write Bangla in Arabic script.
February 20, 1952:
A meeting of the Central Language Action Committee was held under the chairmanship of Abul Hashim. Opinion was divided as to whether or not to violate Section 144. The students were determined to violate Section144.
February 21, 1952:
The students were determined to violate Section144 and held meeting at 11am on the DU campus. Soon the Vice-chancellor came and asked them to stop. The students under their leaders - Abdul Matin and Gaziul Haque - were adamant. Students threw bricks at the police, who retaliated with tear gas. Police fired as they were proceeding towards the Assembly Hall (Jagannath Hall). Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, Abdus Salam and Abul Barakat were fatally wounded. A nine-year-old boy was killed.
February 22, 1952:
The day was full of public demonstrations and police retaliation. The public performed a janaza (prayer service for the dead) and brought out a mourning procession, which was attacked by the police and the army resulting in several deaths, including that of a young man named Shafiur Rahman. Many were injured and arrested.
February 23, 1952:
At the spot where students had been killed, a memorial was erected. Government orders crackdown of student leaders and prominent figures.
February 24, 1952:
The memorial with a handwritten note attached to it saying "Shaheed Smritistombho" was inaugurated by the father of the slain activist Sofiur Rahman. The government gives full authority to the police and military to bring the situation in Dhaka back to normal within 48 hours.
February 25, 1952:
The Dhaka University is closed. Industrial workers in the town of Narayanganj observed a general strike.
February 26, 1952:
"Shaheed Smritistombho" was destroyed by police.
April 8, 1952:
A government report on the incidents failed to show any justification for police firings on the students.
April 17, 1952:
The University of Dhaka reopened
April 27, 1952:
All-Party Central Language Action Committee held a seminar at the Bar Association Hall. At the meeting delegates urged the government to release prisoners, relax restrictions on civil liberties and adopt Bangla as an official language.
April 17, 1953:
Ghulam Muhammad dismisses PM Nazimuddin and appoints Bengali Muhammad Ali Bogra, Ambassador to USA, as new PM.
May 7, 1954:
The constituent assembly resolved, with the Muslim League's support, to grant official status to Bangla.
February 21, 1956:
The anniversary of the Martyr Day was observed for the first time in a peaceful atmosphere. The Government supported a major project to construct a Shaheed Minar.
February 29, 1956:
Bangla was recognized as the second official language of Pakistan and article 214(1) of the constitution of Pakistan was reworded to "The state language of Pakistan shall be Urdu and Bangla."
December 16, 1971:
Bangladesh becomes an independent nation.
January 9, 1998:
Freedom fighter Rafiqul Islam wrote a letter of proposal to Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the UN. Rafiqul emphasized the necessity of protecting and nurturing mother languages of the world.
Bangladesh recognizes February 21st as “National Martyr’s Day”
November 17, 1999:
UNESCO recognized the unique sacrifice for mother language and declared 21 February as the International Language Day.
The legendary monument, The Shahid Minar comes alive designed by my father, the artist and architect Hamidur Rahman.
The monument was finally completed in 1963, and stood until the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, when it was demolished completely during Operation Searchlight. After Bangladesh gained independence later that year, it was rebuilt. It was expanded in 1983.
A living, breathing monument where people till today gather to give their condolences.
Dedicated to my father and his Shahid Minar:
In silence I watch you.
In silence I cry,
for a lifetime without you,
I rather pass by…
In silence I watch you.
In silence I pray,
as seasons keep sweeping my lifetime away…
Bangladesh’s declaration of independence from Pakistan.
Why did the war happen?
There’s always been some friction between Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) and West Pakistan. Even though both areas are similar in population, political power was concentrated In West Pakistan. Disproportion of power was at the backbone.
Between 1950 and 1970, even though East Pakistan had a larger population, it was only given 29% of the total budget. East Pakistani’s were also underrepresented in the Army as well.
As time went on, East Pakistan’s identity was also changing. They didn’t want an Islamic state anymore, which would eventually lead Bangladesh to be secular.
Tensions reached a new high when in 1970 the East Pakistan Awami League won a landslide victory in the national elections and were able to form a majority in the national assembly and therefore, a government.
However, the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party Zulfikar Ali Bhutto refused to let this happen and proposed having two prime ministers instead. This suggestion was not well received by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (leader of Awami League and his party).
Fearing a political civil war Shiekh Mujibur Rahman and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto began having conversations, however, the military was not notified.
On March 7, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered a speech which changed everything (In Dacca to over a million people). In which he mentioned four conditions to be considered at the National Assembly Meeting on March 25.
1) Immediate transfer of power to the elected representative, before the meeting
2) He announces that, “this time, the struggle is for our freedom, this time the struggle
Is for our independence”
3) He called for civil disobedience in the province.
4) “Every house to turn into a fortress”
The War Began
- Pakistan International Airlines began to transport plain clothes army officers into East Pakistan.
- Some East Pakistani soldiers refused to obey orders to shoot Bengali demonstrators.
- Foreign journalists were told to leave from East Pakistan, setting the stage for “Operation Searchlight”
- “Operation Searchlight” was undertaken by the Pakistani Army on March 25, to demolish the Bangladeshi independence movement.
- Major towns were captured and all those who were the opposition were killed.
1st Phase: Young men & Hindus
Awami League members
Intellectuals
Students and academics
(All were targeted for murder)
- Estimated 200,000 women were raped by the Pakistani forces.
- The West first learned about the scale of violence by Anthony Mascarenas (A Pakistani journalist who was sent by military authorities to write in favor of Pakistan).
Instead, he fled to United Kingdom and published an article in the Sunday Times in June 1971, describing the targeted killings by the military.
- Indira Gandhi (Indian Prime Minister) was influenced by the article and prepared the ground for armed intervention.
- The violence unleashed by the Pakistani Army on March 25 is the day Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed the declaration of independence. That is why this day is remembered as Bangladesh Liberation Day.
- After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s speech, Mukti Bahini (a Bengali resistance movement) was also becoming more active.
- Most of the country was immersed in war and about 10 million people had fled to India to escape the violence.
Indira Gandhi (India’s PM) decided it would be more economically beneficial for India to go to war rather than accept so many refugees.
- On April 28, 1971, the Indian Cabinet gave orders to go into East Pakistan.
- India’s Foreign Intelligence Agency RAW started helping the Mukti Bahini.
- The Pakistan Army’s war crimes was documented in telegrams from the American Consulate in Dacca to the United States state department. Despite this, America stayed quiet on this issue, as they saw Pakistan as a strong partner in containing communism in Asia.
- America publicly called for ceasefire to save face from the inevitable defeat once India joined the war.
- The USSR supported the Bangladeshi and Indian troops and acknowledged Independent Bangladesh months earlier than the US.
- On 3RD December 1971, the Pakistani Air Force launched an air strike on Indian Air Force bases. This marked the start of Indo-Pakistani War.
- The combined forces of the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini overpowered the Pakistani Army and defeat were eminent. Knowing this, special effort was made to kill as many intellectual leaders as possible in the final week of the war.
- On 16th December the Pakistani Army surrendered.
- In 1972, the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan which insured that Pakistan recognized the independence of Bangladesh, in exchange for Pakistani prisoners of war.
- In 5 months, India then released 93,000 Pakistani Army prisoners of war in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
- No justice was given to the victims after independence as Pakistan said that if any of its soldiers were tried in the new country, no Bengali living in West Pakistan will be given permission to leave.
As a gesture of goodwill, nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war crimes by Bengalis were also pardoned by India.
Death toll from 9-month war was 3 million. In Bangladesh it is known as Genocide.
