EAST PAKISTAN

'East Pakistan' (now independent Bangladesh) was a former province of Pakistan which existed between 1955 and 1971. East Pakistan was partitioned from Bengal based on plebiscite in then British India in 1947. Eastern Bengal area chose to join Pakistan and became a province of Pakistan by the name East Bengal. East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and later became the independent country of Bangladesh after the bloody Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Large sections of Bengalis felt that they were colonised and suppressed by West Pakistanis.

Contents

Post-independence

Independence of East Pakistan (Bangladesh)

Government of East Pakistan

See also

External links

References

Post-independence

When British India was partitioned in 1947, into the independent states of Pakistan and India, Bengal was split between them. The western part belonged to India with the eastern part becoming 'East Bengal' with a population composition of:

★ 88% Muslims (Sunni 99.7% and Shia 0.3%)

★ 10% Hindus

★ 1% others (Christians and Buddhist)
The latter formed one of the vital provinces of unified Pakistan. The other four Pakistani provinces (West Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, and the Northwest Frontier Province) were positioned on the other side of India, forming West Pakistan.
After independence from British rule, East Bengal was neglected by the central government based in the Western wing, which was at times under military or martial law. A major cause of resentment among the Bengalis was economic exploitation. For example, between 1948 and 1960, East Pakistan's export earnings had been 70% of national total, while it only received 25% of the earnings. Between 1950 and 1970, only 34% of the development expenditure was spent in East Bengal despite having more than half the population ^[1]. Growing tensions led to the 'One-Unit Policy', implemented in 1955, which abolished the provinces. Under this policy, West Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, and the Northwest Frontier were merged under the nominal designation of West Pakistan and East Bengal became 'East Pakistan'.
Tensions peaked in 1971, following the cancellation by Pakistani President Yahya Khan of election results that gave the Awami League a majority in the parliament. The Awami League won almost all the seats in East Pakistan, but none in West Pakistan. East Pakistan had more than half the parliamentary seats because it was home to more than half the population. Although the Awami League was in a position to form a government without any coalition partner, it was forced to start negotiations with the Pakistan Peoples Party which had won most of the seats in West Pakistan. The negotiations failed and a 'military government' canceled the results of the elections in 'East Pakistan'. Under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh began its struggle for independence. The official onset followed a harsh repression carried out by the Pakistan army on Bengali civilians on 25th March, 1971, with an estimated 1-1.5 million Bengali deaths during the war ^[2].

Independence of East Pakistan (Bangladesh)

The tension between East and West Pakistan reached a climax when in 1970 the Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections in East Pakistan. The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 300 seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the constitutional right to form a government. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. This increased agitation for greater autonomy in the East.
On 26th March 1971, the day after the military crackdown on civilians in East Pakistan, Major Ziaur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This started the Bangladesh Liberation War in which the Mukti Bahini, joined in December 1971 by 400,000 Indian soldiers in December, faced the Pakistani Army of 100,000. On 16th December 1971, the Pakistani Army surrendered to the Indian Army. Bangladesh quickly gained recognition from most countries and with the signing of the Shimla Accord, most of the countries accepted the new nation. Bangladesh joined the United Nations in 1974.

Government of East Pakistan

On 14th October 1955, the last governor of East Bengal (Amiruddin Ahmad) became the first Governor of East Pakistan. At the same time the last Chief Minister of East Bengal became the first Chief Minister of East Pakistan. This system lasted until the military coup of 1958 when the post of Chief Minister was abolished in both East Pakistan and West Pakistan. From 1958 to 1971 the administration was largely in the hands of the President of Pakistan and the Governor of East Pakistan who at times held the title of Martial Law Administrator.

Tenure	Governor of East Pakistan
14th October 1955 - March 1956	Amiruddin Ahmad
March 1956 - 13th April 1958	A. K. Fazlul Huq
13th April 1958 - 3rd May 1958	Hamid Ali (acting)
3rd May 1958 - 10th October 1958	Sultanuddin Ahmad
10th October 1958 - 11th April 1960	Gov Zakir Husain
11th April 1960 - 11th May 1962	Lt Gen Mohammad Azam Khan
11th May 1962 - 25th October 1962	Ghulam Faruque
25th October 1962 - 23rd March 1969	Abdul Monem Khan
23rd March 1969 - 25th March 1969	Mirza Nurul Huda
25th March 1969 - 23rd August 1969	Muzaffaruddin (martial law administrator)
23rd August 1969 - 1st September 1969	Sahabzada Yaqub Khan (martial law administrator)
1st September 1969 - 7th March 1971	Syed Mohammad Ahsan
7th March 1971 - 31st August 1971	Tikka Khan (martial law administrator)
31st August 1971 - 14th December 1971	Abdul Motaleb Malik
14th December 1971 - 16th December 1971	A. A. K. Niazi (martial law administrator)
16th December 1971	Province of East Pakistan dissolved

Tenure	Chief Minister of East Pakistan	Political Party
August 1955 - September 1956	Abu Hussain Sarkar	Krishan Sramik Party
September 1956 - March 1958	Ata-ur-Rahman Khan	Awami League
March 1958	Abu Hussain Sarkar	Krishan Sramik Party
March 1958 - 18th June 1958	Ata-ur-Rahman Khan	Awami League
18th June 1958 - 22nd June 1958	Abu Hussain Sarkar	Krishan Sramik Party
22nd June 1958 - 25th August 1958	Governor's Rule
25th August 1958 - 7th October 1958	Ata-ur-Rahman Khan	Awami League
7th October 1958	Post abolished
16th December 1971	Province of East Pakistan dissolved

See also

★ Partition of India

★ East Bengal

★ West Pakistan

★ Bangladesh Liberation War

★ Biharis

★ Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

★ The Blood telegram

External links

★ Government of Bangladesh

★ Government of Pakistan

References

1. Bangladesh Liberation War
2. War Statistics