The Bangladesh Liberation War

On March 26, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) following a military crackdown by West Pakistan's army. The roots lay in decades of economic exploitation and cultural domination of the Bengali-speaking east by the Urdu- and Punjabi-speaking west. When the Awami League won the 1970 elections decisively, West Pakistan's military ruler Yahya Khan refused to transfer power. Operation Searchlight — a campaign of mass killings targeting Bengali intellectuals, students, and Hindus — began on March 25. An estimated 300,000 to 3 million people were killed (figures remain disputed), and 10 million refugees fled to India. India intervened militarily in December 1971, and Pakistani forces in the east surrendered on December 16 — a day celebrated as Victory Day in Bangladesh. The war dismembered Pakistan, created a new nation of 75 million people, and remains the most traumatic event in Pakistani national memory after Partition.