The Bangladesh Liberation War, the Sheikh Mujib Regime, and Contemporary Controversies

214 Pages·2016·2.95 MB·English

by  Caf Dowlah

The Bangladesh Liberation War, the
Sheikh Mujib Regime, and
Contemporary Controversies
The Bangladesh Liberation War, the
Sheikh Mujib Regime, and
Contemporary Controversies
Caf Dowlah
LEXINGTON BOOKS
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Copyright © 2016 by Lexington Books All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Control Number:
2016950766
ISBN: 978-1-4985-3418-5 (cloth: alk.paper) ISBN: 978-1-4985-3419-2 (electronic)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America Dedicated to the memory of my mother, Begum Anwara
Chowdhury, and my motherland, Bangladesh—two of the closest companions of my heart and mind
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
1 Sheikh Mujib’s Rise to National Prominence
2 The Failure of Tripartite Negotiation and the Military Crackdown
3 The Liberation War and the Emergence of Bangladesh
4 The Mujib Regime: Major Political Measures
5 The Mujib Regime: Major Economic Measures
6 The Curtain Falls
7 The Mujib Regime: Enduring Legacies and Controversies
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 East Pakistan's Representation in Pakistan Government Services (in percent)
Figure 5.1 Sources of Foreign Aid to Bangladesh, 1972–1975 (in million US$)
Figure 5.2 Per capita Availability of Food in Bangladesh, 1970–1975 (lbs.)
Figure 5.3 Food Imports of Bangladesh during 1972–75 (’000 tons)
Figure 5.4 Gaps Between Rationed Price, Market Price, and Government Costs in
January 1975 (in Taka/2 lbs)
Figure 5.5 Consumer Price Index in Bangladesh, 1971–1975 (1952 = 100)
Figure 5.6 Food Price Index, 1971–75 (1969–70 = 100)
Figure 5.7 Capacity Utilization of State-Owned Enterprises, 1972–1975 (in
percentages)
Figure 5.8 Profit/Losses of State-Owned Enterprises in Bangladesh, 1972–1975 (in
million taka)
Figure 5.9 Foreign Exchange Reserves of Bangladesh, 1973–1975 (in million US$)
Figure 6.1 Gross Domestic Product of Bangladesh, 1969/70–1974/75
Figure 6.2 Rice and Jute Production in Bangladesh, 1969/70–1974/75
Figure 6.3 Tea Production in Bangladesh, 1969/70–1974/75 (million lbs)
Figure 6.4 Jute Goods Production and Exports, 1969/70–1974/75
Figure 6.5 Money Supply in Bangladesh, 1971–75 (Taka in millions)
Figure 6.6 Aid Dependence of Bangladesh, 1972/73–1975/76
Figure 6.7 Total Disbursed Foreign Aid to Bangladesh, 1971/72–1974/75 (in million
US$)
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Aggregate Economic Figures of Pakistan, 1947–70 (in billion rupees, unless
otherwise indicated. Numbers in parentheses indicate shares of East
Pakistan and West Pakistan)
Table 1.2 Results of the General Elections of Pakistan, 1970–71
Table 3.1 Strength of Mukti Bahini—Various Estimates
Table 4.1 Results of Bangladesh General Election in 1973
Table 5.1 Indian Army Assistance to Bangladesh Transports and Communication
Sector in 1972
Table 5.2 Development Expenditures during Mujib Regime, 1972–75 (in million taka
unless otherwise indicated. Numbers in parenthesis are percentages)
Table 5.3 Sources of Foreign Aid to Bangladesh—December, 1971 to June, 1975 (in
million US$, numbers in parentheses reflect shares in the total)
Table 5.4 Aggregate Food Grains Production, Aid, Imports, and Per Capita
Availability in Bangladesh, 1969/70–1975/76 (in million tons, unless
otherwise indicated).
Table 5.5 Gaps in Procurement Cost of Rationed Goods, Ration Prices, and Open-
Market Prices, January 1975 (taka per lbs.)
Table 5.6 International Reserves of Bangladesh, 1973–75 (in million US$)
Table 5.7 Price Indices of Imports and Exports in Bangladesh, 1973–75 (1972/73 =
100)
Table 5.8 Agricultural and Industrial Wage Indices in Bangladesh, 1970–75 (1952 =
100)
Table 5.9 Large-scale Industrial Ownership in Bangladesh—before and after
nationalization
Table 5.10 Net Profits/Losses of Public Sector Corporations of Bangladesh, 1972–74
(taka in millions, figures in parentheses are ratios of profit/loss over gross
sales in percentages)
Table 5.11 Major Agricultural Productions in Bangladesh, 1969–75 (’000 tons)
Table 6.1 Socioeconomic Data Prior to the Emergence of Bangladesh, 1970–71
Table 6.2. Aggregate Economic Indicators of Bangladesh, 1972–75
Table 6.3 Production and Exports of Jute Goods in Bangladesh, 1969–75 (’000 tons)
Table 6.4 Indices of Wholesale Prices in Dhaka, 1971–75 (1969/70 = 100)
Table 6.5 Industrial Wage Rate Indexes of Bangladesh, 1971–75 (1969–70 = 100)
Table 6.6 Money Supply in Bangladesh, 1971–75 (in million taka)
Table 6.7 Revenue and Expenditure Budgets of Bangladesh, 1972–75 (million taka
unless otherwise indicated. Numbers in parenthesis are percentages)
Table 6.8 Merchandise Exports and Imports of Bangladesh, 1972–75
Table 6.9 Aid Dependence of Bangladesh, 1972–76
Table 6.10 Commitments and Disbursements of Grants and Credits to Bangladesh,
1971–75 (in million US$)
Preface
Nobody knows about the future, but when it comes to Bangladesh, it seems that
most of the people of the country are ambivalent of the past as well. Much of
this has to do with constantly changing history of the country’s past. Especially
throbbing is to see how subjective and idiosyncratic interpretations have crept up
into some of the most treasurable moments in the nation’s evolution—its birth as
an independent nation and the Sheikh Mujib regime that shaped the formative
years of the country. Often textbooks change interpretations of the major
historical episodes of the country with the change of ruling parties. If times and
claims are any guide, even in this age of Internet and globalization, often
governments forbid freedom of expression and unfettered research into the
country’s history through political sanctions and extra-legal means. As a result,
the nation’s political discourse remains sharply divided, and even scholars
routinely brand each other as “boot-lickers,” “political pawns,” “sycophants,”
and so on. This study comes largely as a result of such frustrations.
I had been an eye-witness to the birth and birth-pangs of Bangladesh liberation
war and the Mujib regime that followed. As a teenager at that time, I did not
always completely understood the full ramifications of many of the events and
developments of the period. Unfortunately, the more I read the relevant literature
over the course of time, the more I felt the need for digging into the subject
matter myself. I spent countless hours over the course of several years to check
relevant literature from around the world, with special attention to the writings
of scholars of the Indian subcontinent, in order to produce a well-researched,
well-documented, authoritative, and scholarly work on the liberation war and the
Mujib regime. How far I have succeeded in achieving my objective is, of course,
up to the readers to judge.
Just to give a roadmap, this study has been organized in seven chapters.
Chapter 1 explains the rise of Sheikh Mujib to national prominence in the
context of geopolitical developments of the partition of British India and the
economic and political policies pursued by Pakistani authorities during 1947–71
period. Chapter 2 focuses on the failure of the tripartite negotiations between top
leaders of Pakistan—General Yahya Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and Sheikh
Mujib, failure of which led to a military crackdown on unarmed civilian
population of Dhaka in March 1971, and the liberation war of Bangladesh.
Chapter 3 explains how a highly successful guerrilla warfare valiantly fought by
the Mukti Bahini, albeit aided by Indian political and military support, liberated
the country from Pakistani occupation forces, and thus a new nation called
Bangladesh emerged on world map just in nine months. Chapters 4 and 5 cover
the major political and economic measures of the Mujib Regime. Chapter 6
sheds light on Mujib’s move to one-party rule under the Bangladesh Krishak-
Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), his assassination and the collapse of his
regime, and overall performance of his regime. Chapter 7 focuses on some of the
enduring legacies and controversies of the regime that still keep the nation’s
political discourses sharply divided.
My intellectual debts for this treatise go to many Bangladeshi and foreign
scholars cited throughout the study—their insights and discernments have
profoundly deepened my understanding of the subject matter. I am also grateful
to numerous political leaders, intellectuals, journalists, businessmen, civil and
military officials, students, and many others with whom I had opportunities to
interact about this study over the years.
Finally, I am grateful to the publisher—the Lexington Books—for publishing
the book for global readership. I am especially grateful to its acquisitions editor,
Brian Hill, for taking keen interest in this project and to Eric Kuntzman, assistant
editor, for guiding me through the manuscript preparation. I also owe special
thanks to Anita Singh’s team for their excellent copy-editing of the manuscript.
At the end, none but I myself am responsible for the views and interpretations
expressed in this treatise or for any inaccuracies it may contain.
Forest Hills, New York
Caf Dowlah, PhD.
May 11, 2016