(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 Pakistan is.
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 with a population composition of:
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
Bangladesh Liberation War . Growing tensions led to the , 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
War Statistics .
See Also: Bangladesh Liberation War
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.
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 .
