Chapter 8

Election of 1970, Noncooperation Movement and the Declaration of Independence by

Bangabandhu
Election of 1970
General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 December 1970 to elect members of the National
Assembly. They were the first general elections since the independence of Pakistan and
ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence of Bangladesh. The elections were a
fierce contest between two social democratic parties, the west-based Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP) and the east-based Awami League.

The result was a victory for the Awami League, which gained an absolute majority, winning 160
of the 162 general seats and all seven women's seats in East Pakistan. The PPP won only 81
general seats and five women's seats, all in West Pakistan. In the provincial elections held ten
days later, the Awami League again dominated in East Pakistan, while the PPP were the winning
party in Punjab and Sindh.

In East Pakistan, the Awami League secured 75.10% vote in the National Assembly and 70.48%
vote in the Provincial Assembly Election.

The National Assembly was initially not inaugurated as President Yahya Khan and the PPP
chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not want a party from East Pakistan in federal
government. Instead, Yahya appointed the Bengali politician Nurul Amin as Prime Minister,
asking him to reach a compromise between the PPP and Awami League. However, this move
failed as the delay in inauguration had already caused significant unrest in East Pakistan. The
situation deteriorated further when Operation Searchlight occurred under the orders of Yahya
resulting in a civil war that led to the formation of the independent state of Bangladesh.

Noncooperation Movement
Non-Cooperation Movement, 1971 The mass movement initiated under the directives of
Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the then East Pakistan against the Pakistan
government which continued from 2 March to 25 March 1971. This movement was directed for
autonomy of East Pakistan as against the administration of the Centre. On 7 March,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the programme of non-cooperation movement
through his guideline speech delivered in the Race Course Maidan. Apart from this, Awami
League organised this movement through various instructions for its activists. Awami League
achieved absolute majority in the election of 1970. But instead of inviting Awami League to
form the government, Yahya Khan, the President of Pakistan, postponed the session of the
National Assembly on 1 March 1971 for on indefinite period. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman termed
this decision as 'unfortunate', and in protest he called hartal in Dhaka on 2 March and in the
whole of East Pakistan on 3 March. People at large started non-cooperation movement under the
leadership of Awami League in order to establish their rights. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a
clarion call for non-cooperation movement against the dilly-dally attitude of the military junta to
transfer power on the basis of election, and for direct non-cooperation of Pakistan People's Party,
the major political party of West Pakistan. This movement spread over the whole of East
Pakistan. The fight for liberation started as a consequence of non-cooperation movement and the
nine months war resulted in the emergence of independent sovereign Bangladesh. (concluding
part)

The government press note accounted that 172 persons were killed and 358 persons were injured
during the six days of non-cooperation movement. At the outset of non-cooperation movement,
the student organizations formed the Swadhin Bangla Chhatra Songram Parishad on 2 March.
The Non-Cooperation Movement got new momentum after 7 March. All the departments of the
government of East Pakistan began to follow the instructions of the Awami League. Tajuddin
Ahmad on behalf of the Awami League refuted the government press note and termed it as sheer
falsehood.

The 7th March Address of Bangabandhu

Seventh March Address the historic address delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman at Ramna Racecourse on 7 March 1971. In the general election held in 1970, the Awami
League secured absolute majority in the National Assembly. But when the time for transfer of
power arrived, the non-Bangali rulers of Pakistan started conspiracy against the transfer of power
to the Awami League in the centre. The inaugural session of the National Assembly was
scheduled for 3 March. But suddenly, on 1 March, President General Yahya Khan postponed the
session through a Radio announcement.

On hearing this news, people came out in streams onto the streets. The Bangali people of East
Bengal then started a relentless movement for establishing their rights. Protesting this move of
the Pakistani ruler Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called a hartal in Dhaka on 2 March
and another throughout the province on 3 March. On 3 March, he announced a program for non-
cooperation while addressing a huge public rally at Paltan Maidan. In this backdrop, the historic
public meeting at the Ramna Racecourse Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) was set for 7 March
1971. In the history of Bangladesh, March 07, 1971 has a very significant role. The speech given
by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Race Course Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan)
on that day to an audience of a million people shaped the destiny of East bengal. The impromptu
speech carried the hopes, aspirations and dreams of seventy-five million suffering people. It
heralded our great war of liberation. Thus, history was created on March 7, 1971. The liberation
war of Bangladesh was to begin eighteen days later, when Yahya Khan treacherously stopped
talking to Bangabandhu and the army carried out Operation Searchlight, massacring students,
teachers and innocent civilians.

Following is the full text of Sheikh Mujib’s address to the nation delivered on the day before a
mammoth gathering:
“My dear brothers...
I have come before you today with a heavy heart.
All of you know how hard we have tried. But it is a matter of sadness that the streets of Dhaka,
Chittagong, Khulna, Rangpur and Rajshahi are today being spattered with the blood of my
brothers, and the cry we hear from the Bengali people is a cry for freedom, a cry for survival, a
cry for our rights.
You are the ones who brought about an Awami League victory so that you could see a
constitutional government restored. The hope was that the elected representatives of the people,
sitting in the National Assembly, would formulate a Constitution that would assure the people of
their economic, political and cultural emancipation.
But now, with great sadness in my heart, I look back on the past 23 years of our history and see
nothing but a history of the shedding of the blood of the Bangali people. Ours has been a history
of continual lamentation, repeated bloodshed and incessant tears.
We gave blood in 1952, we won a mandate in 1954. But we were still not allowed to take up the
reins of this country. In 1958, Ayub Khan clamped martial law on our people and enslaved us
for the next 10 years. In 1966, during the Six-Point Movement of the masses, many were the
young men and women whose lives were stilled by government bullets.
After the downfall of Ayub, Mr. Yahya Khan took over with the promise that he would restore
constitutional rule, that he would restore democracy and return power to the people.
We agreed. But you all know of the events that took place after that...
I ask you, are we the ones to blame
As you know, I have been in contact with President Yahya Khan. As leader of the majority party
in the National Assembly, I asked him to set February 15 as the day for its opening session. He
did not accede to the request I made as leader of the majority party. Instead, he went along with
the delay requested by the minority leader Mr. Bhutto and announced that the Assembly would
be convened on the 3rd of March.
We accepted that, agreed to join the deliberations. I even went to the extent of saying that we,
despite our majority, would still listen to any sound ideas from the minority, even if it was a lone
voice. I committed myself to the support of anything to bolster the restoration of a constitutional
government.
When Mr. Bhutto came to Dhaka, we met. We talked. He left, saying that the doors to
negotiation were still open. Moulana Noorani and Moulana Mufti were among those West
Pakistan parliamentarians who visited Dhaka and talked with me about an agreement on a
constitutional framework.
I made it clear that we could not agree to any deviation from the Six Points. That right rested
with the people. Come, I said, let us sit down and resolve matters.
But Bhutto’s retort was that he would not allow himself to become hostage on two fronts. He
predicted that if West Pakistani members of Parliament were to come to Dhaka, the Assembly
would be turned into a slaughterhouse. He added that if anyone were to participate in such a
session, a countrywide agitation would be launched from Peshawar to Karachi and that every
business would be shut down in protest.
I assured him that the Assembly would be convened and, despite the dire threats, West Pakistani
leaders did come down to Dhaka.
But suddenly, on March 1, the session was cancelled.
There was an immediate outcry against this move by the people. I called for a hartal as a
peaceful form of protest and the masses readily took to the streets in response.
And what did we get as a response?
He turned his guns on my helpless people, a people with no arms to defend themselves. These
were the same arms that had been purchased with our own money to protect us from external
enemies. But it is my own people who are being fired upon today.
In the past, too, each time we, the numerically larger segment of Pakistan’s population tried to
assert our rights and control our destiny, they conspired against us and pounced upon us.
I have asked them before that how can you make your own brothers the target of your bullets?
Now Yahya Khan says that I had agreed to a Round Table Conference on the 10th. Let me point
out that is not true.
I had said, Mr. Yahya Khan, you are the President of this country. Come to Dhaka, come and
see how our poor Bangali people have been mown down by your bullets, how the laps of our
mothers and sisters have been robbed and left empty and bereft, how my helpless people have
been slaughtered. Come, I said, come and see for yourself and then be the judge and decide.
That is what I told him.
Earlier, I had told him there would be no Round Table Conference. What Round Table
Conference, whose Round Table Conference? How do you expect me to sit at a Round Table
Conference with the very same people who have emptied the laps of my mothers and my sisters?
On the 3rd, at the Paltan, I called for a non-cooperation movement and the shutdown of offices,
courts and revenue collection. You gave me full support.
Then suddenly, without consulting me or even informing us, he met with one individual for five
hours and then made a speech in which he turned all the blame on me, laid all the fault at the
door of the Bangali people.
The deadlock was created by Bhutto, yet the Bangalis are the ones facing the bullets! We face
their guns, yet it’s our fault. We are the ones being hit by their bullets, and it’s still our fault!
So, the struggle this time is a struggle for emancipation, the struggle this time is a struggle for
independence!
Brothers, they have now called the Assembly to a session on March 25, with the streets not yet
dry of the blood of my brothers. You have called the Assembly, but you must first agree to meet
my demands. Martial law must be withdrawn; the soldiers must return to their barracks; the
murder of my people must be redressed. And, power must be handed over to the elected
representatives of the people.
Only then will we consider if we can take part in the National Assembly or not.
Before these demands are met, there can be no question of our participating in this session of the
Assembly. That is the right that not given to me as part of my mandate from the masses.
As I told them earlier, Mujibur Rahman refuses to walk to the Assembly treading upon the fresh
stains of his brothers’ blood!
Do you, my brothers, have complete faith in me...?
... you rescued me with your blood from the so-called conspiracy case. Let me then tell you that
the Prime Ministership is not what I seek. What I want is justice, the rights of the people of this
land. They tempted me with the Prime Ministership but they failed to buy me over. Nor did they
succeed in hanging me on the gallows, for
That day, right here at this racecourse, I had pledged to you that I would pay for this blood debt
with my own blood. Do you remember? I am ready today to fulfil that promise!
I now declare the closure of all the courts, offices, and educational institutions for an indefinite
period of time. No one will report to their offices, that is my instruction to you.
So that the poor are not inconvenienced, rickshaws, trains and other transport will ply normally
except serving any needs of the armed forces. If the army does not respect this, I will not be
responsible for the consequences.
The Secretariat, Supreme Court, High Court, Judges courts, and government and semi-
government offices shall remain shut. Only banks may open for two hours daily for business
transactions. But no money shall be transmitted from East to West Pakistan. The Bangali people
must stay calm during these times. Telegraph and telephone communications will be confined
within Bangladesh.
The people of this land are facing elimination, so be on guard. If need be, we will bring
everything to a total standstill...
Collect your salaries on time. If the salaries are held up, if a single bullet is fired upon us
henceforth, if the murder of my people does not cease, I call upon you to turn every home into a
fortress against their onslaught. Use whatever you can put your hands on to confront this enemy.
Every last road must be blocked.
We will deprive them of food, we will deprive them of water. Even if I am not around to give you
the orders, and if my associates are also not to be found, I ask you to continue your movement
unabated.
I say to them again, you are my brothers, return now to the barracks where you belong, and no
one will bear any hostility toward you. Only do not attempt to aim any more bullets at our
hearts: It will not do any good!
... And the seven million people of this land will not be cowed down by you or accept
suppression any more. The Bangali people have learnt how to die for a cause and you will not
be able to bring them under your yoke of suppression!
To assist the families of the martyred and the injured, the Awami League has set up committees
that will do all they can. Please donate whatever you can. Also, employers must give full pay to
the workers who participated in the seven days of hartal or were not able to work because of
curfews.
To all government employees, I say that my directives must be followed. I had better not see any
of you attending your offices. From today, until this land has been freed, no taxes will be paid to
the government any more. As of now, they stop. Leave everything to me. I know how to organise
a movement.
But be very careful. Keep in mind that the enemy has infiltrated our ranks to engage in the work
of provocateurs. Whether Bangali or non-Bangali, Hindu or Muslim, all are our brothers, and it
is our responsibility to ensure their safety.
I also ask you to stop working in radio, television and the press if these media do not report
news of our movement.
To them, I say, ‘You are our brothers. I beseech you to not turn this country into a living hell.
Will you not have to show your faces and confront your conscience some day?
If we can peaceably settle our differences there is still hope that we can co-exist as brother.
Otherwise there is no hope. If you choose the other path, we may never come face one another
again.
For now, I have just one thing to ask of you: Give up any thoughts of enslaving this country
under military rule again!’
I ask my people to immediately set up committees under the leadership of the Awami League to
carry on our struggle in every neighbourhood, village, union and subdivision of this land.
You must prepare yourselves now with what little you have for the struggle ahead.
Since we have given blood once, we will give more of it. But, Insha’Allah, we will free the people
of this land!
The struggle this time is for emancipation! The struggle this time is for independence!
Be ready. We cannot afford to lose our momentum. Keep the movement and the struggle alive
because if we fall back they will come down hard upon us.
Be disciplined. No nation’s movement can be victorious without discipline.
Jai Bangla! Jai Bangla!”

Declaration of Independence by Bangabandhu and his Arrest

Pakistan Army began Operation Searchlight, conclusively signaling West Pakistan was not ready
for a transfer of political power to the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The
Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971 at the first watch by Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman. 26 March Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independence. He
was arrested that night. The war of liberation started with the declaration of independence by
Bangabandhu and independent-sovereign Bangladesh emerged through 9 months of bloody war
at the cost of 3 million lives.