Lecture-7-MSW.pptx Bangladesh studies Univision
- 1. Rise of nationalism and the Movement for self- determination. Presented By Sunjida Upama Lecturer Dept. of Natural Science Port City International University Email: [email protected]
- 2. Rise of nationalism and the Movement for self-determination. 1.Resistance against cultural aggression and resurgence of Bengali culture. 2.Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the six point movement, Reactions: Importance and significance. 3. The Agortola Conspiracy Case 1968.
- 3. Resistance against cultural aggression and resurgence of Bengali culture. • The nationalism of a people draws its inspiration and cohesion from the sense of belongingness and togetherness and consciousness of common identity which is contingent on shared experiences in history, geography, ethnicity, religion, language and culture. • Unfortunately, East Bengal (East Pakistan) had no shared experience with the people of West Pakistan excepting religion. But religion itself is of little use unless accompanied by other integrative factors.
- 4. • The theory that had advanced the idea of religion rather than language, ethnicity or geographical frontiers as a unifying factor for Muslims in the South Asian subcontinent, and as justification for the creation of the Dominion of Pakistan, was rejected in 1971 with the emergence of Bangladesh.
- 5. • Maulana Azad, political leader of independent India and prominent Urdu writer of the 20th century wrote in his biography, "It is one of the greatest frauds on the people to suggest that religious affinity can unite areas which are geographically, linguistically and culturally different."
- 6. • The antagonism shown towards the Bengali culture by the policies pursued by the Muslim League fuelled the language driven resistance movement. • Bengali resistance, which resulted in the defeat of the Muslim League in the 1954 provincial elections, voiced the demands of the economically and politically deprived middle-classes of East Bengal. • By 1971, Bengali nationalism rooted in the Bengali ethno-linguistic identity spearheaded the mass movement in East Pakistan's struggle for autonomy that eventually led to independent Bangladesh.
- 7. 2. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the six point movement, Reactions: Importance and significance. • The Six Point Movement (Our Charter of Survival) was a movement in East Pakistan, spearheaded by Bongobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which called for greater autonomy for East Pakistan. The movement's main agenda was to realize the six demands put forward by Awami League in Lahore the following day, February 5, 1966., to end the perceived exploitation of East Pakistan by the West Pakistani rulers.
- 8. Background • Following the partition of India, the new state of Pakistan came into being. The inhabitants of East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) made up the majority of its population, and exports from East Pakistan (such as jute) were a majority of Pakistan's export income. However, East Pakistanis did not feel they had a proportional share of political power and economic benefits within Pakistan. • East Pakistan was facing a critical situation after being subjected to continuous discrimination on a regional basis, year after year. As a result, the economists, intelligentsia, and the politicians of East Pakistan started to raise questions about this discrimination, giving rise to the historic six-point movement.
- 9. The Six-Point demands included the following: 1.Pakistan would have a federal structure of government based on spirit of the Lahore Resolution of 1940, with a parliament elected on the basis of universal adult franchise; 2.The central government would have authority only in defense and foreign affairs and all other subjects would be handled by the federating units of the state of Pakistan; 3.There would be two freely convertible currencies for the two wings of Pakistan or two separate reserve banks for the two regions of the country;
- 10. 4.The power of taxation and revenue collection would be vested in the federating units. 5.There would be two separate accounts for foreign exchange reserves for the two wings of Pakistan. 6.East Pakistan would have a separate militia or paramilitary force as a measure of its security.
- 11. Importance and significance • Ayub immediate reaction was very hostile towards Six Point Programme. Ayub called the formula a 'secessionist move' which would disintegrate Pakistan. The government took Six Point as a programme to divide Pakistan, the implementation of which would destroy the integrity and stability of Pakistan. • A fearless Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was quick to respond to such false accusations and vile threats. In a mammoth public gathering at Paltan Maidan, he thundered: "No amount of naked threats can distract the deprived Bangalees from their demand for provincial autonomy based on their six-point plan."
- 12. • Neither any political party nor the central government of Pakistan gave any detailed explanation why they were opposed to the Six Points Programme. • In fact, the many forms of governmental repression and the use of police violence against the organisers and participants of the six-point movement had motivated the general population of the then East Pakistan to render their full support for the six-point formula.
- 13. • the success of the six-point movement had prompted the arrogant and debased Ayub Khan's dictatorial regime to falsely implicate him in the Agartala Conspiracy case. • Subsequently, the people of the then eastern province of Pakistan had vested their full trust in their Bangabandhu in the general elections of 1970, that made this extraordinary man their legitimate sole spokesperson and undisputed leader. Indeed, it was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the undisputed leader of his people, who had spearheaded Bangladesh's struggle for full-blown independence.
- 14. • The historic Six-Point Demand or the Six-Point Formula has been widely credited as the "charter of freedom" in Bangladesh's struggle for self- determination from Pakistan's domination. Indeed, the six-point movement in 1966 was the turning point in our quest for independence. On June 7 in 1966 the Awami League called a countrywide hartal in the then East Pakistan to press home the six-point demands. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with many others was arrested. Since then 7th June is observed as the historic six-point day.
- 15. The Agortola Conspiracy Case 1968 • Agartala Conspiracy Case was a sedition case in Pakistan, brought forward by the Government of Pakistan against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then leader of the Awami League and East Pakistan, and 34 other persons.
- 16. The Case: The case was filed in early 1968, and implicated Sheikh Mujib and others in conspiring with India against the stability of Pakistan. The case is officially called State vs. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others, but is popularly known by Agartala Shoŗojontro Mamla (Agartala conspiracy case) as the main conspiracy was purported to have taken place in the Indian city of Agartala in Tripura state, where Sheikh Mujib's associates met Intelligence Bureau officials.
- 17. • The Home Department of Pakistan declared through a press-note issued on 6 January 1968 that the government had detected in December 1967 a conspiracy detrimental to the national interest of Pakistan. The press-note disclosed the news of the arrest of 8 persons including 2 CSP officers and alleged that the persons seized were involved in attempting to separate East Pakistan through armed revolt. • Through a separate declaration issued on 18 January 1968 the Home Department implicated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the conspiracy. He was then detained in jail along with many others since 9 May 1966. They were released, only to be arrested again under martial law regulations and were taken to Dhaka Cantonment under military custody.
- 18. The accused: • The Government of Pakistan resolved to frame charge against 35 concerned political personalities and high government officials under civil law. They were: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ahmed Fazlur Rahman CSP, Commander Moazzem Hossain, Steward Mujibur Rahman, former LS Sultanuddin Ahmad, LSCDI Nur Mohammad, Flight Sergeant Mahfiz Ullah, Corporal Abdus Samad, Ruhul Quddus CSP, Flight Sergeant Md. Fazlul Haq, Bibhuti Bhushan Chowdhury alias Manik Chowdhury, Bidhan Krishna Sen, former clerk Mujibur Rahman, former Flight Sergeant Md. Abdur Razzaque, Sergeant Zahurul Haq and others. • In fact, when the Agartala Conspiracy case was initiated Mujibur had already been then in prison along with many others, more precisely since 9 May 1966. He was re- implicated in the case despite the fact he was not at all involved in the conspiracy.
- 19. The plot and detection: • The plot was conceived by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in an attempt to ignite an armed revolution against West Pakistan that would result in the secession. Two of the accused, navy steward Mujibur Rahman and the educationist Mohammad Ali Reza went to Agartala, Tripura, a city in Eastern India to seek Indian support for an independent Bangladesh. • 1,500 Bengalis were arrested in connection with the plot in 1967. In January 1968 the Home Department of Pakistan declared that it had detected a scheme to destabilize Pakistan and break the Eastern wing through an armed revolt, and had arrested 8 people. Later on January 18, the Department implicated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as well. He and others were arrested on 9 May 1968, and were subsequently released, only to be arrested later
- 20. The Trails : • Pakistan decided to try the accused under the court martial since a lot of the accused involved military personnel. However, this was overturned in favor of a civil trial in order to implicate the politicians ahead of the 1970 elections as well as to provide transparency of the trials. Hence, only 35 were finally accused. The accused were then moved from Dhaka Central Jail to the secured borders of the Dhaka Cantonment.
- 21. • The penal codes were amended to benefit the prosecution of the accused, and trial began on 19 June 1968 under a special tribunal. The hearings took place inside a secured chamber within Dhaka Cantonment. The charge sheet of 100 paragraphs were presented before the tribunal, with 227 witnesses and 7 approvers
- 22. • The tribunal was headed by 3 judges - the chair, Justice SA Rahman was a non-Bengali; the other members MR Khan and Maksumul Hakim were Bengalis. The government was represented by the Attorney General TH Khan and former Foreign Minister Manzur Quader. • Thomas Williams, a British lawyer, along with local attorneys challenged the formation of the tribunal by filing a petition in favor of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.The approvers appeared in the witness box and testified that they provided false evidence under the coercion of the State.
- 23. • The government was bent on identifying Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a seperatist and an Indian agent thereby arousing public support against him. But the approvers on the witness-box declared that the government had compelled them by threat and persecution to submit false evidence in its favour. Thus the governmental machination against the accused got exposed. By this time the Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad supported by Maulan Bhasani organised mass movement against the conspiracy of the government and demanded immediate withdrawal of the case and release of all prisoners including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
- 24. • At a point when the streets of Dhaka became a hot bed of turmoil, Sergeant Zahurul Haq, 17th accused in the case, was mercilessly shot to death while in confinement in Dhaka Cantonment. The news of his death led a furious mob to set fire to the State Guest House as well as other buildings. S.A Rahman, Chairman of the tribunal, and Manzur Quader, chief lawyer on the government side, who were then residing in the guest house, evacuated secretly. Some of the files concerning the case were burnt to ashes.
- 25. • In the face of the mass movement, the Ayub government was ultimately compelled to withdraw the Agartala Conspiracy Case on 22 February 1969. All the accused, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were released unconditionally. • On the following day (23 February), a grand public reception was accorded to the accused at Paltan Maidan in Dhaka where Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was vested with the appellation of 'Bangabandhu'.
- 26. Significance: • Ayub Khan was forced to step down from power. The decade of his autocratic rule came to an end. • The case was ultimately withdrawn in the face of a massive popular uprising, which ultimately resulted in the 1969 uprising in East Pakistan and the fall of General Ayub Khan's dictatorship in 1969. The case and the resulting uprising is seen as one of the major events leading to Bengali nationalism and Bangladesh Liberation War. • Sergeant Zahurul Haq were honored by naming a students' residential hall of the University of Dhaka in his name.
- 28. Thažk Y o u Ujjayanta Palace ,Agartala, India