The Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence (), refers to the declaration of

independence of Bangladesh The independence of Bangladesh was Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence, declared from Pakistan on 26 March 1971, which is now celebrated as Independence Day (Bangladesh), Independence Day. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March ...

on 26 March 1971, at the onset of the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On that day,

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

leader M. A. Hannan, and the following day Major

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

, broadcast the message on

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

on behalf of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

from the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra radio station in Kalurghat,

Chattogram Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

. On 10 April, the Provisional Government of Bangladesh issued a proclamation on the basis of the previous declaration and established an interim constitution for the independence movement.

First declarations

In the first general election in Pakistan, in December 1970, the

(AL) won nearly every seat representing

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. That gave them an absolute majority in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. President

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

, however, kept them from taking power by postponing the convening of the assembly indefinitely. Tensions mounted; by early March 1971, there was broad support in

for independence, but the AL leadership thought ongoing negotiations with Yahya Khan might still reach a solution short of secession. Yahya Khan spun out talks with the AL through 25 March, on the night of which he unleashed a military crackdown. In the evening of 25 March,

, leader of the AL, convened a meeting of senior Bengali nationalist leaders, including Tajuddin Ahmad and Colonel M A G Osmani, at his residence in

Dhanmondi Dhanmondi () is an upscale residential and commercial neighbourhood and a Thanas of Bangladesh, thana (police jurisdiction) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, known for its central location, cultural vibrancy and being home to the country's founding president, ...

. They were briefed by Bengali insiders within the military of an impending crackdown. They implored Mujib to declare independence but Mujib declined to do because he wanted independence in a bloodless systematic manner. Tajuddin Ahmed even brought all the recording instruments but had failed to convince Mujib to record independence declaration. Rather, Mujib ordered all the high ups to flee to India. However, Mujib decided to remain in Dhaka in hope of coming to a negotiated compromise with West Pakistan in becoming the Prime Minister of the whole Pakistan then it would have been easier to gain independence then. On the night of 25 March, the

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consists of three uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backe ...

launched Operation Searchlight in the capital of East Pakistan. Tanks rolled out on the streets of Dhaka. The troops were said to have massacred students and intellectuals in

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka was founded in 1921 ...

, as well as many civilians in other parts of the city. It set major cities ablaze and crushed resistance from the police and the

East Pakistan Rifles East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

(present-day Border Guard Bangladesh). At 12.20 AM on 26 March from his house at Dhanmondi, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman sent a message about attacks on EPR and police barracks in Dhaka, and declared the independence of Bangladesh through a

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

. The telegram was sent to

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

, where AL leader M. A. Hannan and Major

of the East Bengal Regiment broadcast the message on

on behalf of Mujib. The declaration of independence was widely reported in newspapers around the world. As per the sixth schedule of the

Constitution of Bangladesh The Constitution of Bangladesh is the supreme law of Bangladesh. The constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh on 4 November 1972, it came into effect on 16 December 1972. The constituent assembly was composed of officia ...

, the text of Mujib's telegram stated the following.

This may be my last message, from today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you might be and with whatever you have, to resist the army of occupation to the last. Your fight must go on until the last soldier of the Pakistan occupation army is expelled from the soil of Bangladesh and final victory is achieved.

Mujib's telegram was widely reported on radio on 26 March 1971. M. A. Hannan, secretary of the AL in Chittagong, read out the statement in Bengali at 2.30 pm and 7.40 pm from a radio station in Chittagong. The text of the Hannan's broadcast stated the following.

Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night arch 25, 1971 West Pakistan armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between EPR and police on the one hand and the Armed Forces of Pakistan on the other are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May Allah aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla.

On 27 March 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman broadcast Mujib's message in English which was drafted by Abul Kashem Khan. Zia's message stated the following.

This is Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, on behalf of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that the independent People's Republic of Bangladesh has been established. I call upon all Bengalis to rise against the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the last to free our motherland. By the grace of Allah, victory is ours.

On 10 April 1971, the Provisional Government of Bangladesh issued the Proclamation of Independence which confirmed Mujib's original declaration of independence. The proclamation also included the term ''Bangabandhu'' for the first time in a legal instrument. The proclamation stated the following.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the undisputed leader of the 75 million people of Bangladesh, in due fulfilment of the legitimate right of self-determination of the people of Bangladesh, duly made a declaration of independence at Dacca on 26 March 1971, and urged the people of Bangladesh to defend the honour and integrity of Bangladesh.

According to A K Khandker, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the

Bangladesh Armed Forces The Bangladesh Armed Forces () is the Armed forces, military force of Bangladesh. It consists of three uniformed organizations, they are the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force. The Armed Forces is under the juri ...

during the Liberation War; Sheikh Mujib avoided a radio broadcast fearing that, it might be used as evidence of treason by the Pakistani military against him during his trial. This view is also supported in a book written by the daughter of Tajuddin Ahmed.

Constituent Assembly

On 10 April 1971, the Provisional Government of Bangladesh was formed in Mujibnagar. It converted the elected Bengali members of the national and provincial assemblies of Pakistan into the

Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was the first and, to date, the only constitution-making body of in the country. It was convened in 1972 by the government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman following Bangladesh's independence. It comprised representa ...

. The constituent assembly issued a second proclamation of independence, which also served as the fundamental law of Bangladesh until the adoption of the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

in 1972. This proclamation was drafted by Barrister M Amir-ul Islam and reviewed by Indian Barrister Subrata Roy Chowdhury. The text is given in the following:-

Proclaimer controversy

Until 2010, there was a controversy between the two dominant parties of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

(AL) and

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

(BNP), over who had issued the proclamation: AL claimed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and BNP claimed

. However, Bangabandhu is described as the proclaimer of the independence of

in all diplomatic secret documents of the

Richard Nixon administration Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

, news, and other documents. In 2010, a ruling of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

officially recognized Bangabandhu as the promulgator, and denounced the views of BNP, calling it distortion of history.

Background

Since its establishment, the Bengali-majority of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

wanted full political and cultural autonomy, which resulted in a rise of

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and pro-democratic movements in the country. The Awami League, established in 1949, became the leading and representative party of the Bengalis in Pakistan. In the 1970 Pakistani general election, the League won an absolute victory and emerged as the largest political party in the country, but the junta government of

refused to transfer power due to its pro-Bengali and secular stance. On 1 March 1971, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then president of Awami League, declared

civil disobedience movement Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". ...

. On 7 March 1971, Bangabandhu delivered his famous speech, concluding with, ''"The struggle this time, is a struggle for our liberty. The struggle this time, is a struggle for our independence. Joy Bangla!"'' It's widely considered as the ''de facto'' declaration of Bangladeshi independence.

Controversy

Bangladesh Nationalist Party strongly claimed Ziaur Rahman as the proclaimer of independence. The third volume of Bangladesh Independence War: Documents, published in 1978, recognized Zia as the proclaimer. Even some of the BNP leaders openly denounced Bangabandhu as the false proclaimer during

Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

’s premiership. The controversy, lasted nearly two decades, led the country to a political and an ideological crisis. When a different party comes to power, they change the history books of Bangladesh to either prefer Sheikh Mujibur Rahman or Ziaur Rahman. However, some minor controversies also involve around the broadcasting of the proclamation. According to A. K. Khandker

Bir Uttom Bir Uttom () is the second highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh after the Bir Sreshtho and the highest gallantry award for living individual. Since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, 69 people have been awarded the Bir Utto ...

, a military officer during the liberation war and former planning minister of Bangladesh, on 26 March, a technician at Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra read out the proclamation of independence first over the radio. According to Abdullah Abu Sayeed,

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

Medalist Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra artist Abul Kashem Sandwip also read the proclamation before Ziaur Rahman.

Controversial quote of A. K. Khandker

In 2014, A. K. Khandker claimed in his book ' (lit: "1971: Inside Out") that Bangabandhu did not make any proclamation about independence from 7 March until his arrest, nor did he leave any written notes or recorded voice messages and did not follow any predetermined directions. Additionally, he also controversially quoted that Bangabandhu cried ''Joy Pakistan'' ("Victory to Pakistan") alongside Joy Bangla in his speech on 7 March 1971. But after its publication, there was widespread criticism among the contemporary Awami League leaders and in the parliament session, and a case was filed against the author and the book for distortion of historical informations, and the author withdrew the said part of the book and other related parts. Later he formally announced an apology for giving false informations in his book.

United States documents

According to ''South Asian crisis, 1971'', a secret document published by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

covering the Indo-Pakistan affairs that time, United States was observing the situations of Pakistan from March 1971. On 26 March 1971, just after the Operation Searchlight, US president

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

called an emergency meeting with then US Secretary of State

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

, the Special Action Group Washington, the National Security Committee, and the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

representatives at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, where it was said to have declared the independence of East Pakistan.

Richard Helms Richard McGarrah Helms (March 30, 1913 – October 23, 2002) was an American government official and diplomat who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from 1966 to 1973. Helms began intelligence work with the Office of Strategic Ser ...

, Director of the CIA, said on that meeting:

Supreme Court ruling

In 2010, the third volume of ''Bangladesh Independence War: Documents'', published presenting Ziaur Rahman as the proclaimer, was declared null and void by the Supreme Court, and the volume was ordered to be confiscated and withdrawn from all places in the country and abroad. Directions given by the

High Court Division The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh (), popularly known as High Court, is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Bangladesh Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Appellate Division. ...

References

External links

American intelligence reports on Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bangladeshi Declaration Of Independence 1971 documents March 1971 in Bangladesh Declarations of independence Provisional Government of Bangladesh Bangladeshi documents Independence of Bangladesh Historical controversies