Bangladesh Revolution

In 1947 when Britain left British India it formed to states: India and Pakistan. It divided Pakistan into two wings. The East and West wing. The West wing is now Pakistan and the East wing is now Bangladesh. They were separated by 1,600km and India. They were also culturally different. West Pakistan spoke Urdu, and insisted that it should be the national language. East Pakistan thought that Bengali should be the national language. They couldn’t agree on many issues and eventually went to war. What methods did the group(s) use to express their frustrations and ultimately lead to a revolution? East Bangladesh used force and violence to become and independent nation. At first resistance was unorganized and was not expected to last long. But as the Pakistani Army cracked down on civilians of East Pakistan, more and more support against the Pakistani Army and Pakistan grew. They formed an army called Mukti Bahini. They got their weapons from India. The fighting then continued until India joined East Pakistan or Bangladesh and soon after Pakistan surrendered. How your revolution is similar and/or different to one of the revolutions previously studied? The Bangladesh Liberation is similar and different to all of the revolutions we have studied. It is similar in the fact that, they were unhappy with the government that was in place. They had had enough of what it was doing to them and so they decided to rebel. It was also similar in the fact that they got rid of the government that was in place at the time. It is different to all the three revolutions because it was a very bloody and violent revolution. Up to 3,000,000 civilians are said to have lost their lives due to the revolution. Not nearly as many people were killed in the revolutions we studied. What was the eventual outcome of the revolution, and did the nation/people become better due to the revolution? The eventual outcome ended with an independent nation called Bangladesh. It is hard to say whether the revolution did any good. It made East Pakistan an independent nation. It got rid of the violence that the Bangladesh Liberation War caused and also the violent crackdown on East Pakistan that West Pakistan was causing. The Bangladesh of today is filled with poverty and corruption. According to Transparency International, Bangladesh is the 167th most uncorrupt country in the world even more corrupt than the Philippines which is at 132; and we know how bad it is as we live in it. The average wage in Bangladesh is 1,400 dollars. The world average is 10,400. There is a large gap between rich and poor. It is debatable whether the revolution was successful or not. Was the revolution justified? Would other methods have worked? The revolution was justified because Pakistan would not give Bangladesh its independence easily. A peaceful people power revolution may have worked but it would’ve taken a lot longer than the revolution that took place. It would’ve taken more time because war has a far larger immediate effect compared to people protesting. Imagine to which you would react faster; a gun pointed at your head or someone telling you to stop repeatedly. It would have been a better way to change to an independent nation because so many lives wouldn’t have been lost. If one had taken place peacefully maybe Bangladesh wouldn’t be in the same state it is now. Briefly state whether or not your revolution follows Crane Brinton’s Stages of Revolution. I think the Bangladeshi Liberation War fits with some parts of Brinton Crane’s framework of a revolution. The symptoms of the Bangladeshi Liberation War began when the Pakistani president wanted to make the only national language Urdu. East Pakistan (Current Bangladesh) did not like this because most of East Pakistan spoke Bengali, and to learn a new language would take work. The Rising Fever of the revolution began when the cyclone named Bhola hit the coast of East Paskistan in 1970. 300,000 – 500,000 people were thought to have been killed but the exact numbers are unknown. The president of Pakistan had made mistakes in handling the relief efforts because he did not fully understand what happened. Accusations of the president’s neglect and indifference sprang up and accusations of the president limiting new coverage were also said. Maulana Bhashani addressed a rally of 50,000 people, where he accused the president of inefficiency and demanded his resignation. As the conflict grew bigger, it eventually widened into the Bangladesh Liberation War. The crisis of the revolution is the war itself. However, there are no political parties wanting to take control of the country. Instead, the Eastern part of Pakistan wants to separate and become independent. The Indians are supporting the Bangladeshi’s in this war. The convalescence in the Bangladeshi revolution came at the end of the war. Bangladesh gained its independence and a new ruler named Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came to power. He was not a strong ruler and only ruled Bangladesh for a year. Brinton Crane’s Anatomy of a revolution does not fit very well with the Bangladeshi revolution. Bibliography Akram, Tanweer. "Virtual Bangladesh : History : Article by Tanweer Akram." Virtual Bangladesh. 07 Nov 2007.  VirtualBangladesh. 2 Feb 2008. "Bangladesh Liberation War 1971." Bangladesh. 24 Dec 2008. Wepaint. 2 Feb 2008. "Bangladesh Liberation War." Wikipedia. 29 Jan 2008. Wikipedia Foundation. 2 Feb 2008. "History of Bangladesh." Discovery Bangladesh. 02 Feb 2008. Discovery Bangladesh. 2 Feb 2008.