History of Bangladesh: Pakistani Conflict, EU's Influence & Independence

A History of Bangladesh

Prehistory and ancient

Humans likely migrated from the Indus Valley to modern day Bangladesh around the year 700 B.C. This year marks the earliest known pottery from the Ganges delta. This culture grew and evolved into a state called Anga Mahajanpada, one of 16 such Mahajanpada, or kingdoms, in the Indian subcontinent. Anga had trade relations with Java, Sumatra and Siam. Anga also conquered Sri Lanka, giving it the name Sinhala.

Anga, however, did not last very long. It was conquered and absorbed into the Magadha Empire, which would change hands and grow until under the Maurya Dynasty it had control over all of India. The empire eventually fractured into four states, one of which was the Sunga state of Bengal. The region governed by the Sunga state continued to change hands until the Mughal Empire conquered them in the 16th century.

The Mughal Empire was an Islamic state that descended from the Mongols. The founder, Babur, was descended from the second son of Genghis Khan. They attempted to convert their Hindu and Buddhist subjects to Islam, and their efforts succeeded in Bengal. in 1717, Murshid Quli Khan declared independence from the collapsing Mughal Empire, forming an independent Islamic Bengal state.

European Influence

The first Europeans to reach Bengal were the Portuguese, in the 15th century. The Mughal Kasim Khan Mashadi did not want the Europeans to challenge his rule, and destroyed a Portuguese fleet, killing 10,000. The Mughal ruler Aruangzeb, however, was more accommodating to foreign traders and sold three Bengali villages to the British.

After the fall of the Mughals, the British took advantage of the disarray of the subcontinent. The British East India company declared war on Bengal, annexing it after the decisive Battle of Plassey, despite France’s aid of the Bengals. The Company used the territory’s fertile land to produce bamboo, tea, sugar cane, spices, cotton, muslin and jute to be shipped back to Europe.

Harsh treatment by the Company eventually sparked violent revolutions, causing the British government to intervene. They beat back the rebels and in 1858 ownership of Bengal was transferred to the crown. (The Viceroy of the British Raj, mind you, was probably even more harsh than the Company. The British were likely just looking for an excuse to directly control Bengal.)

As the independence movement throughout British-controlled India began in the late 19th century gained momentum during the 20th century, Bengali politicians played an active role in protests, exposing the opposing forces of ethnic and religious nationalism. The British wrote a Parition of Bengal in 1905, splitting the Bengal Presidency into an overwhelmingly Hindu west (including present-day Bihar and Odisha) and a predominantly Muslim east (including Assam). Dhaka was made the capital of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam. But the split only lasted for seven years. Protests caused a reunification in 1911.

Pakistani conflict and early independence

During the dissolution of British India, there was much debate over where the boundaries of the Muslim and Hindu states should lie. It was decided that the muslim state should control Pakistan along with Bengal. Despite the peaceful agreement of the states, there was much violence on the borders with near 50-50 populations, where Muslims wanted to be Pakistani and Hindus wanted to be Indian. The dust eventually settled with West Bengal being absorbed into India and East Bengal being absorbed into Pakistan.

Beginning in the late 1940s, there was a rise of Bengali nationalism and friction with West Pakistan, what is modern day Pakistan. An East Pakistani man named Sheik Mujibur Rahman formed a political party, called the Awami League. This party seeked independence from West Pakistan, and a restoration of an independent Bengali state.

The government of West Pakistan launched an attack on the Awami League after a cyclone disorganised their forces, imprisoning Mujibur Rahman and killing many civilians. The Awami League fled to India and garnered their support for their war of independence. They began fighting Pakistan using guerrilla warfare, while Pakistan proceeded to enforce severe martial law on Bengali citizens.

Pakistan started randomly killing Bengali citizens to quell dissent. This was a really stupid idea, because for obvious reasons the Bengali citizens joined the rebellion. They even got India on their side and proceeded to retake many cities. Pakistan ultimately surrendered on December 16, 1971.

The newly independent state of Bangladesh (meaning the nation of Bengal) passed their constitution on November 4, 1972. The first part details that the state religion is Islam (though other religions are tolerated), that there must be a three-branch system (the same branches as the US), and what the capital, flag etc. will be.

The second part of the constitution details the rights Bangladeshi (no longer Bengali, difference between ethnic and national groups) citizens have. These rights include things such as:

• Protection of the working class from abuse
• Inclusion of women in everyday life
• Universal suffrage
• Free and compulsory education
• Right to own private property and use public property

Apparently the Bangladeshis were pretty damn liberal at the time. Neat. Too bad it didn’t last.

Independent Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s ideals of citizen’s rights did not last very long. The citizens were very trusting of the Awami League (and not for any poor reason, they were the ones who won them independence) and in the 1973 election they gained an absolute majority in their parliament led by Mujibur Rahman. Bangladesh experienced a famine in 1974, and Mujibur, with his newly found power, reformed Bangladesh into a one-party socialist state.

Mujibur was very Hobbesian in his thought (look at me I’m so clever), believing that the war of independence had left the nation unorganised and weak; so a controlling government was necessary to reconstruct from the debris. All other parties were outlawed, making the socialist party (Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League or BAKSAL) the only party. All independent press was abolished, leaving only four state-run papers. The citizens were understandably quite angry at the government for this.

The army was not free from dissent either. A group of army officers stole a tank and storme Mujibur’s residency, killing him and his family. The only relatives who survived were his two daughters, Wehana and Hasina Wajed (interestingly enough the latter is actually the current Prime Minister), who were in West Germany at the time. While his Vice President briefly held the Presidency, he was essentially forced to resign and the state was put under an intermediary government.

The intermediary government was dissolved when General Ziaur Rahman took over the presidency in 1977. President Ziaur reinstated multi-party politics, introduced free markets, and founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Apparentally these people hate freedom or something, so they just shot him in 1981. Bangladesh's next major ruler was Lieutenant General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, who gained power in a coup on 24 March 1982, and ruled until 6 December 1990. He was forced to resign after a revolt of all major political parties and the public, along with pressure from Western donors who started caring after the Soviet Union started to dissolve.

After the revolt, Bangladesh reverted to a parliamentary democracy. Zia's widow, Khaleda Zia, led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to parliamentary victory at the general election in 1991 and became the first female Prime Minister in Bangladeshi history. Power has been passed from the BNP and the Awami League ever since.

On 11 January 2007, the military intervened on extreme political unrest to support a continuing but neutral government under a newly appointed Chief Advisor, who was not a politician. The country had suffered for decades from extensive corruption, disorder, and political violence. The neutral government worked to clean the government of corruption It arrested on corruption charges more than 160 people, including politicians, civil servants, and businessmen, among whom were both major party leaders, some of their senior staff, and two sons of Khaleda Zia.

After working to clean up the system, the caretaker government held what was described by observers as a largely free and fair election on 29 December 2008.The Awami League's Sheikh Hasina won with a two-thirds landslide in the elections; she took the oath of Prime Minister on 6 January 2009 and is still the PM.

Future Promises

Bangladesh has been described as one of the “Next Eleven” economy, meaning that economists predict they will be much more important in coming years. It has achieved significant strides in human and social development since independence, including progress in gender equality, universal primary education, food production, health and population control. It has a booming textile industry and rising industrialisation. Its population is quite poor right now, and the population density is one of the highest in the world; but it’s possible Bangladesh could become a South Asian power to rival India.