Bangladesh Liberation War

File:India religion map 1909 en.jpg in 1909 showing Muslim majority areas in green, including modern-day Bangladesh in the east and Pakistan in the west]]

Before the Partition of British India, the Lahore Resolution initially envisaged separate Muslim-majority states in British India's eastern and northwestern zones. A proposal for an independent United Bengal was mooted by Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in 1946 but opposed by the colonial authorities. The East Pakistan Renaissance Society advocated the creation of a sovereign state in eastern British India.{{Cite book |last=Talbot |first=Ian |title=Pakistan: A Modern History |publisher=Hurst & Company, London |year=1998 |isbn=1-85065-385-2 |edition= |location=London |publication-date=March 1998 |pages=90 |language=English}}

Political negotiations led, in August 1947, to the official birth of two states, Pakistan and India,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=78xTAAAAIBAJ&pg=1738,3655 |title=Britain Proposes Indian Partition |work=The Leader-Post |date=2 June 1947 |access-date=11 June 2017 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602154915/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=78xTAAAAIBAJ&pg=1738,3655 |url-status=live}} giving presumably permanent homes for Muslims and Hindus, respectively, after the British departed. The Dominion of Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas to the east and the west, with India in between.{{Cite news |date=8 June 1947 |title=India Partition with Present Many Problems |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VbYqAAAAIBAJ&pg=1342,6305096 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602154917/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VbYqAAAAIBAJ&pg=1342,6305096 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |access-date=11 June 2017 |work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune}}

The western zone was popularly (and, for a period, also officially) termed West Pakistan and the eastern zone (modern-day Bangladesh) was initially termed East Bengal and later East Pakistan. Although the two zones' population was close to equal, political power was concentrated in West Pakistan, and it was widely perceived that East Pakistan was being exploited economically, leading to many grievances. Administration of two discontinuous territories was also seen as a challenge.{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WPdUAAAAIBAJ&pg=7167,1795176 |title=Problems of Partition |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=14 June 1947 |access-date=11 June 2017 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602154916/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WPdUAAAAIBAJ&pg=7167,1795176 |url-status=live }}

On 25 March 1971, after an election won by an East Pakistani political party (the Awami League) was ignored by the ruling (West Pakistani) establishment, rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was met by brutal{{Cite web|url=http://www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html |title=Gendercide Watch: Genocide in Bangladesh, 1971 |website=gendercide.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721230201/http://www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html |archive-date=21 July 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=11 June 2017}} and suppressive force from the ruling elite of the West Pakistan establishment, in what came to be termed Operation Searchlight.{{harvnb|Bose|2005|p=4465}} The Pakistan Army's violent crackdown{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/opinion/nixon-and-kissingers-forgotten-shame.html|title=Nixon and Kissinger's Forgotten Shame|last=Bass|first=Gary J.|date=29 September 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=11 June 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=21 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321044356/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/opinion/nixon-and-kissingers-forgotten-shame.html|url-status=live}} led to Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declaring East Pakistan's independence as the state of Bangladesh on 26 March 1971.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Rk4fAAAAIBAJ&pg=2676,6420028 |title=Civil War Rocks East Pakistan |work=Daytona Beach Morning Journal |date=27 March 1971 |access-date=11 June 2017 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602154917/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Rk4fAAAAIBAJ&pg=2676,6420028 |url-status=live }} Most Bengalis supported this move, although some Islamists and Biharis opposed it and sided with the Pakistan Army instead.{{harvnb|Bose|2005|p=4463}}

Pakistani President Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan ordered the Pakistani military to restore the Pakistani government's authority, beginning the civil war. The war led a substantial number of refugees (estimated at the time to be about 10 million){{Cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/research/refugees-in-india-partition-bangladesh-war-tibet-occupation-sri-lankan-tamils-rohingyas-mynamar-world-refugee-day-five-human-influxes-that-have-shaped-india-2864449/|title=World Refugee Day: Five human influxes that have shaped India|date=20 June 2016|work=The Indian Express|access-date=11 June 2017|archive-date=21 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321044430/https://indianexpress.com/article/research/refugees-in-india-partition-bangladesh-war-tibet-occupation-sri-lankan-tamils-rohingyas-mynamar-world-refugee-day-five-human-influxes-that-have-shaped-india-2864449/|url-status=live}}{{Cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910155-2,00.html|title=The World: India and Pakistan: Over the Edge|date=13 December 1971|magazine=Time|access-date=11 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523003701/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C910155-2%2C00.html|archive-date=23 May 2011|issn=0040-781X}} to flood India's eastern provinces.Crisis in South Asia – A report by Senator Edward Kennedy to the Subcommittee investigating the Problem of Refugees and Their Settlement, Submitted to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1 November 1971, U.S. Govt. Press.pp6-7 Facing a mounting humanitarian and economic crisis, India actively aided and organized the Bangladeshi resistance army, the Mukti Bahini.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

{{Main|Bengali language movement}}

In 1948, Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared that "Urdu, and only Urdu" would be Pakistan's federal language.{{Cite Banglapedia|title=Language Movement|author=Bashir Al Helal}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BKzbHnFTfEC&pg=PA158|title=Sociolinguistics and Language Education|last1=Hornberger|first1=Nancy H.|last2=McKay|first2=Sandra Lee|year=2010|publisher=Multilingual Matters|isbn=9781847694010|pages=158|language=en|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214842/https://books.google.com/books?id=2BKzbHnFTfEC&pg=PA158|url-status=live}} But Urdu was historically prevalent only in the north, central, and western subcontinent; in East Bengal, the native language was Bengali, one of the two most easterly branches of the Indo-European languages.{{cite web|url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/languagecentre/languages/bengali/|title=SOAS Language Centre – Bengali Language Courses|website=soas.ac.uk|access-date=7 December 2014|archive-date=21 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321044427/https://www.soas.ac.uk/languagecentre/languages/bengali/|url-status=live}} Bengali speakers constituted over 56% of Pakistan's population.{{cite news|title=Language Movement paved way for independence: Hasina|url=https://m.bdnews24.com/en/detail/bangladesh/1861277|newspaper=bdnews24|date=20 February 2021|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=21 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321044430/https://m.bdnews24.com/en/detail/bangladesh/1861277|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=From Dhaka to fall of Dhaka|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/405968-from-dhaka-to-fall-of-dhaka|access-date=12 March 2021|date=15 December 2018|newspaper=The News (Pakistan)|first=Wajid Shamsul|last=Hasan|archive-date=21 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321044402/https://www.thenews.com.pk/amp/405968-from-dhaka-to-fall-of-dhaka|url-status=live}}

The government stand was widely viewed as an attempt to suppress the culture of the eastern wing. The people of East Bengal demanded that their language be given federal status alongside Urdu and English. The Language Movement began in 1948, as civil society protested the removal of Bengali script from currency and stamps, which were in place since the British Raj.{{Cite web|title = International Mother Language Day|url = https://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/|website = United Nations|access-date = 19 February 2016|archive-date = 17 May 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190517175429/https://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/|url-status = live}}

The movement reached its climax in 1952, when on 21 February, the police fired on protesting students and civilians, causing several deaths. The day is revered in Bangladesh as the Language Movement Day. In memory of the deaths, UNESCO declared 21 February International Mother Language Day in November 1999.

Although, East Pakistan had the larger population, West Pakistan dominated the divided country politically and received more money from the common budget.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

East Pakistan was already economically disadvantaged at the time of Pakistan's creation yet this economic disparity only increased under Pakistani rule. Factors included not only the deliberate state discrimination in developmental policies but also the fact that the presence of the country's capital and more immigrant businessmen in the Western Wing directed greater government allocations there. Due to low numbers of native businessmen in East Pakistan, substantial labor unrest and a tense political environment, there were also much lower foreign investments in the eastern wing. The Pakistani state's economic outlook was geared towards urban industry, which was not compatible with East Pakistan's mainly agrarian economy.{{harvnb|van Schendel|2009|p=136}}

Also, Bengalis were underrepresented in the Pakistani military. Officers of Bengali origin in the different wings of the armed forces made up just 5% of the overall force by 1965; of these, only a few were in command positions, with the majority in technical or administrative posts.{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+bd0139%29 |title=Library of Congress studies |publisher=Memory.loc.gov |date=1 July 1947 |access-date=23 June 2011 |archive-date=5 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705131255/http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r%3Ffrd/cstdy:@field(DOCID%2Bbd0139) |url-status=live }} West Pakistanis believed that Bengalis were not "martially inclined", unlike Pashtuns and Punjabis; Bengalis dismissed the "martial races" notion as ridiculous and humiliating.

Moreover, despite huge defense spending, East Pakistan received none of the benefits, such as contracts, purchasing and military support jobs. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 over Kashmir also highlighted the sense of military insecurity among Bengalis, as only an under-strength infantry division and 15 combat aircraft without tank support were in East Pakistan to repulse any Indian retaliations during the conflict.{{cite web|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2002/dec/demons.htm |title=Demons of December – Road from East Pakistan to Bangladesh |website=Defencejournal.com |access-date=23 June 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609122558/http://www.defencejournal.com/2002/dec/demons.htm |archive-date=9 June 2011 |url-status=live}}{{cite book |author=Rounaq Jahan |author-link=Rounaq Jahan |title=Pakistan: Failure in National Integration |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1972 |pages=166–167 |isbn=978-0-231-03625-2}}

File:Shaheed minar Roehl.jpg

In 1947, the Bengali Muslims had identified themselves with Pakistan's Islamic project, but by the 1970s, the people of East Pakistan had given priority to their Bengali ethnicity over their religious identity, desiring a society in accordance with Western principles such as secularism, democracy and socialism.{{harvnb|van Schendel|2009|p=183}} Many Bengali Muslims strongly objected to the Islamist paradigm the Pakistani state imposed.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYppZ_dEjdIC&pg=PA19|title=Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military |year=2010 |publisher=Carnegie Endowment|isbn=978-0-87003-285-1|pages=19–|author=Husain Haqqani}}

Most members of West Pakistan's ruling elite shared a vision of a liberal society, but nevertheless viewed a common faith as an essential mobilizing factor behind Pakistan's creation and the subsuming of Pakistan's multiple regional identities into one national identity. West Pakistanis were substantially more supportive than East Pakistanis of an Islamic state, a tendency that persisted after 1971.{{harvnb|Baxter|1997|p=70}}

Cultural and linguistic differences between the two wings gradually outweighed any sense of religious unity. The Bengalis took great pride in their culture and language which, with its Bengali script and vocabulary, was unacceptable to the West Pakistani elite, who believed that it had assimilated considerable Hindu cultural influences.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gK3d627xESAC&pg=PA24|title=Military Intervention and Secession in South Asia: The Cases of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, and Punjab|last=Anne Noronha dos Santos|year=2007|isbn=9780275999490|pages=24|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |access-date=21 August 2017|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214807/https://books.google.com/books?id=gK3d627xESAC&pg=PA24|url-status=live}} West Pakistanis, in an attempt to "Islamise" the East, wanted the Bengalis to adopt Urdu. The activities of the language movement nurtured a sentiment among Bengalis in favor of discarding Pakistan's communalism in favor of secular politics.{{harvnb|van Schendel|2009|p=114}} The Awami League began propagating its secular message through its newspaper to the Bengali readership.{{harvnb|van Schendel|2009|p=117}}

The Awami League's emphasis on secularism differentiated it from the Muslim League.{{harvnb|Baxter|1997|p=88}} In 1971, the Bangladeshi liberation struggle against Pakistan was led by secular leaders{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsrfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA168|title=Pakistan: From the Rhetoric of Democracy to the Rise of Militancy|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|isbn=9781136516412|pages=168|access-date=8 March 2017|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214843/https://books.google.com/books?id=NsrfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA168|url-status=live}} and secularists hailed the Bangladeshi victory as the triumph of secular Bengali nationalism over religion-centred Pakistani nationalism.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nC9-CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|title=Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Bangladesh |year=2016 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-30877-5|pages=46–|author1=Ali Riaz|author2=Mohammad Sajjadur Rahman}} While Pakistan's government strives for an Islamic state, Bangladesh was established secular. After the liberation victory, the Awami League attempted to build a secular order{{harvnb|Baxter|1997|p=xiii}} and the pro-Pakistan Islamist parties were barred from political participation.{{harvnb|van Schendel|2009|p=175}} The majority of East Pakistani ulama had either remained neutral or supported the Pakistani state, since they felt that the breakup of Pakistan would be detrimental for Islam.{{cite book|author=Ishtiaq Ahmed|title=State, Nation and Ethnicity in Contemporary South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czSm7cmhgA0C&pg=PA223|year=1998|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-85567-578-0|pages=223–|access-date=31 August 2017|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214856/https://books.google.com/books?id=czSm7cmhgA0C&pg=PA223|url-status=live}}

File:Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1950.jpg, the leader of East Pakistan, and later Bangladesh]]

Although East Pakistan accounted for a slight majority of the country's population,{{cite book |title=The Political System of Pakistan |first=Khalid B. |last=Sayeed |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1967 |page=61}} political power remained in the hands of West Pakistanis. Since a straightforward system of representation based on population would have concentrated political power in East Pakistan, the West Pakistani establishment came up with the "One Unit" scheme, whereby all of West Pakistan was considered one province. This was solely to counterbalance the East wing's votes.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

After the 1951 assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan's first prime minister, political power began to devolve to the new position of President of Pakistan, which replaced the office of Governor General when Pakistan became a republic, and, eventually, the military. The nominal elected chief executive, the Prime Minister, was frequently sacked by the establishment, acting through the President.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The East Pakistanis observed that the West Pakistani establishment swiftly deposed any East Pakistanis elected leader of Pakistan, such as Khawaja Nazimuddin, Mohammad Ali Bogra, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, and Iskander Mirza. Their suspicions were further aggravated by the military dictatorships of Ayub Khan (27 October 1958 – 25 March 1969) and Yahya Khan (25 March 1969 – 20 December 1971), both West Pakistanis. The situation reached a climax in 1970, when the Bangladesh Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections. The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 313 seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the constitutional right to form a government. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (a former Foreign Minister), the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.{{cite book |last=Hassan, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) |first=Mubashir |author-link=Mubashir Hassan |title=The Mirage of Power |place=Oxford University, United Kingdom |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |chapter=§Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: All Power to People! Democracy and Socialism to People! |pages=50–90 |isbn=978-0-19-579300-0}}

Instead, he proposed the idea of having two Prime Ministers, one for each wing. The proposal elicited outrage in the east wing, already chafing under the other constitutional innovation, the "One Unit scheme". Bhutto also refused to accept Rahman's Six Points. On 3 March 1971, the two leaders of the two wings along with the President General Yahya Khan met in Dacca to decide the fate of the country.

After their discussions yielded no satisfactory results, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a nationwide strike. Bhutto feared a civil war, therefore, he sent his trusted companion, Mubashir Hassan. A message was conveyed, and Rahman decided to meet Bhutto. Upon his arrival, Rahman met with Bhutto and both agreed to form a coalition government with Rahman as premier and Bhutto as president, but Sheikh Mujib later ruled out such a possibility.{{cite news|script-title=bn:টানা আন্দোলনের চতুর্থ দিন, মৃত্যু ছাপিয়ে ক্ষোভ|url=https://www.prothomalo.com/diary-1971/%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A5-%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%81-%E0%A6%9B%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%AD|newspaper=Prothom Alo|date=5 March 2021|access-date=14 January 2022|archive-date=14 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114105154/https://www.prothomalo.com/diary-1971/%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A5-%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%81-%E0%A6%9B%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%AD|url-status=live}} Meanwhile, the military was unaware of these developments, and Bhutto increased his pressure on Rahman to reach a decision.

On 7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (soon to be prime minister) delivered a speech at the Racecourse Ground (now the Suhrawardy Udyan). In this speech he mentioned a further four-point condition to consider at the National Assembly Meeting on 25 March:{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

• The immediate lifting of martial law.
• Immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks.
• An inquiry into the loss of life.
• Immediate transfer of power to the elected representative of the people before the assembly meeting 25 March.

He urged his people to turn every house into a fort of resistance. He closed his speech saying, "Our struggle is for our freedom. Our struggle is for our independence." This speech is considered{{by whom|date=May 2019}} the main event that inspired the nation to fight for its independence. General Tikka Khan was flown into Dacca to become Governor of East Bengal. East-Pakistani judges, including Justice Siddique, refused to swear him in.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Between 10 and 13 March, Pakistan International Airlines canceled all its international routes to urgently fly "government passengers" to Dacca. These "government passengers" were almost all Pakistani soldiers in civilian dress. MV Swat, a ship of the Pakistan Navy carrying ammunition and soldiers, was harbored in Chittagong Port, but the Bengali workers and sailors at the port refused to unload the ship. A unit of East Pakistan Rifles refused to obey commands to fire on the Bengali demonstrators, beginning a mutiny among the Bengali soldiers.{{Cite book |last=Mascarenhas |first=Anthony |url=https://archive.org/details/the-rape-of-bangladesh/page/76/mode/2up |title=The Rape of Bangladesh |isbn=0706901487 |pages=78}}{{Cite web |title=Chittagong’s pivotal role in Liberation War |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/141642/chittagong%E2%80%99s-pivotal-role-in-liberation-war |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=Dhaka Tribune |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2021-12-16 |title=The Chattogram Resistance |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/victory-day-special-2021/news/the-chattogram-resistance-2918051 |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}}

{{Main|1970 Bhola cyclone}}

The 1970 Bhola cyclone made landfall on the East Pakistan coastline during the evening of 12 November, around the same time as a local high tide,{{cite web|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cd024_pdf/005ED281.pdf#page=10|title=Annual Summary – Storms & Depressions|work=India Weather Review 1970|author=India Meteorological Department|author-link=India Meteorological Department|year=1970|access-date=15 April 2007|format=PDF|pages=10–11|archive-date=6 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006111905/https://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cd024_pdf/005ED281.pdf#page=10|url-status=dead}} killing an estimated 300,000 people. A 2017 World Meteorological Organization panel considers it the deadliest tropical cyclone since at least 1873.{{cite journal |last1=Cerveny |first1=Randall S. |last2=Bessemoulin |first2=Pierre |last3=Burt |first3=Christopher C. |last4=Cooper |first4=Mary Ann |last5=Cunjie |first5=Zhang |last6=Dewan |first6=Ashraf |last7=Finch |first7=Jonathan |last8=Holle |first8=Ronald L. |last9=Kalkstein |first9=Laurence |last10=Kruger |first10=Andries |last11=Lee |first11=Tsz-cheung |last12=Martínez |first12=Rodney |last13=Mohapatra |first13=M. |last14=Pattanaik |first14=D. R. |last15=Peterson |first15=Thomas C. |last16=Sheridan |first16=Scott |last17=Trewin |first17=Blair |last18=Tait |first18=Andrew |last19=Wahab |first19=M. M. Abdel |display-authors=5 |title=WMO Assessment of Weather and Climate Mortality Extremes: Lightning, Tropical Cyclones, Tornadoes, and Hail |journal=Weather, Climate, and Society |date=1 July 2017 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=487–497 |doi=10.1175/WCAS-D-16-0120.1|s2cid=55003021 |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11937/53049 |hdl-access=free |issn = 1948-8327 }} A week after the landfall, President Khan conceded that his government had made "slips" and "mistakes" in its handling of the relief efforts due to a lack of understanding of the magnitude of the disaster.{{cite news|title=Yahya Condedes 'Slips' In Relief|first=Sydney|last=Schanberg|author-link=Sydney Schanberg|work=The New York Times|date=22 November 1970}}

A statement released by eleven political leaders in East Pakistan ten days after the cyclone hit charged the government with "gross neglect, callous and utter indifference". They also accused the president of playing down the magnitude of the problem in news coverage.{{cite news |title=East Pakistani Leaders Assail Yahya on Cyclone Relief|agency=Reuters |newspaper=The New York Times|date=23 November 1970}} On 19 November, students held a march in Dacca protesting the slowness of the government's response.{{cite news|title=Copter Shortage Balks Cyclone Aid|newspaper=The New York Times|date=18 November 1970}} Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani addressed a rally of 50,000 people on 24 November, where he accused the president of inefficiency and demanded his resignation.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

As the conflict between East and West Pakistan developed in March, the Dacca offices of the two government organizations directly involved in relief efforts were closed for at least two weeks, first by a general strike and then by a ban on government work in East Pakistan by the Awami League. With this increase in tension, foreign personnel were evacuated over fears of violence. Relief work continued in the field, but long-term planning was curtailed.{{cite news |last=Durdin |first=Tillman |date=11 March 1971 |title=Pakistanis Crisis Virtually Halts Rehabilitation Work in Cyclone Region |newspaper=The New York Times |page=2}} This conflict widened into the Bangladesh Liberation War in December and concluded with the creation of Bangladesh. This was one of the first times that a natural event helped trigger a civil war.{{cite web |url = http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/publications/ofda_cjanalysis_02_21-2005.pdf|access-date=15 April 2007|date=21 February 2005|title=A Critical Juncture Analysis, 1964–2003|last=Olson|first=Richard|publisher=USAID |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070414002649/http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/publications/ofda_cjanalysis_02_21-2005.pdf |archive-date= 14 April 2007 |url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Operation Searchlight}}

File:March71.PNG, March 1971]]

A planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army—codenamed Operation Searchlight—started on 25 March 1971 to curb the Bengali independence movement by taking control of the major cities on 26 March, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military,{{harvnb|Salik|1997|pp=63, 228–9}} within one month. The Pakistani state used anti-Bihari violence by Bengalis in early March to justify Operation Searchlight.{{Cite book |last=D'Costa |first=Bina |author-link=Bina D'Costa |year=2011 |title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia |publisher=Routledge |page=103 |isbn=978-0-415-56566-0}}

Before the beginning of the operation, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from East Pakistan.{{cite journal |last=Siddiqui |first=Asif |date=December 1997 |title=From Deterrence and Coercive Diplomacy to War: The 1971 Crisis in South Asia |journal=Journal of International and Area Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=73–92 |jstor=43106996}}

The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last major town in Bengali hands in mid-May. The operation also began the Bangladesh genocide. These systematic killings served only to enrage the Bengalis, resulting in East Pakistan's secession later that year. Bangladeshi media and reference books in English have published casualty figures that vary greatly, from 5,000 to 35,000 in Dacca, and 300,000 to 3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole.{{cite web |url = http://necrometrics.com/20c1m.htm#Bangladesh |title = Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls |website = necrometrics.com |access-date = 11 June 2017 |archive-date = 5 March 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110305175626/http://necrometrics.com/20c1m.htm#Bangladesh |url-status = live }} Independent researchers, including the British Medical Journal, have put forward figures ranging from 125,000 to 505,000.{{cite news|last=Bergman|first=David|title=Questioning an iconic number|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/questioning-an-iconic-number/article5940833.ece|access-date=28 September 2016|newspaper=The Hindu|date=24 April 2014|archive-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012642/https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/questioning-an-iconic-number/article5940833.ece|url-status=live}} American political scientist Rudolph Rummel puts total deaths at 1.5 million.{{cite book | last = Rummel | first = Rudolph | author-link = Rudolph Rummel | title = Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder since 1900 | chapter = Chapter 8: Statistics of Pakistan's Democide Estimates, Calculations, And Sources | page = 544 | isbn = 978-3-8258-4010-5 | quote = "...They also planned to indiscriminately murder hundreds of thousands of its Hindus and drive the rest into India. ... This despicable and cutthroat plan was outright genocide'.| year = 1998| publisher = LIT Verlag Münster }} The atrocities have been called acts of genocide.{{cite web |author=Zunaid Kazi |url = http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/history/holocaust.html |title=History : The Bangali Genocide, 1971 |publisher=Virtual Bangladesh |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110723203401/http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/history/holocaust.html |archive-date=23 July 2011 |access-date=23 June 2011}}

According to the Asia Times:{{cite news|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GF23Df04.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050624014444/http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GF23Df04.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=24 June 2005|newspaper=Asia Times|title=Indians are bastards anyway|last=Debasish Roy Chowdhury|date=23 June 2005}}

{{blockquote|At a meeting of the military top brass, Yahya Khan declared: "Kill 3 million of them and the rest will eat out of our hands". Accordingly, on the night of 25 March, the Pakistani Army launched Operation Searchlight to "crush" Bengali resistance in which Bengali members of military services were disarmed and killed, students and the intelligentsia systematically liquidated and able-bodied Bengali males just picked up and gunned down.}}

Although the violence focused on the provincial capital, Dacca, it also affected all parts of East Pakistan. Residential halls of the University of Dacca were particularly targeted. The only Hindu residential hall—Jagannath Hall—was destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces, and an estimated 600 to 700 of its residents were murdered. The Pakistani army denied any cold-blooded killings at the university, but the Hamoodur Rahman Commission in Pakistan concluded that overwhelming force was used. This fact, and the massacre at Jagannath Hall and nearby student dormitories of Dacca University, are corroborated by a videotape secretly filmed by Professor Nurul Ula of the East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology, whose residence was directly opposite the student dormitories.{{cite book |last=Malik |first=Amita |author-link=Amita Malik |title=The Year of the Vulture |publisher=Orient Longmans |location=New Delhi |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-8046-8817-8 |pages=79–83}}

The scale of the atrocities was first made clear in the West, when Anthony Mascarenhas, a Pakistani journalist who had been sent to the province by the military authorities to write a story favorable to Pakistan, instead fled to the United Kingdom and, on 13 June 1971, published an article in The Sunday Times describing the systematic killings by the military. The BBC wrote: "There is little doubt that Mascarenhas' reportage played its part in ending the war. It helped turn world opinion against Pakistan and encouraged India to play a decisive role", with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi saying that Mascarenhas' article led her "to prepare the ground for India's armed intervention".{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201 |title = Bangladesh war: The article that changed history – Asia |publisher = BBC |date = 16 December 2011 |access-date = 20 July 2018 |archive-date = 8 May 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190508091712/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201 |url-status = live }}

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested by the Pakistani Army. Yahya Khan appointed Brigadier (later General) Rahimuddin Khan to preside over a special tribunal prosecuting Rahman with multiple charges. The tribunal's sentence was never made public, but Yahya caused the verdict to be held in abeyance in any case. Other Awami League leaders were arrested as well, while a few fled Dacca to avoid arrest. The Awami League was banned by General Yahya Khan.{{cite encyclopedia |url = https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/651231/Agha-Mohammad-Yahya-Khan |title = Encyclopædia Britannica Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=23 June 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110604051235/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/651231/Agha-Mohammad-Yahya-Khan |archive-date= 4 June 2011 |url-status=live}}

{{See also|Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence|7 March Speech of Bangabandhu}}

File:Bangobandhu 2.jpg

The violence unleashed by the Pakistani forces on 25 March 1971 proved the last straw to the efforts to negotiate a settlement. Following these incidents, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration that read:{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

{{blockquote|Today, Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night, West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dacca. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between E.P.R. 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 [May Bangladesh be victorious].}}

Sheikh Mujib also called upon the people to resist the occupation forces through a radio message. Rahman was arrested on the night of 25–26 March 1971 at about 1:30 am (as per Radio Pakistan's news on 29 March 1971).{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

File:1971 BDLib poster.jpg propaganda poster by Quamrul Hassan on General Yahya Khan, representing the Pakistani military junta as demons{{cite news |last=Afreen Mallick |first=Sadya |title='Potua' and freedom's colours |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=119256 |newspaper=The Daily Star |access-date=12 February 2016 |date=25 December 2009 |archive-date=24 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224034828/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=119256 |url-status=live}}]]

A telegram containing the text of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's declaration reached some students in Chittagong. The message was translated into Bengali by Manjula Anwar. The students failed to secure permission from higher authorities to broadcast the message from the nearby Agrabad Station of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, but the message was read several times by the independent Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro Radio established by rebel Bangali Radio workers in Kalurghat. Major Ziaur Rahman was requested to provide security for the station and also read the Declaration on 27 March 1971.{{cite news |url=http://arts.bdnews24.com/?p=2769 |script-title=bn:সংযোজনস্বাধীনতার ঘোষণা: বেলাল মোহাম্মদের সাক্ষাৎকার |trans-title=Declaration of Independence: Bilal Mohammad interview |work=bdnews24.com |language=bn |access-date=28 January 2014 |archive-date=29 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329134219/http://arts.bdnews24.com/?p=2769 |url-status=live }} He broadcast the announcement of the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman:

{{blockquote|This is Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction of Bangobondhu Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that Independent People's Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his direction, I have taken the command as the temporary Head of the Republic. In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I call upon all Bengalees to rise against the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the last to free our motherland. Victory is, by the Grace of Allah, ours. Joy Bangla.{{cite book |last=Sen Gupta |first=Jyoti |date=1974 |title=History of freedom movement in Bangladesh, 1943–1973: some involvement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DedtAAAAMAAJ |location=Calcutta |publisher=Naya Prokash |pages=325–326 |access-date=18 February 2013}}}}

The Kalurghat Radio Station's transmission capability was limited, but the message was picked up by a Japanese ship in the Bay of Bengal. It was then re-transmitted by Radio Australia and later by the BBC.

M. A. Hannan, an Awami League leader from Chittagong, is said to have made the first announcement of the declaration of independence over the radio on 26 March 1971.{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/history/declaration.html |title=History : The Declaration of Independence |website=Virtual Bangladesh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901035519/http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/history/declaration.html |archive-date=1 September 2014}}

26 March 1971 is considered the official Independence Day of Bangladesh, and the name Bangladesh was in effect henceforth. In July 1971, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi openly referred to the former East Pakistan as Bangladesh.[https://books.google.com/books?id=srCLD-PXl-gC&pg=PA143 M1 India, Pakistan, and the United States: Breaking with the Past By Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli] {{ISBN|0-87609-199-0}}, 1997, Council on Foreign Relations. pp 37 Some Pakistani and Indian officials continued to use the name "East Pakistan" until 16 December 1971.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

{{main|Mukti Bahini|Timeline of the Bangladesh Liberation War}}

At first, resistance was spontaneous and disorganized, and was not expected to be prolonged.Pakistan Defence Journal, 1977, Vol 2, pp. 2–3 But when the Pakistani Army cracked down upon the population, resistance grew. The Mukti Bahini became increasingly active. The Pakistani military sought to quell them, but increasingly many Bengali soldiers defected to this underground "Bangladesh army". These Bengali units slowly merged into the Mukti Bahini and bolstered their weaponry with supplies from India. Pakistan responded by airlifting in two infantry divisions and reorganizing their forces. They also raised paramilitary forces of Razakars, Al-Badrs and Al-Shams (mostly members of the Muslim League and other Islamist groups), as well as other Bengalis who opposed independence, and Bihari Muslims who had settled during the time of partition.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

On 17 April 1971, a provisional government was formed in Meherpur District in western Bangladesh bordering India with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was in prison in Pakistan, as president, Syed Nazrul Islam as acting president, Tajuddin Ahmad as prime minister, and General Muhammad Ataul Ghani Osmani as Commander-in-Chief, Bangladesh Forces. As fighting grew between the occupation army and the Bengali Mukti Bahini, an estimated 10 million Bengalis sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

{{See also|List of sectors in the Bangladesh Liberation War|Military plans of the Bangladesh Liberation War}}

File:Sectors of Bangladesh Liberation War.svg during the Bangladesh Liberation War]]

File:George Harrison - Bangla Desh.png George Harrison's "Bangla Desh" single, released in July 1971 to raise international awareness and funds for the millions of Bangladeshi refugees]]

Bangladesh forces command was set up on 11 July, with Col. M. A. G. Osmani as commander-in-chief (C-in-C) with the status of Cabinet Minister, Lt. Col. Abdur Rabb as chief of Staff (COS), Group Captain A. K. Khandker as Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) and Major A. R. Chowdhury as Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS).{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Osmani had differences of opinion with the Indian leadership about the role of the Mukti Bahini in the conflict. Indian leadership initially envisioned a well trained force of 8,000 guerrillas, operating in small cells around Bangladesh to facilitate eventual conventional combat.{{harvnb|Jacob|1997|pp=90–91}} With the Bangladesh government in exile, Osmani favored a different strategy:{{harvnb|Jacob|1997|pp=42–44, 90–91}}{{harvnb|Hasan|2004|pp=45–46}}

• Bengali conventional forces would occupy lodgments inside Bangladesh and the Bangladesh government would request international diplomatic recognition and intervention. Initially Mymensingh was picked for this operation, but Osmani later settled on Sylhet.
• Sending the maximum number of guerrillas into Bangladesh as soon as possible with the following objectives:{{harvnb|Islam|1981|pp=227, 235}}{{harvnb|Safiullah|1989|pp=161–163}}
• Increasing Pakistani casualties through raids and ambush.
• Cripple economic activity by hitting power stations, railway lines, storage depots and communication networks.
• Destroy Pakistan Army mobility by blowing up bridges/culverts, fuel depots, trains and river crafts.
• The strategic objective was to make the Pakistanis spread their forces inside the province, so attacks could be made on isolated Pakistani detachments.

Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors in July,{{harvnb|Islam|1981|pp=226–231}} each with a commander chosen from defected officers of the Pakistani army who joined the Mukti Bahini to lead guerrilla operations.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} The Mukti Bahini forces were given two to five weeks of training by the Indian army on guerrilla warfare.{{Cite book|last=Dowlah|first=Caf|title=The Bangladesh Liberation War, the Sheikh Mujib Regime, and Contemporary Controversies|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4985-3418-5|page=59|language=en}} Most of their training camps were near the border area and operated with assistance from India. The 10th Sector was placed under Osmani's command and included the Naval Commandos and C-in-C's special force.{{cite web |url = http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org/history/#blaf |title = Bangladesh Liberation Armed Force |website = Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh |access-date = 30 October 2015 |archive-date = 6 September 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150906143409/http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org/history/#blaf |url-status = live }} Three brigades (eventually 8 battalions) were raised for conventional warfare; a large guerrilla force (estimated at 100,000) was trained.{{cite book |last1=Raja |first1=Dewan Mohammad Tasawwar |title=O General My General |date=2010 |publisher=Osmany Memorial Trust |isbn=978-984-8866-18-4 |pages=72, 74–75}}

Five infantry battalions were reformed and positioned along the northern and eastern borders of Bangladesh. Three more battalions were raised, and artillery batteries were formed.{{harvnb|Jacob|1997|p=44}} During June and July, Mukti Bahini regrouped across the border with Indian aid through Operation Jackpot and began sending 2,000–5,000 guerrillas across the border,{{harvnb|Hasan|2004|p=44}} the so-called Monsoon Offensive, which for various reasons (lack of proper training, supply shortage, lack of a proper support network inside Bangladesh) failed to achieve its objectives.{{harvnb|Hasan|2004|pp=64–65}}{{harvnb|Khan|1973|p=125}} Bengali regular forces also attacked border outposts in Mymensingh, Comilla and Sylhet, but the results were mixed. Pakistani authorities concluded that they had successfully contained the Monsoon Offensive, which proved a near-accurate observation.{{harvnb|Ali|1992|p=96}}

Guerrilla operations, which slackened during the training phase, picked up after August. Economic and military targets in Dacca were attacked. The major success story was Operation Jackpot, in which naval commandos mined and blew up berthed ships in Chittagong, Mongla, Narayanganj and Chandpur on 15 August 1971.{{cite book|last=Roy|first=Mihir K.|title=War in the Indian Ocean|year=1995|publisher=Lancer Publisher & Distributor|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-1-897829-11-0|page=154}}{{cite book|last=Robi|first=Mir Mustak Ahmed|title=Chetonai Ekattor|year=2008|publisher=Zonaki Publisher|location=Dhaka|url=http://opac.iub.edu.bd/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=15244&query_desc=%28su%3A{Bangladesh}%29|page=69}}

{{see also|Mitro Bahini Order of Battle December 1971|Pakistan Army order of battle, December 1971|Evolution of Pakistan Eastern Command plan|Operation Jackpot}}

Bangladeshi conventional forces attacked border outposts. Kamalpur, Belonia and the Battle of Boyra are a few examples. 90 out of 370 border outposts fell to Bengali forces. Guerrilla attacks intensified, as did Pakistani and Razakar reprisals on civilian populations. Pakistani forces were reinforced by eight battalions from West Pakistan. The Bangladeshi independence fighters even managed to temporarily capture airstrips at Lalmonirhat and Shalutikar.{{cite web |url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_326.shtml |title=India – Pakistan War, 1971; Introduction By Tom Cooper, with Khan Syed Shaiz Ali |publisher=Acig.org |access-date=23 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606195040/http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_326.shtml |archive-date=6 June 2011 |url-status=usurped}} Both of these were used for flying in supplies and arms from India. Pakistan sent another five battalions from West Pakistan as reinforcements.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

{{see also|Indo-Pakistani war of 1971}}

File:Bangladesh 1971 Liberation.jpg

{{blockquote|text=All unprejudiced persons objectively surveying the grim events in Bangladesh since March 25 have recognised the revolt of 75 million people, a people who were forced to the conclusion that neither their life, nor their liberty, to say nothing of the possibility of the pursuit of happiness, was available to them.|author=Indira Gandhi|source=Letter to Richard Nixon, 15 December 1971{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}}}

File:Indira2.jpg]]

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi concluded that instead of taking in millions of refugees, India would be economically better off going to war against Pakistan. As early as 28 April 1971, the Indian Cabinet had asked General Manekshaw (Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee) to "Go into East Pakistan".{{Cite web|title = 1971: Making Bangladesh a reality – I|url = http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/1971-making-bangladesh-a-reality-i/|website = Indian Defence Review| date=16 December 2012 |access-date = 21 June 2015|archive-date = 24 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924034413/http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/1971-making-bangladesh-a-reality-i/|url-status = live}} Hostile relations in the past between India and Pakistan added to India's decision to intervene in Pakistan's civil war.

As a result, the Indian government decided to support the creation of a separate state for ethnic Bengalis by supporting the Mukti Bahini.{{Cite book |script-title=bn:বাংলাদেশ ও অনুপ্রেরণার গল্প |publisher=Inspiring Bangladesh |isbn=978-984-35-0351-0 |page=21 |language=bn |trans-title=Bangladesh and Story of Inspiration |date=2022 }} RAW helped to organize, train and arm these insurgents. Consequently, the Mukti Bahini succeeded in harassing Pakistani military in East Pakistan, creating conditions conducive to a full-scale Indian military intervention in early December.{{cite encyclopaedia |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588350_3/Indo-Pakistani_Wars.html |title=Indo-Pakistani Wars |encyclopaedia=MSN Encarta |access-date=20 October 2009 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5kwrHv6ph?url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588350_3/Indo-Pakistani_Wars.html |archive-date=1 November 2009 |url-status=dead}}

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched a preemptive strike on Indian Air Force bases on 3 December 1971. The attack was modeled on the Israeli Air Force's Operation Focus during the Six-Day War and intended to neutralize the Indian Air Force planes on the ground. India saw the strike as an open act of unprovoked aggression, which marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War. In response to the attack, both India and Pakistan formally acknowledged the "existence of a state of war between the two countries" even though neither government had formally issued a declaration of war.{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910155,00.html|title=India and Pakistan: Over the Edge|magazine=Time|date=13 December 1971|access-date=18 May 2020|archive-date=8 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008221847/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910155,00.html|url-status=live}}

File:T-55 tanks in the Bangladesh Liberation War.jpg tanks on their way to Dacca]]

Three Indian corps were involved in the liberation of East Pakistan. They were supported by nearly three brigades of Mukti Bahini fighting alongside them, and many more who were fighting irregularly. That was far superior to the Pakistani army of three divisions.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878969-4,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103235823/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878969-4,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 November 2007 |title=Bangladesh: Out of War, a Nation Is Born |magazine=Time |date=20 December 1971 |access-date=23 June 2011}} The Indians quickly overran the country, selectively engaging or bypassing heavily defended strongholds. Pakistani forces were unable to effectively counter the Indian attack, as they had been deployed in small units around the border to counter the guerrilla attacks by the Mukti Bahini.{{cite book |last=Praval |first=K. C. |year=1987 |title=Indian Army after Independence |publisher=Lancer International |page=441 |isbn=81-7062-014-7}} Unable to defend Dacca, the Pakistanis surrendered on 16 December 1971.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The Indian Air Force carried out several sorties against Pakistan, and within a week, IAF aircraft dominated the skies of East Pakistan. It achieved near-total air supremacy by the end of the first week, as the entire Pakistani air contingent in the east, PAF No.14 Squadron, was grounded because of Indian and Bangladeshi airstrikes at Tejgaon, Kurmitola, Lalmonirhat and Shamsher Nagar. Sea Hawks from the carrier {{INS|Vikrant|1961|6}} also struck Chittagong, Barisal and Cox's Bazar, destroying the eastern wing of the Pakistan Navy and effectively blockading the East Pakistan ports, cutting off any escape routes for the stranded Pakistani soldiers. The nascent Bangladesh Navy (comprising officers and sailors who defected from the Pakistani Navy) aided the Indians in the marine warfare, carrying out attacks, most notably Operation Jackpot.{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/independence-day-special-2015/submariners-heroism-and-the-first-military-response-france|title=Naval Commandos in Operation Jackpot|work=The Daily Star|date=26 March 2015|access-date=30 March 2015|archive-date=27 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327073557/http://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/independence-day-special-2015/submariners-heroism-and-the-first-military-response-france|url-status=live}}{{Better source needed|date=October 2020}}

{{further|Pakistani Instrument of Surrender}}

{{See also|Delhi Agreement}}

File:Pakistani Instrument of Surrender 1971.jpg

File:1971 Instrument of Surrender.jpg by Pakistan's Lt.Gen. A. A. K. Niazi and Jagjit Singh Aurora on behalf of Indian and Bangladesh Forces in Dhaka on 16 Dec. 1971]]

On 16 December 1971, Lt. Gen Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, Chief Martial Law Administrator of East Pakistan and Commander of Pakistan Army forces in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of Surrender. At the time of surrender only a few countries had provided diplomatic recognition to the new nation. Over 93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian forces and Bangladesh Liberation forces, making it the largest surrender since World War II.{{cite news|title=The 1971 war|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/south_asia/2002/india_pakistan/timeline/1971.stm|access-date=11 October 2011|work=BBC News|archive-date=13 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113173555/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/south_asia/2002/india_pakistan/timeline/1971.stm|url-status=live}}

Bangladesh sought admission to the UN with most voting in its favor. China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally.{{cite web |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/1972/1972-1-9.htm |title=Situation in the Indian Subcontinent |work=mofa.go.jp |access-date=10 January 2007 |archive-date=20 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420223314/http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/1972/1972-1-9.htm |url-status=live}} The United States, also a key ally of Pakistan, was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition.[http://www.newint.org/issue332/guess.htm Guess who's coming to dinner] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224195916/http://www.newint.org/issue332/guess.htm |date=24 February 2007}} Naeem Bangali To ensure a smooth transition, in 1972 the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan. The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognized the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani PoWs.{{Cite web |last=Ahmad |first=Fayazuddin |date=17 January 2009 |title=Law and Our Rights |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/law/2009/01/03/index.htm |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=The Daily Star}}

India treated all the PoWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule 1925. It released more than 93,000 Pakistani PoWs in five months. Further, as a gesture of goodwill, nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war crimes by Bengalis were pardoned by India.{{cite web |url=https://www.efsas.org/publications/study-papers/bangladesh%E2%80%99s-genocide-debate;-a-conscientious-research/ |title=Bangladesh's genocide debate; A conscientious research |publisher=EFSAS |access-date=3 August 2020 |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926032926/https://www.efsas.org/publications/study-papers/bangladesh%E2%80%99s-genocide-debate;-a-conscientious-research/ |url-status=live }} The accord also gave back {{convert|13000|km²|0|abbr=on}} of land that Indian troops had seized in West Pakistan during the war, though India retained a few strategic areas,{{cite web |url=http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A109&Pg=6 |title=The Simla Agreement 1972 – Story of Pakistan |website=Story of Pakistan |date=1 June 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614014904/http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A109&Pg=6 |archive-date= 14 June 2011 |access-date=23 June 2011}} most notably Kargil (which was in turn the focal point of a war between the two nations in 1999). This was done as a measure of promoting "lasting peace" and acknowledged by many observers as a sign of maturity by India. But some in India{{cite web |title=India's Strategic Blunders in the 1971 War |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-three-indian-blunders-in-the-1971-war/20111212.htm |website=Rediff.com |access-date=3 August 2014 |archive-date=23 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123073209/http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-three-indian-blunders-in-the-1971-war/20111212.htm |url-status=live }} felt the treaty had been too lenient to Bhutto, who had pleaded for leniency, arguing that the fragile democracy in Pakistan would crumble if Pakistanis perceived the accord as overly harsh.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Reaction to the defeat and dismemberment of half the nation was a shocking loss to top military and civilians alike. Few had expected that they would lose the formal war in under a fortnight, and there was also unsettlement over what was perceived as a meek surrender of the army in East Pakistan. Yahya Khan's dictatorship collapsed and gave way to Bhutto, who took the opportunity to rise to power.{{cite web |url = http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/oct/yaqub.htm |title=Defencejournal |publisher=Defencejournal |access-date=18 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121018222302/http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/oct/yaqub.htm |archive-date=18 October 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ghazali.net/book8/Chapter_5/body_chapter_5.html |title=General Niazi's Failure in High Command |website=Ghazali.net |date=21 August 2000 |access-date=18 February 2013 |archive-date=19 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219015252/http://www.ghazali.net/book8/Chapter_5/body_chapter_5.html |url-status=live }}

General Niazi, who surrendered along with 93,000 troops, was viewed with suspicion and contempt upon his return to Pakistan. He was shunned and branded a traitor. The war also exposed the shortcomings of Pakistan's declared strategic doctrine that the "defence of East Pakistan lay in West Pakistan".

{{Main|1971 Bangladesh genocide|1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals|Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War}}

File:Dead bodies of Bengali intellectuals, 14 December 1971.jpg, 1971)]]

During the war, there were widespread killings and other atrocities—including the displacement of civilians in Bangladesh (East Pakistan at the time) and widespread violations of human rights beginning with Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971. Members of the Pakistani military and supporting paramilitary forces killed an estimated 300,000 to 3,000,000 peopleWhite, Matthew, [http://necrometrics.com/20c1m.htm#Bangladesh Death Tolls for the Major Wars and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305175626/http://necrometrics.com/20c1m.htm#Bangladesh |date=5 March 2011 }} and raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape.{{sfn|Sharlach|2000|pp=92–93}}{{sfn|Sajjad|2012|p=225}} Pakistan's religious leaders openly supported the crime by labeling Bengali freedom fighters "Hindus" and Bengali women "the booty of war".{{cite book |last=Siddiqi |first=Dina M. |year=1998 |chapter=Taslima Nasreen and Others: The Contest over Gender in Bangladesh |editor-last1=Bodman |editor-first1=Herbert L. |editor-last2=Tohidi |editor-first2=Nayereh Esfahlani |title=Women in Muslim Societies: Diversity Within Unity |publisher=Lynne Rienner |pages=208–209 |isbn=978-1-55587-578-7 |quote=Sometime during the war, a fatwa originating in West Pakistan labeled Bengali freedom fighters 'Hindus' and declared that 'the wealth and women' to be secured by warfare with them could be treated as the booty of war. [Footnote, on p. 225:] S. A. Hossain, "Fatwa in Islam: Bangladesh Perspective," Daily Star (Dhaka), 28 December 1994, 7.}} In fact, more than 80 percent of the Bengali people were Muslims at that time.{{Cite web |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Population |title=Population |website=Banglapedia |access-date=13 December 2021 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401041939/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Population |url-status=live }}

A large section of the intellectual community of Bangladesh were murdered, mostly by the Al-Shams and Al-Badr forces,Many of the eyewitness accounts of relations that were picked up by "Al Badr" forces describe them as Bengali men. The only survivor of the Rayerbazar killings describes the captors and killers of Bengali professionals as fellow Bengalis. See 57 Dilawar Hossain, account reproduced in Ekattorer Ghatok-dalalera ke Kothay (Muktijuddha Chetona Bikash Kendro, Dacca, 1989) at the instruction of the Pakistani Army.{{cite news |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/2005/12/14/d512141501115.htm |title=The loss continues to haunt us |last=Khan |first=Md. Asadullah |date=14 December 2005 |type=Editorial |work=The Daily Star |access-date=11 June 2017 |archive-date=5 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305011706/http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/12/14/d512141501115.htm |url-status=live }} Just two days before the surrender, on 14 December 1971, Pakistan Army and the Razakar militia (local collaborators) picked up at least 100 physicians, professors, writers and engineers in Dacca, and murdered them, leaving the dead bodies in a mass grave.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/19/archives/125-slain-in-dacca-area-believed-elite-of-bengal-125-found-slain.html|title=125 Slain in Dacca Area Believed Elite of Bengal|author=|date=19 December 1971|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=11 June 2017|issn=0362-4331|quote=At least 125 persons, believed to be physicians, professors, writers and teachers, were found murdered today in a field outside Dacca. All the victims' hands were tied behind their backs and they had been bayoneted, garroted or shot. They were among an estimated 300 Bengali intellectuals who had been seized by West Pakistani soldiers and locally recruited supporters.|archive-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328143516/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50C13F83C5E127A93CBA81789D95F458785F9|url-status=live}}

File:Sriti shoud.jpeg

Many mass graves have been discovered in Bangladesh.{{cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99aug08/world.htm#7 |title=Mass grave found in Bangladesh |work=The Tribune |access-date=11 June 2017 |archive-date=28 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012627/https://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99aug08/world.htm#7 |url-status=live }} The first night of war on Bengalis, which is documented in telegrams from the American Consulate in Dacca to the U.S. State Department, saw indiscriminate killings of students of Dacca University and other civilians.{{Cite web|url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/|title=The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971|last=Evans|first=Michael|website=nsarchive.gwu.edu|access-date=11 June 2017|archive-date=12 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612151003/http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/|url-status=live}} Numerous women were tortured, raped, and killed during the war; the exact numbers are not known and are debated. The widespread rape of Bangladeshi women led to birth of thousands of war babies.{{cite news | title = Bengali Wives Raped in War Are Said to Face Ostracism | date = 8 January 1972 | url = http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/foreign/19720118_nyt_bengali_wives_raped_in_war_are_said_to_face_ostracism.pdf | work = The New York Times | access-date = 10 November 2011 | archive-date = 21 December 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111221082405/http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/foreign/19720118_nyt_bengali_wives_raped_in_war_are_said_to_face_ostracism.pdf | url-status = live }}{{cite news | first = Aubrey | last = Menen | author-link = Aubrey Menen | title = The Rapes of Bangladesh | date = 23 July 1972 | url = http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/foreign/19720723_nyt_the_rapes_of_bangladesh.pdf | newspaper = The New York Times | access-date = 10 November 2011 | archive-date = 21 December 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111221082430/http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/foreign/19720723_nyt_the_rapes_of_bangladesh.pdf | url-status = live }}{{cite news | first = Anthony | last = Astrachan | title = U.N. Asked to Aid Bengali Abortions | date = 22 March 1972 | url = http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/foreign/19720322_wp_un_asked_to_aid_bengali_abortions.pdf | newspaper = The Washington Post | access-date = 10 November 2011 | archive-date = 21 December 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111221082448/http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/foreign/19720322_wp_un_asked_to_aid_bengali_abortions.pdf | url-status = live }}

The Pakistan Army also kept numerous Bengali women as sex slaves inside the Dacca Cantonment. Most were captured from Dacca University and private homes.{{cite magazine |title=East Pakistan: Even the Skies Weep |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877316,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104001659/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877316,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2007 |url-access=subscription |magazine=Time |date=25 October 1971 |page=43 |quote=Refugees are still trekking into India ... telling of villages burned, residents shot, and prominent figures carried off and never heard from again. One of the more horrible revelations concerns 563 young Bengali women, some only 18, who have been held captive inside Dacca's dingy military cantonment since the first days of the fighting. Seized from Dacca University and private homes and forced into military brothels, the girls are all three to five months pregnant. The army is reported to have enlisted Bengali gynecologists to abort girls held at military installations. But for those at the Dacca cantonment it is too late for abortion.}} There was significant sectarian violence not only perpetrated and encouraged by the Pakistani army,U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Sitrep: [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/BEBB6.pdf Army Terror Campaign Continues in Dacca; Evidence Military Faces Some Difficulties Elsewhere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111221082405/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/BEBB6.pdf |date=21 December 2011 }}, 31 March 1971, Confidential, 3 pp but also by Bengali nationalists against non-Bengali minorities, especially Biharis.{{cite journal |last=Sen |first=Sumit |year=1999 |title=Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: the Bihari Refugees of South Asia, Part 1 |journal=International Journal of Refugee Law |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=625–645 |doi=10.1093/ijrl/11.4.625}} In June 1971, Bihari representatives said that 500,000 Biharis were killed by Bengalis.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48N-XbOltMEC&pg=PA148|title=Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World|last=Gerlach|first=Christian|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=9781139493512|page=148|access-date=31 August 2017|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214806/https://books.google.com/books?id=48N-XbOltMEC&pg=PA148|url-status=live}} R. J. Rummel gives a prudent estimate of 150,000 killed.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aYBrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA334|title=Death by Government|last=Rummel|first=R. J.|publisher=Transaction Publishers|year=1997|isbn=9781560009276|page=334|access-date=31 August 2017|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214903/https://books.google.com/books?id=aYBrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA334|url-status=live}}

On 16 December 2002, the George Washington University's National Security Archive published a collection of declassified documents, consisting mostly of communications between U.S. embassy officials and United States Information Service centers in Dacca and India, and officials in Washington, D.C. These documents show that U.S. officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms "selective genocide"U.S. Consulate in Dacca (27 March 1971), [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/BEBB1.pdf Selective genocide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612052659/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/ |date=12 June 2009 }}, Cable (PDF) and "genocide" (see The Blood Telegram) for information on events they had knowledge of at the time. Genocide is the term still used to describe the event in almost every major publication and newspaper in Bangladesh,{{cite news |title=The Jamaat Talks Back |url=http://www.bangladeshobserveronline.com/new/2005/12/30/editorial.htm |newspaper=The Bangladesh Observer |type=Editorial |date=30 December 2005 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070123033307/http://www.bangladeshobserveronline.com/new/2005/12/30/editorial.htm |archive-date=23 January 2007}}{{cite magazine |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2005/12/03/remembrance.htm |title=Remembering a Martyr |magazine=Star Weekend Magazine |publisher=The Daily Star |access-date=11 June 2017 |archive-date=27 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027095320/http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2005/12/03/remembrance.htm |url-status=live }} although in Pakistan, the accusations against Pakistani forces continue to be disputed.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

File:André Malraux, Pic, 22.jpg vowed to fight alongside the Mukti Bahini in the Liberation War.{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/28/bernard-henri-levy-andre-malraux-s-bangladesh-before-the-radicals.html|title=Bernard-Henri Levy: Andre Malraux's Bangladesh, Before the Radicals|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=28 April 2014|last1=Lévy|first1=Bernard-Henri|access-date=2 April 2015|archive-date=7 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407100546/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/28/bernard-henri-levy-andre-malraux-s-bangladesh-before-the-radicals.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=212838:andre-malraux-a-true-friend-of-bangladesh&catid=182:city-life&Itemid=220 |title=André Malraux: A true friend of Bangladesh |work=The Independent |location=Dhaka |date=25 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411040048/http://www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=212838:andre-malraux-a-true-friend-of-bangladesh&catid=182:city-life&Itemid=220 |archive-date=11 April 2015}}]]

Following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's declaration of independence in March 1971, a worldwide campaign was undertaken by the Provisional Government of Bangladesh to drum up political support for the independence of East Pakistan as well as humanitarian support for the Bengali people.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi provided extensive diplomatic and political support to the Bangladesh movement. She toured many countries in a bid to create awareness of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis. This effort was to prove vital later during the war, in framing the world's context of the war and to justify military action by India.{{cite web|url=http://www.bdsdf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=3072 |title=The Recognition Story |publisher=Bangladesh Strategic and Development Forum |access-date=17 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725050939/http://www.bdsdf.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=3072 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |url-status=dead}} Also, following Pakistan's defeat, it ensured prompt recognition of the newly independent state of Bangladesh.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Though the United Nations condemned the human rights violations during and following Operation Searchlight, it failed to defuse the situation politically before the start of the war.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

After India entered the war, Pakistan, fearing certain defeat, made urgent appeals to the United Nations to intervene and force India to agree to a ceasefire. The UN Security Council assembled on 4 December 1971 to discuss the hostilities in South Asia. After lengthy discussions on 7 December, the United States made a resolution for "immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of troops". While supported by the majority, the USSR vetoed the resolution twice. In light of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis, the United Kingdom and France abstained on the resolution.{{cite book|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Zulfiqar_Ali_Bhutto%27s_farewell_speech_to_the_United_Nations_Security_Council|title=Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's farewell speech to the United Nations Security Council|last=Bhutto|first=Zulfiqar Ali|access-date=11 June 2017|archive-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428162858/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Zulfiqar_Ali_Bhutto%27s_farewell_speech_to_the_United_Nations_Security_Council|url-status=live}}

On 12 December, with Pakistan facing imminent defeat, the United States requested that the Security Council be reconvened. Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was rushed to New York City to make the case for a resolution on the ceasefire. The council continued deliberations for four days. By the time proposals were finalized, Pakistan's forces in the East had surrendered and the war had ended, making the measures merely academic. Bhutto, frustrated by the failure of the resolution and the inaction of the United Nations, ripped up his speech and left the council.

Most UN member nations were quick to recognize Bangladesh within months of its independence.

As the Bangladesh Liberation War approached the defeat of the Pakistan Army, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan became the first state in the world to recognize the newly independent country on 6 December 1971.{{cite news|url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/dec/08/bhutan-recognised-bangladesh-first|title=Bhutan recognised Bangladesh first|work=Dhaka Tribune|date=8 December 2014|access-date=14 December 2014|archive-date=8 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108132617/https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/dec/08/bhutan-recognised-bangladesh-first|url-status=live}} Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh, visited Bhutan to attend the coronation of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth King of Bhutan in June 1974.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

File:Ted Kennedy, 1967 (cropped).jpg led US congressional support for Bangladeshi independence.]]

The US government stood by its old ally Pakistan in terms of diplomacy and military threats.{{cite journal |author=Jarrod Hayes |year=2012 |title=Securitization, social identity, and democratic security: Nixon, India, and the ties that bind |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241754960 |journal=International Organization |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=63–93 |doi=10.1017/S0020818311000324 |jstor=41428946|s2cid=145504278 }} US President Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia. Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with which Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and which he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of United States new tacit ally, China.Shalom, Stephen R., [http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/issue47/articles/a07.htm The Men Behind Yahya in the Indo-Pak War of 1971] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823000531/http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/issue47/articles/a07.htm |date=23 August 2009 }}{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/perspective/the-triumvirate-the-diplomat-the-journalist-and-the-artist-1330978|title=The triumvirate of the Diplomat, the Journalist and the Artist|date=17 December 2016|newspaper=The Daily Star|access-date=11 January 2017|archive-date=13 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113110423/http://www.thedailystar.net/perspective/the-triumvirate-the-diplomat-the-journalist-and-the-artist-1330978|url-status=live}}

To demonstrate to China the bona fides of the United States as an ally, and in direct violation of the US Congress-imposed sanctions on Pakistan, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan and routed them through Jordan and Iran, while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the genocidal activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram.

File:Yahya and Nixon.jpg was widely criticized for its close ties with the military junta led by General Yahya Khan. American diplomats in East Pakistan expressed profound dissent in the Blood Telegram.]]

Nixon denied getting involved in the situation, saying that it was an internal matter of Pakistan, but when Pakistan's defeat seemed certain, he sent the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal,{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Scott |title=Naval 'Show of Force' By Nixon Meant as Blunt Warning to India |work=Bangor Daily News |date=21 December 1971 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HUU0AAAAIBAJ&pg=5099,2016461 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602154916/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HUU0AAAAIBAJ&pg=5099,2016461 |url-status=live }} a move the Indians deemed a nuclear threat. Enterprise arrived on station on 11 December 1971. On 6 and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok; they trailed US Task Force 74 in the Indian Ocean from 18 December until 7 January 1972.{{cite book|author=Matthew White|title=Atrocitology: Humanity's 100 Deadliest Achievements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5w9qmd1UeMC&q=pakistani+dictator+yahya+khan&pg=PR45|year=2011|publisher=Canongate Books|isbn=978-0-85786-125-2|page=45|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214807/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5w9qmd1UeMC&q=pakistani+dictator+yahya+khan&pg=PR45|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/books/review/the-blood-telegram-by-gary-j-bass.html|title=Collateral Damage:'The Blood Telegram,' by Gary J. Bass|author=Dexter Filkins|date=27 September 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=16 December 2015|archive-date=11 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611054151/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/books/review/the-blood-telegram-by-gary-j-bass.html|url-status=live}}

The Soviet Union supported Bangladesh and Indian armies, as well as the Mukti Bahini during the war, recognising that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals—the United States and the People's Republic of China. It gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the U.S. or China developed, the USSR would take countermeasures. This was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971. The Soviets also sent a nuclear submarine to ward off the threat posed by USS Enterprise in the Indian Ocean.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1161217/jsp/frontpage/story_125276.jsp|title=That same fleet but new face|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=11 January 2017|archive-date=13 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113063248/https://www.telegraphindia.com/1161217/jsp/frontpage/story_125276.jsp|url-status=dead}}

At the end of the war, the Warsaw Pact countries were among the first to recognize Bangladesh. The Soviet Union accorded recognition to Bangladesh on 25 January 1972.{{cite news |title=USSR, Czechoslovakia Recognize Bangladesh |agency=Associated Press |location=Sumter, South Carolina, US |date=25 January 1972 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0dIoAAAAIBAJ&pg=2219,2272476 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602154918/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0dIoAAAAIBAJ&pg=2219,2272476 |url-status=live }} The United States delayed recognition for some months, before according it on 8 April 1972.{{cite news |title=Nixon Hopes for Subcontinent Peace |agency=Associated Press |location=Spartanburg, South Carolina, US |date=9 April 1972 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5TMsAAAAIBAJ&pg=3505,1398456 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602154918/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5TMsAAAAIBAJ&pg=3505,1398456 |url-status=live }}

As a long-standing ally of Pakistan, the People's Republic of China reacted with alarm to the evolving situation in East Pakistan and the prospect of India invading West Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. On 10 December 1971, Nixon instructed Kissinger to ask the Chinese to move some forces toward the frontier with India. Nixon said, "Threaten to move forces or move them, Henry, that's what they must do now". Kissinger met with Huang Hua, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, later that evening.{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/xi/45650.htm|title=Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971|access-date=19 May 2020|website=US Department of State|archive-date=11 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311235955/https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/xi/45650.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=1971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2S-wAQAAQBAJ|publisher=Harvard University Press|pages=101–105|author=Srinath Raghavan|date = 12 November 2013|isbn = 9780674731295}}{{cite book|title=East Pakistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1IRmDwAAQBAJ|pages=52–53|author=Noah Berlatsky|date=26 October 2012|publisher=Greenhaven Publishing|isbn=9780737762563|access-date=18 May 2020|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214855/https://books.google.com/books?id=1IRmDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}

The Chinese did not respond to this encouragement, because unlike the 1962 Sino-Indian War, when India was caught entirely unaware, this time the Indian Army was prepared and had deployed eight mountain divisions to the Sino-Indian border to guard against such an eventuality. China instead threw its weight behind demands for an immediate ceasefire.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

When Bangladesh applied for membership to the United Nations in 1972, China vetoed its application{{cite news |title=China Recognizes Bangladesh |agency=Associated Press |location=Oxnard, California, US |date=1 September 1975 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rnVKAAAAIBAJ&pg=4237,20391 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=28 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028213206/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rnVKAAAAIBAJ&pg=4237,20391 |url-status=live }} because two U.N. resolutions about the repatriation of Pakistani prisoners of war and civilians had not yet been implemented.{{cite news |title=China Veto Downs Bangladesh UN Entry |agency=United Press International |date=26 August 1972 |location=Montreal, Quebec, Canada |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GQsyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4712,6055847 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414025755/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GQsyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4712,6055847 |url-status=live }} China was also among the last countries to recognize independent Bangladesh, refusing to do so until 31 August 1975.

Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) saw the partition of Pakistan as an example for itself and feared India might use its enhanced power against it in the future.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP83S00854R000200130001-0.pdf |title=India and Its Neighbors: Cooperation of Confrontation? |author=Office of Near East-South Asia Analysis |author-link=Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies |date=19 January 2011 |website=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=12 January 2021 |quote="Nepal and Sri Lanka saw the partition of Pakistan as an example for themselves and feared that India might use its enhanced power against them at some future date." |quote-page=7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115114828/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP83S00854R000200130001-0.pdf |archive-date=15 November 2020 |url-status=dead}}{{rp|7}} Despite the left-wing government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike following a neutral non-aligned foreign policy, Sri Lanka decided to help Pakistan in the war.{{Cite news |url=http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=13217 |title=The Foreign Policy of Sirimavo Bandaranaike |work=The Island |date=11 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213125733/http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=13217 |archive-date=13 December 2010}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.mfa.gov.lk/brief-overview-of-sri-lankas-foreign-relations-to-post-independence/ |title=Brief Overview of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Relations to Post-Independence|website=mfa.gov.lk |access-date=9 April 2019 |archive-date=2 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502221131/https://www.mfa.gov.lk/brief-overview-of-sri-lankas-foreign-relations-to-post-independence/ |url-status=dead}} As Pakistani aircraft could not fly over Indian territory, they would have to take a longer route around India and so they stopped at Bandaranaike Airport in Sri Lanka where they were refueled before flying to East Pakistan.{{cite news |date=11 June 2011 |title=Pak thanks Lanka for help in 1971 war |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world/pak-thanks-lanka-for-help-in-1971-war/story-UpZWXd0fFX5eDPac0KMIYL.html |newspaper=Hindustan Times |access-date=14 February 2019 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321063210/https://www.hindustantimes.com/world/pak-thanks-lanka-for-help-in-1971-war/story-UpZWXd0fFX5eDPac0KMIYL.html |url-status=live}}

As many Arab countries were allied with both the United States and Pakistan, it was easy for Kissinger to encourage them to participate. He sent letters to both, the King of Jordan and the King of Saudi Arabia. Nixon gave permission for Jordan to send ten F-104s and promised to provide replacements. According to author Martin Bowman, "Libyan F-5s were reportedly deployed to Sargodha AFB, perhaps as a potential training unit to prepare Pakistani pilots for an influx of more F-5s from Saudi Arabia."{{cite book |last1=Bowman |first1=Martin |year=2016 |title=Cold War Jet Combat: Air-to-Air Jet Fighter Operations 1950–1972 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QleqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 |publisher=Pen and Sword |page=112 |isbn=978-1-4738-7463-3 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214845/https://books.google.com/books?id=QleqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 |url-status=live}}

Libyan dictator Gaddafi also personally directed a strongly worded letter to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi accusing her of aggression against Pakistan, which endeared him to all Pakistanis.{{cite news |last=Nazar Abbas |title=Gaddafi is gone, long live Libya |url=https://www.thenews.com/Todays-News-2-64753-Gaddafi-is-gone-long-live-Libya |newspaper=The News International |date=26 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809005813/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-64753-Gaddafi-is-gone-long-live-Libya |archive-date=9 August 2013 |access-date=9 August 2013}} In addition to these three countries, an unidentified Middle Eastern ally also supplied Pakistan with Mirage IIIs.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

{{Main|Artistic depictions of the Bangladesh Liberation War}}

{{Portal|Bangladesh}}

• Bangladesh Liberation War and Islam
• Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War
• Liberation War Museum
• Movement demanding trial of war criminals (Bangladesh)
• NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces
• Kader Bahini
• Irregular military

{{NoteFoot}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{Country study}}
• {{cite book |last=Ali |first=Rao Farman |author-link=Rao Farman Ali |title=How Pakistan Got Divided |year=1992 |publisher=Jang Publishers |isbn=984-05-0157-7}}
• {{cite book |last=Baxter |first=Craig |author-link=Craig Baxter |year=1997 |title=Bangladesh: From A Nation To A State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJdNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT10 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-813-33632-9 |access-date=6 December 2018 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214844/https://books.google.com/books?id=FJdNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT10 |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Bose |first=Sarmila |date=8 October 2005 |title=Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971 |url=http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/materials/profile_materials/sbose-anatomy_of_violence-epw_v_40_no_41_2005.pdf |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=40 |issue=41 |access-date=7 March 2017 |archive-date=28 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012627/https://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/materials/profile_materials/sbose-anatomy_of_violence-epw_v_40_no_41_2005.pdf |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |last=Hasan |first=Moyeedul |title=Muldhara, 71 |year=2004 |publisher=University Press |isbn=978-984-05-0121-2}}
• {{cite book |last=Islam |first=Rafiqul |title=A Tale of Millions |year=1981 |publisher=Bangladesh Books International |oclc=499426590}}
• {{cite book |last=Jacob |first=JFR |author-link=J. F. R. Jacob |title=Surrender at Dacca: Birth of A Nation |year=1997 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=81-7304-189-X}}
• {{cite book |last=Khan |first=Fazal Mukeem |title=Pakistan's Crisis in Leadership |year=1973 |publisher=National Book Foundation |oclc=976643179}}
• {{cite book |last=Safiullah |first=K. M. |author-link=K. M. Shafiullah |title=Bangladesh at War |year=1989 |publisher=Academic Publishers |oclc=24300969}}
• {{cite book |last=Sajjad |first=Tazreena |title=Plight and Fate of Women During and Following Genocide |year=2012 |publisher=Transaction |isbn=978-1412847599 |pages=219–248 |edition=Reprint |editor=Samuel Totten |chapter=The Post-Genocidal Period and its Impact on Women}}
• {{cite book |last=Salik |first=Siddiq |author-link=Siddique Salik |title=Witness to Surrender |year=1997 |orig-year=First published 1977 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-577761-1}}
• {{cite journal |last=Sharlach |first=Lisa |title=Rape as Genocide: Bangladesh, the Former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda |journal=New Political Science |year=2000 |volume=1 |issue=22 |doi=10.1080/713687893 |pages=89–102 |s2cid=144966485}}
• {{cite book |last=van Schendel |first=Willem |title=A History of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Y2bBQAAQBAJ |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-511-99741-9 |access-date=4 December 2018 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214523/https://books.google.com/books?id=7Y2bBQAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}

{{refend}}

{{Main list|List of books on Liberation War of Bangladesh}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• Ayoob, Mohammed and Subrahmanyam, K., The Liberation War, S. Chand and Co. pvt Ltd. New Delhi, 1972.
• Bass, Gary J. The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide. Vintage, 2014. {{ISBN|0307744620}}
• Bhargava, G.S., Crush India or Pakistan's Death Wish, ISSD, New Delhi, 1972.
• Bhattacharyya, S. K., Genocide in East Pakistan/Bangladesh: A Horror Story, A. Ghosh Publishers, 1988.
• Blood, A. K. (2005). The cruel birth of Bangladesh: Memoirs of an American diplomat. Dhaka: University Press.
• Brownmiller, Susan: Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, Ballantine Books, 1993.
• {{cite journal |last=Choudhury |first=G. W. |author-link=G. W. Choudhury |date=April 1972 |title=Bangladesh: Why It Happened |journal=International Affairs |publisher=Royal Institute of International Affairs |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=242–249 |doi=10.2307/2613440 |issn=0020-5850 |jstor=2613440}}
• {{cite book |last=Choudhury |first=G. W. |author-link=G. W. Choudhury |year=1994 |orig-year=First published 1974 |title=The Last Days of United Pakistan |publisher=University Press |location=Dhaka |isbn=978-984-05-1242-3}}
• Govt. of Bangladesh, Documents of the war of Independence, Vol 01–16, Ministry of Information.
• Hitchens, Christopher, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, Verso (2001). {{ISBN|1-85984-631-9}}
• Kanjilal, Kalidas, The Perishing Humanity, Sahitya Loke, Calcutta, 1976
• Johnson, Rob, 'A Region in Turmoil' (New York and London, 2005)
• Malik, Amita, The Year of the Vulture, Orient Longmans, New Delhi, 1972.
• Matinuddin, General Kamal, Tragedy of Errors: East Pakistan Crisis, 1968–1971, Wajidalis, Lahore, Pakistan, 1994.
• Mookherjee, Nayanika, A Lot of History: Sexual Violence, Public Memories and the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, D.Phil. thesis in Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of London, 2002.
• National Security Archive, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79 The Tilt: the U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050420033838/http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/ |date=20 April 2005 }}
• Quereshi, Major General Hakeem Arshad, The 1971 Indo-Pak War, A Soldiers Narrative, Oxford University Press, 2002.
• Raghavan, Srinath, 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh, Harvard Univ. Press, 2013.
• Sisson, Richard & Rose, Leo, War and secession: Pakistan, India, and the creation of Bangladesh, University of California Press (Berkeley), 1990.
• Stephen, Pierre, and Payne, Robert, Massacre, Macmillan, New York, (1973). {{ISBN|0-02-595240-4}}
• Totten, Samuel et al., eds., Century of Genocide: Eyewitness Accounts and Critical Views, Garland Reference Library, 1997
• US Department of State Office of the Historian, [https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v11 Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222120320/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v11 |date=22 December 2015 }}
• Zaheer, Hasan: The separation of East Pakistan: The rise and realisation of Bengali Muslim nationalism, Oxford University Press, 1994.
• {{cite book |title=O General My General (Life and Works of General M. A. G. Osmani) |year=2010 |author=Raja, Dewan Mohammad Tasawwar |publisher=The Osmani Memorial Trust, Dacca, Bangladesh |isbn=978-984-8866-18-4}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Bangladesh Liberation War}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{Banglapedia|War_of_Liberation,_The|The Liberation war of Bangladesh}}
• [https://archive.org/details/bdconstitution72/page/n109/mode/1up Handwritten Constitution of Bangladesh]

• [https://www.genocidebangladesh.org/ 1971 Bangladesh Genocide Archive]
• [https://www.thedailystar.net/freedom-in-the-air Freedom In the Air], The Daily Star
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100725125041/http://www.globalwebpost.com/genocide1971/witness/rounaq.htm Eyewitness Accounts: Genocide in Bangladesh]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20030926035236/http://www.drishtipat.org/1971/war.htm The women of 1971. Tales of abuse and rape by the Pakistan Army]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20030501230820/http://www.bangladeshmariners.com/HmdrRprt/71mass.html 1971 Massacre in Bangladesh and the Fallacy in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, Dr. M.A. Hasan]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080223123938/http://www.adhunika.com/issues/wpawc71.html Women of Pakistan Apologize for War Crimes, 1996]
• [http://www.dawn.com/news/146732/sheikh-mujib-wanted-a-confederation-us-papers Sheikh Mujib wanted a confederation: US papers, by Anwar Iqbal, Dawn, 7 July 2005]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041013132951/http://muktadhara.net/page11.html Page containing copies of the surrender documents]
• [http://www.banglagallery.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=5 Bangladesh Liberation War Picture Gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926052212/http://www.banglagallery.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=5 |date=26 September 2021 }} _{Graphic images, viewer discretion advised}
• [http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2010/12/victory_day/facts.html Rashid Askari:Liberation War facts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192438/http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2010/12/victory_day/facts.html |date=2 January 2014 }}
• [https://www.rbth.com/articles/2011/12/20/1971_war_how_russia_sank_nixons_gunboat_diplomacy_14041 1971 War: How Russia sank Nixon's gunboat diplomacy]
• [https://m.theindependentbd.com/arcprint/details/81841/2017-02-21 PM reiterated her vow to declare March 25 as Genocide Day]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170316113441/http://gbnews24.com/breaking-news/article/call-for-international-recognitio/ Call for international recognition and observance of genocide day]
• [http://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=63378 Genocide Day: As it was in March 1971] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625033855/http://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=63378 |date=25 June 2020 }}
• [https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/the-case-for-un-recognition-of-bangladesh-genocide The case for UN recognition of Bangladesh genocide]

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