From Resistance to Revolution: Bangladesh’s Legacy Since 1971

Protestors organize after the BJP made derogatory comments against the Prophet Muhammad (2022)

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On March 26, 1971, the people of East Pakistan resisted a surprise military attack from West Pakistan known as “Operation Searchlight.” This event sparked the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War, or the Muktijuddho, a story of the resistance and a country’s self-determination in the 21st century. Recent events have marked the continued resilience of its people, as this country’s democracy continues to develop. 

History

As the British ceased their colonial rule in India, the partition of 1947 was the first of many turning points in modern South Asian history. British civil servant Sir Cyril Radcliffe had six weeks to determine India and Pakistan’s new borders, establishing the boundaries of West Pakistan (modern Pakistan) and East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh), sandwiched between India. This physical separation distinguished those living in West Pakistan and East Bengal/Pakistan. East Pakistan’s government established measures to restrict and ostracize the population in East Pakistan. 

The Bengali nationalist movement was fueled by two factors: language and economic exploitation. The Pakistani ruling elites looked upon Bengali language spoken in East Bengal as too “Hindu leaning” and made repeated attempts to “cleanse” it from Hindu influence. The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, imposed Urdu as the national language as he claimed it was closer to Islam, despite being spoken by less than seven percent of the population. By enforcing a language due to its relation to religion, it exclusively promotes cultural conformity and discriminates against people who follow different practices and beliefs. Additionally, jute, a major export commodity, was produced in East Pakistan, while economic investment occurred in West Pakistan, resulting in a growing economic disparity and tension as East Bengal felt like a colony. Similar to how the American colonies felt exploited by the British, the Bengali nationalist movement grew from the tensions of feeling controlled by a government that was miles away from East Bengal, unable to use the fruits of their labor. 

 In 1970, Pakistan’s General Yahya Khan allowed the country’s first free democratic election, which resulted in a victory for the Awami League (AL), a Bengali nationalist party led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This election provided autonomy for East Bengal, a shift in power that General Yahya refused.  Ruling elites in Pakistan tried to prevent Bengalis from assuming power, and the AL responded through a nonviolent movement, with many Bengalis hoping for a political solution to the crisis. 

The Bangladesh Liberation War and Genocide 

On the night of March 25, 1971, General Khan initiated a military operation against unarmed citizens in East Bengal, starting a nine-month struggle known as the Bangladesh Liberation War. This period also marked the Bangladesh genocide, as the UN General Assembly recognized the 10 million Bangladeshis fled the country due to the fear of war and persecution, and an accepted estimate of two million Bengali women were raped by Pakastani military. This act of gender-based violence and persecution reveals the Pakistani army's attempt to degrade the developing Bangladeshi national identity. The Bengali identity was used as a target for the Pakistani military to administer harm in response to the 1970 election. Dr. Mokerrom Hossain, a Professor of Criminal Justice from Virginia State University, states that “Pakistanis cannot justify Operation Searchlight by resorting to the argument of ‘preventive war’” because it responded to a “nonviolent movement.” Preventive war is a tactic used to suppress a dangerous shift in future power, however, it is clear that Pakistan was threatened by the Bengali community's gaining a voice in government. The military’s attempt to deny a peaceful transition of government fueled East Pakistan’s mission to self-determination.

Bengali nationalists, with the help of the Indian army, liberated the country from Pakistani occupation forces on December 16, 1971, but the wounds of war persisted. Students of Dhaka University were shot and dumped into hastily dug mass graves. Young men were suspected of being actual or potential freedom fighters, and thousands were arrested, tortured, and killed. 

The Pakistani army succeeded in avoiding prosecution by the International Tribunal Court (ITC) with the support of the Nixon administration. In a realist perspective, the ITC is merely reflecting the nation-states that contain the most power and influence, such as the United States. Pakistan has yet to serve reparations for the Bangladesh genocide, which is a broken foundation to build trust between neighboring nations in South Asia. As Pakistani writer Anam Zakaria stated, “The denial and minimizing of violence 50 years on is deeply painful for Bangladeshi survivors and their families. Pakistan's acknowledgement is critical… Nations cannot simply erase their history and move on.” Nevertheless, East Pakistan became Bangladesh, with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the “Father of the Nation.” This identity affirms that Bangladesh will fight for its human rights on the soil of a new country.

Changes in Government and State Influence 

Since 1947, the path for democracy in Bangladesh has not been easy. Although Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the first president, he was assassinated in 1975 by factions of the Bangladesh army in a coup. Thus, AL was ousted from power. Despite the people’s freedom, the process of a democratic transition is still ongoing. 

Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, survived the assassination and assumed the office of the Prime Minister (PM) for the first time in 1996 when the AL Party emerged as the majority party. She lost her seat in the 2001 election to Begum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), but then gained her seat back in 2009, reigning as the longest serving PM. In 2011, Hasina broke election norms by abolishing the caretaker government system, where neutral civil society leaders headed an interim government to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner. Anti-corruption efforts were weakened by politicized law enforcement, and the AL government pursued politicized corruption cases against BNP leaders. The AL government’s power to rig the election through dismantling the caretaker system, and its agenda to resist the BNP, decreases legitimacy as elections are not free and fair. From West Pakistan’s control of East Bengal to now, Bangladeshis are fighting against government corruption. 

Nevertheless, Bangladesh vastly changed under her leadership, becoming a country integral in global trade. The GDP per capita income has surged from $698 in 2009 to over $2,500 in 2023, making it one of the highest in the region, surpassing India. The textile and clothing industry has transformed itself into Bangladesh’s highest revenue-generating sector, contributing over 80 percent of the country’s total exports. Additionally, relationships with China, a potential hegemonic power, have grown as the country replaced India as Bangladesh’s largest trading partner. However, Bangladeshis are still not free. According to Bangladesh’s 2025 Freedom House report, the aggregate political rights score is a 16/40, revealing the nature in which Bangladeshis are not being heard under their government. In a country of 180 million people, the gap between the rich and poor widens as workers face suppression when demanding fair wages, while a significant portion of the wealthy’s assets remain untaxed.

The Student Protests in 2024

Bangladesh is not new to political protests and resistance against the government. The protests, which started in July 2024, sparked a global conversation on the rights of Bangladeshi citizens. The trigger to these protests was in response to the government's job quota system. 

Al Jazeera stated that in 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, introduced a quota system in which 44% of jobs are merit-based, while the remaining 56% go toward specific communities such as women, the disabled, and a reserved a 30% of government jobs for children and grandchildren of veterans from the war of 1971. The quota was cancelled in 2018 after massive student protests, however, a petition influenced the courts to reinstate this system at the end of June 2024. This quota created a growing concern for the fast-growing population, as citizens feel a separation from their government and its ability to be fair.

On July 15, 2024, students of Dhaka University participated in peaceful protests to call for reforms on the quota system, and within hours, attacks across the country were coordinated by believed members of the Bangladesh Chatra League (BCL), a group affiliated with the ruling AL. The government soon shut down universities and cut off the internet, which further put the citizens in isolation from the outside world. The protests led by student activists turned into a wider anti-government movement as Hasina used the police to violently crack down on protesters who demanded her resignation. The UN Human Rights office estimated that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed in the protests between July 15 to August 5, 2024, the day that Hasina stepped down and fled to India. By July 21, the Supreme Court had altered the 30% quota for descendants down to five percent. This change in government and ousting of an authoritarian leader reveals the determination of a population’s democratic values. 

Bangladesh's Second Liberation

At the end of Sheikh Hasina’s fifteen-year rule, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus is currently taking the role as the head of the new interim government caretaker. In an interview with The Print, he declared these protests as "second liberation movement." Time and time again, it has always been the people who have persisted amidst discrimination and oppression from its government. 

Bangladesh’s relationship with other nations has varied. Yunus recently visited China in March, and both countries signed agreements of economic and technical cooperation. Meanwhile, India and Bangladesh have had limited engagement, the most serious issue being Hasina’s stay in New Delhi. In international cooperation, the UN in Bangladesh has been supporting the Government to implement the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, maintaining its status to contribute to global rights. 

Through times of human rights violations, the youth have risen to persevere against crackdown and government violence to advocate for their rights in equality and prosperity. As new electoral reforms are projected for general elections in late 2025 to early 2026, Bangladeshis have proven to protect their culture and autonomy, serving as a norm on the global stage that democracy is a cause worth fighting for.