Mukti Bahini
The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the East Pakistani military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War that turned East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971.
On 7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the undisputed leader of then East Pakistan, issued a call to the people of East Pakistan to prepare themselves for an all-out struggle. Later that evening resistance demonstrations began, and the West Pakistani military began a full-scale attack with Operation Searchlight killing thousands in the early hours of 26 March 1971, which continued through May 1971. Before his arrest on 26 March, East Pakistani leaders declared the independence of Bangladesh, and ordered the people to engage in all-out war.
A formal military leadership of the resistance was created in April 1971 under the Provisional Government of Bangladesh. The military council was headed by General M. A. G. Osmani and eleven sector commanders. The Bangladesh Armed Forces were established on 4 April 1971. The most prominent divisions of the Mukti Bahini were the Z Force led by Major Ziaur Rahman, the K Force led by Major Khaled Mosharraf and the S Force led by Major K M Shafiullah. Awami League student leaders formed subgroups, including the Mujib Bahini, the Kader Bahini and Hemayet Bahini. The Communist Party of Bangladesh, led by Comrade Moni Singh, and activists from the National Awami Party also operated several guerrilla battalions.
Using guerrilla warfare tactics, the Mukti Bahini secured control over large parts of the Bengali countryside. It conducted successful "ambush and sabotage" campaigns, and included the nascent Bangladesh Air Force and the Bangladesh Navy. The Mukti Bahini received training and weapons from India, where people in West Bengal shared a common Bengali ethnic and linguistic heritage with East Pakistan.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the Mukti Bahini became part of the Bangladesh-India Allied Forces. It was instrumental in securing the Surrender of Pakistan and the liberation of Dhaka and other cities in December 1971.
History
Background
against the usage of Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan. The Awami League had won the majority in the 1970 Pakistani general election. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as the leader of the Awami League, was prevented from forming a government. Bengali was the only language in Pakistan not written in the Persian-Arabic script. The merger of the provinces of West Pakistan into one administrative "unit" caused great suspicion in East Pakistan. Pakistan's unwillingness to give autonomy to East Bengal and Bengali nationalism are both cited as reasons for the separation. The 1970 Bhola Cyclone had caused the death of at least 200,000 and possibly as many as 500,000 people while the infrastructure, transport and other services were severely damaged. The central government of Pakistan was blamed for a slow relief response, which created resentment in the population of East Pakistan. The resentment helped the Awami League to win 167 of the 169 parliamentary seats allocated to East Pakistan which made the Awami League the majority party in the 313 seat parliament of Pakistan. After the 1970 elections, Yahya Khan hoped for a power sharing agreement between Mujib and Bhutto, though talks between them did not result in a solution. Mujib wanted full autonomy, Bhutto advised Yahya to break off talks. On 1 March 1971, General Yahya Khan suspended the National Assembly of Pakistan which was scheduled to be held on 3 March 1971.On 7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujib made his now famous speech in Ramna Race course where he declared "The struggle this time is for our freedom. The struggle this time is for our independence". East Pakistan television broadcasters started broadcasting Rabindranath songs, a taboo in Pakistan, while reducing the air-time of shows from West Pakistan. Civilian interaction with the Pakistan Army were decreased and they were increasingly seen as an occupying force, while local contractors stopped providing supplies to the Pakistan Army. The Pakistan Army also tried to disarm and dismiss personnel of Bengali origin in the East Pakistan Rifles, the police and the regular army. The Bengali officers mutinied against the Pakistan Army, and attacked officers from West Pakistan. The Pakistan Army's crackdown on the civilian population contributed to the revolt of East Pakistani soldiers, who escaped to India and formed the main body of the Mukti Bahini. Sheikh Mujib on 26 March 1971 declared the independence of Bangladesh, while Pakistan's president Yahya Khan declared Mujib a traitor during a national broadcast on the same day. The Pakistan Army moved infantry and armoured units to East Pakistan in preparation for the coming conflicts.
Early resistance
On 25 March, martial law was declared, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested and Operation Searchlight started in East Pakistan. Foreign journalists were expelled and the Awami League was banned. Members of the Awami league, the East Pakistan Rifles, the East Bengal Regiment and others thought to be disloyal to Pakistan were attacked by the Pakistan army. The survivors of the attack would form the backbone of the Mukti Bahini. When the Pakistan Army started the military crackdown on the Bengali population, they did not expect prolonged resistance. Five battalions of the East Bengal Regiment mutinied and initiated the war for liberation of Bangladesh.On 27 March, on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Major Ziaur Rahman declared Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan and fought his way out of Chittagong City with his unit of Bengali soldiers. In Dhaka, West Pakistani forces began the 1971 Bangladesh genocide with the massacre at Dhaka University. Civilians took control of arms depots in various cities and began resisting Pakistani forces with the acquired weapons supply. Chittagong experienced heavy fighting between rebel Bengali military units and Pakistani forces. The Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence was broadcast from Kalurghat Radio Station in Chittagong by Major Rahman on behalf of Sheikh Rahman.
Bengali forces took control of numerous districts in the initial months of the war, including Brahmanbaria, Faridpur, Barisal, Mymensingh, Comilla and Kushtia among others. With the support of the local population, many towns remained under the control of Bengali forces until April and May 1971. Notable engagements during this period included the Battle of Kamalpur, the Battle of Daruin and the Battle of Rangamati-Mahalchari waterway in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
On 18 April, the Deputy High Commission of Pakistan in Kolkata defected and hoisted the flag of Bangladesh. On 17 April, the Mujibnagar Government was formed.
During May, Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto asked General Yahya Khan to hand over power in West Pakistan to his party. Khan refused on the grounds that doing so would support the view of Mukti Bahini and the Provisional Government of Bangladesh that East Pakistan was a colony of West Pakistan. Tensions were raised when Bhutto told his followers that "by November would either be in power or in jail".
On 9 June, Mukti Bahini members hijacked a car and launched a grenade attack on Dhaka Intercontinental Hotel, the office of the Pro-Junta Morning Post and the house of Golam Azam.
July–November
July
The Mukti Bahini divided the war zone into eleven sectors. The war strategy included a huge guerrilla force operating inside Bangladesh that targeted Pakistani installations through raids, ambushes and sabotaging West Pakistani-controlled shipping ports, power plants, industries, railways and warehouses. The wide dispersion of West Pakistani forces allowed Bengali guerrillas to target smaller groups of enemy soldiers. Groups ranging in size from five to ten guerrillas were assigned specific missions. Bridges, culverts, fuel depots and ships were destroyed to decrease the mobility of the Pakistan Army.However, the Mukti Bahini failed in its Monsoon Offensive after Pakistani reinforcements successfully countered Bengali engagements. Attacks on border outposts in Sylhet, Comilla and Mymensingh had limited success. The training period slowed the momentum of the Bangladesh Forces, which began to pick up after August. After the monsoon, the Mukti Bahini became more effective while the Indian army created a number of bases inside East Pakistan for the Mukti Bahini. The railways in East Pakistan were almost completely shut down due to the Mukti Bahini's sabotage. The provincial capital, Dhaka, had become a ghost town with gun-fire and explosions heard throughout the day.