1968–1971 East Pakistan communist insurgency
| 1968–1971 East Pakistan communist insurgency | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Cold War and Bangladesh Liberation War | |||||||||
 Map of the eleven sectors of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 PBSA (1968-1971) PBSP (1971) CPB (1971) NAP(M) (1971) BSU (1971) |
 Pakistan | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Siraj Sikder Moni Singh Comrade Farhad Osman Ganj Muzaffar Ahmed Pankaj Bhattacharya Mujahidul Islam Selim Kazi Anwarul Azim Syed Abdus Sattar Mohammad Sultan Mohammad Elias |
 Yahya Khan Nurul Amin Abdul Motaleb Malik Tikka Khan Sahabzada Yaqub Khan Syed Mohammad Ahsan Muzaffaruddin Mirza Nurul Huda Abdul Monem Khan | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
PBSDB CPB-NAP-BSU |
Pakistan Army East Pakistan Police | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
Unknown 5,000 guerillas | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
The 1968–1971 East Pakistan communist insurgency was an armed conflict between several communist groups and the Pakistani government for the independence of East Pakistan, it was also later part of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
Background
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Events
[edit]Pre-Liberation War (1968-1971)
[edit]In mid-1968, Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party, then known as Purba Banglar Sramik Andolan (PBSA), initiated covert operations. Their first action involved capturing a cyclostyle printing machine, which they used to print the theoretical organ of the movement, 'Lal Jhanda' (Red Flag). On 8 January 1970, the group hoisted the flag of East Bengal (now the national flag of Bangladesh) at Dhaka, Munshiganj, and Mymensingh. On Karl Marx's birthday, 6 May 1970, the group launched a bomb attack on the Pakistan Council office in Dhaka. In October of the same year, the group carried out bomb attacks on several buildings throughout East Pakistan, including the American Information Centre.[1]
Liberation War (1971)
[edit]At the onset of the Liberation War in 1971, PBSA was actively involved in establishing national resistance cells. On 30 April, they formed their own paramilitary force, known as the 'Purba Banglar Sashastra Deshapremik Bahini' (Armed Patriotic Force of East Bengal). This force initiated an armed struggle against the Pakistani army.[2] This faction was one of the many pro-China groups that actively participated in the liberation war.[3]
After the launching of Operation Searchlight by the West Pakistani government on March 25, 1971, popular militias started to emerge in different parts of Bangladesh.[4] The Communist Party of Bangladesh, and its related organizations like the National Awami Party (Muzaffar), the East Pakistan Students Union, the Krishak Samiti and the Trade Union Centre supported the Bangladeshi government-in-exile and instructed its cadres to join the Mukti Bahini.[5] Some 6,000 communists joined the Mukti Bahini.[5] But when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman launched the Mujib Bahini as a special commando force of Mukti Bahini, the Communist Party revised its relations with Mukti Bahini and decided to build a guerrilla force of its own.[5][6] The build-up of the new guerrilla force was kept secret, only Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad was informed of its existence.[7]
Aftermath
[edit]On 30 January 1972, a month after the end of the war, a ceremony was held at Dhaka National Stadium in which the communist guerrilla forces, led by Mohammad Farhad and joined by Osman Gani of CPB, Pankaj Bhattacharya of NAP(M) and Mujahidul Islam Selim of the Students Union, handed over their arms to President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[4][8]
References
[edit]- ^ Amin, Md. Nurul (July 1986). "Maoism in Bangladesh: The Case of the East Bengal Sarbohara Party". Asian Survey. 26 (7). University of California Press: 759–773. doi:10.2307/2644210. JSTOR 2644210.
- ^ Khan, Muazzam Hussain (2012). "Sikder, Siraj". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ Ahmad, Mohiuddin (2012). "Radical Politics". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ a b Sengupta, Arkaprava. Red Guerrillas: The Forgotten Fighters of the Bangladesh Liberation War
- ^ a b c Talukder Maniruzzaman (1975). Radical Politics and the Emergence of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Books. p. 50.
- ^ Md. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan (1982). Emergence of Bangladesh and Role of Awami League. Vikas. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-7069-1773-4.
- ^ Ekota. ন্যাপ-কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি-ছাত্র ইউনিয়নের বিশেষ গেরিলা বাহিনী প্রসঙ্গে
- ^ New Age. AD upholds HC verdict to recognise guerrillas as freedom fighters
- Communist rebellions
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