--- On Wed, 11/10/10, Mahbubur Razzaque <mmrazzaque@me.buet.ac.bd> wrote:
From: Mahbubur Razzaque <mmrazzaque@me.buet.ac.bd>
Subject: [Dahuk]: The war of 1971: Civil War or Liberation War?
The war of 1971: Civil War or Liberation War?
M. Mahbubur Razzaque
The recent incidents related to the international war-crime tribunal in
Bangladesh led me to look into the academic records on the war of 1971. Though the Bangladeshi people considers the war as "liberation war" of Bangladesh, the academic records of all international institutions generally mentions it as either civil war or India-Pakistan war.
I browsed a number of popular encyclopedia such as:
1. Encyclopedia Britannica of Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.,
2. World Encyclopedia, A Dictionary of World History, The Oxford
Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World and Concise Oxford Companion to the
English Language of Oxford University Press,
3. The Columbia Encyclopedia of Columbia University Press,
4. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh of the Asiatic
Society of Bangladesh and
5. MSN Encarta of Microsoft Inc.
The records under the entry Bangladesh are listed below:
1. Bangladesh emerged as an independent and sovereign country on 16 December 1971 following a nine month WAR OF LIBERATION.
Source: Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Vol. 1, Published by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, March 2003.
2. In 1971, the territory seceded from Pakistan during a short war
and became independent.
Source: Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, 1998, Author: TOM McARTHUR
3. The Awami League a political party campaigned openly for
Bengali autonomy. In 1970 the Awami League won a majority of seats in the National Assembly, but the Pakistan government postponed convening the Assembly. Violence erupted and guerrilla warfare resulted. Millions of refugees fled to India, which finally entered the war on the side of the Bengalis and ensured West Pakistan's defeat. On December, 16, 1971, East Bengal became the independent nation of Bangladesh, with the capital at Dhaka.
S
ource: The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 1, Published by: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 1994.
4. In 1970 elections, the Awami League, led by Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory. In March 1971, the League unilaterally declared
independence and civil war ensued. During nine months of fighting, more than one million East Bengalis were killed and millions more forced into exile, mainly to India. With Indian military assistance, East Bengal defeated Pakistan and gained independence as Bangladesh.
Source: World Encyclopedia, Published by Oxford University Press, 2005.
5. In 1966 the Awami League put forward a demand for greater
autonomy which it proposed to implement after its victory in the 1970
elections. In March 1971, when this demand was rejected by the military government of Pakistan, civil war began, leading to a massive exodus of refugees to India. India sent help to the East Pakistan guerrillas (the Mukti Bahini). In the war of December 1971, Indian troops defeated the Pakistan forces in East Pakistan. The independence of Bangladesh was proclaimed in 1971 and recognized by Pakistan in 1974.
Source: A Dictionary of World History, Published by Oxford University Press, 2000.
6. The government's attempts to forestall the autonomy bid led to
general strikes and nonpayment of taxes in East Pakistan and finally to civil war on Mar. 25, 1971. On the following day the Awami League's leaders proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh. During the months of conflict an estimated one million Bengalis were killed in East Pakistan and another 10 million fled into exile in India.
Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2007, Columbia University Press.
7. By the mid 1950s Bengali enthusiasm for the Muslim League, which
had spearheaded Pakistani independence, became deeply eroded. The growing rift between Pakistan's eastern and western wings broke into rebellion in 1971, and, led by the secular nationalist Awami League, an independent Bangladesh was born.
Source: The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Vol. 1: Editor in chief: J. L. Esposito, Published by: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Whether we like it or not, it is only the Banglapedia where the war of at the birth of Bangladesh is reported as the WAR OF LIBERATION. This encyclopedia is published by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
Unfortunately other encyclopedias published by famous academic publishers associated with renowned academic institutions reported the war as either a civil war or a rebellion.
The records of other entries under Mujibur Rahman, Dhaka, India, Pakistan and India Pakistan Wars are listed below:
Entry: Mujibur RahmanThe conflict between East and West Pakistan climaxed after the Dec., 1970, elections, in which the Awami League won a majority. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto , leader of West Pakistan, refused to agree to demands for autonomy, and Mujib was imprisoned in West Pakistan. Civil war broke out in Mar., 1971, when Pakistani troops were sent to put down protests in East Pakistan. With the aid of India, East Pakistani guerrillas proclaimed an independent Bangladesh , and defeated the Pakistani army in late 1971.
Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2007
Entry: Dhaka
Severely damaged during the war of independence from Pakistan, it became capital of independent Bangladesh (1971).
Source: World Encyclopedia, Published by Oxford University Press, 2005.
Entry: India
But these years also witnessed three brief wars between India and Pakistan, the last of which resulted in an independent Bangladesh in 1971.
Source: The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 6, Published by: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 1994.
Entry: Pakistan:
In East Pakistan demands grew for Bengali autonomy, and civil war between East and West erupted in 1971. Aided by an invasion of the Indian army, East Pakistan became the independent county of Bangladesh in 1972.
Source: The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 9, Published by: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 1994.
East Pakistan declared its independence as Bangladesh on Mar. 26, 1971, but was then placed under martial law and occupied by the Pakistani army, which was composed entirely of troops from West Pakistan. In the ensuing civil war, some 10 million refugees fled to India and hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed. India supported Bangladesh and on Dec. 3, 1971, sent
troops into East Pakistan. Following a two-week war between Pakistan and India, in which fighting also broke out along the India-West Pakistan border, Pakistani troops in East Pakistan surrendered (Dec. 16) and a cease-fire was declared on all fronts.
Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2007
Entry: India-Pakistan Wars The third war arose out of the civil war between East and West Pakistan in 1971. India intervened in support of East Pakistan (Bangladesh), and (West) Pakistan suffered a decisive defeat.
Source: World Encyclopedia, Published by Oxford University Press, 2005.
The 1971 War
Indo-Pakistani relations deteriorated when civil war erupted in Pakistan, pitting the West Pakistan army against East Pakistanis demanding greater autonomy. The fighting forced 10 million East Pakistani Bengalis to flee to India.
Source: The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2007, Columbia University Press.
Article: Pakistan : wars : secession of Bangladesh: 1971: Pakistan
This year the differences between East Pakistan and West Pakistan erupted into a civil war that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands in the eastern part of the country, which is divided from West Pakistan by 1,000 miles and by profound differences in culture and language.
Source: MSN Encarta
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/search.aspx?q=Bangladesh+warOther than in the entry Dhaka in the World Encyclopedia of Oxford University Press, the liberation war of Bangladesh is described as a civil war. It may be concluded that Bangladesh has failed to make majority of the academicians of the west recognize Bangladesh liberation war in the academic records.
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