Bangladesh Liberation War মুক্তিযুদ্ধ (Muktijuddho)
Part of the Indo-Pakistani conflicts and the Cold War
Clockwise from top left: Martyred Intellectuals Memorial; Bangladesh Forces howitzer; Lt. Gen. Amir Niazi signs the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender to Indian and Bangladeshi forces in the presence of Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh;[1] and the PNS Ghazi
Date
26 March – 16 December 1971 (8 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
Predominantly: East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh)
Spillover: Eastern Front:
India–East Pakistan border
India–East Pakistan enclaves
parts of East and Northeast India
Western Front:
India–West Pakistan border
Line of Control (Kashmir)
Zero Point
Indian Ocean:
Bay of Bengal (Eastern Front)
Arabian Sea (Western Front)
Result
Bangladeshi-Indian victory[2][3][4]
Surrender of Pakistani forces
Territorial changes
East Pakistan secedes from Pakistan as the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Belligerents
Provisional Government of Bangladesh
Mukti Bahini
India
Indian Armed Forces (3–16 Dec.)
Pakistan (Govt. of East Pakistan)
Pakistan Armed Forces
Paramilitary forces and militias:
Jamaat-e-Islami
Nagorik Shanti Committee
Razakars
Al-Badr
Al-Shams
Commanders and leaders
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (President of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh) Tajuddin Ahmad (Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh) Gen M. A. G. Osmani (Cdr-in-C, Bangladesh Forces) Maj. K. M. Shafiullah (Commander, S Force) Maj. Ziaur Rahman (Commander, Z Force) Maj. Khaled Mosharraf
(Commander, K Force) Gp Capt. A. K. Khandker (Second-in-Command, Bangladesh Forces) V. V. Giri (President of India) Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister of India) Gen Sam Manekshaw (Chief of Army Staff) Lt Gen J. S. Arora
(GOC-in-C, Eastern Command) Lt Gen Sagat Singh (GOC-in-C, IV Corps) Maj Gen Inderjit Singh Gill (Dir., Military Operations) Maj Gen Om Malhotra (COS, IV Corps) Maj.Gen J. F. R. Jacob (COS, Eastern Command) Maj.Gen Shabeg Singh (Cdr Training of MB) V.Adm Nilakanta Krishnan (FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval Command) AM Hari Chand Dewan (AOC-in-C, Eastern Air Command)
Yahya Khan (President of Pakistan) Nurul Amin (Prime Minister of Pakistan) Abdul Motaleb Malik (Governor of East Pakistan) Gen. A. H. Khan (Chief of Staff, Army GHQ) Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi (Commander, Eastern Command) Maj. Gen. Rao Farman Ali (Mil. Adv., Govt. of East Pakistan) Maj. Gen. Khadim Hussain (GOC, 14th Infantry Div.) Rr. Adm. Mohammad Shariff (FOC, Eastern Naval Command) Capt. Ahmad Zamir (CO, Pakistan Marine Corps, East) Cdr. Zafar Muhammad † (CO, PNS Ghazi) Air Cdre. Inamul Haque (AOC, Eastern Air Command) Air Cdre. Zafar Masud (AOC, Eastern Air Cmnd. (1969–71))
Syed Khwaja Khairuddin (Chair, Nagorik Shanti Committee) Ghulam Azam (Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami) Motiur Rahman Nizami (Leader, Al-Badr) Maj. Gen. Mohd. Jamshed (Commander, Razakar) Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry (Leader, Al-Shams)
~8,000 killed ~10,000 wounded 90,000—93,000 captured[12] (including 79,676 troops and 10,324—12,192 local militiamen)[11][13]
Civilian deaths:[10] Estimates range between 300,000 and 3,000,000.
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Bangladesh Liberation War
Mukti Bahini resistance
Searchlight
Jackpot
Barisal
1st Kamalpur
2nd Kamalpur
Daruin
Nakshi Border Outpost
Rangamati-Mahalchari waterway
Goalhati
Dhalai Border Outpost
Garibpur§
Gazipur§
Sylhet§
Kushtia
Ghasipur
Shiromoni
Bogra§
Indian intervention
Cactus-Lilly
Chengiz Khan
Jackpot‡
PNS Ghazi
Trident
Python
Kamalpur
Basantar
Boyra
Chamb
Dhalai
Hilli‡
Longewala
Sylhet‡
Meghna Heli Bridge
Tangail
Air War‡
Naval War
Bangladesh genocide
Dhaka University
Shankharipara
Jinjira
Akhira
Jathibhanga
Demra
Chuknagar
Madhyapara
Bakhrabad
Burunga
Systematic events
Agartala Conspiracy Case
Killing of intellectuals
Rape
Provisional Government
Refugees in India
Pakistani Instrument of Surrender
§ indicates events in the internal resistance movement linked to the Indo-Pakistani War. ‡ indicates events in the Indo-Pakistani War linked to the internal resistance movement in Bangladesh.
Part of a series on the
Independence of Bangladesh
Events
Partition of Bengal
Bengali language movement
Six point movement
Agartala Conspiracy Case
Eleven Points Programme
East Pakistan mass uprising
Pakistani general election
Non-cooperation movement
7 March Speech
Operation Searchlight
Proclamation of Independence
Organisations
East Pakistan Renaissance Society
Awami League
United Front
East Pakistan Communist Party
Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad
Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad
Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra
Key persons
Abul Kalam Shamsuddin
Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury
Mujibur Rahman Khan
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Serajul Alam Khan
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani
Ataur Rahman Khan
Related
Lahore Resolution
United Bengal
Bangladesh Liberation War
International recognition
Bangladesh portal
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Part of a series on the
History of Bangladesh
Etymology
Timeline
Traditional
Urheimat
Ancient
Neolithic, c. 7600 – c. 3300 BCE
Bronze Age, c. 3300 – c. 1200 BCE
Iron Age, c. 1200 – c. 200 BCE
Janapada, c. 1200 – c. 600 BCE
Northern Black Polished Ware, c. 700 – c. 200 BCE
Pundra Kingdom, c. 700 – c. 200 BCE
Bengal in Mahabharata, c. 400 – c. 325 BCE
Gangaridai Kingdom, c. 350 – c. 325 BCE
Mauryan Empire, c. 325 – c. 185 BCE
Samatata Kingdom, c. 232 BCE – c. 800 AD
Shunga-Kushan Period, c. 185 BCE – c. 75 AD
Southwestern Silk Road, c. 114 BCE – c. 1450 AD
Indo-Roman trade relations, c. 30 BCE – c. 600 AD
Classical
Gupta Empire, c. 240 – c. 550 AD
Harikela Kingdom, c. 600 - c. 650
Gauda Kingdom, c. 590 – c. 626
Gour (Sylhet), c. 600 – c. 1303
Khadga dynasty, c. 650 – c. 750
Pala Empire, c. 750 – c. 1100
Arrival of Islam, c. 800 – c. 1050
Candra dynasty, c. 900 – c. 1050
Sena dynasty, c. 1070 – c. 1320
Deva dynasty, c. 1100 – c. 1250
Mediaeval
Bhulua (Noakhali), c. 1203 – c. 1600s
Delhi Sultanate, c. 1204 – c. 1338
Mamluk Dynasty
Khalji Dynasty
Tugluq Dynasty
Sonargaon Sultanate, c. 1338 – c. 1352
Bengal Sultanate, c. 1352 – c. 1576
Ilyas Shahi dynasty
Hussain Shahi dynasty
Karrani dynasty
Suri Dynasty, c. 1540 – c. 1556
Twelve Bhuyans, c. 1550 – c. 1620
Porto Grande de Bengala, c. 1528 – c. 1666
Chittagong-Arakan Kingdom, c. 1530 – c. 1666
Mughal Empire, c. 1576 – c. 1717
Bengal Subah
Modern
Nawabs of Bengal, c. 1717 – c. 1757
Company Raj, c. 1757 – c. 1858
Bengal famine of 1770
Faraizi Movement, c. 1818 – c. 1884
The Great Rebellion, c. 1857 – c. 1858
British Raj, c. 1858 – c. 1947
Bengal Renaissance
Partition of Bengal (1905)
Eastern Bengal and Assam
Bengal famine of 1943
Prime Minister of Bengal
Noakhali riots
East Bengal, c. 1947 – c. 1955
Partition of Bengal (1947)
East Bengali refugees
Bengali Language Movement
East Pakistan, c. 1955 – c. 1971
1964 East Pakistan riots
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Six Point Movement
1969 uprising in East Pakistan
Pakistani general election, 1970
Non-cooperation movement, 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War, c. 1971
Declaration of Independence
Provisional Government of Bangladesh
1971 Bangladesh Genocide (Rape)
Bangladesh Forces
Surrender of Pakistan
Contemporary
Post-independence years, 1972 – 1975
Bangladesh famine of 1974
Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League
Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Jail Killing Day
Military rule, 1975 – 1990
Military coups in Bangladesh
Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict
1990 Mass Uprising
Transition to democracy, 1991 – 2008
Caretaker government of Bangladesh
Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord
2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis
Present parliamentary era, 2009– present
Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh
International Crimes Tribunal
Quota reform movement
2021 Bangladesh Communal Violence
Smart Bangladesh
Related articles
Timeline of Bangladeshi history
Bangladeshi art
Bengali literature
Bangladesh portal
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The Bangladesh Liberation War[note 2] (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, pronounced[mukt̪iɟud̪d̪ʱo]), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.
In response to the violence, members of the Mukti Bahini—a guerrilla resistance movement formed by Bengali military, paramilitary and civilians—launched a mass guerrilla war against the Pakistani military, liberating numerous towns and cities in the war's initial months. At first, the Pakistan Army regained momentum during the monsoon, but Bengali guerrillas counterattacked by carrying out widespread sabotage, including through Operation Jackpot against the Pakistan Navy, while the nascent Bangladesh Air Force flew sorties against Pakistani military bases.[16] India joined the war on 3 December 1971, after Pakistan launched preemptive air strikes on northern India. The subsequent Indo-Pakistani War involved fighting on two fronts; with air supremacy achieved in the eastern theatre, and the rapid advance of the Allied Forces of Mukti Bahini and the Indian military, Pakistan surrendered in Dhaka on 16 December 1971, in what remains to date the largest surrender of armed personnel since the Second World War.[17]
Rural and urban areas across East Pakistan saw extensive military operations and air strikes to suppress the tide of civil disobedience that formed after the 1970 election stalemate. The Pakistan Army, backed by Islamists, created radical religious militias—the Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams—to assist it during raids on the local populace.[18][19][20][21][22] Members of the Pakistani military and supporting militias engaged in mass murder, deportation and genocidal rape, pursuing a systematic campaign of annihilation against nationalist Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, religious minorities and armed personnel. The capital, Dhaka, was the scene of numerous massacres, including the Dhaka University massacre. Sectarian violence also broke out between Bengalis and Urdu-speaking Biharis. An estimated 10 million Bengali refugees fled to neighbouring India, while 30 million were internally displaced.[23]
The war changed the geopolitical landscape of South Asia, with the emergence of Bangladesh as the world's seventh-most populous country. Due to complex regional alliances, the war was a major episode in Cold War tensions involving the United States, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The majority of member states in the United Nations recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign nation in 1972.
^"Instrument of Surrender of Pakistan forces in Dacca". mea.gov.in. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2017. The Pakistan Eastern Command agree to surrender all Pakistan Armed Forces in Bangladesh to Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, General Officer Commanding-in –chief of the Indian and Bangladesh forces in the eastern theatre.
^Rizwana Shamshad (3 October 2017). Bangladeshi Migrants in India: Foreigners, Refugees, or Infiltrators?. OUP India. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-0-19-909159-1. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
^Jing Lu (30 October 2018). On State Secession from International Law Perspectives. Springer. pp. 211–. ISBN 978-3-319-97448-4. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
^J.L. Kaul; Anupam Jha (8 January 2018). Shifting Horizons of Public International Law: A South Asian Perspective. Springer. pp. 241–. ISBN 978-81-322-3724-2. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
^ abcCite error: The named reference ACIG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway By Owen Bennett-Jones, Lindsay Brown, John Mock, Sarina Singh, Pg 30
^Cloughley, Brian (2016) [First published 1999]. A History of the Pakistan Army: Wars and Insurrections (4th ed.). Simon and Schuster. pp. 149, 222. ISBN 978-1-63144-039-7.
^Praval, K. C. (1987). Indian Army after Independence. Lancer International. p. 442. ISBN 81-7062-014-7.
^Thiranagama, Sharika; Kelly, Tobias, eds. (2012). Traitors : suspicion, intimacy, and the ethics of state-building. Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812222371.
^ ab"Bangladesh Islamist leader Ghulam Azam charged". BBC. 13 May 2012. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
^ abcFigures from The Fall of Dacca by Jagjit Singh Aurora in The Illustrated Weekly of India dated 23 December 1973 quoted in Praval, K. C. (1987). Indian Army after Independence. Lancer International. p. 486. ISBN 81-7062-014-7.
^Khan, Shahnawaz (19 January 2005). "54 Indian PoWs of 1971 war still in Pakistan". Daily Times. Lahore. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
^Figure from Pakistani Prisoners of War in India by Col S. P. Salunke p. 10 quoted in Praval, K. C. (1987). Indian Army after Independence. Lancer International. p. 485. ISBN 81-7062-014-7.)
^Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh, Page 289
^
Moss, Peter (2005). Secondary Social Studies For Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press. p. 93. ISBN 9780195977042. OCLC 651126824.
^Jamal, Ahmed (5–17 October 2008). "Mukti Bahini and the liberation war of Bangladesh: A review of conflicting views" (PDF). Asian Affairs. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
^Srinivasaraju, Sugata (21 December 2021). "The Bangladeshi liberation has lessons for India today". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
^Schneider, B.; Post, J.; Kindt, M. (2009). The World's Most Threatening Terrorist Networks and Criminal Gangs. Springer. p. 57. ISBN 9780230623293. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
^Kalia, Ravi (2012). Pakistan: From the Rhetoric of Democracy to the Rise of Militancy. Routledge. p. 168. ISBN 9781136516412. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
^Pg 600. Schmid, Alex, ed. (2011). The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-41157-8.
^Pg. 240 Tomsen, Peter (2011). The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers. Public Affairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-763-8.
^Roy, Kaushik; Gates, Professor Scott (2014). Unconventional Warfare in South Asia: Shadow Warriors and Counterinsurgency. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9781472405791. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
^Totten, Samuel; Bartrop, Paul Robert (2008). Dictionary of Genocide: A-L. ABC-CLIO. p. 34. ISBN 9780313346422. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
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