Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Bangladesh

Last updated on June 19, 1998

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Bangladesh was officially established at the time of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II, although the first bangali ahmadi took baiat at the holy hand of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad A.S., the holy founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in 1904. The number of ahmadi muslims in Bangladesh is estimated at about one hundred thousand. The present Head (National Ameer) of Bangladesh Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is Mohtaram Meer Mohammad Ali Saheb.

Bangladesh at a glance
Facts about Bangladesh
Birth of Bangladesh
The War of Liberation

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Facts about Bangladesh

Introducing Bangladesh

Bangladesh is an independent Asian state located in the delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers in the notheastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Until 1971 it was East Pakistan, one of five provinces of Pakistan, which was seperated from the other four provinces by 1,100 miles (1,800 kms) of Indian territory. Bangladesh has an area of 55,598 square miles (143,998 square kilometres) and is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Bangladesh is bounded by the Indian states of West Bengal to the West and North, Assam to the North, Meghalaya to the North and North-East, and Tripura to the East, Myanmar to the Southeast, and the Bay of Bengal to the South. The Capital is Dhaka (formerly spelled Dacca).

Bangladesh offers a variety of attractions quite unusual for a country its size especially verdant tropical forests, the longest shark-free beach in the world, dense national parks which are only accessible by boats, the famous Royal Bengal Tigers, and remains of cultures dating back to the time of Ashoka`s Buddhist Empire. The countryside of Bangladesh is lush and beautiful and the air is clean. Despite being the world`s most crowded country, rural Bangladesh feels relaxed, specious and friendly.

History of Bangladesh

The history of Bangladesh has been one of extremes: of turmoil and peace, prosperity and destitution. The name of Bangladesh means "Land of Bengalis", those people whose native language is Bengali (or Bangla) and whose country has traditionally been called Bengal. For centuries the area was always part of a larger political entity and was the wealthiest part of the subcontinent until the 16th century. Bengal is the gateway to Myanmar and South-East Asia, making control over it vital to successive Indian empires, the Maurya Empire, the Gupta Empire, the Mughal (or Muslim) Empire and British India. Even within the territory of Bengal, the area of eastern Bengal (future Bangladesh) was subordinate to Western Bengal which control on the great port city of Calcutta. Calcutta was long the capital of the Nawabs, or governors, of Bengal and was the capital of British India until 1912. In 1905 the British partitioned Bengal into two provinces: (1) Western Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and (2) Eastern Bengal and Assam, each under a Lt. governor. This arrangement lasted only six years, until the reorganisation of 1912; but established the principle of divisibility of the province. In 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was divided between the newly independent India and Pakistan, Bengal itself was divided between West Bengal (India) and East Pakistan.

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Events Leading to the Creation of Bangladesh

1947 India is partitioned, with Pakistan created as an independent Muslim state with two wings, East and West.

1952 When Pakistan Govt. declared that only Urdu would be the national language, the Bengalis decided it was time to assert their cultural identity. Language movement rapidly became a bengali national movement and Pakistani army killed 12 students protesting the decision.

1954 The United Front of the opposition parties, demanding maximum regional autonomy for East Bengal among other things, wins the first elections to the Provincial Legislature. The United Front Government is dismissed within weeks of assuming power by the Central Pakistan Government on the pretext of antinational attitudes.

1956 The first Constitution of Pakistan is adopted, forming a highly centralised federation between East Bengal (renamed East Pakistan) and the provinces of West Pakistan (soon afterwards unified into one province). East Pakistan is given fewer representative per head of electorate in the National Assembly than West Pakistan.

1958 Scheduled national elections are cancelled. General Ayub Khan takes power through a military coup and gives the authoritarian central government the power to appoint and dismiss the provincial government.

1966 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the Awami League demands the autonomy of East Pakistan on the basis of a six point programme which envisage a central government with responsibilities for defence and foreign affairs only, while giving all taxation and economic powers to the provincial governments.

1968 The Pakistan government attempt to crush the autonomy movement by instituting a conspiracy trial against Sheikh Mujib and others.

1969 A nationwide political upsurge topples Ayub Khan, who is succeeded by another General,Yahya Khan. The latter promises election to transfer power to the popular representatives.

1970 The Awami League wins a massive electoral victory in December, capturing all but two seats in the National Assembley in East Pakistan and gaining an overall majority.

1971 On 25 to 26 March the Pakistan Army cracks down on the autonomist forces who were demanding immediate transfer of power to elected party in East Pakistan on the basis of complete regional autonomy. Mass killing and destruction in Dhaka and elsewhere in East Pakistan follow the arrest of Sheikh Mujib by the Paksitan Army. The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is proclaimed in April by the nationalist resistance led by the Awami Leauge and spearheaded by the rebellious Bangalis in the Pakistan Army. India provides sanctuary to Bangladesh guerrillas. Tension builds up between India and Pakistan leading to the outbreak of full-scale war in early December. The joint Indian and Bangladesh Command accepts the surrender of the Pakistan Army in Dhaka on 16 December.

1972 Bangladesh is recognised by most European and Asian countries by February. Indian Army withdrawal from Bangladesh is completed on 12 March.

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The War of Liberation

Background

The two overwhelmingly Muslim regions of pre-partitioned India were on the exact opposite sides of the subcontinent, in Bengal and the Punjab. In Bengal, the situation was complicated by Calcutta, with its Hindu majority. There, jute mills and a developed port contrasted with Muslim dominated East Bengal, also a major just producer, but without any manufacturing or port facilities.

But despite the fact that support for the creation of Pakistan was based on Islamic solidarity and a desire to end Hindu dominance, the two halves of the new state had little else in common. The people of East Pakistan spoke only Bangla (or Bengali), while the West Pakistanis spoke Urdu, Pushtu, Panjabi, and Sindhi; the diet of the East consisted mainly of fish and rice while the Westerners are meat and wheat.

The country was administered from West Pakistan which tended to direct foreign aid and other revenues to itself, even though East Pakistan has a larger population and produced the majority of the cash crops. From early on these differences and inequalities stirred up a sense of Bengali nationalism that had not been reckoned with in the struggle of Muslim independence. When Pakistan government declared Urdu will be the national language, the Bengalis protested vigorously and Pakistan Army killed many students protesting the decision.

The Awami League led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman emerged as the national political party in East Pakistan, and the Language movement became its ideological underpinning in its drive for internal self-govrnment. The cyclone of 1970 with its 10 meter tidal bore devasted East Pakistan and while foreign aid poured in, the Pakistan government appeared to be doing little. Nationalist support for Awami Leauge peaked and in the 1971 national elections it won 167 of the 313 seats, a clear majority. Constitutionally the Awami Leauge should have formed the government of all Pakistan, but the president, faced with this unacceptable result, postponed the opening of the National Assembly.

The War of Liberation

At the Race Course (now Paltan) Meeting of 7 March, 1971, Sheikh Mujib stopped just short of actually declaring East Pakistan independent. In reality, however, state of Bangladesh (land of Bangla speakers) was born on this day. After his bold challenge to the government, Skeikh Mujib was arrested, taken to West Pakistan and thrown into jail. This ignited the smouldering rebellion in the east wing and when the Mukti Bahini - the Bangladesh Freedom Fighters - captured the Chittagong radio station, Major Ziaur Rahman on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announced the birth of the new country and called upon its people to resist the opression of the Pakistan Army at all costs. President Khan responded by sending more troops to quell the rebellion. In a classic piece of misjudgement, he had earlier claimed that "then autonomy issue has been created by a few intellectuals. A few thousand dead in Dhaka and East Pakistan will be quiet soon".

The ensuing war was one of the shortest and bloodiest of modern times. General Tikka Khan, 'the Butcher of Baluchistan', was instructed to rid the country of Sheikh Mujib's supporters and his troops began the systematic slaughter of the Mukti Bahini and other 'subversive' elements such as intellectuals and Hindues. A few Army units made up of East Pakistanis rebelled in time to avoid capture, but they were heavily outnumbered and without supplies. By June the struggle became a guerrilla war, with more and more civilians joining the Mukti Bahini. With the whole countryside against them, the Pakistan Army tactics became more brutal. Napalm was used against villages.

Pakistan had taken Dhaka and secured other major cities, and by November 1971, the whole country suffered the burden of the occupying army. The searches, looting, rape and slaughter of civilians continued and during the nine months from the end of March 1971, 10 million people had fled to refugee camps in India. Bangladeshis refer to Pakistan's tactics as attempted genocide, and it has been claimed that rape was so widespread and systematic that it was an attempt to change the racial make-up of the country.

Border clashes between Pakistan and India became more frequent as the Mukti Bahini, who were being trained and equipped by India, were using the border as a pressure valve against Pakistan's onslaught. Finally, the Pakistan air force made a pre-emptive attack on Indian forces on 3 December 1971 and it was open warefare. The end came quickly. Indian troops crossed the border, liberated Jessore on 7 December and prepared to take Dhaka. The occupying army of West Pakistan was being attacked from the west by the Indian army, from the north and east by the Mukti Bahini and from alll querters by the civilian population.

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Bangladesh at a glance

Official Name:	The People's Republic of Bangladesh
Location:	Latitude between 20^o34' and 26^o39' North Longitude between 88^o1' and 92^o41' East
Area:	1,43,998 sq. km.
Boundary:	Bounded by India from the North, East and West and by the Bay of Bengal and Myanmar from the South
Climate:	Main seasons: Winter (Nov-Feb), Summer (March-June), Monsoon (July-Oct). Temperature: max. 34^oC and min. 8^oC.
Rainfall:	Lowest 1170 mm and Highest 3400 mm
Capital:	Dhaka, area 815.85 sq. km. (approx.)
Population:	120 million

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