The Partition Of Bangladesh Essay

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The birth of Bangladesh was the biggest geopolitical event of the Indian subcontinent following its partition in 1947. The people of East Pakistan struggled for political and cultural autonomy and subsequently demanded independence. It was not only their story to tell but also that of the surrounding states and international powers which had vested interests in the politics of the region. Through the course of this paper, I develop the importance of various incidents in the lead up to the liberation of the eastern wing from its oppressive western counterpart and discuss why the partition of Pakistan happened as a result of such factors. Caught between the Cold War’s power play and the tension between its neighbours, the destiny of Bangladesh was heavily determined by other players. Although it was neither prophesied nor seen as inevitable, certain events in turn steered the trajectory of the history of East Pakistan in the direction of independence.
The geographical division of Pakistan during the time of partition put a thousand miles
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When East Pakistan showed that it wanted change, the state publicly responded with agreement and appeasement but secretively geared up for a brutal crackdown that would ‘put the people in their place’ (35). Further, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who ran for elections in 1970, believed in having the “army in the wings” (Raghavan 36), a phrase that the military regime of Pakistan actively believed in and carried out in their handling of the crisis in East Pakistan. Through this, it is clear that the military regime of the Pakistani state proved a catalyst to the transformation of East Pakistan into the independent state of

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