In this article, we will try to find out how the oppression and exploitation of the ruling classes and the state of Pakistan led Bangladeshis to adopt four fundamental principles -- democracy, secularism, socialism and nationalism -- as integral foundations of Bangladeshi constitution.
Even though the boundaries of East Bengal were strictly delineated along religious lines, they were not totally representative of it. Due to the differences between the Hindu and Muslim members of the commission that was tasked with determining the province's boundaries, the borders were instead decided by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the head of the commission. Chittagong Hill Tracts was included, but Murshidabad and Nadia were excluded completely. Despite Assam's majority Muslim population, Sylhet, which gained its independence from Pakistan through a referendum, had a part of its territory annexed by India. A large-scale migration resulted as people moved to escape threats perceived to be on both sides of the new boundary. While East Bengal became home to a significant number of Bengali Muslims who migrated from Hindu-majority regions, a significant number of those who arrived came from other regions of India, particularly from Bihar.Despite strong central leadership, Pakistan began as a parliamentary democracy with a constituent assembly whose role was to write a constitution and then act as the country's legislative body. When Jinnah became the first governor-general of Pakistan, Suhrawardy stayed in India and worked with Gandhi to help build communal harmony. Nazimuddin became the chief minister of East Bengal, although he failed to gain Jinnah's support. Bengalis held the majority in the legislative branch of the central government of Pakistan, but they were greatly underrepresented in the executive branch. Pakistan, bordered by India on three sides, was physically and linguistically isolated; its predominant concern was to guard against Indian encroachment.While Bengalis were the majority in the legislative branch of the central government, they had no representation in the executive. Although the two parts of Pakistan were physically and linguistically separate, they had only tenuous links. They shared an overriding concern of Indian domination. Although many believed that unification would come about through the common language, Urdu, the Jinnah administration and its advisers believed that it could be achieved through military and administrative use of Urdu. In 1948, Bengalis, for the first time, began to resent the state's reluctance to officially recognise Bengali, its bureaucracy's favouritism towards non-Bengalis, and the government's theft of provincial funds and powers.
Jinnah exercised strong central control while serving as governor-general. Jinnah died in 1948, and Nazimuddin succeeded him as governor-general, but Liaquat Ali Khan, the prime minister, truly controlled everything. Nazimuddin became prime minister after Liaquat was assassinated in October 1951, and he replaced him with Ghulam Mohammad, a Punjabi, as governor-general. In order to establish his influence in the central government, Ghulam Mohammad was able to consolidate an alliance of both civil and military forces. Then, using the power he'd gained, he dismissed Nazimuddin (who still had a majority in the legislature) in 1953 and then dismissed the constituent assembly (which was formed in the wake of the elections) a short time after that.In these elections, the UF—a coalition of opposition parties, led largely by Fazl ul-Haq and his now-renamed Peasants and Workers Party (as well as Suhrawardy, who started a new party called the Awami League) and by Suhrawardy—won all the seats. Ghulam Mohammad, who had served as both governor in East Bengal and as a central minister, was succeeded by Maj. Gen. Iskandar Mirza, who had previously served as both a governor in East Bengal and as a central minister. East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan during Mirza's tenure.
For the first time in history, Pakistan finally adopted a constitution that equally represented both eastern and western Pakistan in 1956. The new federal constitution also granted wide-ranging powers to the federal government. Mirza became president, and in 1957, was required to remove Suhrawardy, the leader of an Awami League coalition, from office. On December 13, 1965, Firoz Khan Noon, who had the support of the Awami League, became the country's prime minister.In 1958, the military took control of the government of Pakistan, and Mirza was sent into exile. It negatively affected the country's eastern wing because the country's civil servants believed they were important in the context of the military regime. In 1947, few Bengali Muslims were employed in the Indian Civil Service (ICS), but the western wing had a substantial number of its members. As originally established, national policy stipulated that equal membership be provided for members of the two wings of the Civil Service of Pakistan (the successors to the ICS). However, by 1960, only around one-third of all Civil Service members in Pakistan were Bengalis. In addition, military installations were concentrated in West Pakistan, while economic aid and development were also carried out in that part of the country.angered Bengalis finally found a forum for their feelings, which manifested itself in the person of Mujibur Rahman (popularly known as Sheikh Mujib). Muhammad, like the preceding leaders, was part of a landed family. After Suhrawardy's death in 1963, he took over as the Awami League's leading figure. Mujib gained an aura of martyrdom due to his exceptional organising and public speaking skills, as well as the numerous times he was jailed by the military. He called for a historic six-point demand for East Pakistani autonomy after the 1965 conflict between India and Pakistan primarily over control of the territory in the Kashmir region of the western Himalayas. When President Yahya Khan, the head of the armed forces and commander-in-chief of the Pakistan military, ordered parliamentary elections in December 1970, the Awami League's essentially separatist platform garnered 167 of the 169 seats reserved for East Pakistan in the National Assembly.
This brought the league to a position of a majority in the House of Representatives among a total of 313 members. Due to his party winning the majority of seats in West Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became Mujib's rival.
While soldiers from West Pakistan poured into Dhaka from March 1971, President Yahya Khan held talks with independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka. Afterwards, on March 25, the army initiated a huge attack; many students lost their lives as a result. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was captured and flown to Pakistan to stand trial. East Pakistan declared itself an independent state and most of the Awami League leaders fled the country, eventually setting up a government-in-exile in Kolkata (also known as Calcutta).
Approximately 10 million Bengalis, almost all Hindus, fled their homes as the Pakistani government remained on guard over East Pakistan's border with India. Indira Gandhi supported the Awami League, which was like the Congress Party in that it was a centrist middle-class party, but the rebels were far left and caused concern. Following India's support for West Pakistan's separation and the Soviet Union and India backing of East Pakistan's independence, the Indian army invaded both Pakistani wings on December 3, 1971. On December 16, the Pakistani defences surrendered, ensuring that Bangladesh would attain independence. Mujib was released from prison after a few days, and in short order, Yahya Khan was ousted from his position as Pakistan's leader and replaced by Bhutto.