The Bangladesh Liberation War(i) (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ Muktijuddho) was an armed conflict over a duration of about 9 months, putting East Pakistan and India against the State of Pakistan. The war started on 26 March 1971 between the State of Pakistan and East Pakistan, India intervened on 3 December 1971. Armed conflict ended on 16 December 1971 and resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh.
The war broke out when army units directed by the State of Pakistan (then controlled by West Pakistan) launched a military operation called Operation Searchlight in East Pakistan against Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, and armed personnel who were demanding for the military regime to honour the results of the first ever 1970 democratic elections in Pakistan won by an East Pakistan party or to allow separation of the East from West Pakistan. Bengali military, paramilitary, and civilians formed the Mukti Bahini (Bengali: মুক্তি বাহিনী "Liberation Army") on 26 March 1971, in response to Operation Searchlight and used guerrilla warfare tactics to fight against the West Pakistan army. India provided economic, military and diplomatic support to the Mukti Bahini rebels, leading West Pakistan to launch Operation Chengiz Khan, a pre-emptive attack on the western border of India which started the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
On 16 December 1971, the allied forces of the Indian army and the Mukti Bahini defeated the West Pakistani forces deployed in the East. The resulting surrender was the largest in number of prisoners of war since World War II.
Read more about Bangladesh Liberation War: Background, Indian Involvement, Surrender and Aftermath, Atrocities
Famous quotes containing the words liberation and/or war:
“Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women’s opportunities, not to limit them. The self-esteem that has been found in new pursuits can also be found in mothering.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“The war was a mirror; it reflected man’s every virtue and every vice, and if you looked closely, like an artist at his drawings, it showed up both with unusual clarity.”
—George Grosz (1893–1959)