Cold Open

It’s late evening on November 12th, 1970, on Manpura Island, in East Pakistan.

Outside his family home, 18-year-old Mohammad Abdul Hai struggles to hold up a plank of wood as a strong gust of wind threatens to rip it from his hands. Struggling, Mohammad finally manages to press the wood into place over a window. He pulls out a hammer… and nails the plank into place.

Cyclones are a regular occurrence in this part of the world, and most people in East Pakistan are well-used to preparing for the storms. On hearing news on the radio of an approaching cyclone, Mohammad’s extended family immediately left their wooden cabins and gathered at Mohammad’s farmhouse, which is one of the few brick buildings on the island. Mohammad’s mother cooked a large meal to feed all twenty people sheltering there, and the mood was initially convivial. But as evening fell, the winds began blowing even more strongly than usual, until Mohammad decided he had to go outside to secure the windows.

Now, when Mohammad is satisfied the windows won’t blow in, he dashes through the mud to check on his family’s livestock.

He’s not gone far when a sudden gust of wind blows him off his feet and he lands on his back in the wet earth. Cursing, Mohammad decides the animals will have to take their chances in the storm.

He rushes back toward the house. He can see his mother in the doorway, imploring him to hurry. But as he reaches the building… he hears the roar of water. Mohammad and his mother look around in confusion. The house is half a mile from shore. But then Mohammad realizes with horror that a vast wave is rolling toward them. The sea has been whipped into such a frenzy that a mighty storm surge is about to sweep away the forest, the fields, the livestock - and his home.

This huge storm will come to be known as the Bhola Cyclone. It causes the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in East Pakistan, including nineteen members of Mohammad’s family. But the cyclone’s death toll will be inflated by the inadequate response of the Pakistani government led by General Yahya Khan. In the aftermath of this disaster, General Khan will come under fire for not doing more to help his people—and within a month, those people will make their feelings known at the ballot box, kickstarting a movement that will lead to East Pakistan declaring independence as the new nation of Bangladesh on March 26th, 1971.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is March 26th, 1971: Bangladesh Declares Independence.

Act One

In the early hours of December 8th, 1970, in Dacca, East Pakistan; one month after the Bhola Cyclone struck, 50-year-old politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, popularly known to voters as Mujib sits in a comfortable armchair. Well-wishers pat his shoulder and shake his hand, but Mujib keeps an eye on the television in the corner of the room. It’s tuned into the results of Pakistan’s general election.

Since Pakistan gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, the nation has suffered chronic political instability. Martial law was eventually declared in 1958, and for more than a decade, Pakistan has been controlled by its army. Yesterday, though, saw the ruling generals loosen their grip by allowing democratic elections to Pakistan’s parliament, the National Assembly. But the army didn’t want to give up all of its influence or power. So, before the election, the generals gave their backing to the Pakistan People’s Party or PPP, and most people assumed they would win.

But the PPP isn’t popular across the whole of the country. Pakistan is split into two separate regions on either side of India: the Urdu-speaking West and the Bengali-speaking East. The Pakistani Army and PPP has a strong power base in the West. But they are less popular in the East, especially in the aftermath of the devastating Bhola Cyclone. The West Pakistan-based government responded poorly to this disaster. And in recent weeks, the politician Mujib has tapped into the anger of East Pakistanis and rallied support for his pro-Bengali party, the Awami League.

Despite the tiring election campaign, Mujib is still awake. And as Mujib watches the results come in on television, he stares at the figures in disbelief. Against all predictions, Mujib's party has won. The Awami League has gained more than double the votes of the PPP and will now have enough seats in the National Assembly to outvote all other opposition parties. Mujib is now in line to be the country’s next prime minister.

He excitedly begins planning how they’ll level the playing field between West and East Pakistan. But soon it becomes clear that Mujib's political opponents have no intention of allowing him to take office. A new crisis is about to grip Pakistan - one that will split the country in two.

*

It’s the early hours of March 26th, 1971, more than three months after the Pakistani general election.

At the Awami League headquarters in Dacca, the biggest city in East Pakistan, the politician Mujib dictates a telegram to his aides. The plan is to distribute Mujib’s message to supporters across the country. But they must hurry. They can already hear gunfire on the streets outside. They don’t have much time.

In the aftermath of Mujib’s victory in the General Election, the Pakistani Army went back on its promises to give up power. Instead of allowing Mujib to take office, Pakistan’s President General Khan indefinitely postponed the National Assembly’s first sitting asking the existing army-run government to stay on.

With the political establishment trying to overturn the election result, unrest soon stirred in East Pakistan. Mujib encouraged his followers to protest peacefully, but riots broke out in some cities, and dozens of protesters were shot and killed by the Pakistani security forces. In the face of this violent crackdown, many East Pakistanis began to call for independence — but Mujib resisted that for fear of escalating the dispute into a civil war. A few hours ago, though, that war broke out anyway. The Pakistani Army has launched a full-scale military crackdown in East Pakistan.

So, at his offices, Mujib is briefed on the newest developments by his aides. The information they have is sketchy - but the news is bad. Transport links into Dacca have been sealed off. Soldiers are occupying every major public building, and many leaders of the Awami League have already been arrested.

And it’s not long before Pakistani soldiers burst in and place Mujib under arrest as well—but they arrive too late to prevent the transmission of his telegram. Mujib’s message calls upon the people of East Pakistan to resist the military occupation and declares the independence of a new nation that Mujib calls Bangladesh.

And within just hours, Mujib's message is read out on East Pakistani radio:

RADIO: "On behalf of our great national leader, the supreme commander of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, do hereby proclaim the independence of Bangladesh."

But with Mujib and his allies under arrest, the Pakistan armed forces will seize total control of East Pakistan. Mujib's declaration of independence will remain nothing more than a last act of defiance unless the Bangladeshi people can find a way to fight back.

Act Two

It’s late on August 15th, 1971, in Chittagong, Bangladesh; five months after the Bangladeshi declaration of independence.

Abdul Wahed Chowdhury,  a commando in Bangladesh's newly formed special forces, eases himself into the dark waters of Chittagong harbor. Abdul looks around and notes other commandos in the unit have slipped into the sea beside him, all without making a sound. Their silence is crucial because Abdul and his men are about to carry out the most daring attack yet in a conflict that’s become known as the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Five months ago, when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared Bangladesh’s independence, Abdul was serving aboard a Pakistan Navy submarine based in Toulon, France. But Abdul is from East Pakistan and he heeded Mujib's call to resist. Abdul defected to the new nation of Bangladesh with nine crewmates.

And as because Bangladesh needed him - and every other fighting man it could find. After the Pakistan Army launched its operation to seize control of the country, it began a brutal crackdown. Pakistani soldiers carried out mass murders, rapes, and genocidal killings in Bangladesh. But resistance has been greater than the Pakistan Army predicted, and despite their heavy-handed tactics, the occupation has not broken the will of the Bangladesh independence movement.

A few weeks ago, Abdul was given command of a platoon of elite soldiers and tasked with leading an attack on the Pakistan Navy at Chittagong, an important port and the second-largest city in Bangladesh. So tonight, Abdul’s commandos are ready to put the most dangerous part of the plan into action.

In the waters of the harbor, Abdul swims silently toward his target: a Pakistani naval vessel. After five minutes, he reaches the ship. He listens for any sign of activity on the deck above, hardly daring to breathe. Confident that he's not been spotted, Abdul carefully scrapes the metal hull clean with a knife before fixing a limpet mine to it. He then checks his watch, and at one minute to midnight, arms the mine by removing its pin. Then, he pushes off and swims back to the point where he entered the water.

When he reaches shore, Abdul does a quick headcount. Every commando is safely back on dry land, and each man says he successfully fixed a mine on his target ship. The group then hurries away to make their escape.

Two hours later, the mines in Chittagong harbor explode. Eleven ships are damaged in the attack and three sink, taking 19,000 tons of weapons and ammunition to the seabed. And Abdul’s is not the only successful raid that night. At the same time, other Bangladeshi commandos sink Pakistan Navy vessels docked in three other ports. The simultaneous attacks are a major boost for Bangladeshi morale and prompt celebrations across the fledgling nation.

Inspired by the commando attacks, the Bangladeshi war effort steps up. Guerilla raids by partisans increase in the countryside, where Pakistani soldiers are isolated and lack backup. Newly trained regular soldiers in the Bangladesh Army attack military bases and other targets. Ninety out of 370 border outposts fall to Bangladeshi forces. And after two landing strips are captured, a nascent Bangladesh Air Force begins to bomb Pakistani forces.

As this fighting intensifies, Pakistan’s President, General Yahya Khan, comes under international pressure to agree to a cease-fire. But he ignores any diplomatic efforts, choosing instead to escalate the conflict further. Khan expects Pakistan’s neighbor, India, to intervene in the war to support Bangladesh. India has large and powerful armed forces, but Khan thinks that if he can hit them first, he can strike a decisive blow. So, he orders pre-emptive bombing raids to destroy Indian Air Force bases along the border. But the strikes are a strategic blunder. The Pakistani bombs fail to put the air bases out of action, and the sneak attacks outrage India, which immediately pledges to enter the war.

Within days, a quarter of a million Indian troops cross into Bangladesh to support the new country in its battle for independence. This intervention turns the tide of the war. The Indian Air Force quickly gains air supremacy in the skies over Bangladesh and the Indian Navy blockades the remaining ships of the Pakistani fleet in port.

With Pakistan’s troops on their back foot, Indian forces will rapidly advance on Dacca. And just thirteen days after the ill-advised air strikes which brought India into the war, Pakistan’s generals will surrender. Bangladesh will be free. But the author of its Declaration of Independence won’t be. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will languish in a Pakistani jail until the time comes for a triumphant homecoming.

Act Three

It’s January 10th, 1972 in the skies over Dacca, one month after the end of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman stares out of a plane’s window as the pilot circles the city. It's Mujib's first glimpse of the new Bangladeshi capital, and below countless people have taken to the streets to greet the man they’re calling the founding father of the nation.

Although Mujib penned Bangladesh’s declaration of independence, he played no part in the Liberation War. He was a prisoner of the Pakistan Army throughout the conflict. But thanks to diplomatic pressure and international condemnation of his incarceration, Mujib was finally released two days ago. Now, he’s returning home.

After his plane touches down, Mujib is welcomed onto Bangladeshi soil by an honor guard of the new country’s armed forces and ministers of the provisional government. He’s then driven in an open truck through streets lined with cheering Bangladeshis to the vast, open space of a racecourse. There, Mujib addresses more than a million people and congratulates them all on defeating their oppressors. Mujib talks positively of Bangladesh’s future and declares that he is ready to lead the newly independent nation—because there’s no doubt that the people of Bangladesh want Mujib to be the head of their government.

Mujib will establish a parliamentary republic with himself as prime minister. And over the next three years, he will begin rebuilding his war-torn country—but Mujib will not live to see Bangladesh reach maturity. This new nation will slip back into political instability, and Mujib will be killed in a military coup in 1975. Mujib's legacy as the father of Bangladesh lives on, though, thanks to the declaration of independence he made on March 26th, 1971.

Outro

Next on History Daily. March 27th, 1915. After a years-long search, authorities capture and quarantine the elusive Mary Mallon, better known as “Typhoid Mary.”

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Matthew Filler.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves.

Edited by William Simpson.

Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.