General Yahya Khan and the creation of Bangladesh, 1969-71

This handout covers Yahya Khan's rule, the 1970 elections, the reasons East Pakistan broke away and the war of 1971. It belongs to Section 3 of the syllabus: nationhood 1947-99.

Key dates

Date	Event
February 1952	Language protests in Dhaka; students killed by police
1966	Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announces the Six Points
25 March 1969	Yahya Khan takes over from Ayub Khan and declares martial law
March 1970	Legal Framework Order issued
November 1970	Cyclone strikes the coast of East Pakistan
7 December 1970	First general election by direct adult vote
1 March 1971	Yahya Khan postpones the National Assembly session
25 March 1971	Army action begins in East Pakistan; Mujib arrested
3 December 1971	Full-scale war between Pakistan and India begins
16 December 1971	Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrender at Dhaka
20 December 1971	Yahya Khan resigns; Zulfikar Ali Bhutto becomes President

Yahya Khan takes charge

When Ayub Khan resigned in March 1969 he handed power to the army chief, General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan. Yahya Khan declared martial law, set aside the 1962 constitution and became President. He promised elections and made two changes that the opposition had long demanded:

• One Unit was ended. From 1 July 1970 West Pakistan was again divided into Punjab, Sindh, the North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan.
• "One man, one vote" replaced parity. Seats would be shared by population, so East Pakistan, with more people, would have more seats than the whole of West Pakistan.

The Legal Framework Order (LFO), 1970

The LFO set the rules for the election and for the new constitution.

• The National Assembly would have 313 seats: 300 general seats and 13 reserved for women. East Pakistan had 162 of the general seats and West Pakistan 138.
• Every adult would have a direct vote.
• The Assembly had to write a constitution within 120 days of its first meeting, or it would be dissolved.
• The constitution had to keep Pakistan united as a federation and preserve Islamic ideology, and the President had to approve it.

The LFO did not say how much power the provinces should have. That question became the centre of the crisis.

The Six Points

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the Awami League, had set out the Six Points in 1966. They were the Awami League's programme in the 1970 election.

1. A federal, parliamentary government elected by direct adult vote.
2. The federal government to control only defence and foreign affairs.
3. Two separate currencies, or one currency with safeguards to stop money moving from East to West.
4. The power to tax to belong to the provinces, which would pass a share to the centre.
5. Each wing to keep its own foreign exchange earnings and make its own trade agreements.
6. East Pakistan to have its own militia or paramilitary force.

To East Pakistanis this was fair autonomy. To many in West Pakistan it looked like a plan for two separate countries.

The 1970 elections and the deadlock

In November 1970 a cyclone and tidal wave killed several hundred thousand people on the coast of East Pakistan. Many Bengalis thought the government's relief effort was slow, and this increased support for the Awami League.

The election on 7 December 1970 was the first national election held by direct adult vote.

Party	General seats won	Where
Awami League (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman)	160 of 300	All in East Pakistan (160 of its 162 seats)
Pakistan People's Party (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto)	81 of 300	All in West Pakistan, mainly Punjab and Sindh

The Awami League had an overall majority, so Mujib had the right to form the government and write a constitution based on the Six Points.

• Bhutto argued that the PPP, as the majority party of West Pakistan, must share in power, and he refused to attend the Assembly unless there was agreement on the constitution first.
• Mujib refused to change the Six Points.
• On 1 March 1971 Yahya Khan postponed the Assembly session that had been due on 3 March. East Pakistan answered with strikes and a campaign of non-cooperation.
• Talks in Dhaka in mid-March failed.

Why did East Pakistan break away?

1. Political grievances. East Pakistan had the majority of the population, but political power stayed in the West. The capital was in West Pakistan and parity under the 1956 and 1962 constitutions cancelled the East's majority. When the Awami League won the 1970 election and was still kept out of power, many Bengalis concluded that they would never be allowed to govern Pakistan.
2. Economic grievances. East Pakistan's jute earned a large part of the country's foreign exchange, but much of the money was spent on industry and development in the West. Income per person was lower in the East, and Bengalis held few senior posts in the civil service and the army.
3. Language and culture. In 1948 Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah stated in Dhaka that Urdu would be the only national language, though Bengali was spoken by more than half of Pakistanis. Several students were killed by police during protests in Dhaka on 21 February 1952. Bengali was accepted as a national language in 1956, but resentment remained.
4. Geography. The two wings were separated by about 1,600 kilometres of Indian territory. Travel and trade between them were slow and costly, and in the 1965 war East Pakistan had been left almost without protection.
5. The actions of Yahya Khan and Bhutto. The postponement of the Assembly and then the army action of 25 March 1971 turned a demand for autonomy into a demand for independence.
6. The role of India. India sheltered the refugees, gave arms and training to the Bengali fighters known as the Mukti Bahini, and finally sent its army into East Pakistan.

The 1971 war

On the night of 25 March 1971 the army began a military operation in Dhaka and other towns to crush the Awami League. Mujib was arrested and flown to West Pakistan. Awami League leaders declared the independence of Bangladesh. There was heavy loss of civilian life; the numbers are disputed. Millions of refugees crossed into India, which put the figure at about ten million.

India, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, signed a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union in August 1971. Pakistan's allies, the USA and China, gave diplomatic support but did not fight. On 3 December the Pakistan Air Force attacked airfields in northern India and full war began on both fronts.

The Pakistani forces in the East were outnumbered, cut off from supplies and surrounded by a hostile population. On 16 December 1971 Lieutenant-General A. A. K. Niazi surrendered in Dhaka to the Indian commander, Lieutenant-General Jagjit Singh Aurora. A ceasefire followed in the West.

Results of the war

• East Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh. Pakistan lost more than half its population.
• About 90,000 Pakistani soldiers and civilians became prisoners of war in India.
• India held several thousand square kilometres of territory in West Pakistan.
• The army was discredited. Yahya Khan resigned on 20 December 1971 and Bhutto became President and Chief Martial Law Administrator.
• Pakistan had to rebuild its economy and reach a settlement with India, which came at Simla in 1972.

How to judge it: which reason mattered most?

Long-term causes: economic inequality, under-representation in government and the forces, the language issue and geographical separation built up Bengali resentment over more than twenty years.

Short-term causes: the long-term grievances led to a demand for autonomy, not at first for independence. The refusal to transfer power after the election, the army action and Indian military intervention decided that the outcome would be a separate state.

Judgement: political causes were the most important. Economic and cultural grievances could have been dealt with inside one country if East Pakistan had been given its fair share of power. Because the majority was denied that share, even after winning an election, compromise became impossible. India's intervention decided when Bangladesh was created, but the political failure made separation likely.

Key terms and people

• Legal Framework Order: Yahya Khan's rules for the 1970 election and the new constitution.
• Six Points: the Awami League's programme for provincial autonomy.
• Awami League: the main party of East Pakistan, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
• Mukti Bahini: Bengali armed resistance, supported by India.
• Indira Gandhi: Prime Minister of India during the 1971 war.

Exam practice

1. Describe the results of the 1970 general election. [4]
2. Why did the victory of the Awami League in 1970 lead to a crisis? [7]
3. "Economic factors were the most important reason for the creation of Bangladesh in 1971." How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [14]

Outline answers

1. Held in December 1970 by direct adult vote; the Awami League won 160 of the 162 general seats in East Pakistan, an overall majority of the 300; the PPP won 81 seats, all in West Pakistan; neither party won a seat in the other wing.

2. Three explained reasons: (a) the Awami League's majority gave it the right to form the government and write a constitution on the Six Points, which West Pakistani leaders and the army saw as breaking up the country; (b) Bhutto, with the majority in the West, demanded a share of power and would not attend the Assembly, and Mujib would not alter the Six Points; (c) Yahya Khan postponed the Assembly, which Bengalis saw as proof that their vote would not be respected, leading to non-cooperation and then army action.

3. Agree: jute earnings spent in the West; lower incomes and less investment in the East; few Bengalis in senior jobs; the Six Points were largely about control of money and trade. Other reasons: political exclusion and the refusal to hand over power in 1971; the language issue and cultural differences; distance; the army action; Indian support and invasion. Judgement: economic grievances were a major long-term cause, but they led to separation only because the political system denied the majority power; political causes were more important, with India's role deciding the final result.