14 August 1947 marked the beginning of a new era in the political life of East Bengal. The achievement of Pakistan indicated the reversal of the dominance of the Hindus in East Bengal. The place of the Hindu elites of the partition era was taken over by West Pakistanis, refugee Muslims from India, and Bengali Muslims. With the establishment of new political authority in East Bengal the minorities were tossed into a hostile situation. Since a large number of the Hindus left Pakistan after partition, the provincial government found an opportunity to requisition Hindu houses for government offices and government servants. The Hindus faced a unique situation.

The Hindus were the champion of Indian nationalism and fought for the independence of India. When Pakistan came into being over blood, it was a great shock for the Hindus. In the first session of the CAP, Kiron Shankar Roy, leader of the opposition Congress Party ,frankly admitted that the Congress Party was not very happy because of the division of India , and the partition of Bengal . So , it was quite natural for the Hindus to have psychological reservation about Pakistan and its Muslim League leadership in East Bengal . During the first few years of post August 1947,the migration was confined to the upper caste bhadralok section of the political elites, professional and well to do families. In most cases they would send the young and female members of the family to India, leaving behind one or two older members to look after their property or professions.

However, Muslims constituted the overwhelming majority in East Pakistan meaning that the minorities were not in a position to become formidable political opponent of Muslims or of other where number mattered. (According to 1951 census Muslims constituted 76.9% of the total population of East Pakistan as against 70.3% according to 1941 census). The Hindu leaders also voiced minority grievances in almost every session (1948-56) of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly (EBLA, 1948-56) and the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (CAP, 1947-54). When they tried to voice grievances of the community, they were often attacked by the ruling party and the press for their alleged "divided loyalty' or disloyalty to Pakistan. It is interesting to note that the culture of vilification still presence in the society.

The Hindus are vilified by a section of press as Indian agent. Khawaja Nazimuddin declared on 8 June 1948, a month before the death of Jinnah, that those who supported the West Bengal papers had' no right to live in Pakistan,' The leaders of Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League in pre-independence India used religious rhetoric and created sharp perceptions of " religious strife" among people of their respective communities.

Mr Jogendra Nath Mondal, a close associate of M A Jinnah, was elected President of the inaugural session of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (CAP) on 10th August 1947 . This was a gesture of goodwill to the minorities, although the motive behind it was probably to show the world that the newly born Muslim State of Pakistan had a place for minorities. The First governor-general, Quid-I-Azam Mr. M A Jinnah was elected president of the CAP the next day. In his address of felicitation Kiran Shankar Roy, Leader of the opposition Congress party, outlined the party's policy:" As far as we are concerned, sir, if Pakistan which you have in your mind means a secular democratic state, a state which will make no difference between a citizen and a citizen, which will deal fairly with all irrespective of caste, creed or community, I assure you that you shall have our utmost cooperation. In his speech, founder of Pakistan M A Jinnah declared," you are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or any other places of worship in this state of Pakistan . You may belong to any religion or Caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the state.” But Keith Callard predicted in its early years of Pakistan that the 'Hindu community was likely to diminish in size, in wealth, and in talent 'in Pakistan ' (pp-265)If Jinnah continues his office one more decade, minority in the subcontinent may not quit their ancestral homes. "Non-Muslims would have stayed back in Pakistan if M A Jinnah's reinterpretation of the two-nation theory had been carried out. Its ethos become secularism, not religion..”

M.A. Jinnah was in favour of making Pakistan a modern secular state as evident from Jinnah's 11August, 1947 speech in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly (CAP). But Jinnah's strong advocacy of Urdu as the national language of Pakistan provoked the Bengali of East Bengal to think seriously about their position. Their cultural identity threatened, “Jinnah, as a pragmatic politician, made this pronouncement because he knew that at that critical juncture of history it was not possible for Pakistan to survive without the minorities. They were dominant in the economic life of the country. (Minority Politics in Bangladesh by Ghulam Kabir,.pp-21).

A news deadline on Nov.12,2006 from Islamabad says: Founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah told Lord Mountbatten in 1947 that he would be "delighted" if the proposal to create a separate, sovereign Bengal were accepted, a new book has said When Mountbatten asked Jinnah what he thought of eminent Muslim League leader H S Suhrawardy's proposal, he said "I should be delighted. What is the use of Bengal without Calcutta; they had much better remain united and independent; I am sure they would be on friendly terms with us," US historian Stanley Wolpert says in his book on the partition of India.

When Mountbatten asked Suhrawardy if he would wish Bengal to remain within the British Commonwealth, Jinnah replied "Of course, just as I indicated to you that Pakistan would wish to remain within the Commonwealth." "Had Mountbatten followed the advice of Gandhi, Jinnah or Suhrawardy, instead of listening only to Nehru, Punjab and Bengal might have been spared the deadly horrors, and a richly united Bengal, with its capital in Calcutta, would have emerged instead of the fragmented, impoverished Bangladesh born from its eastern half a quarter of a century later,"The Daily Times ,Nov 12,2006 ,quoted Wolpert as saying in his book, reports PTI.

Shila Sen, an author ‘Muslim Politics in Bengal (1937-1947)', noted, “The initiators of the move for an independent Bengal were Sarat Bose and Abul Hashim and not H .S. Suhrawardy.” Or any other personality So, Mr Stanley Wolpert made a fabricated story to create sensation and just to befool Bengalis.

It may be recalled that after declaring six-point programme by Sheikh Mujib in February 1966, President Genl. Ayub Khan came to East Pakistan in March 1966 and made an extensive tour of the province; in all the his public meeting –speeches the attack was against six-point and AL .On 16 March,1966 at Rajshahi,Ayub pointed out that the six-point programme was aimed at achieving their dream of ‘greater Bengal'. On 20 March1966, while addressing the closing session of the Convention Muslim League at Ramna green, Dacca of which he was the president, Ayub called upon his followers that ‘they should be prepared to face a civil war..... civil war a dangerous thing. But if a nation faces disruption, it has to be accepted.' So we know our political history. Why such tutored history now after six decades of partition?

However, The relationship between the eastern and the western wings of Pakistan was the mirror image of Hindu-Muslim relations in the undivided sub-continent. In British India, the Muslims of Bengal asserted their religious identity to escape from the economic exploitation of the Bengali Hindus who shared the same mother tongue. In the United Pakistan, the Bengalis of East Pakistan reaffirmed vigorously their cultural and linguistic identity to resist the economic exploitation by their coreligionists who spoke a different language.

Though history has repeated itself in Pakistan, the lessons learnt from Hindu-Muslim confrontations were forgotten. Between 1949-50 and 1969-70, the ratio of economic disparity between East and West Pakistan increased from 21.9% to 61%The widening of disparity was attributed directly to the discriminatory role of the state and the transfer of resources from East Pakistan to West Pakistan . The vernacular elite provided the leadership in mobilizing the masses against economic deprivation and cultural discrimination. The dominant middle classes in Pakistan by its uncompromising support to a regime of exploitation paved the path for dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971.'

During the regimes of Gen. Ayub Khan and Gen. Yahya Khan's military regimes in Pakistan (1958-71), the Hindus suffered politically and economically. The Hindus, as a political force, were suppressed to the extent of virtual non-existence. The rule of Martial Law, the Basic Democracy system and the Enemy Property Act (Vested Property Act) pushed them out of the political arena Khushwant Singh writes: “ if things go from bad to worse in India, you can be sure they go from worse to the intolerable in Pakistan and Bangladesh .If you want to get some little comfort by comparing our lot with that of the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis I can recommend,” Generals in Pakistan1958-1982 by Retired Air Marshal Asghar Khan. He tells you how in Pakistan civil servants took over from the bureaucrats and how the voice of the people was stifled over the years. In its pages you will meet General Ayub, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, General Yahya, Bhutto and General Ziaul Huq.' Asghar khan mourns: ‘The face of Islam which Pakistan is presenting to the world and to our own people is of a religion, concerned only with harsh punishments .To convert a great religion, vitally concerned with the welfare of the individual into a mere penal code of crime and punishment, is to do it great disservice.”

However, In February 1950, there was again a communal flare-up in which thousands of Hindus killed, followed by an unprecedented level of Hindu migration from East Bengal .The riots in 1950 killed thousands and pushed 35 lakh Hindus to take refuge in India. On the day of division of India in mid August 1947, there were around 42 million populations of whom 29.5% were counted as to around 12.5 million minorities in the eastern part of Pakistan. Here Hindus are the majority with around 98% among the minorities and rest of them are Buddhists and Christians

However, number of minorities in this part started declining rapidly since then due to 2-nation theory. Because Pakistan was meant for Muslims, thus minorities (mainly Hindus) had to leave this country. During the whole Pakistan period from 1947 to 1971, there was tremendous migration of minority populations from Bangladesh after August 1975.

MISSING CITIZENS OF EAST BENGAL (1947-71)
Statistical information relating to the influx of refugees from East Bengal into India since Partition, 15 August 1947 to 24 March 1971, and the causes of migration are mentioned below.

* CAUSES OF MIGRATION
ASSAM, BIHAR, MEGHALAYA, TRIPURA, WEST BENGAL
(Persons in thousand)

A) Partition of India : between 487,00 nil nil 374,00 32,56,00
15 August 1947 and 31
March 1958
(Including riots of 1950)

B) Communal riots in Pakistan -214 - nil - nil - 143 75,700
Between Ist January 1964 --- -- ------------------------------------- --
and 24 March 1971 Total = 52,31,000*

* (Source: Statistical information relating to the Influx of Refugees from East Bengal
Into India till 31st October, 1971, issued by the Government of India, Ministry of
Labour and Rehabilitation, November 1971, 25A, Shakespeare Sarani, Calcutta-17).
There are no available government documents in Bangladesh regarding migration of minority population, especially to India.

The Hindu Leaders in East Bengal
After partition, most of the prominent Hindu leaders left East Bengal in despair, having lost all hopes for effective political participation in Pakistan where political power was being monopolized by a single Muslim communal party. The remainder of the Hindu leadership concentrated on articulating minority grievances and seeking constitutional safeguards for the community…In an attempt to ally with the Bengali Muslims, the Hindu leaders espoused Bengali causes in the central and provincial assemblies…During the period 1954-58, they shared political power with the majority community both at the center and Provincial assemblies. In East Bengal, their support was instrumental in determining the fate of the different coalition governments they took part in constitution making. They were successful in getting their most important demand, the joint electorate, incorporated in the constitution. Jyoti Sengupta wrote: "Sometime in 1948 there was a split in the Congress on the issue of retaining its past nomenclature. Dhirendranath Dutta left the Congress and formed a new party which was named Pakistan Gana Samity. Later, the name was changed into United Progressive Party (UPP). The UPP came into being after the 1954 general elections in East Pakistan with 13 members of the provincial assembly and 2 MPs. It included the khadi group of the Congress and a section of Forward Bloc and the Pakistan Socialist Party. People, belonging to the minority communities all over the province needed a party and leadership which could take up their cause and help in keeping up their morale. The minorities living in remote villages looked up to the Congress for help. The scheduled caste members of the Assembly were in majority among the minorities in the parliamentary field. By virtue of this position they were wooed by different political parties for support.

The Scheduled Caste Federation which maintained an otherwise democratic and secular manifesto was in favour of separate electorate. The Caste Hindus demand for joint electorate with a clause for reservation of seats for the scheduled castes was a compromise by the caste Hindus for the sake of keeping united the minority communities in the province. "One of the most distressing features of political life of Pakistan has been the continuing refusal to take the Hindus at their word and to treat them as other than a potential fifth column. When the Nachol Movement was organised by the communist cadres in East Bengal . None could say how many people were killed in the Nachol Movement in January 1950. It is said that several hundred Santhalis were killed and 1400 were arrested. As in Hajong area, in Nachol the deserted lands of the Santhalis were quickly distributed to Muslim refugees. Many Santhalis who returned later were homeless.

Mrs. Ila Mitra, a communist leader, known as Ila Rani to the Santhalis, who organised the movement there was arrested and tortured and produced before the Magistrate at Rajshahi charged with waging war against the state of Pakistan.The statement of Ila Mitra was a real barbarous image of the Muslim League Government of East Bengal. Badruddin Omar, a former professor of Rajshahi University and left- political thinker and author of a number of books, mentioned Ila Mitra's statement in his book ‘Purba Banglar Bhasa Andolon o Tat Kalin Rajniti' p.-292 (Language Movement and contemporary politics in East Bengal.)

During the period 1954 to 1958, the Hindu minority achieved a significant advance toward securing its interests. The situation was completely different in the initial years of Pakistan , when the Hindus could not play an effective role in the politics of the country. They were not successful in achieving a totally secular constitution, but they definitely exerted influence in making the constitution more liberal-democratic, thereby safeguarding the minority interests. Their greatest success was the incorporation of the joint electorate system in the constitution.

From 1955 to 1958 they shared power with the Muslims, both at the centre and in East Pakistan, with the exception of the two months of I. I. Chundrigar ministry in 1957. They received ministerial rewards disproportionate to their size. The Abu Hussein Sarkar ministry had four Hindu representatives in a cabinet of ten. They were also successful in implementing the 23 per cent service quota for the Hindus. Most importantly, Hindu collaboration with the coalition governments resulted in a sense of security among the ordinary Hindus. They shed their fear, and their migration to India dropped considerably. Thus this period has been described by the Hindu leaders as the time when the Hindu minority lived most happily in East Pakistan.

During this period, the Hindus were more compromising than before. When they were coalition partners, they did not insist on amending the constitution to drop the Islamic nomenclature of the Republic or the disqualification of non-Muslims to the office of the head of state. It is notable that they started playing an effective role only when the Muslim political groups of the United Front lost cohesion in 1955. The nearly balanced strength of the two Muslim political parties made it possible for the Hindus to play a crucial role during the period, in the sense that their support could determine the rise and fall of ministries

In 1954, general elections were held in East Bengal. All the anti-Muslim League forces realised the opportunity to be gained by forming a united front against the Muslims League(ML), the ruling party of Pakistan as well as in East Bengal . A United Front(UF) was formed against the Muslim League on the basis of 21 points to face the League in the general elections in 1954. The United Front drew up a 21-point manifesto which included all the popular demands of East Bengal . The two most important demands of the manifesto were regional autonomy for East Bengal (excluding defence, foreign affairs, and currency) and the recognition of Bengali as one of the state languages.

The UF-coalition won a landslide victory in the election. It captured 227 (Awami League-143; KSP-48; Nezam-i-Islam-22; Ganatantri-13; Khilafat-i- Rabbani-1) out of 237 Muslims seats and minority seats 72 ( Congress-24; Scheduled Caste Federation-27; UPP-13; Ganatantri Dal-3; Communist party-4; Independent-1) in a House of 309, while the Muslim League barely managed to survive by winning only 10 seats. All the important leaders of the ML including ministers of East Bengal cabinet were defeated. The Muslim League suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the United Front in which Awami League was the majority party.

The ML could not concede the defeat in the elections in the good grace. So, they resorted to conspiracies to dismiss the U F government .In third week of May 1954,there were bloody riots between Bengali and non-Bengali workers in Adamjee and other mills and factories in East Bengal .. Finally,on 29 May 1954 , the UF government was dismissed by the Central Government and Governor's rule was imposed in the East Bengal ,which lasted till 2 June 1955

After he becaming the chief minister of the United Front government in East Bengal on 3 April1954, A K Fazlul Huq, visited Calcutta for a medical check-up. He was to meet his long –time friend Dr.Bidhan Chandra. Ray, an eminent physician, then at the helm of affairs in West Bengal . But this visit had more to attain in terms of the man's glory.

The Sher-e-Bangla was visiting this city after partition for the second time. Earlier he visited Calcutta during the riots in 1950. “Huq Reception Committee” organised a huge crowd at the Calcutta airport to receive him. Huq was overwhelmed. He declared that the medical check-up was not his only purpose in visiting Calcutta, this was his city ,he had spent his best years here, he wanted to resurrect his association with the heart of Bengal to draw inspirations afresh, and if need arose.... He wanted to assure the refugees of better treatment back home so that they could be persuaded to return. He expressed the issue for exchange of visits of intellectuals, academics and artists. ....On his return, he was almost accused of “treason”... he was said to have remarked in the course of an interview given to an American journalist (Mr.John P Callaghan) that “the first task of my ministry will be to achieve independence of East Bengal”.... He was summoned to Karachi (the then Capital of Pakistan) to explain his remarks to Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra, and the Governor General. Ghulam Muhammad.

The explanations did not convince the central rulers of his loyalty. On 30 May, he was forced to issue a statement regretting the anxiety that his statements had caused to the nation. ... On 31 May, he was dismissed from office, Governor's rule was introduced, Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra in a speech broadcast over radio accused Fazlul Huq of being a “traitor to East Bengal and Pakistan,” a charge repeated in another speech on 16 June 1954..... As the year ended, his role too a full somersault. He felt no further political bond with the Awami League.

He joined the central cabinet (Home Minister), and later became the Governor of East Bengal. The news headline published in the Pakistan Observer was : ‘ East Bengal Wishes to be Independent :Haq's Interveiw with New york Times, Center's Attitude to Province Deplored' (for text of the item see,Trivedi,1998,p.-162). The vacuous nature of the closing period of his political engagement was mercilessly exposed again shortly after 1954. He (A.K. Fazlul Haq) had to stick to his rump and his follower Abu Hussein Sarkar, thereby, of course, he got everything. He became the advocate-general, then chief minister, then a central home minister and finally the governor of East Pakistan.

The United Front formed the provincial government with Abu Hussein Sarkar as the Chief Minister. Cabinet of Ministers : Syed Azizul Huq ; Mr.Ashafuddin Ahmed Chowdhury; Syed Mostagawsal Huq; Mr. Gyasuddin Ahmed Chowdhury; Mr.Gyasuddin Ahmed ; Haji Md. Nabi Chowdhury; Mr. Provash Chandra Lahiry; Mr. Ahmed Hossain; Mr. Madhusudan Sarkar; Mr. Monoranjan Sikdar.

The UF finally broke up Meanwhile, KSP supported separate electoral system in the Constitution of Pakistan and opposed the joint electoral system, the minority members in the EBLA withdrew support to Fazlul Huq and instead, Hindu Leaders (Congress, UPP and Ganatantri Party)support to the AL on the basis of 5-point agreement. In 1955, AL adopted the path of secularism and non-communalism, erased the word' Muslim' from its nomenclature.

A coalition government led by AL comprising minority and left party members formed the cabinet. on 6September 1956. Ataur Rahman Khan became the Chief Minister. on September 12,1956 ,S H Suhrawardy became Prime Minister of Pakistan and remained in power for 13 months . First time Al took power in the centre for 13 months (12 September-18 October 1957) and in East Pakistan for 18 months(6 September 1956- 31 March 1958) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Dhirendranath Dutta, Monoranjan Dhar, Mashiur Rahman, Mansur Ali ,Abdur Rahman Khairat Hossain ,Khafiluddin Chowdhury, Muhammad Ali ,Rasharaj Mondal,Sarat Chandra Majumder and Gour Chandra Bala were also members of the AL Cabinet. These respected Hindu leaders served terms in prison at different times. Since the early Sixties, the Hindu students in the colleges and Universities came in touch with left-winged politics of EPSU as the Hindu bhadralok (gentleman) had been dominating the Bengal Communist Party since 1930s. The Hindu involvement in the so-called communist groups was more an ideological motivation than to safeguard the minority interests. These Communist Hindu bhadraloks were well educated, suffered great loss after the 1950 riots, when two-thirds of the party members migrated to India.

Badruddin Umar,a noted Bangladesh writer and Marxist ideologue, in his book entitled “The Emergence of Bangladesh : The class Struggles in East Pakistan,1947-1958(Oxford U P,2004)”is a welcome edition to the list. Chapters dealing with Partition, peasants' and workers' movements, formation of the East Pakistan Communist Party and its role, Language Movement in East Pakistan are the best ones. On minority question and partition of India , thus the creation of Pakistan did not solve the” religious minority problems'(p.-1) holding both Congress and Jinnah responsible for this. About the failure of Communist Movements, the author is of the view that the mistaken policy and strategy adopted by the Communist Party were responsible for not being able to play its desired role despite genuine commitment and many sacrifices. First of all , in pursuance of B.T.Ranadive's thesis, the communist party had to a recourse to a militant path in the aftermath of partition when Pakistan euphoria was very much high among the Muslim masses. Secondly, in the early sixties, the party resolved to allow a section of its leadership to operate within the Awami League instead of developing itself as an independent body pursuing the Bengali national question along the line of class struggles. The author has a pioneering work on Language movement in three volumes. (to be continued)

The plight of MINORITIES IN ERSTWHILE East Bengal turned Bangladesh
After the imposition of martial law, the Hindu community retreated from the mainstream Bangladesh life. Hindu advancement in politics ended with the collapse of the parliamentary system. The repressive, anti-Hindu and anti-Indian martial law regime forced the Hindus to retreat. Even when Ayub Khan installed a quasi-constitutional government in Pakistan , they did not stage a comeback in the political arena. Survival was the greatest problem facing the community. The Hindus were always free to migrate to India. This very fact explains the lack of any serious effort on the part of the Hindu leaders to rebuild their political base and their gradual retreat. Had there been no opportunity to migrate to India, they would have made serious attempts to re-emerge politically.

The East Pakistan Communist Party was outlawed in 1954. The political atmosphere in the January 1965 presidential election and the subsequent defeat of the Combined Opposition Party candidate Miss Fatima Jinnah (sister of M. A. Jinnah) and 17-day long Indo-Pak War in September 1965 eastern wing was cut off from West Pakistan . It has been noticed that the fate of the Hindu community was often determined by the relations this land had with India.

In 1964, the Hindus had to face a great riot. In 1965, they had to face the imposition of the Enemy Property Ordinance and their leaders were thrown behind the prison bars. The E P Communist Party until its split into pro-Moscow and pro- Peking groups in 1966, was led by Comrade Mani Singh. Sheikh Mujib'smetamorphosis from an organization man to a charismatic leader came in the 1960's. After H S Suhrawardy's death in 1963, the Awami League suffered a leadership vacuum. Sheikh Mujib missed no opportunity to exploit the political developments .

BENGALI MUSLIMS FIGHT COMMUNALISM in 1964
On December 5, 1963, the former Prime Minister and the most prominent leader of the NDF, Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy, died in his sleep in Beirut where he was undergoing treatment. The whole of Pakistan mourned his death with a renewed pledge to carry on the struggle of the people against the Ayub regime. Since then, the government was looking for an opportunity to crush the unity of the people, particularly those of East Pakistan. Soon the opportunity came and the government made its full utilization. A hair of Prophet Mohammad was stolen from the Hazratbal (so called because it contained a hair of Prophet Muhammad) mosque in Kashmir. The government utilized this incident to incite the Muslims and the ruling Pakistan Convention Muslim League declared ‘Kashmir Day' on January 3, 1964 .

Towards the end of 1963, tension between Bengali and non-Bengali workers in the mills and factories were reported in Khulna. Sporadic riots took place in Khulna.This gave rise to the communal riots in East Bengal -the lead was taken by a leader of Khulna and soon the riot was spread over the industrial areas there and soon the whole of East Bengal got the contagion. The Biharis took the lead again. Riots also started in Jessore, Mymensingh, Pabna, Rajshahi and some other places. It was learnt that at all the places Bengali Muslims came forward to protect the Hindus and in the process some of them were killed. An official-backed news item on the issue of the theft of the Prophet's holy hair from the Hazratbal shrine in Kashmir was in the media. I still recall the voice of Radio Pakistan newscaster Sarkar Kabiruddin stating "This hair is not that holy hair, this is a false,artificial hair."

Kamruddin Ahmed writes: “When it was affecting even Dacca, a committee was formed to resist the communal riot in the name of ”Danga Pratirodh Committee” and a leaflet was issued under the title ”Purba Pakistan Rukhia Darao” (p. -157) 41 It was learnt later that in Dacca, the Bengali Muslims under the political leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ataur Rahman and others from National Awami Party, students, journalists of East Pakistan Journalists Union and intellectuals brought out a procession. Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia, the Ittefaq editor, Zahur Hossain Chowdhury, the Sangbad editor and Abdus Salam, The Pakistan observer editor, were at the head of the journalists' procession. The Ittefaq came out with a call urging the Bengalis to rise up and put up resistance. In bold headlines on the front page, the paper said: " SANGRAMI BANGALI RUKHIYA DARAON". Two small news items and a comment in the Dacca papers were revealing. The Ittefaq reported that at least 95% homes of the minority community in Dacca and Narayangonj had been affected in 3 days-14 to 16 January, 1964. The Pakistan Observer reported that attacks were made on a girls' school, hostels, and passengers on trains and buses, and that evacuees from Narayangonj alone who took shelter in two mills totaled 240,00. Unofficial estimates of the evacuees in Dacca put the number at about 150,000. Mr. Ataur Rahman Khan , ex-chief minister of East Pakistan and former prime minister of Bangladesh , in his book "SWOIRACHARER DOSH BACHHAR,- Ten Years of Despotic Rule” gave a pen-picture of the riots. It was an irony of fate that whenever there was massive communal violence against Hindus, the Government arrested the Hindu leaders and the Bengali Muslims who were fighting against the riotous mob to protect the Hindus. In Dacca, Narayangonj and other affected places loot, arson, rape, and killings were going on It was a dress rehearsal of 1971.

The non-Bengali and Muslim League goondas spared nobody in the so-called holy war, not even an American national, Professor Father Novak, who was brutally murdered on 16 January 1964 because he was going to rescue a Hindu family in distress. The Guardian of Manchester and London commented in a dispatch that Dacca riots were the worst in a decade. The local press was ordered to print nothing on the wave of religious violence. After four days, Father Novak's body was found on the riverbank and his personal effects, including a wristwatch and a bicycle, were recovered from those who killed him. Non-Bengali Muslims killed a number of Bengali Muslims during this riot. Massive exodus of the Hindus began after the riot of 1964. The Bengali nationalism created a united effort for democratic movements among the Hindu-Muslim communities.

What is remarkable about the rise of Bengali nationalism, as observed by James Novak,"is that Muslim feeling declined and Islam ultimately was put on the defensive. This change had been implicit in the founding of the Awami League,a party that,while never anti-Muslim,had not countenanced communalism. However,after the much -agitated Prophet's hair riots of 1964,the Muslim (rightiest) leadership lost its ability to generate mass support.".

The Bangladesh Awami League:(AL): This party was founded in 1949 under the dynamic leadership of Maolana A H Khan Bhasani and H S Suhrawardy as Awami Muslim League and later in 1955 it dropped the word Muslim from its manifesto for the greater participation of all communities irrespective of religion and caste. After 1963, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, single handedly led the party and the country's struggle for Liberation. The party committed to democracy, secularism,nationalism,and socialism. After August 1975 and particularly in the nineties the party moved to the principle of market economy.

Six-Point and Movements
At this opportune moment, Sheikh Mujib, his party the Awami League, and its students' wing EP Students League (EPSL) came out with programmes to consolidate the Bengali support for the rising Bangalee nationalist movement. Sheikh Mujib put forward his famous six-point demands at a conference in Lahore in February 1966. It sparked a political movement in East Pakistan. Military ruler Gen. Ayub Khan branded Sheikh Mujib as "secessionist' and threatened to use the 'language of weapon'. A conspiracy case known as "Infamous Agartala Conspiracy Case" was filed against Sheikh Mujib and some of his close associates.

The six-point movement received total support from people of all walks of life including the Hindus. A mass upsurge in September 1968-March 1969 swept over all over Pakistan, resulting in the collapse of Gen. Ayub's first Martial Law regime. The release of Sheikh Mujib and Moni Singh other political party leaders was applauded by the people of this land. On February 21, 1969, the top student leaders provided the leadership of different political parties. Sheikh Mujib was accorded a hero's reception at Ramna Race Course. Student leader Tofail Ahmed, on behalf of the people, conferred the title of “Bangabandhu (friend of Bangal) on Sheikh Mujib. In the 1970 general elections of Pakistan, the Awami League received unqualified support from the Hindus. On March 25, 1969 , Ayub Khan was ousted from power and General Yahia Khan took over the helms of affairs of Pakistan .

The rapid polarization in the East-West Pakistan relationship during the Ayub era opened up newer possibilities for the Hindus. The Muslim League and communal politics became totally discredited among the Bengali Muslims. Bengali nationalist Muslims were now fighting against the ruling West Pakistani Muslim elite. The Bengali nationalists were espousing the causes of secularism, unfettered democracy, provincial autonomy, and equal rights for all citizens for which the Hindus had fought a long time. The schism between the Muslims of the two wings of Pakistan led to the regrouping of the Hindus with the Awami League. The Hindu regrouping was manifested in the 1970 elections and the Bangladesh liberation movement.

“West Pakistan before 1971 and Pakistan after 1971 does not lack positive elements but military rule which has obtained from 1958 has put by now the very existence of the nation in jeopardy. With us the Armed Services put their nominees in power in 1975 and I do not know of any self-denying exercise which has altered the essence of the power situation since then. The state of the nation is not understandable except by taking cognizance of the crude fact that power as of now in Bangladesh, is undividedly in the hands of the military. What is in store for the nation state flows from this simple broad fact? The politics of nation is, in the final analysis, the struggle for the location and exercise of power in the society. …Progressive politics is politics, which helps broadening the base of power. ….What happens in Bangladesh is only of marginal importance and interest to India. It is disconcerting but hard fact of life. A military rule, because it is essentially a conquest of one's own country, remains more prone to the reception of policies and practices, on cue from abroad, which have hardly any reference to the needs of the nation. Like any rule the military gives first priority to its own continuance. With its narrow base within, the proneness to accept advice and aid, which will facilitate its continuance, is inevitable and almost unlimited. The military presence makes it inevitable that the first item in a national agenda is the elimination of the military rule."( Prof. Abdur Razzaq :Bangladesh: State of the Nation, 1981,DU)

Birth of Bangladesh
On the evening of March 25, Yahya Khan secretly left Dhaka. Anthony Mascarenhas writes: "It was about 5 p.m. on Thursday the 25 March, 1971. Those who witnessed it say they will never forget that moment of departure. In many ways it marked the turning point in Pakistan's history. Ten days earlier, the President had arrived in Dacca in a bouncy mood. Now there was an obvious despondency and the black mood was infectious. The fact that the talks had failed was of no consequence. They were not intended to succeed. The purport had been purely military - the purchase of time for preparedness and the big strike. Now, even that ultimate decision was behind him." (Rape of Bangladesh , p.1).Immediately the order went out from Eastern Command Headquarters : SORT THEM OUT. Tanks and Trucks fanned out in Dacca and Chittagong, guns boomed and the genocide began.

Professor Stanley Wolpert writes: "For most of the world, however, the genocidal massacre unleashed by Pakistani forces on 26 march 1971 was a much louder and more memorable proclamation of the independence of Bangladesh than any proclamation to that effect that Mujib might have on the radio. Clearly, Zulfi agreed with Yahya and Tikka's 'final solution' to their Bangladesh 'problem'. A 'nightmare of fascism' was unleashed with the wanton massacre of innocent people in full view of every foreign correspondent and most foreign diplomats in Dacca. The Consul-General Archer Blood, senior US diplomat in Dacca, cabled Washington at the time to report the "mass killing of unarmed civilians, the systematic elimination of the intelligentsia, and the annihilation of the Hindu population."

With Dacca still burning the next morning and Bangladesh emerging bloody but unbowed, Yahya went on Pakistan Radio to declare that "Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's action of starting his non-cooperation movement is an act of treason. He and his party have defied the lawful authority for over three weeks. They have insulted Pakistan's flag and have tried to run a parallel government. They have created turmoil, terror and insecurity. The Armed Forces located in East Pakistan have been subjected to taunts and insults of all kinds. I wish to compliment them on the tremendous restraint that they have shown. I am proud of them. [ Bhutto: His life and Times of Pakistan, By Stanley Wolpert, Oxford University Press, London, 1993 pp 155-56].Bangabandhu declared independence of Bangladesh and courted arrest on 25/26 March 1971. Bangabandhu's declaration of independence was incorporated in the proclamation of Independence on April 10, 1971.

Remembering those days, on April 10, 1971 an overwhelming majority of the elected representatives of the people of East Pakistan formed a Constituent Assembly and declared Bangladesh a sovereign People's Republic. After inauguration and swearing-in of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh on April 17, 1971 at Mujibnagar the cabinet took responsibility of the day-to-day development in the different sectors. We were at Mujibnagar in 1971; we witnessed the birth of nation-state Bangladesh . At Mujibnagar on April 10,1971Bangladesh Government was constituted under angabandhu‘s in absentia, Syed Nazrul Islam, acting president of Bangladesh, prime minister Tajuddin Ahmed led the war alone with cabinet ministers who were sworn-in on April 17, proclamation of Independence was read out in presence of public and hundred foreign journalist and Coln (retd) M A G Osmany,MNA became the C-n-C of the Mukti Bahini. Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed had said on April 17, 1971, at Mujibnagar. “Bangladesh is at war. It has no choice but to secure its right of self-determination through a National Liberation struggle against the colonial oppression of West Pakistan.”

We were present on the occasion. 11 sector commanders were appointed by the Mujibnagar Government in July, nearly 1 million freedom fighters were trained by October'71, ‘Z', 'S' and ‘K' brigade force were formed by the liberation army of Bangladesh. The nine-month-long liberation war in Bangladesh drew world attention because of the genocide committed by Pakistan which resulted in the killings of approximately three million people and raping of nearly a quarter million girls and women. Ten million Bengalis reportedly took refuge in India to avoid the massacre of the Pakistan army and thirty million people were displaced within the country .The most important turning point in the history of Bangladesh genesis was “Indo-Soviet Treaty”in August 1971. Amid the atmosphere of mounting tension, this news was received with a great sense of relief and satisfaction in India. The treaty was hailed by all sections of political opinion.

Provisional Government of Bangladesh hailed the treaty. Bengali diplomats quit their jobs extend allegiance to the Mujibnagar Government and built diplomatic missions in Calcutta, New Delhi, UK and USA. Pakistan was busy with retaliation of freedom fighters and the trial of Sheikh Mujib in August1971,world leaders including secretary general of UNs U Thant condemned the process of so-called 'treasonous trial'. World opinion was created in favour of Bangladesh , US people were donating the concert of George Harrison, amid a chorus of emotional Western pop songs, and with the world lining up to offer salvation of starving ten million refugees in India .

I was a PR man to the Home Minister at Mujibnagar, moreover entrusted with the responsibility to look after special training camps and the refugee issues. Ten million refugees, over 90% of them were minorities, stranded in inhuman, pitiable conditions in 825 Indian camps across the border in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It was on the 2 November,1971, one month before Pakistan declared war upon India on 3 December 1971, that Mrs. Indira Gandhi said in London, "We in India are determined that we are not going to be saddled with another country's problem. All the refugees must go back. "The Prime Minister of India undertook journeys to the Soviet Union (September 27-29) and to Belgium, Austria, the United Kingdom, The United States, France and West Germany (October 16-November 13) to inform the governments of these countries of the plight of refugees, the strain that they were placing on Indian economy and the threat that the entire problem of East Pakistan was posing to the security of the sub-continent.

" It may be recalled that a joint command between Mitra Bahini, India and Mukti Bahini, was secretly formed in October, 1971. On November 21, 1971, for the first time since the Proclamation of Independence of Bangladesh, India's tanks and trucks with Indian troops and Bangladesh freedom fighters crossed the border north of Calcutta, near Boira, rolling towards Jessore. At 5-40 p.m. on Friday December 3, 1971 Pakistan Air Force launched premeditated preemptive air strikes on a number of Indian targets. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was in Calcutta Red Fort Maidan addressing a public meeting. Suddenly she concluded her speech and rushed back to Delhi on hearing of the Pakistani aggression. Twenty minutes after midnight, Mrs. Gandhi making a national broadcast ''at a moment of great peril to our country” said ''today the war in Bangladesh has become a war on India... We have no other option but to put our country on a war footing...”

On December 6, 1971 Mrs. Indira Gandhi announced in Parliament the recognition by the government of India of the 'Gano Projatantri Bangladesh. ”The decision of the government,” Mrs. Gandhi said, “was not guided merely by emotion but by an assessment of future realities.” The last phase of the war between December 4 and December 16 was a history in the modern Guerilla warfare. Toward the end of the thirteen-day war, under the joint command of Mukti Bahini and Mitrabahini entered the Capital Dacca, Pakistan army with nearly 93 thousand well-trained soldiers surrendered. Lt.Gen A.A.K.Niazi signed the surrender document in Dacca on 16 December1971. Indian Army legend Lt. Gen. Aurora, who presided over the historic surrender by the Pakistani troops under Lt. Gen. AAK Niazi in Dhaka. The photograph showing Niazi signing the surrender deed has become an abiding symbol of an epoch-making event in world history that saw the birth of Bangladesh as an independent nation.

The Bangladesh Government-in-exile at Mujibnagar established itself in Dacca on Dec. 22, 1971. And The Government of Bangladesh renamed erstwhile Governor House of East Pakistan as Bangabhaban on 17 December 1971, the Official Residence of the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. It was originally temporary official residence of the British Viceroy of India, and later of the Governor of East Bengal and was known as Governor House. This palace is notoriously known as palace clique and conspiracy. since 1947 to 12 December 1971 .

It may be recalled that on 12 December 1971 the sitting room of the then Governor Dr A M Malik was so accurately hit by the Indian Air Force that Dr. Malik was forced to declare resignation alone with his cabinet of collaborators and seek shelter in Hotel Dacca International, which was declared a neutral territory. Torn papers and government papers were scattered in the every rooms of the governor's house while we entered in the Bangabhaban on December 22,1971 . One Mr. Mostaque Ahmed ,an accountant of the House had shown us many evidences. However, The first Cabinet meeting of the People's Republic of Bangladesh , Dacca , was held at Bangabhaban on December 24, 1971 .

We have known moments of suffering and joy and indomitable courage of the Freedom Fighters during the nine months of War of Liberation. Helpless men, women, and children - Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Buddhists, professionals, intellectuals, government servants, students and other common citizens from different walks of life, all victims of Pak-military atrocity--ran across the border seeking refuge in India from the China-made machineguns and artillery and US-made aircraft and tanks of the Pakistani Army.

After three and half decades of Independence of Bangladesh, a question stirred me much in 2006 Whither Bangladesh? Where is the ending of unending stories of minority in Bangladesh?

BANGLADESH and minority
Bangladesh is born, out of Pakistan by fire, as a product of double secessions. She has changed her identity twice in less than a quarter of a century. The history of the birth of Pakistan was associated with communal strife and bitterness. But Bangladesh is the product of the War of Liberation. It was a movement against the Pakistani military-bureaucratic oligarchy for the establishment of democratic rights. Democracy, alone with secularism, socialism, and Bengali nationalism, was originally adopted as the state principles in the constitution of Bangladesh in 1972. Thus, the founding father of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's political legacy has been a secular nation whose framework is grounded both in its constitution and in its people's hearts and minds. People as a whole repose absolute confidence in his leadership. The subsequent military governments in Bangladesh after August 1975, however, reversed all the state principles. Secularism has been replaced with full trust in almighty Allah and Islam the State religion. Socialism was replaced with social justice and Bengali nationalism with Bangladeshi nationalism, presumably, to highlight the Islamic identity of the nation. Bangladeshi Hindus become second-class citizens. "

We have no political party or forum to fight for our cause, but there has been a great demand for our votes

Sociological or Demographical Studies on Minorities:
•  THE STATE OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES : Migration of the Hindu minority community from Bangladesh continues. Socio-economic conditions, lack of national policy and legal security are the reasons behind the migration. These reasons have caused insecurity in the lives of the minorities, who are being rendered weaker and weaker. This report provides information on minorities leaving Bangladesh following anti-minority disturbances after the demolition of the Babri mosque in India .
•  Beginning of the migration : According to the 1991 census, the total population of Bangladesh stood at 107,993,000, of which 87.4 per cent were Muslims and the rest, the minorities 10,967,080.( 12.6 percent )The Hindu community comprises 10.5 per cent. The remaining 1.1 per cent of the total population (1991 census), which comes to 1,188,003, are Buddhists, Christians and members of the tribal communities.
•  Fifty years ago, in 1941, 28.3 percent of the total population was religious minorities and 70.3 percent the majority Muslims community. At that time, of the total 41,997,297 population, there were 29,524,099 Muslims, 11,885,235 Hindus and 587,963 other minorities, including Buddhists, Christians and Tribals. Getting the correct figures of tribals in the Chittagong Hill Tracts was not possible because many led a nomadic life, moving from place to place in the remote areas. Similar conditions still prevail, but modern census methods and the emergence of many non-governmental social welfare organisations have made it possible to calculate fairly accurately the correct figure of the tribals
.•  An evaluation of government statistics of 50 years, from 1941 to 1991 indicates a large drop in the population of the minorities. A comparative picture of 50 years shows that the number of the Muslim majority has increased by 60,861,783, while during the same period the Hindu population increased by 533,960. That means, the increase of the Muslim population is 219.5 per cent and that of the Hindu population 4.5 percent. Had the normal increase rate prevailed, the number of the Hindu community in this country would have been about three crore, but the Hindu population in Bangladesh stood at 1.25 crore (12,419,195) in 1991.
•  One of the reasons why the population growth rate in the Hindu community is relatively lower than that of the Muslims is that the custom of remarriage of widows in the Hindu communities is almost absent. Apart from that the Hindus feel easier about accepting family planning methods to keep their family small. No statistics have been prepared in this regard in Bangladesh.

Thus the birth rate was calculated at two per cent less in case of the Hindu community compared to the Muslims. The number of the Hindus living in this country should have been about 3.25 crore, but it is 1.25 crore. That is, the number of Hindus has been reduced by two crore in the last 50 years (till 1991). The most likely explanation is that they have left the country. Among the minorities, the tendency to leave the country is greatest among the Hindus. Among other minorities, Tribals of the Hill Tracts are a prey to oppression and discrimination. The Tribals of the Barind area of Rajshahi division are also being oppressed in various ways. As a result, their migration is also continuing. (CCHRB- Report –1994) In Bangladesh we are also facing the crisis acutely. But, why it is so ?

In Bangladesh, over the 36 years, no government has initiated any committee or commission relating to issues prevailing in the minorities in Bangladesh. Moreover, their ancestral properties are vested with the government since promulgation of Enemy Property Ordinance in 1965; With the emergence of Bangladesh , the law relating to the administration of Enemy Property remained in force by virtue of the Laws Continuance Enforcement Order 1971. The President of the Country then promulgated an Order on 26 March 1972. Since then the issue has been rolling with ordinances, amendments, circulars, memos, committee and so on. But no tangible action has yet been taken by the Government to solve the contentious issue of minority Hindus. 'Property ownership has been a contentious issue since independence when many Hindus lost land holdings due to unequal application of the law.' said a U S report in 1993. So, therefore, Minority in this subcontinent becomes a' Vote-Bank' issue.

The coup of General Ayub Khan in October 1958 spoiled the aspirations of the political parties for the general elections that were promised for February 1959. Politics and politicians went back to the pavilian, humiliation, torture and political persecutions started on the Hindu leaders. Following the independence of Bangladesh three Hindu members of parliament were included in Sheikh Mujib's cabinet (1972-75). They were Phani Bhusan Majumder, Monoranjan Dhar, and State -minister Dr. Kshitish Chandra Mondal. Since then no cabinet minister was sworn-in in the cabinet of Bangladesh .

In the subsequent military regimes which ruled the country from 1975 to 1990 a few Hindus were appointed in some other posts. Mr Rasaraj Mondal and Sunil Kumar Gupta served as Advisers to the Chief Martial Law Administrator and President of Bangladesh and Minister of State respectively. Later Mr Nitai Roy Chowdhury was appointed a state minister which he enjoyed only for 88 days as the great uprising overthrew the Ershad Government on 6 December 1990 . After the departure of Gen.Ershad, the caretaker government system was introduced on the basis of consensus of all opposition parties. None from the minority community was inducted in the the caretaker government. Following the general elections of 1991, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed re-establishing the Parliamentary system that was abolished by Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman under the Fourth Amendment. But none from the minority community has yet become a full minister either in the BNP or in the Awami League government. There were no Advisers from the minority community in the caretaker Government of Justice Habibur Rahman in 1996.

The democratically elected governments of Bangladesh led by Begum Khaleda Zia (BNP govt during 1991-96) did not extend the privilege to any minority to be a cabinet minister. Mr Gayeshwar Roy, a non-MP, was made a state minister in the BNP Government During the Awami League Government (1996-2001), Mr Satish Chandra Roy, MP, was a state minister and Mr. Dhirendra Debnath Shambhu a Deputy Minister.
Table shows the pitiable representation of Minorities : Minority Representatives in the Assembly/ Parliament (including names of cabinet ministers)