Writing the history of war, especially the history of a liberation war, is one of the most challenging tasks for historians. The Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 was no exception. Faced with the loss, destruction, or restricted access to potential archives, historians grapple with the task of finding alternative sources, often turning to oral histories.
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GENERAL YAQUB RESIGNS
General Yaqub, who had taken charge of East Pakistan from Governor Ahsan on March 1, 1971, sent his resignation by telegram on the morning of March 5, 1971. Siddiq Salik, then public relations officer in the Pakistan army at Dhaka, recounts the events leading to Yaqub s resignation in his book Witness to Surrender.
On March 4 General Yaqub rang up General Peerzada, principal staff officer to Yahya Khan, and told him to request the president to visit Dhaka without further delay. Peerzada, after having a word with Yahya, rang back and informed Yaqub that the president would be visiting Dhaka soon but the date is yet to be confirmed. The same night, around 9:10pm, Yahya rang Yaqub and said, I have changed my mind. I am not coming to Dhaka.
বাংলাদেশ হারালেও টিক্কা খানকে পুরস্কৃত করে ভুট্টো ও তার কন্যা! | 597270| bd-pratidin.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bd-pratidin.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
How 1970 elections led to the break-up
Critics argue that the 1970 elections were the last attempt to keep Pakistan united
The writer is former Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi and can be reached at [email protected]
Dr GW Choudhury, a central minister in the cabinet of president General Yahya Khan, wrote in his book,
The Last Days of United Pakistan, that “elections were held on December 7, 1970, and were by any standard free and fair ironically the first and last genuine election in united Pakistan.” Yet the results of such elections were astonishing: Awami League, which gained 160 out of 162 seats from East Pakistan could not get a single seat from West Pakistan; and Pakistan Peoples Party, which got 81 out of 138 seats from West Pakistan, was unable to secure even a single seat from the country’s Eastern wing. In the absence of a national party representing both the provinces, the die was cast and the disintegration of the country was inevitabl