The non-cooperation movement of 1971 was a historical movement in then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) by the Awami League and the public against the military government of Pakistan in March of that year. After the announcement of the suspension of the session of the National Assembly of Pakistan on 1 March, the spontaneous movement of the people started, but officially, on the call of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the non-cooperation movement started on 2 March and continued until 25 March. The movement lasted for a total of 25 days.
The main objective of this movement was to ensure the autonomy of East Pakistan from the central government of Pakistan. During this period, the control of the central government from West Pakistan over the civilian administration of East Pakistan was almost non-existent. At one stage of the movement, the whole of East Pakistan, except the cantonments, was largely under the authority of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Background
In 1940, A. K. Fazlul Huq presented the Lahore Resolution as a promoter at the All India Muslim League conference held in Lahore, Province of Punjab. The third article of the Lahore Resolution called for the creation of a number of independent and sovereign Muslim majority states in British-ruled India by specifically adjusting the boundaries of places as territories on the basis of geographical location.
But the Muslim League did not implement the article, instead amending the Lahore Resolution in the Delhi Resolution of 1946 to create a single Muslim state in the Indian subcontinent in 1947 with all Muslim-majority areas. During the partition of India, Bengal was divided into two parts by religion. The Hindu-dominated West Bengal region was incorporated into India, and the Muslim-dominated East Bengal region into Pakistan. In 1955, the name of the province of East Bengal was changed to East Pakistan.
Although East Pakistan was governed as a region of Pakistan under the One Unit Scheme, the region was discriminated against politically, financially, culturally, and militarily. Nineteen years after the establishment of Pakistan, the Awami League demanded the implementation of a federal system in the state as one of the phases of the six-point movement. The system allows the administrative regions to remain independent under the central government.
Within four years from 1966, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as the president of the Awami League, was able to unite the people of East Pakistan in favor of Bengali nationalism.
In the 1970 general election, the Awami League won an absolute majority in the country's National Assembly, winning 167 of the 313 seats, including reserved seats for women.
As a result of this victory of the Awami League, the leaders of other political parties in West Pakistan, including the Pakistan People's Party, were afraid to realize that the implementation of the six points was inevitable. The ruling group felt that the unity of Pakistan would be destroyed if the six points were implemented.
Yahya Khan, the president of Pakistan, came to Dacca (present-day Dhaka) on 12 January 1971. He held two rounds of talks with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said about this discussion:
Similarly, before returning to West Pakistan, President Yahya Khan told reporters,
Returning to West Pakistan, he went to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's residence in Larkana and held a secret meeting with the generals.
Then Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came to Dacca with other leaders of the party on the 27th, 28th, and 29th and held several rounds of meetings with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other top leaders of the Awami League at Hotel Intercontinental.
In the meeting on the 27th, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman rejected Bhutto's offer to form an alliance and share power. After the meeting, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman planned to organize a meeting of the National Assembly by 15 February and formulate a constitution based on the six points, but Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto further discussed. He expressed the opinion that it is necessary to do.
He proposed to hold a session of the National Assembly at the end of March. However, President Yahya Khan convened a session of the National Assembly on 3 March. But on 15 February, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto announced that he and his party would not attend the session unless the Awami League compromised on their 6 points or changed them.
Four days later, on 19 February, Yahya Khan discussed with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto about the next step. After the meeting, Bhutto repeated the same claim. He remained adamant about not attending the session if the Awami League did not meet his conditions.
On 28 February, he warned that he would start agitation if the session started without his party. He also threatened to kill members of the Constituent Assembly who wanted to attend the session from West Pakistan in Dacca.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman understood that the West Pakistanis were planning to sabotage the election results. So he was making tough decisions day by day. President Yahya Khan, in consultation with Bhutto, adjourned the National Assembly session indefinitely on 1 March. As a result, the people of Bengal burst into anger; the movement began.
Initial phase (1–7 March) 1 March
General Yahya Khan announced the adjournment of the National Assembly session on 1 March 1971 at 1:50 PM (UTC+6) on 1 March 1971, following a threat by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan's second largest party, the Pakistan People's Party.
During this announcement, the ongoing cricket match between International XI and BCCP at the Dacca Stadium was stopped in the face of public protests. The student crowd went into a spontaneous movement without any guidance from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The students first gathered in groups at Battala of the University of Dacca and decided to hold a public meeting at Paltan Maidan.
On that day, the members of the Awami League parliamentary party, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were busy drafting the constitution based on the 6 points at Hotel Purbani, so the angry crowd gathered in front of the hotel. There, the crowd burned the Pakistani flag and pictures of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman then held a press conference and advised everyone to continue the movement peacefully. He simultaneously announced a hartal until 2 pm on 2 and 3 March and decided to hold a public meeting at the Race Course Maidan on 7 March.
That evening, Muhammad Iqbal Hall and Muhammad Ali Jinnah Hall of Dacca University were renamed as Shahid Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall and Surya Sen Hall, respectively.
On this day, under the instruction of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Nur-e-Alam Siddiqui, Shajahan Siraj, A. S. M. Abdur Rab, and Abdul Kuddas Makhan founded the Swadhin Bangla Chhatra Sangram Parishad () in the afternoon after a secret meeting.
2 March
On this day, the "Independent Bengal Student Struggle Council" under the leadership of A. S. M. Abdur Rab, the vice-president of Dhaka University Central Students' Union, was the first to raise the flag of independent Bangladesh with its map.
On this day Sahabzada Yaqub Khan was appointed Governor of East Pakistan. Despite martial law and the imposition of a curfew from 7 pm to 7 am, widespread agitation continued. A strike was observed in Dacca till 2 pm. The movement was fired upon. At Paltan Maidan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a nationwide strike until 3 March and announced his decision to address the nation on 7 March. He also said that the program of the movement to achieve autonomy would be outlined in the speech.
On the same day, the East Bengal Labor Movement handed over pamphlets to people calling to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the independence of East Pakistan by fighting against the central government of Pakistan. In the evening, Awami League's branch in Karachi held discussions with Pakistani political parties. The Pakistan People's Party was absent from the discussion aimed at the latest political situation in Pakistan. In the meeting, the Awami League demanded to hold the National Assembly session by 7 March.
On this day, there were reports of looting of shops by unknown perpetrators in various parts of East Pakistan. The people resisted the looters and burnt the looted goods. A curfew was imposed in Dacca through radio announcements at night. When the students broke the curfew and took out a procession at night, they were fired upon in different parts of the city.
3 March
On this day, in the presence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Paltan Maidan, under the banner of the Student Struggle Council, Shajahan Siraj, the then general secretary of the Students' League, announced the independence manifesto of Bangladesh. It declared East Pakistan to become an independent and sovereign state called Bangladesh as well as defining its goals. is It also declared Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Commander-in-Chief of sovereign Bangladesh.
On this day, almost all government, semi-government and autonomous offices and institutions of East Pakistan, the Secretariat, the High Court and other courts, Pakistan International Airlines, railways and all other communication media, industrial and commercial institutions were observed in all places in the country, and meetings and marches were held. A procession was held on this day with the bodies of several people who had been shot dead the previous night. Many places in East Pakistan were shot at during these processions. As a result, 75 people were shot dead in Chittagong besides 23 people in the city of Dacca. Curfew was imposed in Dacca, Rangpur, and Sylhet.
Yahya Khan announced the decision to hold a conference of leaders in Dacca on 10 March and promised to start the National Assembly session within two weeks of this conference. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto agreed, but Sheikh Mujibur Rahman rejected it. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman told Bhutto that if the Bhuttos did not want to accept a democratically constituted system of governance, then a separate system of governance would be created for East Pakistan.
At night, when troops and goods were disembarked from the MV Swat ship at Chittagong port, a clash broke out between the army and the protesting sailors. Seven army personnel were tried by a court-martial and sentenced to death by the Pakistan Army after refusing to open fire on the protesters.
4 March
Curfew was lifted from the provincial capital. But Martial Law No. 113 was issued in the district and hill tracts area in Chittagong. East Pakistani artists and journalists joined the movement. On this day, Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, the president of the National Awami Party, demanded the rights of the people of this country based on the Lahore Resolution of 1940. Sahibzada Yakub Khan, the chief martial law administrator of East Pakistan, resigned as the situation deteriorated.
East Pakistani politician Nurul Amin called on Yahya Khan to convene a session of the National Assembly that day. At a press conference in Karachi, Asghar Khan called on the central government to give power to Awami League to maintain the unity of Pakistan.
On this day, Radio Pakistan and the Dhaka center of Pakistan Television, the government television channel, changed their names to Dacca Betar Kendro, and Dacca Television respectively. From this day to 6 March, Sheikh Mujib ordered a strike from six in the morning to two in the afternoon.
5 March The movement continued. 4 people were killed and 25 were injured in the shooting in Tongi. As a result of firing in Chittagong, the death toll has increased to 138. Curfew was again imposed in Rangpur and Rajshahi. The teachers of the University of Dacca and East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology joined the movement.
From this day, on the orders of Sheikh Mujib, all government and private offices, banks, and ration shops are open from 2.30 pm to 4.00 pm only for urgent needs and for the purpose of paying salaries to employees.