Book contents
- A History of Bangladesh
- A History of Bangladesh
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Plates
- Maps and Figures
- Preface to Second Edition
- Acknowledgements
- Timeline
- Introduction
- Part I The Long View
- Part II Colonial Encounters
- Part III Becoming East Pakistan
- Part IV War and the Birth of Bangladesh
- Chapter 17 Armed Conflict
- Chapter 18 A State Is Born
- Chapter 19 Imagining a New Nation
- Part V Independent Bangladesh
- Conclusion
- Bangladesh District Maps
- Key Political Figures since 1947
- Glossary of Bengali Terms
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 17 - Armed Conflict
from Part IV - War and the Birth of Bangladesh
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 June 2021
- A History of Bangladesh
- A History of Bangladesh
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Plates
- Maps and Figures
- Preface to Second Edition
- Acknowledgements
- Timeline
- Introduction
- Part I The Long View
- Part II Colonial Encounters
- Part III Becoming East Pakistan
- Part IV War and the Birth of Bangladesh
- Chapter 17 Armed Conflict
- Chapter 18 A State Is Born
- Chapter 19 Imagining a New Nation
- Part V Independent Bangladesh
- Conclusion
- Bangladesh District Maps
- Key Political Figures since 1947
- Glossary of Bengali Terms
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In 1971 the Pakistan armed forces began a genocidal attack on the population of East Pakistan, igniting the Bangladesh Liberation War. The main thread is the violent struggle between the armed forces and local guerrilla fighters. But interwoven with this chronicle of national liberation are many other themes: the victimisation of specific groups (women, Hindus, ethnic minorities); local vendettas and the settling of personal scores; tensions between nationalists of different hues; regional variation in violence and destruction as well as in population displacement; and thousands of stories of personal courage and sacrifice. Equally important is the fact that the war was part of two larger geopolitical games: the rivalry between India and Pakistan and the struggle between Cold War superpowers.
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- Information
- A History of Bangladesh , pp. 183 - 196Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020