Unrest in Bangladesh
The partition of India in 1947 created two countries spread across three areas. West Pakistan comprised Baluchistan and Sindh plus part of what had been the Punjab. East Bengal (later East Pakistan) comprised part of Bengal. Between them lay India, with its Hindu majority.
However, the two halves of the country had very little in common. Bengal had a long history and had evolved its own language and culture. It also had an agrarian economy, while West Pakistan was becoming increasingly industrialised. The two halves also began to diverge over the one thing they had in common: religion. West Pakistan saw a greater role for Islam in public affairs than the more secular Bengalis.
The country was ruled from the West. More money was spent on the West and as Pakistan’s institutions evolved, two thirds of the country’s elite civil servants came from the West.
Widespread dissent and disaffection found its figurehead in Mujibur Rahman (Sheikh Mujib), a founding member of the Awami League. The party was set up in 1949 as a reaction to the language controversy, when Mohammed Ali Jinnah has tried
