The Bangladesh Movement 1947-1971: A Bibliography of English and Bengali Sources

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This book is a modest representation of various publications on the Bangladesh Liberation Movement. The movement gained momentum in 1952 when the desire for establishing Bengali as one of the national languages strengthened. The gap between the economic prosperity of East Pakistan and that of West Pakistan widened. These combined factors augmented regional agitation and eventually led to the creation of Bangladesh.

The author Gita Chakra arty, after her post-graduation in philosophy, left Calcutta and settled in London. She has been serving the British Library for the last twenty four years gaining exposure to various world publications. Having served as a curator she acquired specialist knowledge of the North India and Bangladesh language area. She spent a considerable amount of time in Bangladesh and subsequently developed an intense interest in the region's political progression from the advent of unrest in East Pakistan to the formation of present day Bangladesh. This publication aims to focus on literature pertaining to the movement.

It is a pleasure to write this preface to the bibliography of the Bangladesh movement compiled by my colleague in the British Library, Mrs Gita Chakravarty. That this work was undertaken in her leisure time is testimony to both her dedication and her industry, as is the fact that readers will find listed here more than 2,000 items.

The scope of the bibliography is impressively wide, covering both English and Bengali language sources, and it is particularly apt that the creative literature inspired by the struggle for Bangladeshi independence has been included as that had its origin in the movement to establish the status of the Bengali language.

Nearly twenty years on, there is a feeling of historical inevitability about the creation of Bangladesh and the time is perhaps ripe for a revaluation of the events and issues leading up to it. A bibliography on this theme was long overdue, and I hope that Mrs Chakravarty's work will provide the necessary impetus for increased research in this field in the near future.

This bibliography attempts to cover all publications concerning the Bangladesh et from the period 1947-1997 Sources are presented under various category headings for both English and Bengali texts for convenience.

Bangladesh first aroused international interest after its separation from India in 1947 The was East Pakistan, the province was one of two pockets of territory created by the British which gave Muslims, who felt that they would not be fairly represented within a new secular and independent India, the chance to rule a country in which they were in the majority These pockets of territory, however, situated a thousand miles apart either side of India, had very little other than religious conviction in common, their cultural backgrounds were very different and the more or less exclusive use of the region's homogeneous Bengali in East Pakistan contrasted sharply with the eight recognised languages spoken in West Pakistan.

These cultural differences, as well as growing economic inequality with the West, led to resentment in East Pakistan, where protests complained of deprivation and marginalisation in the newly-formed Pakistani government. This unrest quickly led to the foundation in Dhaka in 1949 of the powerful Awami League, whose sole purpose would be to attend to the needs of East Pakistan. Frustration over poor social and economic conditions had been welling up since the time of the Raj, and the creation of Pakistan which politicians had promised would be the solution to many of these problems did not live up to Bengali expectations.

The ideal behind the creation of a Pakistani state was nevertheless a very popular one Muslim power in India had suffered greatly under the Raj colonial policies had forced Muslims and their traditions out of Indian government and society. In 1837, Persian was replaced by English as the official state language for the provinces which formerly comprised the Mughal Empire. As a result, Muslims were forced out of their traditional positions in the judicial service and alienated from the new British social hierarchy While the Muslim elite rejected the new system of education, Hindus embraced the cultural reforms imposed on them and consequently monopolised new employment opportunities while Muslims simply fell behind.

After the Indian Mutiny, however, government policy gradually changed to accommodate Muslim leaders. The Muslim community came to be recognised as a separate entity and concessions were made in education and employment. The Muslim masses became increasingly politically conscious, manipulated by their leaders through their religious belief and frustrated at their continued economic deprivation. By 1947 it had become apparent that the only solution to Muslim grievances was self- determination: the elite classes would be able to control the state and obtain government employment, instead of being denied political influence and patronage in a Hindu dominated India. For poorer Muslims, an independent Islamic state meant escape form Hindu Zamindars who had exploited them under British rule. For these reasons Bengali Muslims voted overwhelmingly in favour of the creation of a new state of Pakistan in the elections of 1946.