@Karla M
1.Since you are researching I would suggest you go through a concise history of the Indo-Gangetic valley or the delta,as is also called,from late eighteenth century. 23 June 1757 is a watershed and an ignominious date for us.The cunning English, resorting to conspiracy and treachery, began enslaving us from that date.Till then we were sovereign and the Muslims were the ruling community dominating in the army,govt service, landholding, and of course the rulers were Muslim.
2. In1773, the East India Co imposed the Permanent Settlement Act which, at a stroke, reduced us to the poorer/disadvantaged group. Our rights over lands were taken away leaving the English to collect taxes direct from the zamindars/landlords who were mostly Hindus.
3. Due to our dislike for the British, we did not join education system under them remaining in our traditional madrasas taught in Arabic and Persian. The Hindus, who were happy to see the Muslims ousted, quickly filled in, and therefore,prospered. As a sequel to the armed revolt,1857 by the Bengal Army, Bengalee Muslims were forbidden from military service, hitherto our preferred vocation.Various insurrections followed like the Faraizi movement, Fakir uprising, etc directed against the British and the Hindus.
4. Agitating to better our life, in1905 the British conceded and gave the Bengalee Muslims a separate province. This was annulled in 1907 under great pressure by the Hindus.
5. Meanwhile in 1906,Muslim League, a political party of the Muslims,was formed at Dhaka under Nawab Salimullah, the Nawab of Dhaka. The 1940 Lahore Resolution,which is known as the Pakistan Resolution, was drafted and moved by our Premier Fazlul Huq. We felt very close to Pakistan ideology. Pakistan, we felt, was our project. In fact, what is now Pakistan had voted against forming the nation. We,therefore, felt betrayed by events particularly after Jinnah's death,1948.
6. Once you get the background correct,for whch Google issufficient, ask me particular questions. I shall try my best to answer. But for a research the background overview is important.
Hi !
thanks a lot!
well, yes! I have already written the background...
1. I know about Siraj-ud-Daulah and The Black Hole of Calcutta in Williams fort , and the treachery of Mir Jafar who simply surrendered himself in Plassey battle ...to get title of Nawab of Bengal...correct? and later on Mir Qasim tried to take Bengal back but failed, and that's how the british got the diwani....
2. I actually didnt know about that! so i can't comment on this :-/
3. Correct, I have read how Muslims rejected the Western/English education ...unlike the hindus who learnt english really fast and got them into their colleges, which eventually gave them jobs. It was until Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who advocated for english education to Muslims. He, himself rejected the Revolt in 1857, which was started by bengali sepoys, whose motives were not only the beef cartridge and also excessive taxes... but also about the "doctrine of Lapse", (that's how they got Nagpur and Oudh)
--> I never heard of Faraizi movement, Fakir uprising, etc directed against the British and the Hindus.... so I need to read about that!!!
But after the loyalists army of Punjab helped out ... the Bengalis were not trusted and British stopped recruiting them and instead recruited from Punjab and even pashtoons? and also in 1858 the British Crown took over Indian lands and British East India Company was dissolved.
4. Yes I read how Bengal was divided in 1906 but it only lasted 2 years because hindus pressured this way..
HERE ARE MY QUESTION:
- Which hindus were against this? the hindus who became a minority in East Bengal?? or all of Bengali Hindus? or all Indian Hindus... :S or Congress Party?
- United Bengal had a hindu majority?? Why did the British have to take the division back in order to please the hindus?
5. OK this is a very confusing part...
here's what I know (from readings, which may be biased, so dont take me wrong and feel free to correct)...
MA Jinnah took the Two Nation Theory in Lahore Resolution in 1940, and took Pakistan slogan, created by Rahmat Ali but the acronym didn't include Bengal ...
The only thing i know about Fazlul Huq is his following statement (aside the fact of being called Sher-e -Bengal):
"no constitutional plan would be workable in this country (British India) or acceptable to the Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principles, viz... that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial adjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority, as in the North Western and Easter zones of India, should be grouped to constitute Independent States in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign"
this comes in chapter 4: The Third Indo-Pakistani War and the Birth of Bangladesh
from India and Pakistan: Continued Conflict or Cooperation? by Stanley Wolpert
HERE ARE MORE QUESTIONS
I'm not even sure what he (Fazlul Huq) really meant by that...
- Independent States? two Pakistans? Pakistan and Bengal? (which my guess is he meant whole United Bengal to be a separate state from what would Pakistan be?)
6. Jinnah demanded the creation of a State based on religion, but after partition he had a speech where he stated how they all became Pakistanis and minorities wouldn't have to be afraid...
some people migrated thinking they would live in a State whose government would be Islamic... Since the most conservatives islamic leaders did not agree on the "islamic nationalism" and so they didn't approve Pakistan's project ...but AFTER they saw Pakistan actual creation, they had to "clean their image" and started demanding an Islamic government............................
but this was not the case
Anyway, Jinnah died too soon.
After second India-Pakistan war in 1965, Bengalis realized how vulnerable they were and thus Six Points Movement by Mujeeb-ur Rahman, demanding:
- Supremacy of the Legislature, which had to be based on direct elections and universal suffrage.
- Federal Government had to deal only with Defense and Foreign Affairs, the rest had to be in hands of Federal States
- Two easily convertible currencies. Or one currency but taking constitutional grants to avoid flight of capital from East to West.
- Taxes should be recollected by Federal States and they should only give some percentage to Federal Government
- Two separate accounts for foreign exchange
- Creation of East Pakistan's own militia
These points were ¿ignored? by West. or maybe not taken seriously? not sure exactly
But after cyclone in 1970 Bengalis became all the more angry at West...
Listen there's a gap of 4 years in which I'm not sure what exactly happened in the East-West Pakistan relations...if you could help me telling me something important happening from 1966-1970
Anyway... after the elections Awami League won 160 out of 162 seats in Eat Bengal for Constituent Assembly... and also a majority for Provincial Assembly...
PPP of Bhutto won majority in West Bengal and they got 81 seats....
but then AL had the right to from a Federal Government
West did not want to give power to East...
not sure if because they simply didnt like Bengalis, or because West were relying on East for the economy and the Six Points demands would negatively affect on them....
My question when i started this thread was
What did ZA Bhutto had in mind when he flew to East Bengal to cut a deal with Mujeeb-ur Rahman in March of 1971? which deal would he offer??
Because, from what i read, when he went back to West Pakistan he stated "By the Grace of God, at last Pakistan has been saved" but then the Operation Searchlight started and the Dhaka dormitories massacre occurred....
Hope you could help me out!
Greetings!
and nice to meet you