Mujibnagar: The first government of independent Bangladesh

In an apparent sense, the Mujibnagar Government was a government - in - exile; but, in reality, it was not. It was indeed the first government of independent Bangladesh with a number of distinctive features. First, this government took its oath of office at Baidyanathtola, a strip of land of the southwestern district of Meherpur near the Indian border, which was independent at the time. No other government - in - exile anywhere in the world had ever formed itself on an independent soil.

All such governments were formed on the territory of friendly and sympathetic countries. The Mujibnagar Government, so named after the Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Baidyanathtola was renamed Mujibnagar, and which was symbolically the first capital of Bangladesh), had, however to function from its headquarters in Kolkata; and this was for security reasons.

Second, this government was formed by the elected members to the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Provincial Assembly of East Pakistan. Thus this was a government that grew not simply out of circumstances, it was also fully representative and legitimate.

Third, this government organized, conducted and successfully completed the Liberation War in the shortest possible time. Ours was the shortest war in the history of such wars throughout the world. In fact, when we use the expression 'the nine - month long Liberation War' the adjective 'long' is seemingly unhistorical and mostly emotional. Historically, a better expression would be the nine month Liberation War of us.

This first government of Bangladesh was formed on 10 April 1971, which took its oath of office on 17 April at Mujibnagar.

On 10 April, however, this government had performed a historic task by making the Proclamation of Independence whereby it undertook to "declare and constitute Bangladesh to be sovereign People's Republic and thereby confirm the declaration of independence already made by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman..." It may be mentioned that in his radio - message to the nation Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed clearly stated that the War of Liberation would be a short one. As this forecast turned out to be true it may be commented that Tajuddin Ahmed had a vision befitting a true leader of the people.

The core of this government was a six-member war cabinet headed by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (in absentia). Syed Nazrul Islam was vice president and the acting president as well. Other members were Tajuddin Ahmed as the Prime Minister, and Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed. Capt. Monsoor Ali and A H M Kamaruzzaman. This cabinet was tasked "to guide and coordinate the war of liberation."

Throughout the nine-month Liberation War this government functioned through as many as twelve ministries and divisions; which were: Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Finance, Industry and Commerce Ministry, Cabinet Secretariat; General Administration Division, Health and  Welfare Ministry, Radio and Information Ministry, Home Ministry, Relief and Rehabilitation Ministry, Parliament Division, Agriculture Division, and Engineering Division.

Moreover, the Cabinet Secretariat had the responsibility to oversee and monitor the activities of such specially formed bodies as Planning Commission, Board of Trade and Industry, Board of Control to monitor induction of Youth in the war effort, Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, and Refugee Welfare Board.

Tajuddin Ahmad, as Prime Minister, was in charge of the Minister Defense; and, for obvious reasons, this was the most crucial ministry. As subsequent events showed, Tajuddin Ahmed had provided the right type of leadership as the head of this ministry. The Ministry of Finance was in the charge of Capt. M. Monsoor Ali; A H M Kamaruzzaman had the charge of Home, Relief and Rehabilitation; and Khondaker Mostaq had the portfolios of Law and Foreign Affairs. Col. (Retd.) M A G Osmani was appointed the Commander-in-Chief; while the Prime Minister held the post of the Supreme Commander.

Although this government was tasked with the prime responsibility of conducting the war the detailed structure and manifold circumstantial imperatives compelled it to divide its activities into at least three interrelated sectors: civil administration, military affairs (the core one); and diplomatic initiatives to secure recognition for the just - born new state of Bangladesh. In organizational and spatial terms, this was a government which did not differ from that of a normal government, differing, however, in intent and purport.

A normal government runs and develops a country. On the other hand, the Mujibnagar Government had two prime goals: to retrieve the country from the Pakistani occupation forces through a successful war, and to wage an international diplomatic war to secure the country with recognition of the world community.

Moreover, this government had genuine concerns as to how to go about the challenging task of a war devastated country following the successful end to the war. Thus future roadmap was to be outlined by what came to be known as the Planning Cell comprising outstanding intellectuals and professionals of the nation. Headed by the renowned Dhaka University Political Science Professor Dr. Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury the Cell had the following members: Dr. Khan Sarwar Murshid, Dr. Mosharraf Hossain, Dr. S. R. Bose, and Dr. Anisuzzaman.

The best and unquestionable testimony to the success of the Mujibnagar Government is how it organized and conducted an unequal war. The war was unequal in that the fighters (muktijoddha) in the Liberation War were mostly civilians with very little training and weapons; and these fighters along with some militarily trained co-fighters had to wage the war against the highly professional and heavily armed Pakistani occupation forces.

It was certainly superb leadership and the exemplary morale of muktijoddha that delivered the unique victory for us, and that too so quickly. The Indian military participation towards the end of the war quickened the pace of the defeat of the occupation forces, but it is agreed on all hands that much of the spade - work for this quick finale had been done adequately by the muktijoddha battalions.

On 25 March 1971, the Liberation War had started as a spontaneous resistance by both civil and military elements. But by 17 July, as a consequence of a week-long meeting, Bangladesh was divided into eleven command sectors under the leadership of sector commanders. But the sector 10 could not be seen on the war map of Bangladesh as this was the naval sector covering entire Bangladesh.

Moreover, there were brigade-size special forces under three senior Bengali military officers: Z Force under Ziaur Rahman, K Force under Khaled Mosharraf, and S Force under K M Shafiullah. There were other groups fighting the Pakistani troops from within Bangladesh; but they were not under the control of the Mujibnagar Government.

A retrospective analysis reveals that the diplomatic demarches of the Mujibnagar Government had elements of careful planning and organization. The areas of concentration appeared to be India, Europe, USA, Socialist countries, Muslim countries of the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia. Moreover, the one supranational organization that received priority attention of the Ministry Foreign Affairs was the United Nations.

Immediately after the oath-taking, the Mujibnagar Government initiated its war on the diplomatic front for seeking assistance and recognition. The press statement issued by the prime minister titled "To the People of the World" closed with these moving words: "In our struggle for survival we seek the friendship of all people, the big power and the small. … We now appeal to the nations of the world for recognition and assistance both material and moral in our struggle for nationhood.

Every day this is delayed a thousand lives are lost and more of Bangladesh's vital assets are destroyed. In the name of humanity act now and earn our undying friendship." It goes to the credit of this government that the world public opinion, even of those countries the governments of which had inimical stance vis-a-vis Bangladesh, extended moral support to the cause of independent Bangladesh.

But the United Nations refused to give the Bangladesh delegation under the leadership of Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury a hearing in the Security Council, an act which drew a cryptic comment from Samar Sen, the Indian Permanent Representative at the United Nations:

"Without hearing the voice of Bangla Desh is like playing Hamlet without the prince of Denmark." On 4 December, Justice Chowdhury sent a letter to the president of the Security Countil seeking permission to make a statement which produced a resume of the background of the Liberation War. Although refused again this letter was circulated to the members of the Security Council.

This letter ended with these poignant words: "There can be no proper evaluation of the present situation, its causes, present state and future solution, without Bangla Desh being given a hearing." The Bangladesh cause was, however, taken care of at the United Nations as the Soviet representative vetoed the ill - intentioned move to impose a cease-fire at out penultimate hour of victory.

In retrospect, the Mujibnagar Government, despite circumstantial odds of huge proportions, had enormous achievements. Along with waging the Liberation War it had to battle on many fronts. It had occasional and temporary setbacks; but the leadership was astute enough to overcome these and move ahead with a firm control over the situation until victory was achieved.

History of the Bengali people, right from the ancient through to the modern times is replete with many instances of leadership under many odd circumstances, but there is hardly anyone with a claim better than that of the Liberation War. Indeed, the Mujibnagar Government remains a testimony to the leadership ingenuity of the Bengali people.

The writer, an eminent historian, is Bangabandhu Chair Professor at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)