History of India and Bangladesh.

The land that is now known as Bangladesh has been a part of 'Undivided India' since the ancient days of the Indic Civilization and was a part of the Bengal Province. The idea of a separate Bengal was first introduced by the British government at the beginning of the 20th century in order to divide and rule and suppress the growing freedom movement in the region. Lord Curzon, the viceroy of India at the time, implemented the separation of Bengal along religious lines, creating East Bengal for the Muslim-majority region and West Bengal for the Hindu-majority region. Although this decision was later reversed in 1911, the concept of East Bengal with a Muslim majority lingered in the minds of certain hardline Muslim organizations.

During the Independence of 1947, Bengal was once again divided along religious lines, becoming East Pakistan. Despite playing a significant role in the formation of Pakistan, East Pakistan was consistently marginalized by Karachi post-1947. The resource-rich region of Bengal was exploited for the benefit of West Pakistan, while its people were deprived of basic necessities and faced discrimination in various aspects of life. This led to the emergence of the Bangladeshi freedom movement and the formation of the Mukti Bahini, a guerrilla resistance movement comprising Bengali military, paramilitary, and civilians.

The turning point came during the devastating Bhola cyclone of the 1970s, which caused the loss of 300,000 lives due to the gross negligence and indifference of the Pakistan Administration. In the 1971 election, the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman from the East, won by a large margin but was prevented from forming a government by the military. To quell dissent, the army launched Operation Searchlight, targeting civilians and specifically instructing soldiers to commit heinous acts against women and girls, particularly those of Hindu descent.

Pakistan initially succeeded in suppressing the rebellion until India intervened to halt the atrocities committed by the Pakistani military. India provided training and arms support to the Mukti Bahini, leading to the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and culminating in Pakistan's surrender in Dhaka on 16th December, marking the largest surrender of armed personnel since World War II. This paved the way for the independence and establishment of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.