Bangladesh is part of the historic and ethnolinguistic
region of Bengal, which was divided during the Partition of British India in
1947 as the eastern exclave of the Dominion of Pakistan.[19] Ancient Bengal was
known as Gangaridai and was a stronghold of pre-Islamic kingdoms. The Muslim
conquest after 1204 led to the sultanate and Mughal periods, during which an
independent Bengal Sultanate and wealthy Mughal Bengal transformed the region
into an important centre of regional affairs, trade, and diplomacy. The Battle
of Plassey in 1757 marked the beginning of British rule for next 200 years. The
creation of Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905 set a precedent for the emergence
of Bangladesh. The All-India Muslim League, which was founded in Dhaka in
1906,[20] fought for a separate Bengali Muslim homeland in the Eastern Bengal,
which was proposed in the Lahore Resolution in 1940 by A. K. Fazlul Huq, the
first Prime Minister of Bengal. The present-day territorial boundary was
established with the announcement of the Radcliffe Line.
In 1947, East Bengal became the most populous province in
the Dominion of Pakistan and was renamed East Pakistan, with Dhaka as the
legislative capital. The Bengali Language Movement in 1952, the 1958 Pakistani
coup d'état, and the 1970 Pakistani general election spurred Bengali
nationalism and pro-democracy movements. The refusal of the Pakistani military
junta to transfer power to the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
triggered the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The Mukti Bahini waged a
successful armed revolution; the conflict saw the Bangladeshi genocide. The
country came into existence on 16 December 1971 after the surrender of
Pakistan, ending the 9-month long Liberation War.[19]
After the war, Sheikh Mujib became the leader of the
country. Mujib's assassination in 1975 led to the rise of Ziaur Rahman, who
himself was assassinated in 1981. The 1980s was dominated by the presidency of
Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who was overthrown in a mass uprising in 1990. After
1990, the "Battle of the Begums" between Khaleda Zia and Sheikh
Hasina defined Bangladesh's politics and history for next 34 years.[21][22][23]
Following the overthrow of Hasina in a student–led mass uprising in August
2024, an interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus took
power.
A middle power in the Indo-Pacific,[24] Bangladesh is home
to the fifth-most spoken native language, the third-largest Muslim-majority
population, and the second-largest economy in South Asia. It maintains the
third-largest military in the region and is the largest contributor to UN
peacekeeping operations.[25] Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary republic
based on the Westminster system. Bengalis make up almost 99% of the
population.[26] The country consists of eight divisions, 64 districts, and 495
sub districts, and includes the world's largest mangrove forest. Bangladesh has
one of the largest refugee populations in the world due to the Rohingya
genocide in neighboring Myanmar.[27] Bangladesh faces challenges like
corruption, political instability, overpopulation, and the effects of climate
change. Bangladesh has twice chaired the Climate Vulnerable Forum and hosts the
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
(BIMSTEC) headquarters. It is a founding member of the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and a member of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation and the Commonwealth of Nations.
.svg)
0 Comments