Abstract
Bangladesh comprises the eastern territories of the partitioned province of Bengal and the former Assam district of Sylhet, with the exception of certain thanas of the Karimganj sub-division. The state was formerly the Eastern Province of Pakistan. In Nov. 1970 the southern Ganges delta was devastated by a cyclonic tidal wave. The number of dead was estimated as at least 220,000 and the number of dwellings destroyed and damaged as 350,000. Crops and stock were also destroyed. In Dec. 1970 Shaikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League Party gained 167 seats out of 300 at the Pakistan general election and immediately made known their wish for greater independence for the then Eastern Province. Martial law was imposed following disturbances in Dacca, and civil war developed in March 1971. India, having protested to Pakistan about the suppression of the East’s rebellion and the influx of refugees into India, entered a state of war with Pakistan on 3 Dec. 1971 and the allied forces of India and Bangladesh defeated Pakistani forces in the East on 16 Dec. 1971.
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Books of Reference
Chowdhury, R., The Genesis of Bangladesh. London, 1972
Kamal, K. A., Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 2nd ed. Dacca, 1970
Kashyap S. C. (ed.), Bangla Desh: Background and Perspectives, New Delhi, 1971
Khan, A. R., The Economy of Bangladesh. London, 1972
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© 1973 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Paxton, J. (1973). Bangladesh. In: Paxton, J. (eds) The Statesman’s Year-Book. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230271029_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230271029_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-27102-9
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