Today we are creating sample essay on “Spirit of 1971 Essay “. The Spirit of 1971 reflects the resolute determination and valor of the Bangladeshi people during their Independence War against Pakistan. This struggle, marked by immense sacrifice, resulted in the birth of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation. The spirit embodied the quest for democracy, linguistic and cultural rights, and freedom from political and economic subjugation. Today, it serves as a symbol of national pride and resilience, reminding Bangladeshis of their hard-fought independence and inspiring continued progress toward a just and prosperous nation. The Spirit of 1971 continues to shape Bangladesh’s national identity and ethos.
Spirit of 1971 Essay
Introduction:
The real spirit of our independence has taught us the lesson to always uphold the truth and follow the rightful path. To fight against injustice and remain ever ready to make any sacrifice for establishing one’s rightful claim is also the lesson of the spirit of independence. Of all the feelings that people have, the most beautiful thing, is surely love. And of all the things that one is capable of loving the world, the most intense love has to be for one’s own country, one’s motherland.
There is nobody as unfortunate as the person who has never felt love for his motherland. We are very lucky that the war we fought for independence of our motherland has a history of supreme sacrifice, unbelievable bravery and valor and great achievement. When people hear about this history they not only feel deep love and compassion, but they are also filled with pride at the thought of what this country’s people have achieved.
Background:
The British have ruled this region for approximately two hundred years. Thousands of people have been killed imprisoned and exiled in their attempts to be free. At last in August 1947, the partition of British India gave rise to two new states, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.
The Dominion of Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas to the east and the west of India. The western zone was popularly termed West Pakistan and the eastern zone (modern day Bangladesh) was initially termed East Bengal and later, East Pakistan.
Language Movement:
Pakistan was born in 1947 and in 1948 Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah came to Dhaka and announced that ‘Urdu would be Pakistan’s national language’. The people of East Pakistan immediately started to protest. The movement intensified and reached its peak on the 21st of February 1952.
Rafiq, Salam, Barkat, Jabbar and many others were shot and killed by the police. But even that could not stop the movement and in 1956 Pakistan’s rulers were forced to recognize Bangla as a national language. 21st February is now a special date not only for Bangladesh, but for the whole world as International Mother Language Day.
Six Points: In 1966, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the spirited leader of the Awami League announced his six point demand for autonomy. This was an extraordinary document demanding freedom from economic exploitation, deprivation and oppression. As soon as this was announced, almost all of Awami League’s important leaders were arrested and put in jail.
Also, to teach him a lesson Bangabandhu was accused of treason under a case called ‘the Agartala Conspiracy.’The East Pakistanis refused to accept and protests sprang up all over the country. Imprisonment, torture, gunfire from the police and East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) nothing could stop them. Students led these movements. They had an eleven point demand.
Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani had not been imprisoned and he came forward also. The bright young teenager Motiur died in this movement in 1969, as did Dhaka University students Asad after whom Ayub Gate was then renamed Asad Gate. The Pakistan army was finally forced to free Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the other leaders. Also, the mighty president Ayub Khan handed over power to the Pakistan’s army chief General Yahya Khan.
Political Differences:
Although East Pakistan accounted for a slight majority of the country’s population, political power remained in the hands of West Pakistanis. Since a straightforward system of representation based on population would have concentrated political power in East Pakistan, the West Pakistani establishment came up with the “One Unit” scheme, where all of West Pakistan was considered one province. This was solely to counterbalance the East wing’s votes.
After the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s first prime minister, in 1951, political power began to devolve to the President of Pakistan, and eventually, the military. The nominal elected chief executive, the Prime Minister, was frequently sacked by the establishment, acting through the President.
The East Pakistanis observed that the West Pakistani establishment would swiftly depose any East Pakistanis elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, such as Khawaja Nazimuddin, Muhammad Ali Bogra, or Huseyn Shaheed
Suhrawardy. Their suspicions were further influenced by the military dictatorships of Ayub Khan (27 October 1958-25 March 1969) and Yahya Khan (25 March 1969-20 December 1971), both West Pakistanis. The situation reached a climax in 1970, when the Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections.
The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 313 seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the constitutional right to form a government. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
March Turmoil:
When the postponement of the Assemble was announced on the radio, instantaneously the people erupted in protest: Dhaka Stadium became a battlefield, schools, offices, stores everything were shut down immediately. Thousands of people took the streets; Dhaka became a city of processions.
The people began to chant slogans for independence ‘Joy Bangla’, ‘Bir Bangali Ostro Dhoro, Bangladesh Swadhin Koro’.On the 2nd of March at the Dhaka University’s historical Banyan tree, the flag with Bangladesh’s map was hoisted. On the 3rd of March at the Paltan Maidan, the Students League meeting decided that Rabindranath Tagore’s “Amar Sonar Bangla” would be Bangladesh’s national anthem.
On the 7th of March, Bangabandhu went to today’s Suhrawardy Uddayan to deliver a speech. By then all of East Pakistan was following his rule. Tens of thousands of people came to hear his speech. Suhrawardy Uddayan was literally a sea of people. Bangabandhu announced in this famous speech,
“This time the fight is our fight for liberation. This time the fight is fight for independence.” There have been few speeches of this type in the history of the world. The speech brought together all the people and gave them the courage they needed to sacrifice their lives for the independence of their motherland. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman urged his people to turn every house into a fort of resistance.
Operation Searchlight :
On the 25th of March, he gave the order for one of the cruelest genocides in the history of Mankind. The genocide had been planned for a long time and the blueprints were called Operation Searchlight. The main objective of Operation Searchlight was to arrest Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. A commando team of the Pakistan Army went to his house and arrested him.
Declaration of Independence:
After committing one of the world’s most terrible genocide’s in Dhaka, the armed forces and EPR in Chittagong rebelled and took control of a large part of the city. On the 27th of March, from Chittagong’s Kalurghat radio station, Major Ziaur Rahman read the declaration of independence on behalf of Bangabandhu Skeikh Mujibur Rahman.
Liberation War:
The Liberation War took place in two phases. The first phase was the war of resistance, which began just after the Operation Searchlight was unleashed on the deadly night of 25 March 1971. The moment the marauding Pakistani army waged the crack-down on the sleeping people at dead of night, some of our armed forces started fighting back almost instantaneously.
This war of resistance continued until the Mujibnagar Government was formed on 17 April 1971. The whole country was divided into eleven sectors under the command of eleven highly efficient army officers. Apart from that, many civil commanders formed different guerrilla forces to fight the enemies.
All classes of people of East Bengal took part in the liberation war to save Bangladesh from the continuous oppression of Pakistani army rulers. As many as three million people were killed and two hundred thousand women were raped and molested. Numberless houses, buildings, mills, factories, bridges, culverts, roads, highways and railways were destroyed. Finally victory was achieved on 16 December 1971, which is celebrated as the Victory Day.
Spirit of Liberation War:
Economic exploitation and political control of the then Pakistan government inspired and united the entire nation to achieve not only the right to speak in the mother tongue but also to establish equal rights in all spheres and aspects of national life. The 21 points of the Jukta Front and the 6 point demand of the Awami League were the organized processes of those demands.
The demand for provincial autonomy was most forcefully expressed through 6 point of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 11 point programme of the students and the whole country became united under the banner of the Awami League. The over whelming victory of the Awami League in the election of 1970 was the direct effect of the inspiration of nationalism.
Conclusion:
The spirit of nationalism and the determination to achieve independence inspired the whole nation to the supreme sacrifice. The spirit of independence is basically one of the major milestones of our national, political and social life. Everything is possible through united spirit of independence.