Bangladesh

[[[East Pakistan separated from West Pakistan because of neglect and abuse on part of West Pakistan. East Pakistan was fairly lawless and forgotten by West Pakistan. East Pakistan had no voice when it came to its own affairs, as well.

Examples of neglect include:

The East Pakistani population was 58% of the total population of the WHOLE of Pakistan. This majority were not even allowed to have their language as one of the national languages until after a bloody battle between army and students.

Sub standard goods were sold from West Pakistan to East Pakistan at double the price. East Pakistan was not allowed to deal directly with any neighbouring countries

East Pakistani had no representation in the armed forces or in government or local office.

East Pakistan was very much in the same position as modern day province Baluchistan. Like East Pakistan, Baluchistan has an independence movement - the Baluchistan Liberation Army. It is fighting for independence for very much the same reason as East Pakistan did.

Many Pakistani supporters and Pakistani propagandists suggest the real cause due to which east Pakistan was separated from west Pakistan was the interference of India in Pakistan's internal matters, and then surprisingly in 1971 Indian army attcked east Pakistan resulting in the formation of Bangladesh.

In reality, Indias involvement came after 10,000,000 refugees fled into India across the border. India noticed that the majority of these 10,000,000 were hindus. Part of West Pakistani genocide programs. The cost of feeding the refugees and epidemic from disease resulting from this tradgedy prompted then Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi to raise the issue with the UN. However the UN at that time was involved with the politics of the "Cold War" with US allies and USSR allies veteoing and counter veteoing proposals.

With this ineptitude of the UN, India took an opportunity to help its neighbouring Bengalis and assisted in destroying an already weakened and dilapitated West Pakistani enemy force.

It must also be mentioned that the First "offical" strike between West Pakistan and India was actually led by West Pakistan on the Western front when it made a PRE-EMPTIVE strike on India's airbase and tried to cripple India's airforce. the stratedgy was based on the Jewish/Israeli PRE-EMPTIVE strike of the 6 day war used in 1966 against Arab/Muslim forces.

East Pakistan won their independence in 1971 and shortly after in 1973 (Inspired by Bangladesh's success) the first Baluchi uprising started with a 55,000 man rebellion against Punjabi domination in Pakistan.]]] Biased answer

[But the real cause due to which east Pakistan was separated from west Pakistan was the interference of India in Pakistan's internal matters, and then surprisingly in 1971 Indian army attcked east Pakistan resulting in the formation of Bangladesh.]- Already discussed.

And Nowdays India is destablising baloshistan and backing the liberation army for fuelling insurgency in the province and creating unrest.

Main article: History of BangladeshSee also: History of BengalLord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey.

Remnants of civilization in the greater Bengal region date back four thousand years,[6] when the region was settled by Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, and Austro-Asiatic peoples. The exact origin of the word "Bangla" or "Bengal" is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from Bang, the Dravidian-speaking tribe that settled in the area around the year 1000 BC.[7]

After the arrival of Indo-Aryans, the kingdom of Gangaridai was formed from at least the seventh century BC, which later united with Bihar under the Magadha and Maurya Empires. Bengal was later part of the Gupta Empire from the third to the sixth centuries CE. Following its collapse, a dynamic Bengali named Shashanka founded an impressive yet short-lived kingdom. Shashanka is considered the first independent king in the history of Bangladesh. After a period of anarchy, the Buddhist Pala dynasty ruled the region for four hundred years, followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena dynasty. Islam was introduced to Bengal in the twelfth century by Sufi missionaries, and subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region.[8] Bakhtiar Khilji, a Turkish general, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal. The region was ruled by dynasties of Sultans and feudal lords for the next few hundred years. By the 16th century, the Mughal Empire controlled Bengal, and Dhaka became an important provincial centre of Mughal administration.

European traders arrived late in the 15th century, and their influence grew until the British East India Company gained control of Bengal following the Battle of Plassey in 1757.[9] The bloody rebellion of 1857, known as the Sepoy Mutiny, resulted in transfer of authority to the crown, with a British viceroy running the administration.[10] During colonial rule, famine racked the Indian subcontinent many times, including the Great Bengal famine of 1943 that claimed 3 million lives.[11]

Between 1905 and 1911, an abortive attempt was made to divide the province of Bengal into two zones, with Dhaka being the capital of the eastern zone.[12] When India was partitioned in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines, with the western part going to India and the eastern part joining Pakistan as a province called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan), with its capital at Dhaka.[13]The Shaheed Minar, which commemorates the Language Movement, is a well known landmark in Bangladesh.

In 1950, land reform was accomplished in East Bengal with the abolishment of the feudal zamindari system.[14] However, despite the economic and demographic weight of the east, Pakistan's government and military were largely dominated by the upper classes from the west. The Bengali Language Movement of 1952 was the first sign of friction between the two wings of Pakistan.[15] Dissatisfaction with the central government over economic and cultural issues continued to rise through the next decade, during which the Awami League emerged as the political voice of the Bengali-speaking population. It agitated for autonomy in the 1960s, and in 1966, its president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was jailed; he was released in 1969 after an unprecedented popular uprising.

In 1970, a massive cyclone devastated the coast of East Pakistan, and the central government responded poorly. The Bengali population's anger was compounded when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose Awami League won a majority in Parliament in the 1970 elections,[16] was blocked from taking office. After staging compromise talks with Mujib, President Yahya Khan arrested him on the early hours of March 26, 1971, and launched Operation Searchlight,[17] a sustained military assault on East Pakistan. Yahya's methods were extremely bloody, and the violence of the war resulted in many civilian deaths .[18] Chief targets included intellectuals and Hindus, and about ten million refugees fled to neighbouring India (LaPorte,[19] p. 103). Estimates of those massacred throughout the war range from three hundred thousand to 3 million.[20]Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founder of Bangladesh.

Most of the Awami League leaders fled and set up a government-in-exile in Calcutta, India. The Bangladesh Liberation War lasted for nine months. The guerrilla Mukti Bahini and Bengali regulars eventually received support from the Indian Armed Forces in December 1971. The Indian army, under the command of Lt. General J.S. Aurora, achieved a decisive victory over Pakistan on December 16, 1971, taking over 90,000 prisoners of war[21] in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

After its independence, Bangladesh became a parliamentary democracy, with Mujib as the Prime Minister. In the 1973 parliamentary elections, the Awami League gained an absolute majority. A nationwide famine occurred during 1973 and 1974,[11] and in early 1975, Mujib initiated a one-party socialist rule with his newly formed BAKSAL. On August 15, 1975, Mujib and his family were assassinated by mid-level military officers.[22]

A series of bloody coups and counter-coups in the following three months culminated in the ascent to power of General Ziaur Rahman, who reinstated multi-party politics and founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Zia's rule ended when he was assassinated in 1981 by elements of the military.[22] Bangladesh's next major ruler was General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, who gained power in a bloodless coup in 1982 and ruled until 1990, when he was forced to resign under western donor pressure in a major shift in international policy after the end of communism when anti-communist dictators were no longer felt necessary. Since then, Bangladesh has reverted to a parliamentary democracy. Zia's widow, Khaleda Zia, led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to parliamentary victory at the general election in 1991 and became the first female Prime Minister in Bangladesh's history. However, the Awami League, headed by Sheikh Hasina, one of Mujib's surviving daughters, clinched power at the next election in 1996 but lost to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party again in 2001. These two female ex-prime ministers are now in imprisonment in a sub-jail due to their suspected attachment with corruption.

In January 11, 2007, following widespread violence, a caretaker government was appointed to administer the next general election. The country had suffered from extensive corruption,[23] disorder and political violence. The new caretaker government has made it a priority to root out corruption from all levels of government. To this end, many notable politicians and officials, along with large numbers of lesser officials and party members, have been arrested on corruption charges. The caretaker government claims to be paving the way for free and fair elections to be held before the end of 2008.