The impact of the political upheaval in the neighbouring country Bangladesh is visible everywhere. Even after the formation of the new interim government, violence is being perpetrated against minorities, especially Hindus. This history of oppression is old, which is reflected in the decreasing population of Hindus. Hindus have even been demanding a separate country there.
Pakistan was formed after the partition of India. East Pakistan had a lot of hopes from this separation on the basis of religion. Their population was more and they thought that on this basis they would get rights in the Parliament. But language became an obstacle in this happening. In fact, Pakistan made Urdu the official language, whereas Bengali-speaking people lived in East Bengal.
The matter did not end here. Speaking Bengali in the Pakistani assembly was banned, saying that the language of Muslims is Urdu. At the same time, violence against Bengali speakers began.
The inequality with the Bengali population increased so much that the whole of East Pakistan started feeling isolated. This is where the foundation of Bangladesh was laid. The cyclone that hit there in the seventies added fuel to the fire. A large number of people from this area died in the Bhola cyclone, but the Pakistan government made a lot of manipulations in providing relief to them.
Soon after this, Bangladesh fought for separation. A lot of blood was shed. Pakistan is accused of disregarding human rights and committing a lot of war crimes. Finally, when India intervened, the Pakistani army had to surrender and Bangladesh was formed. This happened in March 1971. Now what should have happened was that the people who were separated on the basis of language should have lived together in harmony but this did not happen.
This time the Hindus living within Bangladesh started accusing the majority of discriminating against them. This was indeed happening. They were seen at a low level in politics as well as socially. When Pakistan was formed, the Hindu population in East Pakistan was 30 percent, which has now come down to 8 percent.
A new movement began to rise in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It was named Swadhin Banga Bhumi Andolan. Vanga or Banga was the ancient Bengal situated on the banks of the Ganges. Taking this as a reason, the agitators decided that they would create a new country for Bengali speaking Hindus, whose proposed name was Banga Bhumi. At the forefront of the movement that began in 1973 were those people who had suffered atrocities at the hands of those who spoke their own language during the separation from Pakistan.
Bang Sena took the lead in this movement. It was an organization of Hindu protesters, which was led by Kalidas Vaidya and Dhirendra Nath Paul. These people were rarely seen coming out on the streets demanding a separate country like other protesters. It was alleged that this group works mostly underground. Bangladesh officials alleged that separatists were working in association with West Bengal and were creating instability in the country.
Exactly two decades ago, the then DG of Bangladesh Rifles, Major General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, had said that Bang Sena was an extremist group. In the same year, the DG had also released a list, which allegedly contained the names of all those extremists who were running an anti-Bangladesh agenda from West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.
This proposed country included Khulna, Jessore, Kushtia, Faridpur, Barisal and large parts of Patuakhali districts. Later, Chittagong was also included in it. This is 20 thousand square miles, which would have been about one-third of the whole Bangladesh.
The matter was not limited to the idea of a separate country. For this, even the national flag was planned. It was a combination of green and saffron colour, with a white sun-like shape. With time, the Hindu population decreased considerably. The separatists started getting crushed and with this the discussion of a separate country also ended. However, it cannot be denied that the spark is still smoldering inside.
Talking about the minorities of Bangladesh, there are many tribal groups here. They also formed a group – Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanhati Samiti (PCJSS). The population living in and around Chittagong Hills continued to protest. However, they were not directly demanding a separate country, but autonomy.
PCJSS had a military wing – Shanti Bahini. It also provided arms training to its fighters. Separatist youths used to attack by hiding in the hilly areas, which caused instability in newly-established Bangladesh. Finally, in 1997, an agreement was reached between the then government and PCJSS. In this, the military wing was abolished and this organization joined active politics. Let us tell you that at that time also the Awami League party was in power. Even now this party is in politics and talks about the rights of the tribes of Chittagong Hills.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)