Awami League in the context of "Muslim League (1947–1958)"

East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1956 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, with a coastline on the Bay of Bengal. To distinguish this region from India's state West Bengal (which is also known as "Indian Bengal"), East Pakistan was known as "Pakistani Bengal". East Pakistanis were popularly known as "Pakistani Bengalis". In 1971, East Pakistan became the newly independent state Bangladesh, which means "country of Bengal" or "country of Bengalis" or "land of Bengalis" in the Bengali language. In standard meaning, "desh" refers to a country, but in Bangla local expressions, "desh" also means one's village or countryside, hometown, ancestral heritage, homeland, and they do not have to be a politically formed sovereign country.

East Pakistan was formed with West Pakistan at the reorganization of One Unit Scheme orchestrated by the 3rd prime minister of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali. The Constitution of Pakistan of 1956 replaced the Pakistani monarchy with an Islamic republic. Bengali politician H.S. Suhrawardy served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan between 1956 and 1957 and a Bengali bureaucrat Iskander Mirza became the first President of Pakistan. The 1958 Pakistani coup d'état brought general Ayub Khan to power. Khan replaced Mirza as president and launched a crackdown against pro-democracy leaders. Khan enacted the Constitution of Pakistan of 1962 which ended universal suffrage. By 1966, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman emerged as the preeminent opposition leader in Pakistan and launched the six-point movement for autonomy and democracy. The 1969 uprising in East Pakistan contributed to Ayub Khan's overthrow. Another general, Yahya Khan, usurped the presidency and enacted martial law. In 1970, Yahya Khan organised Pakistan's first federal general election. The Awami League emerged as the single largest party, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party. The military junta stalled in accepting the results, leading to civil disobedience, the Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971 Bangladesh genocide and persecution of Biharis.

Following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on 5 August 2024, which had come after the Hasina's government's mass killings of protesters, known as the July massacre, a wave of violent conflict took place, between protesters and opposition activists on one side, and Awami League supporters, government and security officials on the other. On the day of Hasina's resignation, 25 police officers were killed. According to the Daily Sun, at least 119, including both the students and Awami League activists, were killed that day. According to Prothom Alo, 1,494 sculptures and monuments were vandalized across Bangladesh after the resignation of Sheikh Hasina.

The violence also affected the religious minority communities. According to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, there have been over 2,010 attacks on Hindus or their properties spread over 45 districts and 5 Hindus have been killed in these attacks, 2 have been confirmed as Awami League members. Ahmadiyyas in Bangladesh were also attacked by groups damaging mosques and homes. The minority ethnic groups were also attacked. Mobs attacked and vandalized five to nine private television channels.

The 1969 East Pakistan mass uprising (Bengali: ঊনসত্তরের গণঅভ্যুত্থান, lit. '69’s Mass Uprising') was a democratic political uprising in East Pakistan. It was led by the students backed by various political parties such as the Awami League, National Awami Party, and Communist party of East Pakistan and their student wings, and the cultural fronts (writers, poets, musicians, singers, actors, etc) against Muhammad Ayub Khan, the president of Pakistan in protest of the oppressive military rule, political repressions, Agartala Conspiracy Case and the incarceration of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other Bengali nationalists.

The uprising consisted of mass demonstrations and sporadic conflicts between government armed forces and the demonstrators. Although the unrest began in 1966 with the six point movement of Awami League, it got momentum at the beginning of 1969. It culminated in the resignation of Ayub Khan. The uprising also led to the withdrawal of the Agartala Conspiracy Case and acquittal of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other defendants.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto NPk (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth prime minister of Pakistan from 1973 until his overthrow in 1977. He was also the founder and first chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) from 1967 until his execution in 1979.

Born in Sindh and educated at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Oxford, Bhutto trained as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn before entering politics. He was a cabinet member during president Iskandar Mirza's tenure, holding various ministries during president Ayub Khan's military rule from 1958. Bhutto became the foreign minister in 1963, advocating for Operation Gibraltar in Kashmir, leading to the 1965 war with India. Following the Tashkent Declaration, he was dismissed from the government. Bhutto established the PPP in 1967, focusing on a left-wing and socialist agenda, and contested the 1970 general election, arising as the largest political party in Western Pakistan with a landslide victory in Punjab and Sindh; and a coalition victory with National Awami Party in Balochistan and the North-West Frontier. The Awami League, victorious with a landslide in East Pakistan, and the PPP were unable to agree on power transfer, leading to civil unrest in the east — further intensified by military action under Yahya Khan's military government — followed by a civil war and a war with India, resulting in the creation of Bangladesh. After Pakistan's loss in the east, Yahya resigned amidst a military revolt against him and Bhutto assumed the presidency in December 1971, imposing emergency rule and securing a ceasefire on the western front.

The Jatiya Sangsad, constitutionally the House of the Nation and commonly the Sangsad, is the unicameral legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women. Elected occupants are called members of Parliament, or MPs. Elections to the body are held every five years, unless a parliament is dissolved earlier by the President of Bangladesh. The most recent parliamentary election was held on 7 January 2024.

The leader of the party, or coalition of parties, holding a majority of seats in Parliament becomes the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and thus serves as the head of the government. The President of Bangladesh, the ceremonial head of state, is chosen by Parliament. Since the 2008 parliamentary election, majority party has been the Awami League, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. On 6 August 2024, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament after the ousting of fallen dictator Sheikh Hasina and ordered to form an interim government.