Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the context of "Mujibism"

The Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence (Bengali: বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতার ঘোষণাপত্র), refers to the declaration of independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh on 26 March 1971, at the onset of the Bangladesh Liberation War by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On that day, Bangladesh Awami League leader M. A. Hannan, and the following day Major Ziaur Rahman, broadcast the message on radio on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra radio station in Kalurghat, Chattogram. On 10 April, the Provisional Government of Bangladesh issued a proclamation on the basis of the previous declaration and established an interim constitution for the independence movement.

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.

The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Bangladesh War of Independence that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971.

On 7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the undisputed leader of then East Pakistan, issued a call to the people of East Pakistan to prepare themselves for an all-out struggle. Later that evening resistance demonstrations began, and the West Pakistani military began a full-scale retaliation with Operation Searchlight in the early hours of 26 March 1971, which continued through May 1971. Before his arrest on 26 March, East Pakistani leaders declared the independence of Bangladesh, and ordered the people to engage in all-out war.

The Bangladesh Awami League, commonly known as the Awami League, is a banned political party in Bangladesh. Founded on 23 June 1949, it played a vital role in country's struggle for independence. The Awami League was one of the two traditionally dominant parties in the country, along with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and had maintained a sole dominance over the country's political system between 2009 and 2024, before being ousted in the July Revolution. The party's activities were banned by the post-revolution government on 10 May 2025, under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

On 23 June 1949, the party was founded as the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (after 1955, the East Pakistan Awami League) by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Yar Mohammad Khan, Shamsul Huq, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and joined later by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. It was established as the alternative to the domination of the Muslim League in Pakistan and over centralisation of the government. The party quickly gained vast popular support in East Pakistan and eventually led the forces of Bengali nationalism in the struggle against West Pakistan's military and political establishment. The party under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the struggle for independence, first through huge populist and civil disobedience movements, such as the Six Point movement and Non-cooperation movement (1971), and then during the Bangladesh War of Independence.

Kalurghat (Bengali: কালুরঘাট) is located several miles north of the port city of Chittagong, Bangladesh, and is mostly famous for several heavy industries located there. A bridge near Kalurghat on the Karnaphuli River connects Chittagong city with the southern parts of the district.

Kalurghat is also the location of the radio transmitter where Major Ziaur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Using a makeshift radio transmitter located in Kalurghat, first M A Hannan on 26 March 1971 afternoon, and later on 26 March 1971 evening Ziaur Rahman, an army major then, and President of Bangladesh much later, declared the Independence of Bangladesh, on behalf of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Provisional Government of Bangladesh, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government and also known as the Bangladeshi government-in-exile, was the first and founding government of Bangladesh that was established following the proclamation of independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh on 10 April 1971. Headed by prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad, it was the supreme leadership of the liberation movement, comprising a cabinet, a diplomatic corps, an assembly, an armed force, and a radio service. It operated as a government-in-exile from Kolkata. The president of this government was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is the main undisputed figure here; however, in his absence, Syed Nazrul Islam became the acting president.

After the 1970 general election, the military administration of Pakistan failed to hand over power to the elected legislators. When the Pakistan Army launched operations against separatists, the elected political leadership of East Pakistan declared independence and founded the provisional government with the support of the Government of India. Its cabinet took oath on 17 April 1971 in the town of Mujibnagar. It attracted many defectors from the Pakistani civil, diplomatic and military services and many leading intellectuals and cultural figures from East Pakistan.

The Six Point program was a significant political campaign in East Pakistan, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, advocating for greater autonomy for the region. Initiated in 1966, the movement aimed to address the six demands proposed by a coalition of Bengali nationalist political parties to end the perceived exploitation by West Pakistani rulers. This movement is regarded as a crucial milestone on the path to Bangladesh's independence.

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.