Encyclopedia of Islam

Bangladesh

  

87  J

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wrongful practices and Hindu influences. They 

also were opposed to British rule. Even though 

they were short-lived, in the long run these move-

ments helped set the foundations for the Muslim 

nationalist movement of the 20th century, which 

had broad appeal across all strata of Bengali soci-

ety. Bengalis were active in the a

ll

-i

ndia

 m

Uslim

l

eagUe

, a political party formed to give Indian 

Muslims a greater voice in their own affairs. Its 

first meeting was convened in 1906 in Dhaka, the 

capital of Bengal. However, Urdu speakers from 

northern India and the Punjab dominated the 

Muslim League, thus marginalizing the Bengalis.

After India was partitioned in 1947, Bengal 

was reconstituted as the East Bengal Province of 

Pakistan, under the governance of West Pakistan, 

which was located more than 1,000 miles away, 

across northern India. The secularist a

Wami

 l

eagUe

political party was created to give voice to East Ben-

gal’s grievances against West Pakistan. In the fol-

lowing years, the league gained widespread support 

among Bengali Hindus as well as Muslims, advo-

cating a more democratic government and more 

power at the local level. After the league scored an 

overwhelming victory in the 1970 national elec-

tions, East Pakistan (the official name of East Ben-

gal since 1955) declared independence from West 

Pakistan, which caused the central government 

to invade the country to end the Bengali revolt. 

Hundreds of thousands were killed as a result, but 

Indian troops joined with the Bengalis to defeat the 

Pakistani forces. East Pakistan was then renamed 

Bangladesh, and the Awami League led the country 

with its socialist development policies until it was 

removed by a military coup in 1975. Since 1978, 

the country’s political life has been dominated by 

the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), founded 

by General Ziaur Rahman, who served as president 

from 1976 to 1981. Today the Awami League is the 

main opposition party in the country. Despite the 

growing influence of the Islamist party, the J

amaat

-

i

i

slami

, Bangladesh still considers itself to be a mod-

erate, democratic country. One reflection of this is 

in roles women have played in public life there, 

including Khaleda Zia (Ziaur Rahman’s widow), 

Bangladesh’s prime minister from 1991 to 1996; 

and Sheikh Hasina (Mujibur Rahman’s daughter), 

head of the Awami League and prime minister from 

1996 to 2001, and from 2009 to the present.

See also 

colonialism

; h

indUism

 

and

 i

slam

.