Liberation of Bangladesh: Role of Mrs. Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister of India

The liberation of Bangladesh and its subsequent creation as an independent Stateis an epoch making event in the history of South Asiain particular and the world in general. The British colonial masters while leaving the shores of India truncated the subcontinent into two sovereign States namely, India and Pakistan. Pakistan was not one single monolithic contiguous entity but it had two geographical expressions, East Pakistan and West Pakistan. These two regions were divided by Indian territory by nearly 1000 miles. There was animosity between these two branches of Pakistan because the people of West Pakistan dominated the people of East Pakistan in all aspects and as a result, there was a lot of hard burn in the people of East Pakistan. The election of 1971 was the last straw on the camel‟s back. The Awami league under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman won the election, but the Pakistani leadership under General Yahya Khan and Z.A. Bhutto refused to hand over the reins of government to the Awami league party. As a result,, there was a revolt in East Pakistan by Mukti Bahani (freedom fighters) and they were supported to the hilt by the Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi and she has contributed immensely to the liberation of Bangladesh. The present research article is a narrative of the role played by Mrs. Indira Gandhi in liberating Bangladesh.