ABSTRACT
The 1971 genocide in Bangladesh took place as a result of the region’s long history of colonization, the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into largely Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India, and the continuation of ethnic and religious politics in Pakistan, specifically the political suppression of the Bengali people of East Pakistan. After the partition of 1947, the struggles for nationhood were far from over. The newly born state of Pakistan was divided into East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (now the Islamic Republic of Pakistan) with miles of Indian land stretched in between and insurmountable cultural and linguistic differences. The agricultural riches of country were in East Pakistan, but the government was located in West Pakistan. The government extracted the revenues without investing in the people and economy of East Pakistan. The promise of an election in 1958 never materialized as the Prime Minister of the country was ousted in a military coup led by General Ayub Khan.
