During a substantial stay in some East Bengal villages in the summer
of 1971, when East Pakistan was in the traumatic process of being
transformed into Bangladesh, it first dawned upon me that peasants
were not stupid, devoid of political consciousness. Discussions with
different types of peasants revealed that at least the upper echelons
were aware of the implications of the liberation struggle for
Bangladesh and the superpower involvement in it. Richard Nixon and
Indira Gandhi were familiar names. Ordinary peasants often quoted
the Bengali news readers and commentators of the BBC world service
and the Voice of America. Well-to-do peasants who owned transistor
radio sets regularly tuned into the British, American and Indian radio
stations. Many inquisitive and worried peasants asked me (then a fresh
graduate from Dhaka University) how their cherished Sonar Bangla
(golden Bengal) would improve their socio-economic conditions. Many
peasants also took part in the liberation struggle as members of the
Mukti Bahini or freedom fighters. Almost everyone, with a few exceptions
who collaborated with the Pakistan armed forces, was a keen
supporter of Bangladesh. After the emergence of Bangladesh, things
did not change to the expectations of the masses, but rather deteriorated
so much that Henry Kissinger is said to have coined the phrase
“bottomless basket
as a denotation for Bangladesh, because of the
rampant corruption of a big section of the Bengali bourgeoisie at that
time. I was provoked to write the history of the peasants’ glorious role
in the Liberation Struggle which was being overshadowed by claims
and counter-claims of heroism and sacrifice by members of the
privileged, parasitical urban elites. This work may be regarded as a
prelude to the history of the freedom struggle that eventually led to the
creation of Bangladesh. This is an attempt to shed light on the peasant
politics, almost synonymous with Muslim politics in the region, during
the significant period between 1920 and 194 7 when East Bengal was
going through the political process that culminated in the creation of
East Pakistan in 194 7.
