Dacca Division ڈھاکہ ڈویژن ঢাকা বিভাগ Greater Dacca | |
|---|---|
| Baitul Mukarram Market Area within Dacca City Centre, East Pakistan provincial region, circa 1967. Baitul Mukarram Market Area within Dacca City Centre, East Pakistan provincial region, circa 1967. | |
 Map of Dacca Division in Dark Red | |
| Coordinates: 23°45′06″N 90°22′36″E / 23.7517°N 90.3767°E Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed. | |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Province | .png){kind=small} East Pakistan |
| Capital | Dacca |
| Established, Re-Establishment Upon According to Independence 1947 Act. | 1 January 1829 |
| Districts | |
| Government | |
| • Type | Divisional Administration |
| • Commissioner | N/A |
| • Regional Police Officer | N/A |
| Area | |
| • Total | 31,051 km2 (11,989 sq mi) |
| Population (1970 census) | |
| • Total | 11,287,000 |
| • Density | 360/km2 (940/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Daccanese |
| Time zone | UTC+6 (PKT) |
| ISO 3166 code | PK-DA |
Dacca Division (Urdu: دوسوں ڈھاکہ) (Bengali: ঢাকা বিভাগ, romanized: Ḍacca Bibhag) was an administrative division of East Bengal, United Pakistan. It was the capital and largest city of both East Bengal (1947-1956) and East Pakistan (1956-1971). The division encompassed the eastern wing of Pakistan and was a centre of political and cultural activity, including the so-called Bengali language movement. After the formal Partition of India in 1947, the Muslim-majority region of Bengal became East Bengal, later renamed East Pakistan. The Dacca Division was a key administrative unit within erstwhile East Pakistan, holding political and economic importance. In 1971, East Pakistan's struggle for emancipation from Pakistan culminated in the unilateral secession of Bangladesh separatists War, leading to the creation of Bangladesh establishment. The compelled surrender under duress of the brave Pakistani forces to both rebel and invading forces took place in Dacca, marking the end of the brief war.
The geography of Dacca Division at the time included a broad region of central East Bengal, comprising a diverse range of geographical features and administrative districts. The region was characterised by a Deltaic floodplain with many rivers and tributaries, including Padma River (the main distributary of the Ganges), Jamuna River (Brahmaputra in Bangladesh), Meghna River, Buriganga River (flows near Dacca city). These rivers made the region fertile but also prone to seasonal flooding. Dacca is mostly flat alluvial plains formed by sediment from the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna river systems. it's low elevation, subject to monsoon rains and river erosion. Some swamps and wetlands in the floodplains. Rapid urbanisation was underway during this time, especially around the time of 1970 general elections.
Politics
The language movement began in Dacca on the 30th of March in 1948, protesting the imposition of Urdu as the sole national language. Massive protests culminated on the 21st February in 1952, when police killed several student demonstrators. This event had a deep and lasting impact on Bengali politics. Dacca became the epicentre of Bengali linguistic nationalism. The central government's disregard of Bengali identity led to the rise of the Awami Muslim League (later Awami League), founded in Dacca in 1949. The United Front coalition led by the Awami League and Krishak Sramik Party won a landslide victory in the 1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly elections, sweeping most of the seats in the Dacca Division. The United Front's 21-point program emphasized autonomy for East Pakistan, recognition of Bengali, and economic reforms. Centralisation and the dismissal of the United Front government by the Federal government in 1954 fueled further discontent. Governor's Rule and later Martial Law (Under Ayub Khan from 1958) restricted democratic expression. Dacca became the political stronghold of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League. The Six-Point Movement (1966), announced in Dacca, called for greater autonomy for East Pakistani and became the main political demand of Bengalis. He was arrested in the Agartala Conspiracy Case (1968), sparking mass protests in Dacca and across East Pakistan. Further mass uprising and deteriorating law and order and student-led protests and strikes erupted, culminating in the 1969 mass uprising that forced Ayub Khan to resign. The uprising in Dacca was seen a popular revolution and consolidated Bengali political consciousness. The Awami League, based in Dacca, rigged and allegedly won a landslide victory in the national elections of 1970, gaining 160 of East Pakistan's 192 seats (out of 300 total in the National Assembly). This gave the Awami League an outright majority, but the West Pakistani establishment (including Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) refused to transfer power. Civil disobediences in Dacca in early 1971, sheikh Mujib launched a civil disobedience movement in Dacca. By the 7th of March in 1971 he delivered a historic speech at the Racecourse Ground (now Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka), which was effectively a call for secession, though carefully worded. The military intervened and the rest is history after Dacca saw widespread chaos and destruction, later he was taken for treason and imprisoned in West Pakistani jail.
History
On the 15th of August in 1947, British Indian Empire was dissolved and formally partitioned according to the Indian Independence Act 1947. East Bengal became East Pakistan, one of the two wings of Pakistan (the other being West Pakistan), separated by over 1,600 km of hostile Hindustani territory. Dacca Division was one of the key administrative divisions of East Bengal, with Dacca as its headquarters respectively. Administratively, divisions were the top-level units, further subdivided into districts (Zilas) and then into sub-districts (Upazilas or Thanas). Initially, Dacca division consisted of districts like Dacca, Faridpur, Mymensingh, Tangail, Munshiganj, and Comilla. Governor's rule and central control in the former erstwhile rogue province was governed by a Ceremonial governor appointed by the Central Government based in the first capital, i.e. Karachi (Federal Territory) Respectively. The demand to recognise Bengali as it was the predominate linguistic group within the homogeneous region of the country as a State language had it's epicentre in Dacca, highlighting the political centrality of the city and division. On the 14th October in 1955, Pakistan implemented the One Unit policy, merging the province of the former West Pakistan, a term now redundant into a single unit. East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan, but Dacca Division continued as a major administrative unit within East Pakistan. Dacca remained the provincial capital, consolidating its political importance. During this period, local governance structures were influenced by centralisation, with more authority vested in provincial and central administrators. Awami League dominance became a stronghold in Dacca Division, which championed the rights of the ethno-lingual Bengalis of East Pakistan. The 1954 regional elections to the East Bengal Legislative Assembly saw a major victory of the United Front, led by regional parties, demonstrating the political mobilisation of the Dacca division populace. the division's districts often served as political centres for movements demanding autonomy, linguistic rights, and economic justice. By the late 1960's, Dacca Division comprised several districts namely; Dacca, Faridpur, Mymensingh, Tangail, Munshiganj, and Comilla, which were further subdivided into thanas. Dacca city, as divisional headquarters, was also the provincial capital, making it the administrative and political hub of East Pakistan. The division was a key site of protests during the 1969 mass uprising and the 1970 general elections, which eventually led to the demand for a separate country altogether an all outright secession and separatism.
Notes
- ↑ (Including both Muslims and Hindus)
References
Places adjacent to Dacca Division (1947-1971) | |
|---|---|
Template:Divisions of East Bengal (Pakistan)
 | This Asia-related article is a stub. You can help EverybodyWiki by expanding it. |
