Word: desh
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Dates: during 1971-1971
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...hope of a settlement." He urged that East and West Pakistan adopt separate constitutions, and that his followers refuse to pay taxes to the central government, which is situated in the West. He seemed on the brink of an outright declaration of independence for what he calls Bangla Desh (Bengal State), which would become the world's eighth most populous nation. If Mujib should make such an announcement, open warfare might well erupt between the East Pakistanis and the estimated 60,000 army troops, mostly Westerners, in their midst...
...Constituent Assembly was set to convene in Dacca last week, Yahya postponed it indefinitely to give the political leaders a chance to reach an understanding. The postponement infuriated the Bengalis. "I am not imposing the six-point program on West Pakistan," declared Mujib, "but the people of Bangla Desh are entitled to it, and they will have it." In protest, Mujib called an all-day general strike for the following day, and half-day strikes for the rest of the week, shuttering offices, shops and factories and halting trains, planes and even rickshas. Angry mobs carrying bamboo staves, the weapon...