The Communist Party of Bangladesh is a Marxist-Leninist political party in Bangladesh, founded in 1968 as the Communist Party of East Pakistan.

History:

After the partitioning of India in 1947, during the 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India in Calcutta, the delegates coming from regions within the newly founded state of Pakistan (which included what now constitutes Bangladesh) met on March 6, 1948 in a separate session and decided to form the Communist Party of Pakistan.
The main strength and activity of the newly constituted Party was in the province of East Pakistan (what is now Bangladesh). This eastern province was geographically separated from the western province by almost 2,000 km of Indian territory. Because of this wide geographical separation along with persecution by Pakistan government and uneven development of democratic movement in the two parts of Pakistan, the communists of East Pakistan felt the need to have an independent center for further advancing their activities. The 4th Conference of the East Pakistan Provincial Committee of the Party, which met clandestinely in 1968, declared itself to be the 1st Congress of the Communist Party of East Pakistan and elected a Central Committee for the Party. With the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent state in 1971, this Party took its present name of Communist Party of Bangladesh.
The Party played a vital role in the 1969 uprising and also during the nationwide upheaval that followed it including the non co-operation movement of 1971. The CPB also actively participated in the nine months long armed struggle for independence of Bangladesh in 1971. A ‘Special Guerilla Force’ under the direct command of CPB-NAP-BSU fought against the Pakistani army. Communists were also took part in the other segments of the armed resistance fighters including the Freedom Fighters and the new Bangladesh Army. Moni Singh, the ex-President of CPB, was elected a member of the Advisory Council of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh.

Independent Bangladesh

The emergence of independent Bangladesh in 1971 opened up a new chapter in the history of the Communist Party of Bangladesh. The Party began to work legally and openly.The Party formed Trade Union Centre with a view to mobilise trade union organisations and movements on revolutionary lines. A Gana Oikya Jote was formed on 14 October 1973 consisting of the Bangladesh awami league, Communist Party and National Awami Party (Muzaffar) with a view to prepare ground for establishing socialism in the country, and a Jote Committee was constituted consisting of 19 members with three members from CPB. The party in its congress held in Dhaka (1973) adopted a new constitution, and a 26-member central committee was elected with Moni Singh as president and Mohammad Farhad as general secretary. On August 15, 1975 President Sheikh Mujib was assassinated by a section of the army which ultimately brought the country under a rightist military rule.The CPB leaders and workers were victims to serious repression under the military government in 1975. The Party leaders in the centre and in district lebels were arrested, warrants were issued against many (1976), and in October 1977 CPB was declared banned. In 1978 the ban on the party was, however, withdrawn and its leaders were released. The CPB participated in the general elections of 1978. As a member of the Oikya Front the CPB accorded active support to General mohammad ataul ghani osmany in the Presidential election in 1979.The CPB joined the 15-party alliance in 1983 against the military rule of hussain m ershad. The party participated in the 1986 jatiya sangsad elections and secured five seats. CPB had a vital role in the oust Ershad movement in 1990.The CPB joined the 15-party alliance in 1983 against the military rule of hussain m ershad. The party participated in the 1986 jatiya sangsad elections and secured five seats. CPB had a vital role in the oust Ershad movement in 1990.
The CPB faced a great crisis in 1991 in view of the disaster of socialism in East Europe including Soviet Union. The party leaders were divided into two camps, one in favour of abolition of the CPB and its replacement by a new platform on democratic line, and the other in favour of maintaining the party in its original form. This conflict grew to be acute in 1993 when the two opposing groups arranged separate convention in Dhaka. The Marxist-Leninist group in their convention held on 15 June (1993) resolved in favour of the independent existence of the Communist Party in Bangladesh, and had their new central executive committee formed with Shahidullah Chowdhury as president and Mujahidul Islam Selim as general secretary.Manzurul Ahsan Khan and Mujahidul Islam selim are the present president and general secretary Of the party.See also:( Soviet Union-Bangladesh relations)

Ideology and organization
The Party is guided by the ideology of Marxism-Leninism and the ultimate goal of the Party is socialism-communism. Revolutionary internationalism is a cardinal aspect of its policy principles. Democratic centralism is the guiding organizational principle of CPB. The Congress of the Party, which is convened every 4 years, is the supreme body of the Party which elects a Central Committee accountable to it. The Central Committee is the highest organ of the Party during the interval between two Congresses.
A 51-member Central Committee was elected by the 9th Congress of the Party (Agust 2008). An 7-member Presidium including the President and General Secretary were elected by the CC. There is also a national council of 191 members which sits at least once a year to advice and help the CC in implementing the decisions of the Congress. The Congress also elected a 4 member Control Commission. The CPB has organizations in 62 out of the 64 districts and 275 out of 520 sub-districts in Bangladesh. The district and sub-district committees coordinate and guide the activities of the zonal committees and the primary branches of the Party. Party members are organized in these primary branches, The branches on their part organize ‘activist groups’ which serve to prepare cadres for party membership. Besides party membership, the Party also provides opportunity to include ‘associate members’ from among supporters of the Party. Party members and activists are working in trade unions and mass organizations of agricultural workers, peasants, women, students, youth, children, teachers, doctors, lawyers, professionals, indigenous national minorities and aboriginal, cultural organizations etc. In spite of relatively small number of party members and associate members (taken together they total 25,000), the Party is capable of mobilizing several hundreds of thousands of people through its influence in these mass organizations.
The main organ of the party is Ekota, which is published weekly

Strategy and tactics
The CPB is working with a strategy of bringing about a 'revolutionary democratic transformation of society and state' with the ultimate goal of socialism-communism. The Party has put forward a 17-point program in consonance with this strategic goal of 'revolutionary democratic transformation'.
CPB is giving special attention to strengthen the Party and the mass organizations, increase cohesion among the communists and move towards communist unity, strengthen and expand the Left Democratic Front (which is constituted by different communist and left parties).
CPB has also been working to bring together left and liberal democratic forces to provide an alternative to the current two major parties. CPB took active part in setting up an 11-party combination has been set up with this purpose. However, in recent developments (as of late 2006) the rest of this alliance has aligned within the 14-party alliance led by the Awami League.
CPB is also giving priority to the urgent task of fighting religious fundamentalism. For this CPB is working to build up united movement with all possible secular democratic forces including the Awami League.

History of BNP

History of BNP

President Ziaur Rahman, during his tenure, reoriented the country's foreign policy, and moved away from the pro-Indian position of the Awami League government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He emphasized the need for closer relations with Muslim majority countries, including former sister country Pakistan, and the West, including the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. He introduced a free press. Ties were also strengthened with the Peoples Republic of China, and Saudi Arabia. President Ziaur Rahman visited many nations in the effort of promoting relations with Bangladesh.
The 1991-1996 and 2001-2006 BNP led governments' successes include development in the education sector, infrastructure and telecommunications development, growth of macro-economy, and improvement of law and order situation. However, failure to improve power generation, activities of Islamic militancy, and large-scale corruption by top party leaders have subjected them to frequent criticism.

Party Ideology
See Also: Bangladeshi nationalismThe BNP promotes a very center-right policy combining elements of conservatism, corporatism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism and anti-communism. It is more popular among the country's business class, military, and conservatives, and is credited with bringing socio-economic stability in the country. The party believes that Islam is an integral part of the socio-cultural life of Bangladesh, and favors Islamic principles, as well as cultural views together. This is particularly seen through its alliance with the Islamic party of Jamaat.[1]
Since the 2001 General Election, the party's religious points of view has been largely reconsidered in favor of greater inclusion of religious minorities, and although it went with an alliance with Islamic party of Jamaat, a number of leaders representing the minority communities were nominated. Even though BNP is trying hard to show that it is all inclusive, overwhelming evidence points to the fact that BNP has been responsible for ethnic cleansing of religious minorities in Bangladesh. Under the rule of Khaleda Zia, the persecution of minorities has intensified.

The 2007-2008 period
The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (February 2009)
The verifiability of all or part of this article is disputed.Please see the discussion on the talk page.This article or section has been tagged since February 2009.
After Khaleda Zia was detained by the transitional government in 2007, some party members chose Hafizuddin Ahmed to lead the party; Zia's supporters did not recognize this. The electoral commission subsequently invited Hafizuddin's faction, rather than Khaleds Zia's, to participate in talks, effectively recognizing the former as the legitimate BNP. Khaleda Zia challenged this in court, but her appeal was rejected on April 10, 2008.[2] However by the end of August, stance of Election Commission changed subsequently and the Election Commission confessed to public that his decision to send Hafizuddin the invitation was a mistake. He also admitted that the Election Commission's behavior to the party has been biased and he begged pardon for that to the nation. The moral warfare triumph of the real BNP against the Hafizuddin, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan led faction took place after a large procession of during party's Joint General Secretary Tarique Rahman's release on September 3, 2008, some factional leaders were chased and heckled by supporters in front of Tarique's Hospital. Since then the factional part has been remaining silent and appearing inactive. Before this, another moral defeat of reformist faction took place after one of the recognized and leading reformist Saifur Rahman denied himself to be a reformist and made his position very clear under the leadership of Khaleda Zia.
The party faced a landslide defeat at the hands of the Bangladesh Awami League in the 2008 Bangladesh general election, in which the 4-party alliance led by BNP won only 32 seats out of 299 constituencies, of which the BNP alone got 29 [3]. Although the BNP's share of electoral votes had steadily increased in the past - it got 30% in 1991, 33% in 1996 and 40% in 2001 - the 2008 election brought a reversal of fortunes with only 33% of votes. Although concrete evidence of such is yet to be presented, there were massive speculations in the Bangladesh media that young first time voters, who comprised 31% of the entire electorate this year, overwhelmingly rejected the BNP because of its association with corrupt businessmen, Islamic fundamentalists, and war criminals.

History of BNP

History of Bangladesh National Party

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (February 2009)
President Ziaur Rahman, during his tenure, reoriented the country's foreign policy, and moved away from the pro-Indian position of the Awami League government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He emphasized the need for closer relations with Muslim majority countries, including former sister country Pakistan, and the West, including the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. He introduced a free press. Ties were also strengthened with the Peoples Republic of China, and Saudi Arabia. President Ziaur Rahman visited many nations in the effort of promoting relations with Bangladesh.
The 1991-1996 and 2001-2006 BNP led governments' successes include development in the education sector, infrastructure and telecommunications development, growth of macro-economy, and improvement of law and order situation. However, failure to improve power generation, activities of Islamic militancy, and large-scale corruption by top party leaders have subjected them to frequent criticism.

Party Ideology
See Also: Bangladeshi nationalismThe BNP promotes a very center-right policy combining elements of conservatism, corporatism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism and anti-communism. It is more popular among the country's business class, military, and conservatives, and is credited with bringing socio-economic stability in the country. The party believes that Islam is an integral part of the socio-cultural life of Bangladesh, and favors Islamic principles, as well as cultural views together. This is particularly seen through its alliance with the Islamic party of Jamaat.[1]
Since the 2001 General Election, the party's religious points of view has been largely reconsidered in favor of greater inclusion of religious minorities, and although it went with an alliance with Islamic party of Jamaat, a number of leaders representing the minority communities were nominated. Even though BNP is trying hard to show that it is all inclusive, overwhelming evidence points to the fact that BNP has been responsible for ethnic cleansing of religious minorities in Bangladesh. Under the rule of Khaleda Zia, the persecution of minorities has intensified.

The 2007-2008 period
The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (February 2009)
The verifiability of all or part of this article is disputed.Please see the discussion on the talk page.This article or section has been tagged since February 2009.
After Khaleda Zia was detained by the transitional government in 2007, some party members chose Hafizuddin Ahmed to lead the party; Zia's supporters did not recognize this. The electoral commission subsequently invited Hafizuddin's faction, rather than Khaleds Zia's, to participate in talks, effectively recognizing the former as the legitimate BNP. Khaleda Zia challenged this in court, but her appeal was rejected on April 10, 2008.[2] However by the end of August, stance of Election Commission changed subsequently and the Election Commission confessed to public that his decision to send Hafizuddin the invitation was a mistake. He also admitted that the Election Commission's behavior to the party has been biased and he begged pardon for that to the nation. The moral warfare triumph of the real BNP against the Hafizuddin, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan led faction took place after a large procession of during party's Joint General Secretary Tarique Rahman's release on September 3, 2008, some factional leaders were chased and heckled by supporters in front of Tarique's Hospital. Since then the factional part has been remaining silent and appearing inactive. Before this, another moral defeat of reformist faction took place after one of the recognized and leading reformist Saifur Rahman denied himself to be a reformist and made his position very clear under the leadership of Khaleda Zia.
The party faced a landslide defeat at the hands of the Bangladesh Awami League in the 2008 Bangladesh general election, in which the 4-party alliance led by BNP won only 32 seats out of 299 constituencies, of which the BNP alone got 29 [3]. Although the BNP's share of electoral votes had steadily increased in the past - it got 30% in 1991, 33% in 1996 and 40% in 2001 - the 2008 election brought a reversal of fortunes with only 33% of votes. Although concrete evidence of such is yet to be presented, there were massive speculations in the Bangladesh media that young first time voters, who comprised 31% of the entire electorate this year, overwhelmingly rejected the BNP because of its association with corrupt businessmen, Islamic fundamentalists, and war criminals.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh [1] (a.k.a 'Jamaat') is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh, it is one of the largest Islamic parties on the subcontinent. Jamaat joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in an alliance and lead a four-party coalition government during 2001-2006 and held two Ministries in Khaleda Zia's government. They are an anti-liberation front, who openly attempted to stop the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, believing it would have existed better as a dominated islamic state under Pakistani rule. Several members of the party are alleged to have played a crucial role in the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities during the liberation war such as organized killing of intellectuals, genocide and violence against women.[2]

History of the party

British India (1941-1947)
The Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in pre-partition India by Syed Ab'ul Ala Maududi in 1941. Mr.Maududi moved to Pakistan from India after independence and the current party in Bangladesh originated out of the East Pakistan wing of the party. However, Jamaat had opposed the creation of a Pakistan as a separate state for the Muslims of India. While persisting in his Anti-Pakistan ideology, Mr.Maududi wrote in one of his books, *"If we have ever uttered a single word in the favor of creation of Pakistan, it must be proved with references." That is why Jamat-e-Islami also did not support the Muslim League, the largest Muslim party, in the core election of 1946.

Pakistan Period (1948 - 1971)
After the creation of Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami was divided into separate Indian and Pakistani organisations. The Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh originates from Jamaat wing in the then East Pakistan. Jamaat strongly opposed for an independent Bangladesh through means of war, which it saw as against Islam. However, Ameer Ghulam Azam has stated many times that he was willing to support an independent Bangladesh through political means. Jammat Islami Participated democratic movement in Pakistan during Marshal Law Period of General Ayub Khan. An all party democratic alliance(DAC) was formed in 1965. Prof. Ghulam Azam was one of the member of that alliance in which Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was also the member of that alliance.[3][4]
One of Jamat's top leader, Mujahid’s statement on “Daily Sangram” on October 15, 1971
*“The youths of the Razakars and al-Badar forces and all other voluntary organizations have been working for the national to protect it from the collaborators and agents of India. But, recently it was observed that a section of political leaders like ZA Bhutto, Kawsar Niazi, Mufti Mahmud and Asgar Khan have been making objectionable remarks about the patriots.

Jamaat opposition of Bangladesh Independence
The core principles of the Jamaat philosophy is that the separation of Bangladesh to form a secular, democratic country was against Islamic law, which is what they believe should be used to govern both Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is also their belief that the Culture of Bengal is heavily influenced by Hinduism and therefore cannot coexist with Islamic law.
These philosophies were the reason behind many of the atrocities that the Al-Badr (which mainly consisted members and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami) are accused of such as rampant killing of Hindus and other non-muslim minorities in Dhaka and throughout the country.
In his autobiography, Ghulam Azam wrote the following:[cite this quote]
26 March 1971:
First the driver took me to the Dhaka university area. Saw the brutal scenery, mass killing of men, women, children, livestock. Then went to Nayabazar, sometimes on the road and sometimes on the rickshaws there are dead bodies. Looks like an army are at war with the enemy. I think to suppress the protesters, only the threat of killing was enough, instead of killing. But military advisors in reality have different views of suppressing protests. ...Some questions came out in my mind. Will Bangladesh get the true independency after being separated from Pakistan by Indian help ? 7/8 days passed on this thinking.
3 April 1971:
Secretary General of Nezami Party, Moulavi Farid Uddin Ahmad called me and informed that he and Khaza Nazimuddin decided to meet General Tikka Khan. Tikkha Khan asked us to go meet him on 4th April. I surprisely asked about who was behind the meeting. He replied “we want to meet and Tikka Khan also wants to meet leaders who believe in united Pakistan”. I talked with Dhaka city Ameer Khurram Murad and decided to go meet General Tikka Khan. We met Tikkha khan and Rao Forman Ali there. Rao Foman ali told us that “Awami League wants to separate from Pakistan and be servant of India. But we are unable to make people understand this. You are known leaders to people. If you speak to people about these, people will accept it. If you broadcast the speech on radio it will easily be received by people. We have arranged the recording here. We can record and broadcast today. “Rao Formam Ali said all these on such a beautiful way that Nurul Amin instantly agreed to record his speech and so as two other of my accompanies. But I said, I need time to make the speech contents. Thus I took time to discuss with my fellows. After discussing with Khurram Murad, Provincial Secretary Abdul Khaleq, Central Nayeb Amir Abdur rahim we made a draft of speech without mentioning Awami League, Independence or any other army action. We mentioned that India can’t be our friend and India would conquer our country under current situation.

Rezakar Party,1971:
Rezakars used to guard where there was a threat of Mukti Bahini attacks. Mukti Bahini used to dynamite bridges to disturb movement of armed military. So, Rezakar party started to guard these areas. Mukti Bahini used to come at schools to convince students of joining Mukti Bahini, so Rezakars also started guarding schools to prevent the coming of Mukti Bahini. Electricity supply sources were also guarded by rezakars. On last days of April, Peace Committee was formed in a meeting at Nurul Amin’s residence. There I told the meting that we sincerely wanted to keep Pakistan united. With everybody’s agreement peace committee was formed.

My Feeling on 16 December,1971
Although BBC was giving news against Pakistan, I had no other source of getting information about East Pakistan. On last days of Pakistan army’s surrender I became worried that because of Pakistan army’s surrender there would be no control on law and order. Indian army cannot restore law and order. Under this circumstances, secular, leftists Mukti Bahini would carry a mass-killing. In other cities they would carry further brutal actions. Those who are Islamic activists would be tortured by Mukti Bahini.

Formation of paramilitary forces
Ashraf Hossain, a leader of Jamaat's student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, created the Al-Badr militia in Jamalpur District on 22 April, 1971. [5] Current Jamaat leader Matiur Rahman Nizami was the supreme commander of this militia. On an editorial published on the Daily Sangram on November 14, 1971, Nizami stated that (We believe that our young members will fight side by side with our army to defeat the Hindu forces, and destroy India, and raise the flag of Islam in the whole world"). [6]
In May, 1971, Jamat leader Mawlana Yusuf created the Razakar militia in Khulna. The first recruits included 96 Jamaat party members, who started training in an Ansar camp at Shahjahan Ali Road, Khulna. [7][8]

Bangladesh Period (1978 - present)
Jamaat was banned after victory of Mukti Bahini and its top leaders fled to West Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , first president of Bangladesh also cancelled the citizenship of Golam Azam, the leader of Jamaat. Azam then moved to London, and other leaders moved to the Middle East. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975, enabling army chief Major general Ziaur Rahman to seize power. With Rahman's coup, Jamaat again resumed political activities in Bangladesh. Rahman also allowed Azam to return to Bangladesh as the leader of Jamaat.
After the end of military rule in 1990, protests began against Azam and Jamaat under war criminal charges headed by Jahanara Imam, an author who lost her two sons and husband in the liberation war. Azam's citizenship was challenged in supreme court as he was holding a Pakistani passport. Due to lack of any credible evidence of war crimes, Bangladesh's supreme court had to allow Azam to have a Bangladeshi passport and continue its political activities. Imam died a few years later, and since then no protests against Jamaat alleging war crimes has occurred
Bangladesh police arrested Jamaat-e-Islami chief and former Industry Minister Matiur Rahman Nizami from his residence in the capital in a graft case on 19 May 2008. Earlier, two former Cabinet Ministers of the immediate past BNP-led alliance government, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Shamsul Islam were sent to Dhaka Central Jail after they surrendered before the court.
The Jamaat-e-Islami party has slowly been losing the confidence of the Bangladesh public, mainly due to radical Islamic ideals as well as because it harbors East-Pakistan sympathies. In the parliamentary elections of December 2008, the Jamaat-e-Islami party was thwarted by the Grand Alliance, garnering less than 5 seats out of the total 300 that constitute for the national parliament. This has been a cause for concern to the Four-Party alliance [led by the BNP], as the Jamaat-e-Islami is their primary political partner.[9]

The Jamaat in parliamentary elections
1973 Parliament Election
1978 Parliament Election
1986 Parliament Election
1991 Parliament Election
1996 Parliament Election
2001 Parliament Election
2008 Parliament Election
Party was banned because of its opposition of Bangladesh independence and collaborted with Pakistan army.

Jatiya Party

The Jatiya Party (Ershad) (National Party (Ershad)) is a political party in Bangladesh. It is a faction of the original Jatiya Party, that was founded by the military dictator Hossain Mohammad Ershad. Other factions are the Jatiya Party (Naziur) and Jatiya Party (Manju). Currently the Jatiya Party (Ershad) is the third largest party in Parliament; with 27 seats out of 300 available; and got a 7% share of the vote at the 2008 general election.

Party chairperson: Hussain Muhammad Ershad

General Secretary: A.B.M. Ruhul Amin Howlader

Headquarters
27/8/A, Topkhana Road,

Dhaka-1000[1]

Bangladesh.

Bangladesh National Party (BNP)
2nd Largest party
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) one of the leading political parties in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President ziaur rahman. With a view to civilianizing his regime Ziaur Rahman initiated a 19-point programme of action on 30 April 1977. When General Ziaur Rahman decided to contest for the Presidency, a nationalist front called Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal was formed in 1978 under his patronage with Vice-President Justice abdus sattar as its convenor.
Being motivated by the nationalist activities of Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal, Ziaur Rahman went in to form the Bangladesh Nationalist Party having in view the forthcoming election for the jatiya sangsad. The Ganatantrik Dal was declared dissolved, and was rather merged with the newly formed party. President Zia himself was its convener, and ultimately became its first chairman. Professor aqm badruddoza chowdhury was the first secretary general of BNP. Ziaur Rahman, adopting an 'open arm policy', entrusted BNP leaders and workers holding political views right, left and centre, mainly with a view to making it a broad based nationalist party. One striking feature of BNP has been its recruitment policy. More than 45 percent of its leaders and workers were not only new entrants, but also young.
The main objectives of the party have been, in the words of its founder, the economic development, democratic advancement, national unity on the basis of Bangladeshi nationalism and generation of a spirit of self-reliance in the people. The 19-point programme of action has been its leit motif. The four fundamental principles of State policy i.e. the principles of absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah, nationalism, democracy, and socialism meaning economic and social justice, have been its core values.
When BNP was established as a political party, the nation was a divided one, divided not only on the basis of political ideology, earmarked as right, centre and left, but also on the basis of participation in the war of liberation marked as pro-liberation and anti-liberation forces. As a consequence, all such social forces as the students and teachers, intellectuals and professionals, cultural elite and academics stood divided. The bureaucrats and even the military were affected by the schism. One of the objectives of BNP was to heal this national divisiveness and work as a cementing force among the warring groups and factions so that the nation can work as one organic whole.
The BNP, right from its inception, has begun its activities mainly with a view to fostering national unity. In the face of the policy pursued by the post-independence government, especially its pro-Indian bias and Bangladesh's linkage with the Indo-Soviet axis at the exclusion of other actors in international politics, BNP adopted a kind of foreign policy which was looked at by many as 'neutral' and 'independent'.
Justice Abdus Sattar was elected President of Bangladesh as a nominee of BNP in 1981 after the brutal assassination of President Zia in an abortive military coup in Chittagong on 30 May 1981. After the demise of Ziaur Rahman the Bangladesh Nationalist Party faced great difficulties. The succeeding chairman of BNP and the newly elected President of the country Justice Abdus Sattar was ousted by a military coup led by the then army chief hussain m ershad, and martial law was promulgated on 24 March 1982. At that time many BNP leaders abandoned the party to join the military government. At this critical juncture begum khaleda zia took the helm of the party as chairperson. Under her leadership BNP formed a 7-party alliance and launched relentless struggle against the autocratic rule of Ershad. In the face of a mass upsurge spearheaded by alliances of BNP and the awami league, Ershad handed over power to a neutral non-party caretaker government.
In the 1991 general elections that followed, BNP emerged as the single largest party securing 140 seats in the Parliament and formed the government. The BNP government took initiative in re-introducing parliamentary system of government in Bangladesh. In the general elections of 2001, BNP led 4-party alliance won a landslide victory winning more than two-thirds in the Parliament and formed the government. [Emajuddin Ahamed]

Government Parties

Bangladesh Awami League is the oldest and biggest political party of Bangladesh. It originated in the soil of the country and evolved with the evolving hopes and aspirations of the people living on the Padma- Meghna- Jamuna delta. It is the party that gave leadership in the glorious Liberation War. Awami league is one of those political parties in the world under whose leadership struggles were led and won, tearing apart the chains of domination and servitude. Awami League represents the mainstream of the progressive, non-communal, democratic and nationalist politics of Bangladesh.
This half-a-century- old party has a glorious of relentless and uncompromising struggle against autocracy and communalism, against political and economic domination. Its greatest achievement is the emancipation of the Bangalee people from the colonial rule of Pakistan. This was the party that both germinated and helped blossom the Bangalee nationalism: the independence won in 1971 is the undying monument of that grand success of Awami League as a political party. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, our Father of the Nation, gave the leadership to the people and the party that took us through the glorious War of Liberation. Since then, the party has worked tirelessly to combat autocracy and communalism, to nourish the non communal political tradition and to institutionalize democracy through establishing a constitutionally elected government.
Therefore, as a political party, Awami League can claim to have attained success in the overall development of the political history of the country, particularly in the process of building a nation-state for the Bangalee people. It is continuing in its role as the people- oriented political party with progressive and pragmatic political, social and economic agenda for the betterment of the lot of the toiling masses of the country.

It is known to all that, in 1940, Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq tabled the historic Resolution incorporating the idea of more than one states in the Indian subcontinent. According to this resolution, there was to be a separate state comprising the Bangla speaking regions of the sub continent. But the plan was completely sidetracked when India was divided in 1947 on the basis of Mr. Jinnah’s Two-nation Theory, and the artificial state of Pakistan came into being with two wings separated by a thousand miles. These two wings comprised two entirely different lands, languages and cultures. The establishment of Pakistan could not solve the problem of Bangalee nationality. On the contrary, the repressive policies of the Pakistani ruling elite against various nationalities brought the question of Bangalee’s separate nationhood to the forefront. In this backdrop, within 4 months and 20 days of the creation of Pakistan an opposition student’s organization named East Pakistan Student League was formed under the leadership of the then young and promising student leader, Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (January 4, 1948). On June 23, nest year, a meeting of the leaders and workers known to be the supporters of Hussain Shaheed suhrawardy was held at ‘Rose Garden’ of K. M. Das lane, Dhaka. There a new political party named Awami Muslim League was formed with Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani as chair, Shamsul Haq of Tangail as Secretary, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (then interned in Jail) as Joint Secretary and Yar Mohammad as Treasurer. It was the first oppsition party in the then East Bangal (later renamed East Pakistan). In a process of secularization, the word ‘Muslim’ was eventually dropped from the name of the party. Since its inception, Awami League has championed the cause of the political rights of the Bangalee people and fought relentlessly for the attainment of those rights. The present Bangladesh Awami League inherits the legacy of the party founded in 1949. Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina is the present president of Bangladesh Awami League.

The Bangalee people living on the Padma- Meghna- Jamuna delta first rose in revolt on the question of the state language of Pakistan. The language policy of the non-Bangalee rulers of Pakistan was not only undemocratic but also strongly biased against the various nationalities. They refused the claim of Bangla, the language of the majority people of Pakistan, to be one of the state languages alongside Urdu. Rather they trid to impose Urdu as the sole state language of Pakistan. The people of East Bengal statged their clamorous protest against this blatant injustice and a strong mass-movement originated on the question of state language. Both Awami League and its student wing Chhatra League evolved through this Language movement that stretched from 1948 till 1952. The leaders of these two parties played the dominant role in organizing this movement. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s name should be specially mentioned in this regard.

On March 11, 1948 he led a siege of the East Pakistan Secretariat and was arrested along with some of his colleagues. On March 21, 1948, in a meeting in the Racecourse of Dhaka (now Suhrawardy Garden), Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the first Governor General of Pakistan declared unequivocally, “Urdo and only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan.” A number of young activists including Bangabandhu raised their voice of protest against this declaration. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the target of the wrath of the Muslim League government for a number of reasons which included his active participation in the language movement, his protest against the repressive measures taken by the Muslim League government, his leadership in the movement of the class four employees of Dhaka University etc. He was being thrown into Jail into Jail again and again. He was still in jail when the final phase of the Language movement started in 1952. He got himself transferred from the central jail to Dhaka Medical College on medical ground and established contacts with the leaders outside.
Through chits smuggled out of the hospital he gave directives to the leaders of the movement. On February 16, 1952, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and his close associate late Mohiuddin Ahmed went on hunger-strike-till-death. With a view to isolating them from the outside world, the government transferred them to Faridpur Jail. Bangabandhu was then Joint Secretary of Awami League. This hunger strike added a new dimension to the final phase of the Language Movement. The police opened fire on the demonstrasting student on February 21, 1952, killing several persons. This bloody incident opended a new chapter in the history of the Leberation struggle of the Bangalee nation.
It should bementioned here that the movement for Bangla Language was being conducted under the aegus of a multi-party forum called the ‘All Party State Language Action Committee. It was formed on January 30, 1952, and Awami League played a leading role in its formation. On the streets, inside the prison, in the Constituent Assembly-everywhere Awami League and Bangabandhu fought relentlessly for the cause of mother tongue. In a speech given in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly, Bangabandhu made this memorable comment : “It is not important whether we know any other language or not. We want to speak in Bangla in this House.” When new consperacies started being hatched against Bangla language and Bangalee culture in the sixties, Bangabandhu and his party organized a strong protest movement against those nefarious designs of the Ayub regime.
In 1974, after the Liberation of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered his speech in the UN in Bangla and thus for the first time glorified our language in the world arena. His daughter, the present Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina can justifiably claim the credit of glorifying Bangla once again : it was due to her initiative that UNESCO has declared (November 17, 1999) the 21st of February as the International Mother Language Day. From now on, February 21, the day of martyrdom for Bangla, will be celebrated all over the world every year in recognition of the right of the mother tongues of all speech communities of the world. The glorious sacrifice of the Bangalee nation has now acquired international recognition through this decision of UNESCO.

In March 1954, an election of the last Pakistan Provincial Assembly was held, which is known as the United Front election. The opposition political parties, under the leadership of the mainstream party, Awami League formed the United Front to fight the electoral battle against the ruling Muslim League. It was formally inaugurated in December 1953 with Hussain Shaheed Sugrawardy, Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as Chief proponents. United Front chalked out a 21 point socio-economic programme as its election manifesto; it included the ‘State language issue’ and ‘the demand for the autonomy of East Bengal’ as two main points. The election symbol of the Front was ‘boat’. It had a landslide victory, winning 300 seats out of 309. The ruling Muslim League got only 9 seats. Out of the 237 muslim seats, United Front bagged 223 (Awami League topped the list among the members by winning 137 seats). This electoral win by United Front marked a watershed in the politics of East Pakistan. The ruling Muslim not only suffered a crushing defeat; it was virtually wiped out as a political force from East Bengal. For the Bangalees it was a revolution through ballot. But the United Front Government formed under the leadership of Fazlul Huq was short-lived : the central Gvoernment of Pakistan ousted it on the 56th day of its assumption of power. Bangalees were outraged and infuriated by this nefarious act on the part of the Pakistani ruling clique. The election of 1954 and its aftermath played an important role in the evolution of the concept of the separate Bangalee nationhood.

Since the beginning, Awami League has been a secular democratic party. The term ‘Muslim’ was appended to the name of the party at the time of its foundation as a political tactic only. India was divided on the basis of a communal birurcation, and in 1949 it was really unthinkable to launch an opposition political party with a declared secularist agenda. Moreover, the separate election system for defferent religious communites was still operative in Pakistan. The founding fathers of Awami League, therefore, thought it opportune to hide their intentions under the name ‘Awami Muslim league’ for the time being. Meanwhile, through the cataclysmie events of the Language Movement, the United Front election of 1954 and the defeat of Muslim League in that election created a secular political atmosphere in East Bengal. A resolution in favour of ‘non-communal combined system was adopted (Murree Pact, 1955), for whice Awami League can claim the sole credit. In the backdrop of this, in the initiative of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then General Secretary of the Party, the three-day 3rd council meeting was held in Rupahal Cinema Hall of Dhaka on 21-23 October, 1953. In this council, a resolution regarding the change in the name of the party was adopted : the word ‘Muslim’ was dropped and the party was renamed ‘East Pakistan Awami League’. It was a historical and bold political decision, as a result of which the party became open to all irrespective of caste, creed and colour. The secular democratic character of the party was thus institutionalized and perfected.