পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ষষ্ঠ খণ্ড).pdf/৭৮২

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746 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ষষ্ঠ খণ্ড the Declaration, all men are born equal and all equally have the right to live their lives in liberty and as happily as possible. BANGLADESH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE Twenty-four years of political and economic exploitation and taxation without representation were tolerated by the Bengalis in the hope that eventually West Pakistan would realize the folly of its policy of colonization in East Pakistan. The main aim behind the six-point Awami League program was to enable the people of East Pakistan to live as dignified citizens within the framework of Pakistan. But West Pakistan rulers, 3,000 miles away across the Indian Ocean, saw in the six-point program of autonomy the danger of losing their colonial grip on East Pakistan. On March 25, Yahya Khan ordered the wholesale massacre of the defenseless Bengalis by the West Pakistan army and subsequently East Pakistan elected representatives were branded as traitors. At this point it became apparent that living together by East Pakistan was no longer possible. A spontaneous War of Liberation was waged by the Bengali Mukti Bahini. An Autumn offensive was launched last month by 150,000 freedom fighters. The heroic struggle of the Mukti Bahini has received moral and material support from freedom loving peoples all over the world. Bangladesh Declaration of Independence The birth of the sovereign People's Republic of Bangladesh was proclaimed at Mujibnagar inside Bangladesh by the elected representatives. The Acting President, Syed Nazrul Islam, proclaimed in hi Declaration of Independence that "Bangladesh has been given no choice but to secure its right of self determination through a national liberation struggle against the colonial oppression of West Pakistan.