Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Bangladesh: The Quest for a State

by Afsan Chowdhury

The book explores the multiple factors that led to the birth of Bangladesh as a state. Primarily, it looks at the historic role of the peasantry in partnership with other classes that began with armed resistance to colonialism after 1757 and continued till the 20th century through state seeking politics. Over time, after nearly becoming an independent state in 1947, it finally reached the doors of 1971. Bangladesh assumed sub-state status in 1905 and was recognized as a separate state in 1940 (Lahore Resolution). It was later, downgraded to a province in 1946 (Delhi Resolution) and led a failed independent state making effort in 1947 (United Bengal Movement) and was pushed back to a province status after 1947. By that time, it had become a 'subsumed" state.
Bangladesh was not born as a reaction to mistreatment by Pakistan, it was rather forced by circumstances put under the flag of Pakistan as a single functional state. In this state-making struggle of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman played a critical role representing the continuity of state-making efforts from, before and after 1947. He came from the socioeconomic layer above the peasantry which was its closest ally in anti-colonial struggle. Sheikh Mujib represented the Margin; the coalition of identities of all oppressed people particularly the villagers who became the bastion of the Bangladesh war in 1971. It is a study of interactions between various social forces that combined to form a historic identity that birthed Bangladesh.

212 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Afsan Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi liberation war researcher, columnist and journalist. He received Bangla Academy Award in the year 2018 for his contribution to the liberation war literature.

Chowdhury was born on 16 February 1952 in Dhaka. After completing his higher education from the Department of History in Dhaka University, he started his career in journalism. During his career as a journalist, he served as an editor for Dhaka Courier, contributed to The Daily Star and also produced a number of BBC World Service series. He was also one of the founder Promoter of United News of Bangladesh, one of the country's leading news agencies. He is a teacher of BRAC University and runs the Diversity Studies Cluster there.

Reviews

[Ahmed A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and important for understanding the Centre-Margin identities and myths of state formation, but the editing should have done a much better job in organizing the content, particularly in the first part of the book.