British Parliamentary Debates on the Liberation War of Bangladesh Edited by: Dr. Nuh-ul-Alam Lenin and Irfan Sheikh
The international politics of the Liberation War of Bangladesh were most influenced by the governments of seven countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (USA), and the Soviet Union (USSR). It was the mutual relations and exchanges among these nations that expanded the Liberation War to an international level, stretching from Kashmir to the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal.
Despite this, we do not come across many quality books regarding the roles of these countries. To date, research on the international reaction to the Liberation War has been largely confined to the official proceedings of Bangladesh, India, and the United States. Even these studies are heavily dependent on secondary sources or newspaper clippings. However, secondary sources or clippings often contain unintentional political biases. On the other hand, due to a shortage of resources and information, as well as linguistic and political barriers, there has been little research on the official documents of China, the Soviet Union, and Pakistan.
How British influence impacted the determination of Bangladesh's fate has also not been studied thoroughly. Although there are fewer linguistic or political barriers in this case, the subject has not received much importance. One reason for this might be the lack of primary sources.
Considering the volume of this nearly 450-page book, it would not be an exaggeration to say that compared to other Western parliaments located west of the Suez Canal, British MPs were far more engrossed in debates concerning the Liberation War of Bangladesh. Their position was second only to the Lok Sabha of India in the entire world. Between March 25 and December 16, 1971, the House of Commons conducted sessions for a total of 129 days; among those, they debated the issue of the Liberation War on 55 days—which is approximately 43% of the total time.
The visit of a 4-member parliamentary delegation to Bangladesh funded by the British government at that time, the visit of the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to refugee camps in West Bengal and India, the visit of six more MPs to Bangladesh and Pakistan at the invitation of Yahya Khan or through their own funding, the unveiling of Bangladesh's postage stamps at Westminster (the British Parliament building), or the visa seal of the Bangladesh immigration authorities on a British MP's passport in 1971—all these events serve as irrefutable evidence of the close relationship between the Liberation War of Bangladesh and the British Parliament.
It is a natural question why the Parliament spent so much time and labor on this war. Surprisingly, the answer does not align well with "realist" or materialistic schools of thought, because British national interests in the subcontinent were not like those of the United States, the Soviet Union, or China.
This attention from Parliament was primarily a reflection of the intense interest of the British government and the common people of that country in the catastrophe of this subcontinent. This subcontinent was under their rule for nearly 190 years. This 190-year period of rule was truer for Bengal than for other regions, as the capital was located in this very Bengal for a long duration of the colonial era. Losing Bengal or India was a memory only 24 years old to the British—just as the memories of the 9/11 attacks or the bombing at Ramna Batamul remain fresh to us today.
Alongside this historical context, London was the largest center for the publicity of the Bangladesh movement after Kolkata. The Mujibnagar government even established a High Commission in London, just as they had previously done in Kolkata.
Above all, after his release from Rawalpindi, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's destination was London. The Pakistan government did not send him there; rather, Bangabandhu himself chose London over alternatives like Tehran, New York, or New Delhi.
We hope that this publication will deliver many events and insights into British policy regarding the Liberation War to constructive thinkers and social researchers. We believe this book will help describe the past to better understand the future.