The territory that constitutes Bangladesh has been a political hotbed since the dawn of the 20th century. The country entered a new era in August 1947, after the partition of India, including Bengal. The Bangalee youth played a catalytic role in rallying the masses towards another independence, while the country shed the attire of Islamic brotherhood to linguistic fraternity. During this period, we see the advent of a political party named Awami League (AL), which steered a popular movement for autonomy. The Bangalee Muslim middle-class emerged as a dominant social force. AL cultivated language-based nationalism among them over a span of two decades, paving the way for a new state, Bangladesh.Awami League’s birth was not an accident. Conditions were ripe. A section of the disgruntled rank-and-file of the ruling Muslim League (ML) convened a meeting in Dhaka on June 23, 1949, to voice their grievances. From there emerged the idea of forming a political party of ML supporters outside the orbit of the official ML dominated by the political elite centred at the Ahsan Manzil. The contradiction between ML and AL sharpened in a couple of years, centring the debate on the state language issue. Subsequently, AL emerged as a formidable opposition party.At the provincial level, a veteran ML leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani led AL. At the centre in Karachi, disgruntled ML leader Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy provided leadership of the All-Pakistan Awami League. Soon, AL became a serious contender for power. It joined hands with Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq and his Krishak Sramik Party (KSP). Their alliance led to a win-win situation. AL pledged support to Fazlul Haque to form the government in East Pakistan. In return, KSP would support Suhrawardy to become Pakistan’s prime minister. This alliance successfully routed the ML government in the provincial election of 1954. Fazlul Haque became the chief minister of the erstwhile East Pakistan. Suhrawardy had to wait two years to become the PM. These two years and beyond, Pakistan witnessed dirty power politics that paved the way for emergency and military rule in the country in October 1958. Then came the prolonged dictatorial rule of General-turned-Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan. Ayub may certainly be recognised as the founder of a person-centric oligarchy that has been followed by his successors to date.
The 1960s were characterised by an anti-Ayub student movement that was transformed into a mass movement for democratisation and provincial autonomy. AL was the leading party in this respect. During this period, AL’s General Secretary and later President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman rose to prominence. He was successful in establishing himself and his party as the sole spokesperson of Bangalee interests. People of the province started believing that AL would represent their aspirations better than anyone else. This popular support put AL at the helm of affairs. It won the general election of 1970 with a huge mandate.
