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Mukti Bahini (Bengali language: মুক্তি বাহিনী [1] Freedom fighters or Liberation Army[2] were a Bengali resistance force from East Pakistan, who fought against the Pakistan Army in the Bangladesh Liberation War.[3] The Pakistan Army launched military operations against Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, and armed personnel after sundown on March 25, 1971. In response, Bangladesh declared independence and Bengali military and paramilitary personnel, as well as civilians, started spontaneous resistance against the aggression. This was the formation of the Mukti Bahini. Later in April, Bangladesh Armed Forces was formed formally with Col. M. A. G. Osmani as the commander-in-chief, Lt. Col. Abdur Rob as the chief-of-staff and Capt. A. K. Khandaker as the deputy chief-of-staff. The armed forces as well as the paramilitary and civilian forces who fought alongside them for the liberation of Bangladesh are referred to as the Mukti Bahini.


In August 1947, the Partition of British India gave rise to two new states;[4] the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan, the latter intended to be a homeland for the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent. The Dominion of Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas to the east and the west of India.[5] The western zone was popularly (and for a period of time, also officially) termed West Pakistan and the eastern zone (now Bangladesh) was initially termed East Bengal and later, East Pakistan. Although the population of the two zones was close to equal, political power was concentrated in West Pakistan and it was widely perceived that East Pakistan was being exploited economically, leading to many grievances. Administration of two discontinuous territories was also seen as a challenge.[6] On 25 March 1971, rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was met by brutal[7] suppressive force from the ruling elite of the West Pakistan establishment,[8] in what came to be termed Operation Searchlight.[9]

The events of the nine-month conflict of the Bangladesh Liberation War are widely viewed as genocide; the Pakistan Army and collaborators targeted Hindu communities, intellectuals and members of the political opposition for attacks.[10] Historians have estimated that, during the conflict, between two hundred thousand[11] and four hundred thousand[12] women and children[13] were raped leading to an estimated 25,000 war babies being born.[14] Estimates of persons killed during the conflict range from between 269,000[15] to one[16] to three million.[17] An estimated ten million refugees entered India, a situation which contributed to its government's decision to intervene militarily in the civil war. Thirty million people were displaced.[17] Susan Brownmiller documented that girls from the age of eight to grandmothers of seventy-five suffered rapes during the war.[18]

Involvement in War

Mukti Bahini fought against Pakistan army in various battlegrounds throughout the country and also performed guerrilla operations in different army camps and establishments. Most of them did not have any professional military training nor they had any time for it. They were trained during the war.[citation needed] Sector commanders directed the guerrilla attacks and also trained the Mukti Bahini. The training camps were mostly situated near border areas with the direct assistance of India.


The Mukti Bahini consisted of Bengali members of Pakistan armed forces and civilians from East Pakistan, in response to the Operation Searchlight on March 25, 1971, a violent military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army to curb the Bengali nationalist movement through selective genocide of Bengali people.

Mukti Bahini used Guerrilla warfare tactics to fight against the Pakistan Army. India provided economic, military and diplomatic support to the Mukti Bahini, leading West Pakistan to launch Operation Chengiz Khan, a preemptive attack on the western border of India which started the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.The operation also precipitated the 1971 Bangladesh genocide and caused roughly 10 million refugees to flee to India. Essentially Bengali intelligentsia, academics and Hindus were targeted for the harshest treatment, with significant indiscriminate killing taking place. These systematic killings enraged the Bengalis, who declared independence from Pakistan, to achieve the new state of Bangladesh.


File:MAG osmani.jpg

M.A.G. Osmani, Commander-in-Chief of Mukti Bahini

When the Pakistan Army started the military crackdown on the Bengali population, they did not expect a prolonged resistance.[19] But a large number of Bengali members of the East Bengal Regiments (EBR), East Pakistan Rifles (EPR, later BDR, BGB), police, other paramilitary forces, students and other civilians started resistance against the Pakistan Army. With the formation of Bangladesh government on 17 April 1971, Colonel M. A. G. Osmany (later General) was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of all Bangladesh Forces. The members of EBR, EPR, police and other paramilitary forces were later called "regular force" or "niomito bahini".

During a conference of sector commanders held from 11 to 17 July 1971 held at Kolkata, the forces were further organized and the command was set up with Col. Osmany as the commander-in-chief (C-in-C) with the status of a cabinet minister, Lt. Col., Abdur Rabb as the Chief of Staff (COS), Group Captain A K Khandker as the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) and Major A R Chowdhury as the Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS). Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors.[20] Sector commanders were in charge of conducting guerrilla operations and training fighters. The 10th Sector was under the command of C-in-C Osmany and included the Naval Commandos and C-in-C's special force.[21]

During this conference some major initiatives were taken to organize the Mukti Bahini. This meeting was focused to discuss different problems and future course of action. In this conference Lt. Col. M A Rabb was appointed the Chief-of-staff and Group Captain A K Khandaker was appointed the Deputy Chief-of-staff. The important issues that were discussed during this conference are:[22][23]

  1. Define the boundary of different sectors
  2. Organize guerrilla warfare by the following ways:
    • A group of 5-10 trained fighters would be sent inside Bangladesh with specific instructions
    • Guerrilla fighters will be classified as:
    • Guerrilla base: each base would provide food, medicine and accommodation of the guerrilla fighters.
      • Action group: members of this group would take part in frontal attacks, 50~100% of them would carry arms
      • Intelligence: members of this group would gather enemy information, they would not take part in frontal attacks, 30% of them would carry arms
  3. The regular force would be immediately organized as battalion force and sector troops.
  4. Military attacks against the enemy would be carried out by the following ways:
    • A large number of guerrilla fighters would be sent inside Bangladesh to carry out raid and ambush at every convenient places
    • Industries would be shut down by disrupting electric supply
    • Pakistanis would not be allowed to export any raw materials or manufactured goods and the warehouse would be destroyed
    • The railways and boats used to carry enemy soldiers and enemy military instruments would be destroyed
    • The war strategy should be to force the enemy to disperse
    • After dispersing the enemy the smaller groups would be attacked by the guerrilla fighters[22][22]

Besides the eleven sectors, the combatants were also divided and reorganized into several groups:

  • Regular army battalion ("niomito bahini", নিয়মিত বাহিনী)
  • Sector troops
  • Irregular force or freedom fighters ("oniomito bahini", অনিয়মিত বাহিনী)[22]

In addition, some independent forces fought in various regions of Bangladesh. These included the Mujib Bahini,[1] organized by Major General Oban of the Indian Army and Student League leaders Serajul Alam Khan, Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, Kazi Arif Ahmed, Abdur Razzak, Tofael Ahmed, A. S. M. Abdur Rab, Shahjahan Siraj, Nur E Alam Siddiqi, and Abdul Quddus Makhon and the Kaderia Bahini under Kader Siddique of Tangail. Kaderia Bahini also created a volunteer group to help his Bahini.[24] Some other groups of freedom fighters were controlled by the Leftist parties and groups including the NAP and Communist Parties. A strong guerrilla force led by Siraj Sikder fought several battles with the Pakistani soldiers in Payarabagan, Barisal. Three brigades were created by Ziaur Rahman, Khaled Mosharraf and K M Shafiullah by the name of Z-force, K-force and S-force. A young guerrilla group named "Crack Platoon" did some courageous guerrilla attacks in the Dhaka city that attracted several international media at that time.[25]

List of Sectors and Subsectors

Map showing Bangladesh liberation war sectors of Mukti Bahini operation

During the Liberation war, Bangladesh was geographically divided into eleven areas known as sectors. Each sector had sector commander who coordinated the military operations through sub-sector commanders. The sector commanders were officers of Pakistan army who joined Mukti Bahini. Table below lists all the sectors and sector commanders with their sub-commanders and geographical locations.

Sectors of Bangladesh Liberation War[26][27][28][29]
Sector Area Sector Commander Sub Sectors (Commanders)
1 Chittagong District, Chittagong Hill Tracts, and the entire eastern area of the Noakhali District on the banks of the river Muhuri. The headquarters of the sector was at Harina. • Major Ziaur Rahman (April 10, 1971 – June 25, 1971)
• Captain Rafiqul Islam (June 28, 1971 – February 14, 1972)
  1. Rishimukh (Captain Shamsul Islam);
  3. Manughat (Captain Mahfuzur Rahman);
  4. Tabalchhari (Sergeant Ali Hossain); and
  5. Dimagiri (Army Sergeant, name unknown to date).
2 Districts of Dhaka, Comilla, and Faridpur, and part of Noakhali District. • Major Khaled Mosharraf (April 10, 1971 – September 22, 1971)
• Major ATM Haider (Sector Commander September 22, 1971 – February 14, 1972)
  2. Mandabhav (Captain Abdul hamid);
  3. Shalda-nadi (Mahmud Hasan);
  4. Matinagar (Lieutenant Didarul Alam);
  5. Nirbhoypur (Captain Akbar, Lieutenant Mahbub); and
3 Area between Churaman Kathi (near Sreemangal) and Sylhet in the north and Singerbil of Brahmanbaria in the south. • Major K. M. Shafiullah (April 10, 1971 – July 21, 1971)
• Captain ANM Nuruzzaman (July 23, 1971 – February 14, 1972)
  1. Asrambari (Captain Aziz, Captain Ejaz);
  2. Baghaibari (Captain Aziz, Captain Ejaz);
  3. Hatkata (Captain Matiur Rahman);
  4. Simla (Captain Matin);
  5. Panchabati (Captain Nasim);
  6. Mantala (Captain MSA Bhuyan);
  7. Vijoynagar (Captain MSA Bhuyan);
  8. Kalachhora (Lieutenant Majumdar);
  9. Kalkalia (Lieutenant Golam Helal Morshed); and
  10. Bamutia (Lieutenant Sayeed)
4 Area from Habiganj District on the north to Kanaighat Police Station on the south along the 100 mile long border with India. The headquarters of the sector was initially at Karimganj and later at Masimpur. • Major Chittarajan Datta (April 10, 1971 – February 14, 1972)
• Captain A Rab
  1. Jalalpur (Mahbubur Rob Sadi);
  2. Barapunji (Captain A Rab & Lieutenant Amirul Haque Chowdhury);
  3. Amlasid (Lieutenant Zahir);
  5. Kailas Shahar (Lieutenant Wakiuzzaman); and Fazlul Haque Chowdhury EX EPR(from April'71 - August '71)
  6. Kamalpur (Captain Enam)
5 Area from Durgapur to Dawki (Tamabil) of Sylhet District and the entire area up to the eastern borders of the district. The headquarters of the sector was at Banshtala. • Major Mir Shawkat Ali (April 10, 1971 – February 14, 1972)
  1. Muktapur (Captain Qazi Faruq Ahmed, Subsector Commander, 16 June 1971 till 1 February 1972; Subedar Mujibur Rahman, Second in Command; Nayeb Subedar Nazir Hussain, Admin in charge(non-combatant))
  3. Shela (Captain Helal);
  4. Bholaganj (Lieutenant Taheruddin Akhunji);
  6. Barachhara (Captain Muslim Uddin).
6 Rangpur District and part of Dinajpur District. The headquarters of the sector was at Burimari near Patgram. • Wing Commander M Khademul Bashar (April 1971 – February 14, 1972)
  2. Patgram (initially divided between junior commissioned officers of the EPR and later taken hold by Captain Matiur Rahman);
  3. Sahebganj (Captain Nawazesh Uddin);
  4. Phulbari, Kurigram (Captain Abul Hossain)
  5. Mogalhat (Captain Delwar); and
  6. Chilahati (Flight Lieutenant Iqbal)
7' Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra and part of Dinajpur District. The headquarters of the sector was at Taranngapur. • Major Nazmul Huq (April 10 – August 20, 1971)
• Major Quazi nooruzzaman (August 21 – February 14, 1972)
• Subedar Major A Rab
  1. Malan (initially divided between junior commissioned officers and later taken hold by Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir);
  2. Tapan (Major Nazmul Huq, also commanded by commanding officers of the EPR);
  3. Mehdipur (Subedar Iliyas, Captain Mahiuddin Jahangir);
  4. Hamzapur (Captain Idris);
  5. Anginabad (unnamed freedom fighter);
  6. Sheikhpara (Captain Rashid);
  7. Thokrabari (Subedar Muazzam); and
  8. Lalgola (Captain Gheyasuddin Chowdhury).
8 In April 1971, the operational area of the sector comprised the districts of Kushtia, Jessore, Khulna, Barisal, Faridpur and Patuakhali. At the end of May the sector was reconstituted and comprised the districts of Kuhstia, Jessore, Khulna, Satkhira and the northern part of Faridpur district. The headquarters of the sector was at Benapole. • Major Abu Osman Chowdhury (April 10 – July 17, 1971)
• Major Abul Manzoor (August 14, 1971 – February 14, 1972)
  1. Boyra (Captain Khondakar Nazmul Huda);
  2. Hakimpur (Captain Shafiq Ullah);
  3. Bhomra (Captain Salahuddin, Captain Shahabuddin);
  4. Lalbazar (Captain AR Azam Chowdhury);
  5. Banpur (Captain Mostafizur Rahman);
9 Barisal, Patuakhali, and parts of the district of Khulna and Faridpur. • Major M A Jalil (July 17 – December 24, 1971)
• Major MA Manzur
• Major Joynal Abedin
  1. Taki;
  2. Hingalganj; and
  3. Shamshernagar.
10 This sector was constituted with the naval commandos. • Commander HQ BD Forces (December 3–16, 1971) None.
11 Mymensingh and Tangail along with parts of Rangpur - Gaibandha, Ulipur, Kamalpur and Chilmari. The headquarters of the sector was at Teldhala until October 10, then transferred to Mahendraganj. • Major Ziaur Rahman (June 26, 1971 – October 10, 1971;
• Major Abu Taher (October 10, 1971 – November 2, 1971;
• Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan) (November 2, 1971 – February 14, 1972)

From October 10 until November 2, 1971, Major Abu Taher was temporarily appointed to this Sector as Major Zia was abruptly ordered to move with his Brigade to Sylhet Region. Due to accidental injury he suffered in his leg, he was transferred to Pune, India for treatment)

  1. Mankarchar (Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan);
  2. Mahendraganj (Major Abu Taher; Lieutenant Mannan);
  3. Purakhasia (Lieutenant Hashem);
  4. Dhalu (Lieutenant Taher; Lieutenant Kamal);
  5. Rangra (Matiur Rahman)
  6. Shivabari (divided between junior commissioned officers of the EPR);
  7. Bagmara (divided between junior commissioned officers of the EPR); and
  8. Maheshkhola (a member of the EPR).

Awards given to Mukti Bahini sepoys

The Bir Sreshtho (Bengali language: বীরশ্রেষ্ঠ ) (The Most Valiant Hero), is the highest award given to those who show utmost bravery and die in action for their nation. It was awarded to seven Mukti Bahini fighters. They were:

  1. Ruhul Amin
  2. Mohiuddin Jahangir
  3. Mostafa Kamal
  4. Hamidur Rahman
  5. Munshi Abdur Rouf
  6. Nur Mohammad Sheikh
  7. Matiur Rahman

The other three gallantry awards are, in decreasing order of importance, Bir Uttom, Bir Bikrom and Bir Protik. All of these awards were introduced immediately after the Liberation War in 1971.[30]


On 16 December 1971, the allied forces of the Mukti Bahini and the Indian army defeated the Pakistan Army deployed in the East. The resulting surrender was the largest in number of prisoners of war since World War II. Mukti Bahini was succeeded by the Bangladesh Armed Forces.


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  2. Eyal Benvenisti (23 February 2012). The International Law of Occupation. Oxford University Press. pp. 189–. ISBN 978-0-19-163957-9. Retrieved 20 December 2012. 
  3. "Mukti Bahini must be given due credit for liberating Bangladesh: Gen Jacob". 19 October 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2013. 
  4. "Britain Proposes Indian Partition". Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: The Leader-Post. 2 June 1947.,3655&dq=india+partition&hl=en. 
  5. Grover, Preston (8 June 1947). "India Partition Will Present Many Problems". Sarasota, Florida, USA: Herald-Tribune, via Google News.,6305096&dq=india+partition&hl=en. 
  6. "Problems of Partition". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 14 June 1947.,1795176&dq=india+partition&hl=en. 
  7. "Genocide in Bangladesh, 1971. Gendercide Watch". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011. 
  8. "Emerging Discontent, 1966–70. Country Studies Bangladesh". Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011. 
  9. Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971: Military Action: Operation Searchlight Bose S Economic and Political Weekly Special Articles, 8 October 2005[dead link]
  10. D'Costa, Bina (1). Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia. Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 978-0415565660. 
  11. Saikia, Yasmin (2011). Elizabeth D. Heineman. ed. Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones: From the Ancient World to the Era of Human Rights. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8122-4318-5. 
  13. Ghadbian, Najib (2002). Kent Worcester, Sally A. Bermanzohn, Mark Ungar. ed. Violence and politics: globalization's paradox. Routledge. pp. 111. ISBN 978-0415931113. 
  14. D'Costa, Bina (1). Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia. Routledge. p. 132. ISBN 978-0415565660. 
  15. Obermeyer, Ziad; Christopher J L Murray, Emmanuela Gakidou (26). "Fifty years of violent war deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia: analysis of data from the world health survey programme". pp. 1482–6. Digital object identifier:10.1136/bmj.a137. PMC 2440905. PMID 18566045. 
  16. DeGroot, Gerard (2011). The Seventies Unplugged: A Kaleidoscopic Look at a Violent Decade. Pan Macmillan. p. 64. ISBN 978-0330455787. 
  18. Debnath, Angela (2009). Samuel Totten. ed. Plight and fate of women during and following genocide (7th ed.). Transaction. pp. 49. ISBN 978-1412808279. 
  19. Pakistan Defence Journal, 1977, Vol 2, p2-3
  20. Islam, Major Rafiqul, A Tale of Millions,pp226 – pp231
  21. Bangladesh Liberation Armed Force, Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh.
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Islam, Rafikul (1981). লক্ষ প্রাণের বিনিময়ে / Lokkho praner binimoye. মনিরুল হক, অনন্যা/Anannya. ISBN 9844120030. 
  23. Rahman, Hasan Hafizur (1984). বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ, দলিলপত্রঃ দশম খণ্ড / HISTORY OF BANGLADESH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE DOCUMENTS, VOL-10. Hakkani Publishers. pp. 1–3. ISBN 984-433-091-2. 
  24. Siddiki, Kader (2004). Shadhinota '71. Anannya / অনন্যা. pp. 550–552. ISBN 984412039X. 
  25. Alam, Habibul (2010). Brave of heart. APPL / এপিপিএল. ISBN 9840802011. 
  26. List of Sectors in Bangladesh Liberation War
  27. List of Liberation War Sectors and Sector Commanders of Bangladesh (Gazette Notification No.8/25/D-1/72-1378). Ministry of Defence, Government of Bangladesh. December 15, 1973. 
  28. Documents of the War of Independence (Vol 01–16). Government of Bangladesh. 
  29. M. Hamidullah Khan. Bangladesh, Ekatture Uttar Ronangaon (1971 Northern Front), - Factual War Accounts (in Bangla). Sector Commander 11, War of Independence: Barnatoru. ISBN 984-626-47-2. 
  30. The Bangladesh Gazette, 15 December 1973.

Further reading
