A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh by Srinath Raghavan

A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh by Srinath Raghavan is a detailed account of events that occurred during the succession of East Pakistan. The war in 1971 was the most significant geopolitical event to take place on the Indian subcontinent since the country’s partition in 1947, according to historians. All in one fell swoop, it resulted in the formation of Bangladesh and significantly shifted the balance of power between India and Pakistan in favour of the former.

1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh

There are many things that can be traced back to the intense nine months of 1971.

The Line of Control in Kashmir, the nuclearization of India and Pakistan, the conflicts in Siachen Glacier and Kargil, the insurgency in Kashmir, the political travails of Bangladesh are all examples. Srinath Raghavan contends that, far from being a predestined event, the creation of Bangladesh was the result of conjuncture and contingency, choice and chance. This goes against conventional wisdom.

The disintegration of Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh can only be understood in the context of the broader international context of the time period: decolonization, the Cold War, and the beginnings of globalisation, among other things.

Raghavan vividly portrays the stellar international cast that shaped the origins and outcome of the Bangladesh crisis, which includes Nixon, Kissinger, Zhou Enlai, Indira Gandhi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Tariq Ali, George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, and Bob Dylan. The author of this strikingly original history employs the example of the year 1971 to provide a window into the nature of international humanitarian crises as well as the management and consequences of such crises.