A student procession at the University of Dhaka campus during the mass uprising of 1969.
The 1969 uprising in East Pakistan (ঊনসত্তরের গণঅভ্যুত্থান) was a democratic political movement in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The uprising consisted of a series of mass demonstrations and sporadic conflicts between government armed forces and the demonstrators. Although the unrest began in 1966 with the Six point movement of Awami League, it got momentum at the beginning of 1969 and culminated in the resignation of Field MarshalAyub Khan, the first military ruler of Pakistan. The uprising also led to the withdrawal of Agartala Conspiracy Case and acquittal of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his colleagues from the case.[1]
Timeline of events in 1969[]
5 January: Shorbodolio Chatro Shongram Porishad (The All Party Student Action Committee) puts forth its 11-point agenda.
7–8 January: Formation of a political coalition named Democratic Action Committee (DAC) to restore democracy.
20 January: Student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman dies as the police opens fire on the demonstrators.
Asaduzzaman's death reported in The Azad newspaper on 21 Jan 1969
Deepa Sen, leading the procession by University of Dhaka students (25 January 1969)
24 January: Matiur Rahman Mallik, a teenager activist, is gunned down by the police.
22 February: Withdrawal of Agartala Conspiracy Case. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the All-Pakistan Awami League, released from his prison cell in the Dhaka cantonment.[2]
23 February: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is accorded a grand reception, where he is given the title Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal).[1]
10–13 March: Ayub Khan calls for a round-table meeting with the opposition.
25 March: Ayub Khan hands over power to GeneralYahya Khan, the army Chief of Staff.
