Bangladesh Forces takes part in Republic Day Event

India celebrated its 72nd Republic Day. The Republic Day Parade this year was though muted amid the COVID-19 pandemic and no chief guest was invited. But this year, Bangladesh Army contingent marched down the Rajpath.

Why Bangladesh Forces marched?

The Bangladesh Army Contingent participated in the parade to mark the completion of 50 years of the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistani rule. The victory was one of the finest military victories and the world has rarely witnesses the military campaign like India-Pakistan war of 1971. Thus, to mark the Golden Jubilee of the war, Bangladesh Forces marched along with the Indian Forces.

Background

The War was fought with the Pakistan in which Indian forces and Bangladesh Forces were united.  122-personnel strong contingent from Bangladesh fought alongside the Indian Army in the war. War continued for 14-day and resulted in the largest surrender of an opposing army.

Mukti Bahini

Mukti Bahini is the Bangladesh Forces. The force was the guerrilla resistance movement that comprises of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians in the War of Liberation. It was earlier called as the Mukti Fauj.  Mukti Bahini also comprise of the civilian Gonobahini meaning the People’s Force). Z Force led by Major Ziaur Rahman, K Force led by Major Khaled Mosharraf and S Force led by Major K M Shafiullah were some of the prominent forces during the war.

India-Bangladesh Relation

The relation between India and Bangladesh is defined on the basis of civilisation, cultural, social and economic. A shared history and common heritage, linguistic and cultural ties, Literature, passion for music and arts are some of the areas that unites both the countries. For Instance, Rabindranath Tagore wrote the national anthems of both Bangladesh and India in 1905 and 1911 respectively. The cooperation and coordination between the Indian Army and Bangladeshi Mukti Bahini dates back to March 1971 or the India-Pakistan war of 1971. Now that cooperation and coordination is part of folklore and shared history of both the nations.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2021