East Pakistan

East Pakistan was the eastern provincial wing of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, and stretched over the territory of present day Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, with a coastline on the Bay of Bengal. The history of East Bengal and East Pakistan from 1947 to 1971 encapsulates the most fundamental juncture of Bangladesh’s history: between its independence as a part of Pakistan from British colonial rule in 1947 to its independence from Pakistan in 1971. In 1955, Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra implemented the One Unit scheme which merged the four western provinces into a single unit called West Pakistan while East Bengal was renamed as East Pakistan. Due to the strategic importance of East Pakistan, the Pakistani union was made a member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization. On 16 December 1971, after nine months of intense warfare, East Pakistan was liberated from Pakistan as the newly independent state of Bangladesh.