A small but populous nation splits off from a country. A generation before, Pakistan in the East and West, did the same, depriving post independence India of instant superpower status. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The first stamp issue of an independent Bangla Desh. Notice the spelling. Writing Bangla Desh as two words only lasted for a few months. Surprising that at least in English it is not just called Bengal. But this stamp came after local politicians had declared independence but while there was still a large Pakistani army and administration on hand that did not agree. That makes the stamp aspirational, which to me are the best kind.
Todays stamp is issue A1, a 1 Rupee stamp issued by the Awami League provisional government of Bangla Desh in 1971. It was part of an eight stamp issue in various denominations that aspirationally imagined an independent Bangla Desh. The stamps featured maps, flags, slogans and potential leaders of the hoped for country. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents mint. There was a later version with the new currency that were rejected by Bangladesh officials but then issued anyway by representatives in London during 1972, they are considered fake but have similar values.
The area of Bengal had been part of the Mughal Empire before the arrival of the British. Their East India Company took the area after the battle of Plassey in 1757. British India comprised modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. They also administered nearby Sri lanka and Burma. This large area would have been far and away the most populous country in the world and even in colonial times, the gross national product was larger than Great Britain itself. It was the intention of most independence advocates that after the British left, it would all be one country. These leaders were mostly Hindu though and the area contained many Muslims and peoples of different races and languages. A Hindu independent greater India was not to be and the British tried to limit bloodshed by dividing off mostly Muslim East and West Pakistan. This was less than ideal for several reasons. Though the same religion, East Pakistan was of a different race and language. In addition, it was separate geographically. Thus the Bengal territories did not feel itself a part of Pakistan. Independent India was sympathetic to the plight of the Bengals. In the 1960s, there was a socialist movement of Bengalis called the Awami league lead by Sheik Mujibur Rahman. He wanted more self rule and that Bengali become the official language of East Pakistan. When this movement was suppressed, independence was unilaterally declared and the Awami League started establishing the institutions of a separate state. There were 90,000 troops loyal to Pakistan in Bangladesh that contested the will of the people and it took a two week war with India for them to realize that they were far from home and their situation untenable. Pakistan’s surrender was the largest since World War II.
Independence was not an immediate panacea. The people were desperately poor and the British had set up the economy for large crops for export and not enough for local food. Independence leaders had all been trained by the British and were socialists. As such they took over the plantations but kept them operating now for the benefit of the state. However whatever revenue came from that was declining and with little getting to improve the lot of the average Bengali. There was a large famine in Bangladesh in 1974 and this lead to much tumult and fighting internally inside the Awami League and outside of it. Bangladeshi officers formerly aligned with the Awami Leaguge staged a coup killing Sheik Mujibar Rahman and his family in an attack on the Presidential Palace starting a long period of coup and counter coup. There are rumors that the coup was arraigned by the American CIA but I think that exaggerates Bangladesh’s importance to the USA. Peoples hopes had been raised and the results were just not fast enough in coming, and with no more British to blame, it was natural to turn on the leaders.
Well my drink is empty and I may have a few more while I ponder how independence could have gone better. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.