The 1971 Bangladesh War – Part 2: Bhutto’s Game

Conflicted: A History Podcast

Zach Cornwell

Education, History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 610 Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2024

⏱️ 105 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the wake of the deadly Bhola Cyclone, 50 million Pakistanis go to the polls on December 7th, 1970 and cast their votes in a national election, which yields unexpected and destabilizing results. As the emergent factions fight for control of Pakistan’s nascent democracy, the political process slowly disintegrates and the gulf between East and West Pakistan becomes irreconcilable. SOURCES: Bass, Gary K. The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide. 2013. Bennet-Jones, Own. The Bhutto Dynasty. 2020. Carney, Scott. Miklian, Jason. The Vortex: A True Story of History’s Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation. 2022. Chang, Jung. Halliday, Jon. Mao: The Unknown Story. 2005. Frank, Katherine. Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi. 2001. Gewen, Barry. The Inevitability of Tragedy: Henry Kissinger and his World. 2020. Hiro, Dilip. The Longest August: The Unflinching Rivalry Between India and Pakistan. 2015. Hitchens, Christopher. The Trial of Henry Kissinger. 2001. Hoodbhoy, Pervez. Pakistan: Origins, Identity and Future. 2023. Jalal, Ayesha. The Struggle for Pakistan. 2014. James, Lawrence. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Jayakar, Pupul. Indira Gandhi: A Biography. 1975. Khosa, Faisal. The Making of Martyrs in India, Pakistan & Bangladesh. 2021. K.S. Nair. December In Dacca. 2022. Keay, John. India: A History. 2000. Mookherjee, Nayanika. The Spectral Wound. 2015. Raghavan, Srinath. 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh. 2013. Rose, Leo. Sisson, Richard. War and Secession. Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh. 1990. Saikia, Yasmin. Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh. 2011. Schendel, Willem van. A History of Bangladesh. 2009. Schwartz, Thomas Alan. Henry Kissinger and American Power. 2020. Sengupta, Nitish. Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal. 2011. Tudda, Chris. A Cold War Turning Point: Nixon and China, 1969-1972. 2012. Walsh, Declan. The Nine Lives of Pakistan. 2020. Zakaria, Anam. 1971: A People’s History from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:23.4	like you sign up for your one dollar a month trial at shopify dot com slash setup hello and welcome to
0:33.2	conflicted the history podcast where we talk about the struggles that shaped us, the tough questions
0:38.0	that they pose, and why we should care about any of it.
0:41.1	Conflicted is a member of the Evergreen Podcast Network, and as always, I'm your host, Zach
0:45.7	Cornwell.
0:46.8	You are listening to Part 2 of a limited series on the 1971 Bangladesh War.
0:52.5	If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, I definitely recommend you do that before starting this
0:56.6	one.
0:57.1	We introduced a lot of people, places, and ideas last episode, and without that foundation,
1:02.7	you might find yourself getting a bit lost.
1:04.7	But that said, unlike President Yaya Khan, I am not a dictator, you can listen in whatever
1:09.8	order you like.
1:12.6	But before we jump into today's episode, let's take a few minutes to recap what we've covered so far so we can move into the next
1:17.0	phase of our story with everything fresh in our minds. Last time, in part one, land of broken
1:22.4	maps, we did a lot of table setting. And at 4.4 million square miles, the Indian subcontinent is a very big table.
1:29.7	After a quick geography lesson on South Asia in general, and the Bengal Delta in particular,
1:34.7	we hopped into our time machines and cranked the dial back a few centuries.
1:38.3	After all, the 1971 Bangladesh War is one of those events that makes absolutely no sense
	...

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