COMMEMORATING SIX-POINT CHARTER OF 1966: THE BEDROCK OF BANGLADESH’S NATIONHOOD

* The Crimson Dawn of Defiance: June 7, 1966 — A Historic Uprising in the Heart of BANGLADESH!!!

In the tempestuous tides of history, there are moments that shatter the silence—moments that ignite a fire in the soul of a nation.

The Six-Point Charter was such a moment. It was no mere list of demands; it was the thunderous voice of a people long shackled by subjugation, a call to arms, a manifesto of freedom. It was the cornerstone upon which the edifice of Bangladesh’s independence was built—unyielding, resolute, and eternal.

This historic charter, crafted and championed by the indomitable Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1966, roared through the political corridors of the then East Pakistan like a storm breaking against tyranny’s gates of West Pakistan. It demanded not just autonomy—it demanded dignity, justice, and the right of an oppressed people to govern themselves, to shape their destiny without the yoke of exploitation from distant rulers in the West.

East Pakistan—rich in resources, rich in culture, but starved of respect and robbed of rights—had become a colony of West Pakistan in all but name. Its jute, its labour, its blood enriched West Pakistan, while its people were denied the fruits of their own toil. The dream of Pakistan had curdled into a nightmare for Bengalis. It was under these dire circumstances that the Six Points emerged—a beacon amid the darkness, a compass guiding a people toward liberation.

History is often shaped by singular moments—watersheds that alter the destiny of a people. For Bangladesh, the Six-Point Charter stands as such a momentous milestone. It is the indelible foundation upon which our sovereign nation was ultimately built at the bay of blood in 1971.

In the political cauldron of the 1960s, the-ten East Pakistan—despite being the demographic majority and economic lifeline of Pakistan—remained shackled under the yoke of West Pakistani dominance. Exploited, marginalised, and discriminated against in every sphere—economic, political, military—East Pakistan’s yearning for autonomy reached a boiling point. It was then that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman rose to articulate the hopes of a subjugated people into a bold and revolutionary framework: the Six-Point Programme.

This clarion call for autonomy, declared in 1966, was not just a list of demands—it was a manifesto for emancipation. It challenged the very architecture of West Pakistani hegemony, and in doing so, charted the future course of our independence movement. The Six-Point Charter became the Magna Carta of Bengali nationalism.

The Six Points: A Blueprint for Liberation

True Federalism: A federation grounded in the Lahore Resolution in 1940, with a parliamentary system of governance, where the legislature would be elected directly by universal adult suffrage.

Limited Federal Powers: The central government’s powers would be restricted to only Defence and Foreign Affairs. All other responsibilities would be devolved to the federating units.

Separate Currencies and Economic Autonomy: Either two freely convertible currencies or safeguards within a single currency system to prevent capital flight from East to West Pakistan. East Pakistan would have a separate banking reserve, and full control over its fiscal and monetary policies.

Revenue Sovereignty: Taxation and revenue collection powers would rest with the provinces. The federal government would receive a share of the state’s revenues only to meet its own administrative expenses.

Trade and Foreign Exchange Control: Separate foreign exchange accounts for both wings. Indigenous goods would move without tariffs, and provinces would be empowered to establish direct trade links with foreign nations.

Security Autonomy: East Pakistan would maintain its own military or paramilitary force, and the Naval Headquarters would be based in East Pakistan.

These demands were the voice of a people long silenced. They were just, rational, and deeply rooted in the realities of East Pakistan’s suffering. Yet, they were met with rejection and scorn by the ruling clique in West Pakistan. Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan, President of the All Pakistan Awami League, dismissed them. So did the National Awami Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Nizam-i-Islam, et al. But the common people of East Pakistan embraced the charter with fierce resolve.

Repression and Resistance

On 8 May 1966, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested under the draconian Defence of Pakistan Rules. The ruling military dictator, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, branded the Six-Point Plan as a threat to national unity, warning it would be answered with the "language of weapons." The tyrants in Islamabad were right to be afraid—the Six Points had ignited a flame of defiance that no prison could extinguish.

In February of that year, Bangabandhu presented the Six-Point demands at a political convention in Lahore. The subject committee refused even to discuss it. Newspapers in West Pakistan portrayed Sheikh Mujib as a separatist. Bangabandhu walked out of the conference with his dignity intact and returned to East Pakistan to turn the Six Points into a mass movement. On 21 February 1966, the Awami League formally adopted the Six-Point Charter as its political platform. From that moment on, the course of history had been irrevocably altered.

The Crimson Day: 7 June 1966

The people’s outrage reached its zenith on 7 June 1966—a red-letter day in our struggle for self-determination. As the nation observed a general strike to demand the release of Bangabandhu and other detained leaders, the streets of Dhaka, Narayanganj, and beyond were transformed into rivers of protest. Factories shut down. Shops closed. Transport ceased. The people, united in purpose, chanted slogans and marched in defiance of tyranny.

The Pakistani regime responded with bullets. Blood flowed freely—Monu Mia and many others fell, martyrs to the cause of freedom. Yet their sacrifice only deepened the nation’s resolve. The streets echoed not with despair, but with an unyielding chorus of freedom.

The Six-Point Movement had proven one thing beyond doubt: East Pakistan was not a colony of West Pakistan to be ruled at whim. The Bengali soul had awakened, and it would not rest until it had broken its chains.

The Seed of Independence

The Six-Point Charter was not merely a political manifesto—it was the crystallisation of a collective dream, the first structured articulation of the Bengali nation’s right to exist, govern, and prosper on its own terms. It was the beginning of the end for the artificial construct of Pakistani unity.

The charter sowed the seeds of the 1971 Liberation War. Its principles laid the intellectual and political foundation for a sovereign Bangladesh. When the war finally erupted, it was not sudden—it was the inevitable eruption of long-suppressed dreams. As the Pakistani military sought to silence an entire people, the spirit of the Six Points led them to stand, fight, and triumph.

The Father of a Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who gave voice to those Six Points, stands tall among the pantheon of global nation-builders. Just as George Washington is revered in the United States, or Mahatma Gandhi in India, or Nelson Mandela in South Africa, so too is Mujib the eternal Father of the Bengali nation. It was he who dared to dream, and dared to defy, even when the price was imprisonment, vilification, and ultimately his life.

On 16 December 1971, Bangladesh was born in blood and glory. A nation forged not merely through war, but through the long, painful gestation of struggle, sacrifice, and soul-searching—beginning with the thunderclap of Six Points in 1966.

In Retrospect

The Six-Point Movement must never be forgotten. It is our political Genesis, our moral compass, our historical spine. It taught us that freedom is never given—it is taken, demanded, won through struggle. It proved that one man with clarity of vision and the courage to lead can change the fate of a nation.

The song of 7 June did not end—it lives on in the beating hearts of every Bengali who cherishes freedom, dignity, and justice. We must continue to honour this legacy—not merely in words, but in deeds. It is, and shall forever remain, the bedrock of Bangladesh’s nationhood.

Sent-in by: Anwar A. Khan

The writer was a freedom fighter in 1971 to establish Bangladesh and is an independent political analyst based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs.

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