The Provisional Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government, was the government in exile of Bangladesh based in Kolkata, India during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Formed in early April 1971, the provisional government confirmed the declaration of independence of East Pakistan made earlier by Bengali nationalist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 26 March. Sheikh Mujib was subsequently detained in West Pakistan while the leaders of the Bengali liberation movement led by the Awami League fled Dhaka amid a brutal crackdown by the Pakistan Army.
On 10th April 1971 in Mujibnagar, elected parliament members of 1970's election from East Pakistan formed Bangladesh Government. The cabinet took oath on 17th April at liberated area in mango grove of Baidyanathtala (Bhoborpara) Meherpur, Kustia [Present Name is Mujibnagar] . This government took all policy decisions with respect to liberation war.
General Mohammad Ataul Ghani Osmani (1918-1984), commander-in-chief of the Liberation Forces and of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. Ataul Ghani Osmani was born at Sunamganj on 1 September 1918. He passed the matriculation examination in 1934 from Sylhet Government High School, and obtained his graduation from the Aligarh Muslim University in 1938. In 1939, he joined the Royal Armed Forces as Gentleman Cadet. But instead of joining the Indian Civil Service he completed the military course from the British Indian Military Academy in Deradun, and joined the Royal Army as a commissioned officer (1940). He was promoted to the rank of major in 1942 and was appointed commander of a battalion. He was engaged in war at the Burma sector in the Second World War as a commander of the British army. On completion of senior army officers' course in 1947 he was selected for appointment as lieutenant colonel.
Mujibnagar , formerly known as Baidyanathtala is a town in the Meherpur District of Bangladesh. It is a common reference for the government in exile formed by the leaders of the Awami League, who were leading the guerrilla war for the independence of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) from Pakistan in 1971.
Throughout the war with the Pakistan Army, the Mujibnagar government would serve as the nominal head of the pro-independence guerrilla militias, mainly the Mukti Bahini. Although the state gained independence only in December 1971, the Mujibnagar government is recognized as the first official government of Bangladesh.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, on April 17, 1971.
Bangladesh is at war. It has been given no choice but to secure its right of self-determination through a national liberation struggle against the colonial oppression of West Pakistan.
In the face of positive attempts by the Government to distort the facts in a desperate attempt to cover up their war of genocide in Bangladesh, the world must be told the circumstances under which the peace-loving people of Bangladesh were driven to substitute armed struggle for parliamentary politics to realize the just aspirations of the people of Bangladesh.
The Six Point Program me for autonomy for Bangladesh within Pakistan had been put forward in all sincerity by the Awami League as the last possible solution to preserve the integrity of Pakistan. Fighting the elections to the National Assembly on the issue of Six Points, the Awami League won 167 out of 169 seats from Bangladesh out of a house of 313. Its electoral victory was so decisive that it won 80% of the popular votes cast. The decisive nature of its victory placed it in a clear majority within the National Assembly.