India's independence from Great Britain in August 1947 resulted in the partition of British India into India and Pakistan. Pakistan was created out of the Muslim-majority provinces of British India, with no regard for geographical contiguity. The resulting state was formed into two physically separate wings, with the territory of India intervening between the two. The eastern wing was created by the partition of the British province of Bengal, and the principal language spoken there was Bengali. Although it was principally the language of those who fled India to Pakistan, the government of Pakistan decreed that Urdu would be the national language.

In the evening of March 25, 1971, the Pakistan army attacked East Pakistan, as the future Bangladesh was then known. The attack was an effort to put down East Pakistani protesters who demanded that the national government recognize the right of the elected majority party, the Awami...