The history of Bangladesh offers profound lessons about diplomacy, morality, and the catastrophic consequences of arrogant leadership. It demonstrates how principled diplomats can create possibilities for saving millions of lives—and how unprincipled leaders can destroy those possibilities.
Bangladesh, with 178 million people in a small area, faced severe discrimination as East Pakistan (1947-70). Resources were allocated to the west while the east generated most exports. Urdu was imposed while Bengali culture was suppressed. The 1970 Bhola cyclone killed over 300,000 people—most preventable with better preparations.
When the Awami League won a landslide election victory in 1970, West Pakistan's military refused to hand over power. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman announced a struggle for independence. He was arrested, and one of history's most brutal repressions followed.
Over two million people were killed. Nearly 300,000 women and girls were raped. Ten million refugees fled to India. Hindus, Awami League supporters, students, and women were specifically targeted.
Throughout this nine-month genocide, Pakistan's dictator Yahya Khan received firm support from the USA and China. US Consul-General Archer Blood called it "genocide" in official communications. He and Ambassador Kenneth Keating pleaded with Nixon and Kissinger to change policy. They refused.
At the genocide's peak, Nixon wrote to Yahya Khan: "Those who want a more peaceful world in generations to come will forever be in your debt."
Twenty US diplomats signed the famous "Blood Telegram"—perhaps the most critical note ever sent by US diplomats about their own government's policies. It stated: "Our government has failed to denounce atrocities... Our government has evidenced what many will consider moral bankruptcy."
Kissinger's response was to recall Archer and damage his career—despite all his warnings proving accurate.
The Mukti Bahini fought bravely. India, led by Indira Gandhi with advisers like P.N. Haksar and General Sam Manekshaw, intervened decisively. The USSR provided crucial support. Despite threats from the USA (which sent nuclear submarine USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal), China, and Pakistan, Bangladesh was liberated in December 1971. Ninety thousand Pakistani prisoners were taken.
On August 15, 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was assassinated along with most of his family—including a 10-year-old child. The killers were never punished for 21 years; instead, they received lucrative government jobs.
Investigative journalists Lawrence Lifschultz, Kai Bird, and Christopher Hitchens revealed CIA involvement. Kissinger, who saw Bangladesh's liberation as a personal humiliation, had instructed the CIA Station Chief in Dacca to plan Mujib's ouster. The CIA established contacts with conspirators including Ziaur Rehman.
US Ambassador Eugene Boster, a man of principles, instructed embassy staff to avoid any coup involvement. However, the CIA station head bypassed him through direct contacts in Washington.
Lifschultz concluded: "The killers would not have moved without the backing of Ziaur, and Ziaur would not have moved without the backing of the Americans."
After surviving 19 assassination attempts, Sheikh Hasina returned from exile in 1981 to lead the Awami League. When elected Prime Minister in 1996, she repealed the indemnity law and brought some killers to justice.
Her years in power saw remarkable human development improvements. Female adult literacy reached 74% compared to Pakistan's 53%. Infant mortality dropped to 25 compared to Pakistan's 50. She won the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, sheltered nearly a million Rohingya refugees, and received the M.K. Gandhi Award and UNESCO recognition.
She holds the world record as the woman leader with the longest tenure as head of government—20 years.
In 2023-24, Sheikh Hasina stated that powerful Western forces wanted to create an air base and perhaps a separate country in Bangladesh. After this, protests against her intensified.
Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University wrote: "Covert regime change operations are blatantly illegal under international law... and constitute perhaps the greatest threat to world peace." He noted strong evidence of US involvement in toppling Imran Khan in Pakistan (2022) and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh (2024). Both leaders alleged such involvement.
After her ouster, Sheikh Hasina faces hundreds of cases. The Awami League is banned. Religious minorities face increasing attacks.
The Bangladesh history teaches us:
First, principled diplomats can create possibilities for saving millions of lives. The Blood Telegram demonstrated moral courage.
Second, arrogant leaders cause catastrophic losses. Nixon and Kissinger ignored their own diplomats' warnings, supporting genocide and later engineering regime change.
Third, media often distorts history. Sheikh Hasina's achievements are ignored while exaggerated allegations dominate.
Fourth, covert regime change operations threaten world peace and violate international law.
Fifth, young people must learn accurate history to avoid being misguided.
The USA had powerful influence over Pakistan throughout 1971. Nixon and Kissinger could have stopped the genocide. They chose not to. An early course correction based on sound diplomatic advice could have saved one to two million lives and won tremendous goodwill for American foreign policy.
Instead, they supported perpetrators of genocide, then engineered the assassination of the leader who built the new nation, and decades later orchestrated the ouster of his daughter who had transformed Bangladesh's human development indicators.
The example of courageous US diplomats should inspire ethical conduct so that power is used for humanity's greater good. As Bangladesh's history shows, the consequences of moral failure in high places are measured in millions of lives.
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Bharat Dogra is Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. He has written several hundred articles and reports, as well as books and booklets on India's RTI experience in English and Hindi, and also edited a Hindi journal called Aar Paar on RTI and Transparency. His website is bharatdogra.in and his YouTube channel is Bharat Dogra | Save Earth Campaign
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