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Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party ( bn, পূর্ব বাংলার সর্বহারা পার্টি, Proletarian Party of East Bengal) is a
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
in
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
. The party played a role in the independence struggle of the country. In the early 1970s it engaged in armed struggle supporting the new Bangladeshi state. Since then its political fortunes have dwindled, having suffered from several waves of internal divisions. The group remains active, and still carries out attacks against its opponents.


Origins

The group emerged from the pro-China trend of the communist movement in erstwhile
East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wit ...
. In 1967,
Siraj Sikder Siraj Sikder (27 October 1944 – 2 January 1975) was a Bangladeshi revolutionary politician. Early life Sikder was born on 27 October 1944 in Bhedarganj, Shariatpur District, East Bengal. His father was Abdur Razzaq Sikder, and belonged t ...
had formed the Mao Tse Tung Thought Research Centre in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...
. The centre was physically attacked by
Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fr ...
cadres at several times. On January 8, 1968 the group formed the ''Purba Banglar Sramik Andalon'' ('Workers Movement of East Bengal'). The founding conference lasted, which was completed in a single day, was held in the residence of a
jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is '' Corchorus ol ...
mill worker in Dhaka. The conference was attended by 45 to 50 followers of the centre. The line of this tendency differed clearly from other pro-Chinese groupings in East Pakistan at the time. Sikdar's faction saw
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
as a colonial power, and wanted to struggle for national liberation for East Bengal and the formation of a Democratic Republic of East Bengal. This stood in sharp contrast to official
PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
foreign policy, which generally supported Pakistan against
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. This line was also more radical than that of the mainstream Bengali nationalist movement.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...
denounced the Sikdar faction as 'pro-Chinese provocateurs'. The group also opposed
American imperialism American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conques ...
, Soviet social imperialism, Indian expansionism and
feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...
. In mid-1968 the movement began underground actions. Their first action was to capture a cyclostyle printing machine, with which the theoretical organ of the movement, ''Lal Jhanda'', was printed. On January 8, 1970, the group hoisted the flag of East Bengal (the present national flag of Bangladesh) at Dhaka,
Munshigonj Munshiganj ( bn, মুন্সীগঞ্জ), also historically known as Bikrampur, is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District. Geography Total land area is 235974 acres (954 km2), ...
and
Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...
. On
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's birthday, May 6, 1970, the group threw bomb into the Pakistan Council office in Dhaka. In October the same year, the group attacked a number of buildings around East Pakistan with bombs, including the American Information Centre.


Liberation War

When the
Liberation War Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...
began in 1971, the Sikder faction strove to establish national resistance cells. On April 30 they founded a paramilitary force of their own, the ''Purba Banglar Sashastra Deshapremik Bahini'' (Armed Patriotic Force of East Bengal), which initiated armed struggle against the Pakistani army. Notably, this grouping was one among the pro-China factions that took active part in the liberation war. The official PRC line at the time was that East Bengal was part of Pakistan, and that Indian expansionism constituted the major threat to the region at large. However, the group did consider the mainstream nationalist movement as class enemies. On June 3, 1971, Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party was constituted as a political party, at a meeting the
Barisal Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Di ...
district.


Post-independence

After Independence of Bangladesh, PBSP emerged as one of the main challengers of the new
Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...
-government, which it considered as Indian puppets. The first party congress was held on January 14, 1972. Sikder was elected as the Chairman of the party. In April 1973 the
Purba Banglar Jatiya Mukti Front Purba may refer to: * Deep Roy (born 1957), a Kenyan-born Indian actor, born Mohinder Purba * Kīla (Buddhism) - a ceremonial knife or dagger, also known as a "Phurba" * Pipra (Purba), a village in Nepal {{Disambiguation ...
, a coalition of 11 groups, was formed. Sikder became the president of the front. After the formation of the front, the party initiated a campaign of armed struggle against the Bangladeshi state. The party had strong support amongst university circles. It published ''Lal Jhanda'' (Red Flag) and ''Sangbad Bulletine''. Although an underground movement, it brought out publications of its Central Committee rather regularly and had a functioning propaganda work.


Death of Sikder

In December 1974, Siraj Sikder was captured in
Halishahar Halishahar Housing Estate ( bn, হালিশহর) is a thana of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Halishahar Housing Estate is a large residential area in Chattogram. Geography Total area of this thana is 9.64 k ...
, Chittagong by the state intelligence service. He was killed at night on January 2, 1975 near Savar Thana Bus Stand (Ganda) en route from Dhaka airport to a paramilitary camp at
Savar Savar ( bn, সাভার) is a city in central Bangladesh, located in Dhaka District in the division of Dhaka. It is the closest city from Dhaka. It is also a part of Greater Dhaka conurbation which forms the Dhaka megacity. About 296,851 ...
. After the death of Sikder, the party was split into two. Later these two factions split further. The major faction was led by the second in command of Siraj Sikder, Md. Hamidul Hoque, who took over the reins of the party. The splinter group would break with
Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
and adopt the political line of
Albanian Communists The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...
. That group would later take the name
Communist Party of Bangladesh The Communist Party of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি) is a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist party in Bangladesh. History After the Partition of India, partitioni ...
.


Party today

The current group that can be seen as the inheritor of the original PBSP is often referred to as the "PBSP (Central Committee)". The party remains an underground group, and has a programme of armed revolution. It is led by Anwarul Kabir ('Abdur Rouf'). Its area of activities includes the
Sirajganj Sirajganj ( bn, সিরাজগঞ্জ) is a city in north-western Bangladesh on the right bank of the Jamuna River. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirajganj District, and with a population of 167,200 is the fourteenth most popul ...
,
Bogra Bogra ( bn, বগুড়া), officially known as Bogura, is a major city located in Bogra District, Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh. The city is a major commercial hub in Northern Bangladesh. It is the second largest city in Rajshahi Divi ...
,
Pabna Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the histo ...
,
Rajshahi Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous division and district. Located on the north bank of the P ...
and
Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 ...
districts. The party is affiliated to the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement and
CCOMPOSA The Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) is an umbrella organization of various South Asian Maoist parties and movements and its purpose is to coordinate their activities throughout South Asia (as w ...
. In 2001 a group broke away from PBSP(CC) and formed the Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party (Maoist Bolshevik Reorganisation Movement). In May 2013 six PBSP cadres were arrested along with pipe guns and homemade rifles.


See also

*
Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia The Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) is an umbrella organization of various South Asian Maoist parties and movements and its purpose is to coordinate their activities throughout South Asia (as w ...


Notes

{{Reflist


External links


Sarbahara - Siraj Sikder works in English
Communist militant groups Communist parties in Bangladesh Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia Revolutionary Internationalist Movement Maoist parties Paramilitary organisations based in Bangladesh Maoist organisations in Bangladesh Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Terrorism in Bangladesh