Bangladesh marks historic ‘Six-Point Movement Day’ on Sunday

The six-point demands announced by Bangabandhu changed the course of East Pakistan's politics. That is why these six points are called the “Charter of Freedom for the Bengalis”

Six-Point Day, an unforgettable milestone in the Bengali nation’s movement for autonomy and independence, is being observed on Sunday.

The six-point demand announced by Bangabandhu fundamentally altered the course of politics in then East Pakistan. Hence, the Six Points are often described as the “Charter of Freedom” for the Bengali people.

A nationwide mass movement in support of the Six Points began on Jun 7, 1966. Blood was shed on the streets of Dhaka and Narayanganj when police opened fire on people demanding freedom.

From then on, under Bangabandhu’s leadership, the Bengali people advanced through a relentless struggle that ultimately led to the Mass Uprising of 1969.

Seeking liberation from Pakistani rule, exploitation and deprivation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman presented the Six-Point Programme on behalf of the people of East Bengal at a national conference of opposition political parties from both East and West Pakistan in Lahore on Feb 5, 1966.

The core demands of the programme called for all powers, except defence and foreign affairs, to be vested in the provincial governments. It proposed two separate but freely exchangeable currencies for East Bengal and West Pakistan. The authority to impose and collect taxes and duties would rest with the provincial governments, foreign exchange earnings of the two regions would be accounted for separately, and a paramilitary force along with a naval headquarters would be established in East Bengal to reduce its defence vulnerability.

To press for the implementation of the Six Points, the Awami League called a hartal across Bengal, including Dhaka, on Jun 7, triggering a wave of mass awakening.

On that day, 11 Bengalis, including Monu Mia, Shafik and Shamsul Haque, were killed in police and East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) firing in Tongi, Dhaka and Narayanganj. Many others were arrested.

After returning home, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman launched a nationwide campaign in support of the Six Points, travelling to remote corners of Bengal to explain their necessity to the people.

The demands for voting rights, a separate currency system, foreign trade autonomy and a regional taxation framework eventually evolved into the Bengali nation’s collective demand for independence.

In an article, former student leader and recently deceased Awami League politician Tofail Ahmed wrote:

“The Pakistani ruling elite carried out numerous conspiracies to thwart the Six-Point Movement. They imprisoned Bangabandhu and filed one case after another against him. When they still failed to stop the movement, the military ruler Ayub Khan initiated the infamous ‘State vs Sheikh Mujib and Others’, known as the Agartala Conspiracy Case, in a vile attempt to silence Bangabandhu forever by sending him to the gallows.”

He added: “To realise the Six Points and secure Bangabandhu’s release, we, the students, formed the All-Party Students’ Action Committee on Jan 4, 1969, the anniversary of the founding of the Students League, bringing together four student organisations. We incorporated the Six Points into an Eleven-Point Programme and spread it across villages, towns, ports, mills and factories.”

The movement paved the way for the 1971 Liberation War, which ultimately led to the emergence of an independent Bangladesh.