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Agartala Conspiracy Case

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Agartala Conspiracy Case

The Agartala Conspiracy Case was a 1968 sedition case in Pakistan during the rule of Ayub Khan against the Awami League, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then-leader of the Awami League in East Pakistan, and 34 other people.

The case was filed in early 1968 and implicated Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others in conspiring with India against the stability of Pakistan. The case is officially called State vs. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others, but is popularly known as Agartala Shoŗojontro Mamla (Agartala conspiracy case) as the main conspiracy was purported to have taken place in the Indian city of Agartala in Tripura, where Sheikh Mujib's associates met Indian military officials.

On 22 February 2011, one of the accused of the Agartala conspiracy case, Shawkat Ali, told the parliament in Bangladesh that the Agartala conspiracy case was not false and the charges brought against the accused were all true. He also confirmed that Navy Steward Mujibur Rahman, and Educationist Mohammad Ali Reza had indeed gone to Agartala, India to seek Indian support for Bangladesh's independence.

The government of Pakistan brought charges against 35 political personalities including three eminent civil servants officials under civil law. They included;

The plot was conceived by Sheikh Mujib in an attempt to ignite an armed revolution against West Pakistan that would result in the secession. Two of the accused, navy steward Mujibur Rahman and the educator Mohammad Ali Reza, went to Agartala, Tripura, a city in North-Eastern India to seek Indian support for an independent Bangladesh.

The alleged conspiracy was uncovered by Lieutenant Colonel Shamsul Alam, who commanded the East Pakistan Detachment of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). It was during this time that an officer of the East Bengal Regiment, Rauf ur Rahman, who was in league with the conspirators made an attempt on Alam's life. Alam shielded himself from the would-be assassins; for this Alam was awarded the Sitara-e-Basalat, the highest award for bravery in action during peacetime.

In all, 1,500 Bengalis were arrested in connection with the plot in 1967. In January 1968 the Home Department of Pakistan declared that it had detected a scheme to destabilise Pakistan and break the Eastern wing through an armed revolt, and had arrested 8 people. Later on 18 January, the Department implicated Sheikh Mujib as well. He and others were arrested on 9 May 1968 and were subsequently released, only to be arrested later.

At the time of the trial, the existence of a conspiracy between Mujib and India for the secession of East Pakistan was never successfully proven.

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