1972 in Bangladesh explained

The year 1972 was the first year after the independence of Bangladesh. It was also the first year of the first post-independence government in Bangladesh.

Incumbents

• President: Syed Nazrul Islam (until 12 January), Abu Sayeed Chowdhury (starting 12 January)
• Prime Minister: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (starting 12 January)
• Vice President: Syed Nazrul Islam (until 12 January); vacant thereafter
• Chief Justice: Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem

Demography

Population, total

66,625,706
Population density (per km^2)	511.8
Population growth (annual %)	1.7%
Male to Female Ratio (every 100 Female)	106.9
Urban population (% of total)	8.2%
Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people)	46.5
Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people)	19.3
Mortality rate, under 5 (per 1,000 live births)	221
Life expectancy at birth, total (years)	46.5
Fertility rate, total (births per woman)	6.9

Economy

National Income

	Current US$	Current BDT	% of GDP
GDP	$6.3 billion	BDT37.7 billion
GDP growth (annual %)	colspan="3" style="text-align: right;"	-14.0%
GDP per capita	$94.4	BDT566
Agriculture, value added	$3.7 billion	BDT22.5 billion	59.6%
Industry, value added	$.4 billion	BDT2.3 billion	6.1%
Services, etc., value added	$2.2 billion	BDT13.0 billion	34.3%

Note: For the year 1972 average official exchange rate for BDT was 7.70 per US$.

Events

• 8 January – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from the Mianwali jail and allowed to leave Pakistan after more than nine months' imprisonment. Two days later, after flying to London and Delhi, he returned to Dhaka to become the first President of Bangladesh.^[1]
• 10 January – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the "Bangabandhu" and "Father of Bangladesh", returned to Dhaka at to a hero's welcome.^[1]
• 19 February – The 25-year Indo-Bangladeshi Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace is signed in Dhaka.
• 17 March – Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi visited prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his birthday.^[2] Indian army leaves Dhaka.
• 19 March – The prime ministers of Bangladesh and India sign the Joint Rivers Commission.^[3]
• 26 March – Regulations passed allowing large scale nationalization of various industries including banks, manufacturing and trading enterprises.^[4]
• 4 April – The United States of America officially recognized Bangladesh.^[5]
• Smallpox outbreak in Khulna Municipality leads to 1384 cases and 372 deaths between 28 April and 22 June 1972.^[6]
• 4 June – A crowded passenger train from Khulna crashes into a stationary freight train at Jessore when the stationmaster throws the wrong switch; 76 people are killed and about 500 injured.^[7]
• 25 August – The first veto by China in the Security Council barred Bangladesh from membership in the United Nations.^[8]
• 4 November – Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is adopted by the Assembly.
• 16 December – Constitution of Bangladesh comes into effect.

Sports

• Domestic football:
  • Bangladesh Football Federation was founded on 15 July.^[9]
  • On 13 February, a match between President XI and Bangladesh XI took place at the Dhaka Stadium in the presence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, this was the first football match in independent Bangladesh. The President XI won the match 2–0, with goals from Golam Sarwar Tipu and Abdul Ghafoor.^[10]
  • Mohammedan SC won the first edition of the Independence Cup, while East End Club came out runners-up. This was the first football tournament arranged in the newly independent nation.^[11]
  • On 11 May 1972, India's Mohun Bagan AC (played as "Gostha Pal XI") was the first foreign football club to visit independent Bangladesh, took on Independence Cup champions Mohammedan SC. The Indian's won the game 1–0. On 13 May, Mohun Bagan took on the "Dhaka XI", who were the unofficial Bangladesh national team (as Bangladesh were not yet an AFC or FIFA member), consisting of the best players in the country at the time. Dhaka XI striker Kazi Salahuddin scored the only of the game in front of more than 35,000 spectators at the Dhaka Stadium.^[12]
  • In August of that year, Dhaka XI travelled to India's Guwahati to take part in the Bordoloi Trophy. The team finished runners-up behind East Bengal Club.^[13]
  • Abahani Krira Chakra was founded.
• Domestic cricket:
  • Bangladesh Cricket Control Board was founded.

Births

• Al-Amin Hossain, cricketer
• Asif Akbar, singer
• Riaz Uddin Ahamed Siddique, actor
• Aminul Islam, trade unionist
• Avijit Roy, writer and blogger
• Mohamed Mahbub Alam, sprinter

Deaths

• 30 January – Zahir Raihan, novelist, writer and filmmaker (b. 1935)
• 25 February – Syed Muhammed Taifoor, historian and writer (b. 1885)
• 6 April – Syed Nausher Ali, politician (b. 1891)
• 1 May – Shah Abdul Hamid, politician and legislator (b. 1900)
• 12 May – Kafiluddin Chowdhury, politician and legislator (b. 1898)
• 9 September – AKM Fazlul Kabir Chowdhury, politician and legislator
• 30 November – Mokarram Hussain Khundker, professor and researcher (b. 1922)

See also

• 1970s in Bangladesh
• List of Bangladeshi films of 1972

Notes and References

1. Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh (Anmol Publications, 2003), p110
2. News: স্বাধীন দেশে বঙ্গবন্ধুর প্রথম জন্মদিনে এসেছিলেন ইন্দিরা গান্ধী. bn. 17 March 2024. 14 June 2024. Daily Kalbela. 14 June 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240614001025/https://www.kalbela.com/ajkerpatrika/joto-mot-toto-path/73707. live.
3. Book: Faruque, HS Mozaddad . 2012 . Joint Rivers Commission . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Joint_Rivers_Commission . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
4. Book: Ramanadham, V. V. . 10 March 1993 . Privatization, a global perspective . U.K. . Routledge . 326 . 9780415075664 .
5. Web site: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–7, Documents on South Asia, 1969–1972. Office of the Historian, United States Department of State. 9 October 2018.
6. Sommer. A. . 1 April 1974 . The 1972 Smallpox Outbreak in Khulna Municipality, Bangladesh: II. Effectiveness of Surveillance and Containment in Urban Epidemic Control . American Journal of Epidemiology . 99. 4 . 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121615 . 4818720 . 303–13.
7. Web site: June 4, 1972—Trains collide in Bangladesh. History Canada. 4 June 2017. 23 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180325171544/http://www.history.ca/history-topics/latest/june-4-1972-trains-collide-in-bangladesh/. 25 March 2018. dead.
8. News: Alden. Robert. 26 August 1972 . China's First U. N. Veto Bars Bangladesh . The New York Times . 9 October 2018.
9. Web site: BFF info. bangladeshdir.com. 22 October 2018. 17 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180817210435/http://www.bangladeshdir.com/recreation-and-sports/football/bangladesh-football-federation-bff/. dead.
10. Web site: বঙ্গবন্ধু বলেছিলেন, ‘তোরা ভালো খেল’. 13 February 2022. bn. Bangabandhu said, 'You all played well'.. মাসুদ. আলম. Prothomalo. 2022-08-30. 2022-09-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20220929080043/https://www.prothomalo.com/sports/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%99%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A7%E0%A7%81-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%9B%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8B-%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2. live.
11. Web site: 7 May 2016. ৪৪ বছর আগে প্রথম স্বাধীনতা কাপে মোহামেডানের চ্যাম্পিয়নের নায়ক সালাউদ্দিন. bn. Salahuddin was the hero of Mohammedan's triumph in the first Independence Cup 44 years ago. Kiron's Sports Desk. 30 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231130145801/https://kironsportsdesk.com/2016/05/07/%E0%A7%AA%E0%A7%AA-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%9B%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%AE-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A7%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%A4/. live.
12. Web site: ৭ কোটি মানুষের জন্য ভালোবাসা নিয়ে ঢাকায় এসেছিল মোহনবাগান. Masud. Alam. www.prothomalo.com. The Daily Prothom Alo. bn. Mohun Bagan came to Dhaka with love for 7 crore people. Dhaka, Bangladesh. 19 April 2022. 19 October 2022. 2 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221002192020/https://www.prothomalo.com/sports/football/%E0%A7%AD-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF-%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%A2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%9F-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%9B%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8.
13. Web site: ফুটবল ইতিহাসে সালাউদ্দিন নামটি বড় করে লেখা থাকবে. Salahuddin name will be written big in football history. 26 September 2012. bn. Kiron's Sports Desk. 30 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231130150142/https://kironsportsdesk.com/2012/09/26/%E0%A6%AB%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8/. live.