Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pt. I. Muslim Bengal and Pakistan. 1. The Search for Identity 1936-1947. 2. Two Turbulent Decades: August 1947-March 1969. 3. Enforcing the Federation: March 1969-March 1971 -- Pt. II. Army Action, Civil War, and Separation. 4. Restoring the Authority. 5. Making of the Government in Exile. 6. Economic Consequences: East Pakistan. 7. Economic Consequences: Pakistan. 8. The Politics of International Relief and Refugees. 9. India, the World, and the Crisis. 10. West Pakistan's Responses. 11. War, Surrender, and Separation -- App. 1 Letter of R. G. Casey, Governor of Bengal, to Viscount Wavell, Viceroy and Governor-General of India, dated 17 December 1944 -- App. 2 Letter of H. S. Suhrawardy to Liaquat Ali Khan dated 21 May 1947 -- App. 3 Letter of H. S. Suhrawardy to Liaquat Ali Khan dated 21 May 1947 -- App. 4 Hindu-Muslim Pact for Bengal. Reproduced from Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, 24 May 1947.

App. 5 Letter of H. S. Suhrawardy to Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, dated 11 June 1948 -- App. 6 Letter of H. S. Suhrawardy to Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, dated 8 July 1948 -- App. 7 Letter of Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, to H. S. Suhrawardy dated 13 July 1948 -- App. 8 Letter of H. S. Suhrawardy, Prime Minister of Pakistan, to Ataur Rahman Khan, Chief Minister East Pakistan, dated 17 April 1957 -- App. 9 Notification of 2 April 1971, deputing a team of central government officers to East Pakistan -- App. 10 Chittagong and Chalna Ports Operations April-November 1971 -- App. 11 Operations of commercial bank branches in East Pakistan as on 7 May 1971 -- App. 12 Statement showing currency chests looted as in early May 1971 -- App. 13 Statement showing damage to major bridges on the Pakistan Eastern Railway as on 26 May 1971 -- App. 14 Statement showing damage to major road bridges in East Pakistan as in May 1971.

App. 15 Minutes of the Meeting of the Constitution (Cornelius) Committee held on 26 May 1971 at the President House -- List of Important Persons Involved in the Management of the East Pakistan Crisis in 1971.

To understand the separation of East Pakistan in 1971, it is necessary to put the events of that year in the proper perspective of the unstable relationship between East and West Pakistan from 1947 onwards.

Part I of this scholarly study examines the genesis of the federation of East and West Pakistan as a single State, and analyses the crises which marked relations between its two Wings from 15 August 1947 to the fatal decision to resort to army action on 25 March 1971 as the final solution to Bengali Muslim nationalism. Part II analyses the disastrous consequences of the 25 March army action, leading to the second Indo-Pakistan war, and the emergence of the independent state of Bangladesh.

. Relying on primary sources - personal experience, unpublished material, and conversations and interviews with those directly involved in the 1971 crisis - Zaheer has given a dispassionate and thoroughly-documented account of events on the national and international fronts, culminating in the surrender of the army in East Pakistan on 16 December 1971.