East Bengal Regiment

The East Bengal Regiment ()is an infantry regiment of the Bangladesh Army.

History

The East Bengal Regiment was formed in 1948 following Pakistan's creation from the Partition of British Raj in South Asia. As part of the agreement, the Muslim population of what was previously known as British Empire in South Asia were given their own state of Pakistan, made up of West Pakistan and East Pakistan, which would be separate from the newly independent India. The infantry of the new Pakistan Army was made up exclusively of men from the main, west part of the country. As a consequence, it was necessary to raise a regiment in the east; so two companies of Bengali pioneers from the Bihar Regiment were regimented into the 1st Battalion, East Bengal Regiment Senior Tigers under Lieutenant Colonel Patterson as Commanding Officer (C.O.) and Major Abdul Waheed Choudhury as Officer Commanding (O.C.) Training Coy., the 2nd Battalion being formed soon after.

Between 1948 and 1965, a total of eight battalions were raised, with the 5th, 6th and 7th in West Pakistan.

In March 1971, in response to a crackdown on locals in East Pakistan, the five battalions of the East Bengal Regiment mutinied and initiated the Bangladesh War of Liberation. The East Bengal Regiment formed the core of the liberation forces, which became known as the Bangladesh Forces. The structure and formation of the Bangladeshi Forces during the Liberation War of 1971 was determined at the Sector Commander's Conference that was...
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