1948 • March 11: General strike by Dhaka University students protesting at the exclusion of Bengali as an official language • March 21: Governor-General of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah declares that "Urdu, and only Urdu" will be the state language

1949 • June 23: Formation of the Bengali nationalist Awami Muslim League by Hoseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Maulana Abdul Hamid Bhashani and Shamsul Haq

1952 • February 21: Bengali Language Movement reaches its peak as the police open fire on protesting students

1953 • April 17: The Awami Muslim League becomes the Awami League • September: A. K. Fazlul Huq forms the Krishak Sranik Party

1954 • March 8–11: The United Front wins a majority of seats in the East Bengal Legislative Assembly • May 30: Governor General Ghulam Muhammad deposes United Front government and establishes governor’s rule

1955 • June 6: The United Front government is reinstated, Awami League does not participate in proceedings • October 14: 'East Bengal' renamed 'East Pakistan'

1956 • February 29: Bengali becomes one of the state languages of Pakistan

1958 • October 7: Constitution abrogated and martial law declared by General Ayub Muhammad Khan

1963 • February 21: Inauguration of the Shaheed Minar language martyr memorial in Dhaka

1966 • Six-point Bengali nationalist movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman emerges

1968 • Agartala Conspiracy Case filed by Government of Pakistan accusing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others accused of sedition

1969 • January–February: Mass uprising in East Pakistan • March 25: Ayub Khan resigns and Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan assumes power under martial law

1970 • December 7: First general election in Pakistan; Awami League gains majority

1971 • March 7: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman makes his historic freedom speech • March 25–26: Pakistan Army launches Operation Searchlight at midnight, marking the start of the 1971 violence; Sheikh Mujib is arrested

• December 3: Indo-Pakistani war breaks out • December 16: Surrender of the Pakistan Army in Dhaka and the declaration of Bangladesh.  —Alizeh Kohari