Six Point program

Six Point Program ছয় দফা কর্মসূচি (Bengali)
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announcing the six points in Lahore
Presented	6 February 1966
Location	Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Signatories	All-Pakistan Awami League
Purpose	Grant of full autonomy to East Pakistan

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Independence of Bangladesh
Events
Partition of Bengal Bengali language movement Six Point program Agartala Conspiracy Case Eleven Points Programme East Pakistan mass uprising Pakistani general election Non-cooperation movement 7 March Speech Operation Searchlight Proclamation of Independence
Organisations
East Pakistan Renaissance Society Awami League United Front East Pakistan Communist Party Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra
Key persons
Abul Kalam Shamsuddin Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury Mujibur Rahman Khan Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Serajul Alam Khan Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Ataur Rahman Khan
Related
Lahore Resolution United Bengal Bangladesh Liberation War International recognition
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Part of a series on the
History of Bangladesh
Etymology Timeline Traditional Urheimat
Ancient Neolithic 7600 - 3300 BCE Bronze Age 3300 – 1200 BCE     Pundra kingdom c.1280 – c. 300 BCE Iron Age 1200 – 200 BCE Vanga kingdom c.1100 – c. 340 BCE      House of Vijaya 543 BCE - 66 CE Northern Culture 700 – 200 BCE Gangaridai c. 350 – c. 300 BCE Nanda Dynasty c. 345 BCE– c. 322 BCE Mauryan Empire 325 – 185 BCE Samatata kingdom c. 232 BCE – 800 AD Shunga and Kushan c. 185 BCE – c. 75 CE Southwestern Silk Road c. 114 BCE – c. 1450 CE Indo-Roman trade relations c. 30 BCE – c. 600 CE Gupta Empire 240 – 550 CE Kamarupa kingdom 350 – 1140 CE
Medieval Jaintia Kingdom 500 – 1835 CE Gauda Kingdom 590 – 626 CE Laur kingdom 600 - 1565 CE Harikela kingdom 600 - 650 CE Gour Kingdom 600 – 1303 CE Khadga dynasty 650 – 750 CE Bhadra dynasty c. 700s CE Pala Empire 750 – 1100 CE Chandra dynasty 900 – 1050 CE Sena dynasty 1070 – 1320 CE Deva dynasty 1100 – 1250 CE Muslim conquest 1202 CE Khaljis of Bengal 1204 - 1231 CE Taraf Kingdom c. 1200s – c. 1600s CE Bhulua Kingdom 1203 – 1600s CE Delhi Sultanate 1204 – 1338 CE     Mamluk Dynasty 1206 – 1290 CE     Khalji Dynasty 1290 – 1320 CE     Tugluq Dynasty 1320 – 1338,1342 CE City State Sultanates     Sonargaon 1338 – 1352 CE     Lakhnauti/Gauda 1342 – 1352 CE     Satagon/Saptagram 1342 – 1352 CE Twipra Kingdom c. 1400 – 1949 CE Bengal Sultanate 1352 – 1576 CE     Ilyas Shahi dynasty 1342 – 1487 CE     House of Ganesha 1414 – 1436 CE     Habshi dynasty 1487 – 1494 CE     Hussein Shahi 1494 – 1538 CE     Suri Interruption 1539 – 1554 CE     Muhammad Shahi 1554 – 1564 CE     Karrani dynasty 1564 – 1576 CE Pratapgarh Kingdom 1489 – 1700s CE
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Modern East Bengal 1947 – 1955 CE     Second Partition of Bengal 1947 CE     East Bengali refugees 1947 CE     Bengali language movement 1948 – 1956 CE East Pakistan 1955 – 1971 CE     1964 East Pakistan riots 1964 CE     Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 1965 CE     Six Point movement 1966 CE     1969 Mass uprising 1969 CE     General election 1970 CE     Non-cooperation 1971 CE Liberation War 1971 CE     Declaration of Independence 1971 CE     Provisional Government 1971 – 1972 CE     Bangladesh genocide 1971 CE     Surrender of Pakistan 1971 CE
Contemporary Constituent Assembly 1972 CE Constitution 1972 CE Insurgency 1972 – 1975 CE Bangladesh famine 1974 CE BaKSAL era 1975 CE Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 1975 CE Jail Killing 1975 CE Military coups 1975 - 2011 CE Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict 1977 - 1997 CE 1990 mass uprising 1990 CE Caretaker government 1996 CE Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord 1997 CE 2006–08 Political crisis 2006–2008 CE Hasina era 2009–2024 CE Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh 2008 CE Bangladesh Rifles revolt 2009 CE International Crimes Tribunal 2009 CE Shahbag protests 2013 CE Shapla Square protests 2013 CE 2013 Quota reform movement 2013 CE 2015 Political crisis 2015 CE 2018 Road-safety protests 2018 CE 2018 Quota reform movement 2018 CE Smart Bangladesh 2022 CE July Revolution 2024 CE Aftermath of the July Revolution 2024 – present CE
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The Six Point program^[a] was a significant political campaign in East Pakistan, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, advocating for greater autonomy for the region.^[1][2] Initiated in 1966, the movement aimed to address the six demands proposed by a coalition of Bengali nationalist political parties to end the perceived exploitation by West Pakistani rulers.^[3] This movement is regarded as a crucial milestone on the path to Bangladesh's independence.^[4]

Opposition leaders in East Pakistan called for a national conference on 6 February 1966, to assess the trend of post-Tashkent politics. On 4 February, Rahman, along with some members of the Awami League, arrived in Lahore to attend the conference. The next day on 5 February, he presented the six points to the subject committee and urged its inclusion in the agenda for the following day's conference. The proposal was rejected, and Rahman was labelled as a separatist. Consequently, on 6 February, Rahman boycotted the conference. On 21 February, the six points proposal was presented at a meeting of the Awami League's working committee and was accepted unanimously.^[5]

The six points were proposed to grant greater autonomy to East Pakistan. Following the partition of India, the new state of Pakistan was established. The inhabitants of East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) constituted the majority of Pakistan's population, and exports from East Pakistan, such as jute, accounted for a significant portion of Pakistan's export income. However, East Pakistanis felt they did not receive a proportional share of political power and economic benefits within Pakistan. A statistical overview of economic discrimination is below:

East Pakistan was facing a critical situation due to continuous regional discrimination over the years. As a result, economists, intellectuals, and politicians in East Pakistan began to question this discrimination, leading to the historic six-point movement.^[6]

Rehman Sobhan, Nurul Islam, Khairul Kabir, Anisur Rahman, Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury, and Khan Sarwar Murshid, and other prominent intellectuals drafted the six-point demand.^[7][8]

The six points are noted as follows:^[3]

1. The Constitution should provide for a Federation of Pakistan in its true sense based on the Lahore Resolution, and the parliamentary form of government with supremacy of a Legislature directly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise.^[1]
2. The federal government should deal with only two subjects: Defence and Foreign Affairs, and all other residual subjects should be vested in the federating states.^[1]
3. Two separate, but freely convertible currencies for the two wings should be introduced; or if this is not feasible, there should be one currency for the whole country, but effective constitutional provisions should be introduced to stop the flight of capital from East to West Pakistan. Furthermore, a separate reserve bank should be established and separate fiscal and monetary policy be adopted for East Pakistan.^[1]
4. The power of taxation and revenue collection should be vested in the federating units and the federal centre would have no such power. The federation would be entitled to a share in the state taxes to meet its expenditures.^[1]
5. There should be two separate accounts for the foreign exchange earnings of the two wings; the foreign exchange requirements of the federal government should be met by the two wings equally or in a ratio to be fixed; indigenous products should move free of duty between the two wings, and the constitution should empower the units to establish trade links with foreign countries.^[1]
6. East Pakistan should have a separate military or paramilitary force, and Navy headquarters should be in East Pakistan.^[1]

The proposal was rejected by politicians from West Pakistan and non Awami League politicians from East Pakistan. It was also rejected by Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan, the president of the All Pakistan Awami League. The National Awami Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Nizam-e-Islam also opposed the proposal.^[6] Despite this opposition, the movement garnered support from the majority of the population of East Pakistan.^[9]

• Admiral Ahsan Mission
• Bengali language movement
• Non-cooperation movement (1971)
• North Bengal Province