1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1972nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 972nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 72nd year of the 20th century, and the 3rd year of the 1970s decade.
Calendar year
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
Mujibur Rahman
President: Syed Nazrul Islam (until 12 January), Abu Sayeed Chowdhury (starting 12 January)
Source: Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia (UEA)[2]
Economy
Key Economic Indicators for Bangladesh in 1972[1]
National Income
Current US$
Current BDT
% of GDP
GDP
$6.3 billion
BDT37.7 billion
GDP growth (annual %)
-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.[3]
10 January – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the "Bangabandhu" and "Father of Bangladesh", returned to Dhaka at 1:30 pm to a hero's welcome.[3]
Smallpox outbreak in Khulna Municipality leads to 1384 cases and 372 deaths between 28 April and 22 June 1972.[8]
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.[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.[12]
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.[13]
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.[14]
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.[15]
^ ab"World Development Indicators". The World Bank. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
^"Climate Change Knowledge Portal". The World Bank Group. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
^ abEncyclopaedia of Bangladesh (Anmol Publications, 2003), p110
^"স্বাধীন দেশে বঙ্গবন্ধুর প্রথম জন্মদিনে এসেছিলেন ইন্দিরা গান্ধী". Daily Kalbela (in Bengali). 17 March 2024. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
^Faruque, HS Mozaddad (2012). "Joint Rivers Commission". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
^Ramanadham, V. V. (10 March 1993). Privatization, a global perspective. U.K.: Routledge. p. 326. ISBN 9780415075664.
^"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. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
^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): 303–13. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121615. PMID 4818720.
^"June 4, 1972—Trains collide in Bangladesh". History Canada. 4 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
^Alden, Robert (26 August 1972). "China's First U. N. Veto Bars Bangladesh". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
^"BFF info". bangladeshdir.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
^আলম, মাসুদ (13 February 2022). "বঙ্গবন্ধু বলেছিলেন, 'তোরা ভালো খেল'" [Bangabandhu said, 'You all played well'.]. Prothomalo (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
^"৪৪ বছর আগে প্রথম স্বাধীনতা কাপে মোহামেডানের চ্যাম্পিয়নের নায়ক সালাউদ্দিন" [Salahuddin was the hero of Mohammedan's triumph in the first Independence Cup 44 years ago]. Kiron's Sports Desk (in Bengali). 7 May 2016. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023.
^Alam, Masud (19 April 2022). "৭ কোটি মানুষের জন্য ভালোবাসা নিয়ে ঢাকায় এসেছিল মোহনবাগান" [Mohun Bagan came to Dhaka with love for 7 crore people]. www.prothomalo.com (in Bengali). Dhaka, Bangladesh: The Daily Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
^"ফুটবল ইতিহাসে সালাউদ্দিন নামটি বড় করে লেখা থাকবে" [Salahuddin name will be written big in football history]. Kiron's Sports Desk (in Bengali). 26 September 2012. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023.