Defection as Diplomatic Revolution

Bengali Diplomats and Bangladesh’s Fight for Liberation

Bibliographic Data

ID19219656
AuthorsIlyas Chattha (0000-0001-8840-412X, Lahore University of Management Sciences, corresponding author)
Year2026
Pages1-35
Publication date2026-05-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Imperial & Commonwealth History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-6534 • E-ISSN: 1743-9329
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03086534.2026.2677939
OpenAlexW7162782028
LanguageEN
References cited15

This article examines the unprecedented defection of Bengali diplomats from the Pakistan foreign service during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. These officials abandoned their posts in global capitals to pledge allegiance to a government-in-exile, effectively performing the functions of a sovereign state despite lacking territorial control. By establishing parallel missions and circulating sovereign artefacts such as stamps, passports and banknotes, they made the idea of an independent Bangladesh understandable to the international community. These actions functioned as a diplomatic revolution and symbolically constituted a state-in-the-making, which eroded Pakistan’s credibility while mobilising global solidarity and human rights advocacy. Drawing on previously unexamined archival sources, this article argues that sovereignty is not merely a legal attribute grounded in territorial control, but a performative process negotiated through international recognition and moral legitimacy. By foregrounding the intersection of diplomacy and state performance, the article contributes to broader debates on recognition, legitimacy, and the performativity of statehood in moments of contested sovereignty

Action (physics) · Bengali · Diplomacy · Foreign policy · Government (linguistics) · Bangladesh Politics, Society, and Development · Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East

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