Nine-month-long war (March–December 1971) was fought between the Pakistani army aiming to suppress the self-determination movement in East Pakistan, and the Mukti Bahini, a separatist guerrilla force agitating for Bengali rights with support from the Indian army. It led to the creation of Bangladesh and is known in Bengali as Muktijuddho (‘War of Freedom’). While the immediate trigger was Operation Searchlight, a genocidal campaign against agitating East Pakistanis, resentment had been growing in East Pakistan for decades over economic exploitation, poor political representation, and suppression of Bengali culture and language by the administration centred in West Pakistan. The war also resulted in large-scale casualties and displacement, with millions taking refuge in India.