There were largescale protests in East Pakistan, after which the government dropped the sedition charge and unconditionally released Mujib. He returned to East Pakistan as a hero.
In 1969, at an all-parties conference convened by Field Marshal Ayub Khan, Mujib demanded self-government, On December 5, 1969, Mujib declared at a public meeting that East Pakistan would henceforth be called "Bangladesh".
The Pakistani army and top establishment declared Mujib as a separatist, while the people of East Bengal gave him the nomenclature "Bangabandhu".
In the November 1970 cyclone in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of people died and millions were rendered homeless, but the Pakistani authorities failed to provide adequate relief and rehabilitation. There was dissastisfaction and divisions within the civil services, police and Pakistani army.
