It was led by the students backed by various political parties such as the Awami League, National Awami Party, and Communist party of East Pakistan and their student wings, and the cultural fronts (writers, poets, musicians, singers, actors, etc) against Muhammad Ayub Khan, the president of Pakistan in protest of the oppressive military rule, political repressions, Agartala Conspiracy Case and the incarceration of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other Bengali nationalists.

The uprising also led to the withdrawal of the Agartala Conspiracy Case and acquittal of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other defendants.

[5] 7–8 January: Formation of a political coalition named the Democratic Action Committee (DAC) to restore democracy.

Matiur Rahman Mallik, a class nine student of Nabakumar Institution, and Rustam Ali were killed in Dhaka.

[7] 15 February: Sergeant Zahurul Haq, one of the convicts of Agartala Conspiracy Case, is assassinated in the prison of Kurmitola Cantonment.

[9] Haq's death led to more street protests and state guest house and other government buildings were burned down and the "February 15 Bahini" was created as the first armed opposition.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the All-Pakistan Awami League, released from his prison cell in the Dhaka cantonment.

[12] 23 February: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is accorded a grand reception, where he is given the title Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal).

[6] Ayub Khan had remarked before handing over power that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's draft "would liquidate the central government and army".

[2] On 31 March 1970, President Yahya Khan announced a Legal Framework Order (LFO) which called for direct elections for a unicameral legislature.

[13] The purpose of the LFO was to secure the future Constitution which would be written after the election[14] so that it would include safeguards such as preserving Pakistan's territorial integrity and Islamic ideology.

Yahya Khan ignored reports that Sheikh Mujib planned to disregard the LFO and that India was increasingly interfering in East Pakistan.