Bangla Foreign Minister to lead delegation to
UN From Our Special Correspondent, The Foreign Minister of the Bangladesh Government, Mr. Khondokar Mushtaque Ahmed will personally present the case of Bangladesh before the UN General Assembly, meeting on September 21.
Mr. Ahmed will be assisted by a strong team of officers including Mr. Mahbub Alam, Foreign Secretary and Mr. Abul Fateh, Former Pakistani Ambassador to Iraq.
The decision to send a strong delegation to the UN General Assembly had been taken by the Bangladesh Government in the light of the recent discussions at political level with different parties in Bangladesh. In fact, the Consultative Committee, formed with five-party representatives, for coordinating the liberation movement and streamlining the administration of Bangladesh, have found it necessary to rouse the conscience of the world to the realities of the situation concerning Bangladesh.
The delegation is confident that the Bangladesh issue will be raised at the General Assembly by “friends” of the Bangladesh Government. The Government has also taken note of the dialogue opened by India in this regard with the United States and China.
Moreover, the move to send a strong delegation has been actuated by the talk of sending UN observers in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Government feels very strongly that any attempt to past UN observers in Bangladesh will be considered as an attempt to help the enemy, that is the military junta of Pakistan. Under such circumstances, the Mukti Bahini might be compelled to take action against the UN observers.
The delegation would make it quite clear to the UN General Assembly that a negotiated settlement with Pakistan would be possible only if independent sovereignty of Bangladesh was recognised, Pakistan withdrew all her forces from Bangladesh, unconditionally released Sheik Mujib and Pakistan gave compensation for the damages and destruction caused to Bangladesh.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 12.09.1971