Poet wants collaborators to punish
Our Staff Reporter at Dacca, DECEMBER, 20- “India has saved us from being wiped out.” The 70-year-old poet Jasimuddin was excited. The sun had already set. It was Sunday at 5 p.m.
The poet of “Nakshi Kathar Math ” was said, too. The massacre of some of the leading intellectuals by the Pakistani troops and their collaborators on the outskirts of the city before they laid down their arms had shocked and stunned the poet.
“You must have heard of the incident. Many among those murdered were my friends. They would have killed me, too. It is only by the grace of Allah I am now breathing the air of a free country”. the poet said.
He was wearing a saffron coloured punjabi and a striped lungi. He felt strongly about the role of the collaborators who did their utmost to scuttle the liberation movement. “They should be tried and punished,” he said.
Analyzing the causes for the disintegration of Pakistan he said that the real cause was the economic exploitation of the East by the West. He pleaded for socialism of the “Russian type”. There should not be any private holdings.
The poet also felt that the friendship between India and Bangladesh would be beneficial to both countries.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman may soon be able to join his people. This was indicated by Lt. Gen. Jagit Singh Aurora when he called on Mrs. Mujibur Rahman here on Sunday.
When I met Mrs. In the evening she told me that from her talks with General Aurora she got the impression that the release of her husband was imminent.
“The General told me that on his next trip to Dacca he hoped to bring with him my husband”, she said.
She appeared to be greatly impressed by the General, “I am convinced that he will keep his promise. He saved Bangladesh. He saved me”, she said.
“The first question that the General asked me was, Are you happy, madam, now that your country is free?”
“I told him I am, I also told him that I was also unhappy because my husband was not here to see his dream fulfilled.” Mrs. Rahman recounted her conversation with General Aurora.
The meeting was brief for it was more in the nature of a courtesy call. She could however persuade the General to have a cup of tea. “The General told me that he was happy to be associated with the liberation movement culminating in the birth of a new nation”.
General Aurora later met senior officials of the Bangladesh Government at Dacca Secretariat and told them that the Indian troops would pull out the moment the Government so desired. “We are prepared to pull out even today if you want us to”, he said.
He told the officials that the Indian troops would assist the Government in restoring the air, road and other communication systems.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 21.12.1971