Independent Bangladesh Government Takes Over in
Jessore Drive to Restore Law and Order First Priority
The Government of independent Bangladesh, which returned over the weekend to the former Pakistani district capital of Jessore, has stated that its first priority is to restore law and order to its now chaotic country.
In a triumphant procession led by armed guerrillas and Indian Army military police, Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, the Prime Minister and Syed Nazrul Islam, the acting President, drove in two commandeered Pakistani diplomatic corps Chevrolets from Petrapole, on the Indian border, to Jessore on Saturday.
Addressing a crowd of thousands in the center of the town, the two Bengali leaders urged their people not to take the law into their own hands by killing “traitors and Pakistani collaborators.”
They said that a special war tribunal would be held soon in Dacca at which these men would be tried.
They also reminded the crowd that when the Pakistanis withdrew from the area they had left behind quantities of arms and ammunition. These should be handed over, either to the Indian army or to the Mukiti Bahini guerrillas.
It was apparent to those who attended the meeting that both leaders were preoccupied with the potential lawlessness of their own followers. At least 2,000 guns were handed out to guerrillas in the immediate Jessore area, and there are already plans to disarm them.
Armed Civilians
The crowded streets were a pincushion of rifle and light machine-gun barrels after the rally. Although there are uniformed “regulars” among the guerrillas, most of the guns were carried by civilians in traditional Bengalis dress.
Jessore itself, a town of 60,000 is rapidly returning to normal. After the Pakistani military crackdown last March, more than half its people, including almost all the women, fled to the countryside.
The Bangladesh Government has appointed a new district commissioner, Mr. Wali-Ul Islam, to succeed the Pakistani Administrator, who fled last week with the army garrison towards Khulna.
Most junior administrative officials, including policemen, have remained behind, and are being encouraged to continue working under the new regime.
In striving to establish a secular state, for long the ideal of the moderate Awami League party, the new Government announced over the weekend the banning of four Moslem political groups. They are the Moslem League, the Jameat Islam, the Nizam Islam, and the People’s Democratic Party.
The Government has declared its international stance as one of “friendship towards all peoples.” Mr Ahmed was careful to avoid harsh criticism of the United States, which has opposed the Indian invasion of East Pakistan, but which is soon likely to be approached for said to set up an independent Bangladesh.
By Peter Gill In Jessore, East Pakistan.
Reference: The Daily Telegraph
December 13, 1971.