The Turbulent 1971 My Diary by Khashruzzaman Choudhury

The Turbulent 1971 My Diary by Khashruzzaman Choudhury

বিশেষ দ্রষ্টব্যঃ কপিরাইট সমস্যা যাতে না হয় সেকারণে সকল লেখা শুধুমাত্র ‘only Readable’, ‘non-downloadable’ ও ‘non-clickable’ রাখা হয়েছে। সংগ্রামের নোটবুকের সকল নথি-পত্রিকা-দলিল-সংকলন-বই থেকে নেয়া তথ্য-ছবি-ভিডিও শুধুমাত্র গবেষণার কাজে ব্যবহার্য। বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা সংগ্রাম ও মুক্তিযুদ্ধ গবেষণার জন্য সংগ্রামের নোটবুক একটি অলাভজনক অবাণিজ্যিক বিজ্ঞাপনমুক্ত ডোনেশনমুক্ত স্বেচ্ছাশ্রমে গড়া প্রচেষ্টা।

 
Foreword
Khashruzzaman Choudhury is a myriad-minded personality. A valiant freedom fighter, whose contribution to liberation war was recognized by the Bangladesh Government by awarding him the Independence Day award. A well -known scholar who spends most of his life teaching in well-known American Universities, a literateur and columnist who authored a number of popular books; a generous friend to his batchmates in class and in service; and a loving husband to his wonderful wife and an affectionate father to his children; he combined in himself the rare qualities of head and heart. His untimely death is an irreparable loss for Bangladesh.
Although he was physically absent from Bangladesh for nearly four decades, he remained mentally entwined with Bangladesh to complete his seminal title, “The Turbulent 1971: My Diary”. He had completed arrangements for his shifting and even accepted a professorship in a private university. He, however, could not make it on health ground. He wrote war memories and a long incisive piece on India’s role in Bangladesh liberation war in separate publications. “The Turbulent 1971: My Diary” is a document on liberation war studies in Bangladesh for several reasons.
First, his memoir is based on a diary where he recorded the daily incidents during liberation war. This makes his book an authentic description of the events of those days. But his book is much more than a chronicle of incidents. He faithfully employed his knowledge about the role of the major actors of liberation war whom he interviewed. He
9
also used the books written by liberation war heroes. The canvas of the books is, therefore, much wider than a diary.
Second, the point of departure of this book is his conclusion that Bangladesh liberation war was not confined to military operations, but it was a people’s war in which not only the members of the armed forces or police participated, it was a war where civil servants, students, teachers, housewives people from all layers of our society participated. He, however, lamented that the role of some important segments of the society is now ignored. Mr. Choudhury, for example, rightly highlights the role of wireless operations. It is the wireless operators who linked various subdivisions and spread the message of independence. He even highlights the role of children, local leaders and many others in our liberation war. His book thus provides vivid descriptions of the people’s war.
Third, he points out as all segments of society participated in the war; it was possible to have a well-coordinated war in such a short time. Civil servants were very often misunderstood by student leaders who wanted immediate action; they had to maintain order amidst chaos, sometimes local leaders were greedy and tried to rob the money which was carried by evacuee civil servants. His recollections of such incidents are vivid.
Fourth, his analysis of India’s contribution to our liberation war is penetrating. He rightly lauds the role of Bengali Hindus who moved to India in the wake of partition. However, he also reminds us of the opposition of Indian Muslims to our liberation war. He shows that the commitment of non-Bengali Indians varied to our liberation war. He also focused a cost benefit analysis of liberation war from Indian Central Government’s point of view.
Lastly, his literary flair is obvious throughout the book. His description of married civil officers yearning to be reunited with the family left behind reads like short stories.
10
His description of the agonies at the time of departure from our country at times strikes a poetic chord.
I am confident that this book, a testament to the Bangladesh liberation war, will be appreciated not only by all students of liberation war, but by all segments of the society. This provides excellent materials for future historians. I hope that the book will get the attention it deserves.
Dr. Akbar Ali Khan
Professor, BRAC University, Dhaka
Former Advisor, Caretaker Government
People’s Republic of Bangladesh
11
A Freedom Fighter’s Journey to Mujibnagar
On 25.3.71 there was nothing special particularly about the day. It was like other days since the non-cooperation movement had started from March 2, 1971. The day began as usual, and there was not the slightest hint it could turn out to be the most dreadful for the people of Bangladesh. In facts there was no such indication early in the morning when I got up from sleep. It was like any other day. The narrow roads of Kishoreganj were crowded;so people were out on their normal vocations.
Since the starting of non-cooperation movement, I, as Subdivisional Officer, had little to do so far as official work was concerned. For urgent and emergency cases I had to sit for a few hours at my Residential Office Chamber. Those were the days of processions and slogans against Military Regime. In a single day as many as 20 processions used to pass through the town. The projectionists made it a point to pass along the roads outside my official residence. I had to address one or two processions once or twice on the insistence of leaders. There was not an iota of doubt in the minds of the projectionists regarding the administration.
Since for the most part of the day, I could spare a lot of time, I devoted myself to completing the book on Applied Economics for which I had an outstanding contact with the C.B. A student of local Gurudayal College volunteered himself to take my dictation for the book. Thus, as usual, I was proceeding with the book. I had a number of visitors who called on me with their problems. The volunteer students, the visitors and I could hardly foresee at that time the dreadful future that was in store for us. In retrospect, how could I have the vision of a Prophet so that we could better prepare against the coming onslaught against the whole Bangalee Nation?
Like many others I could not foresee an Army crackdown on the innocent people of their country. Had I had the opportunity of being
12
Dhaka those days, I could perhaps have a better glimpse of the events that were culminating towards the catastrophe. I must confess I had always had some doubt regarding the sincerity of the Army, as regards the transfer of power to the majority Bangalee elected representatives was concerned. I had reasons to have such doubt. Sitting in my Residential Office Chamber, I recollected the 1st of March, on which I happened to be in Dhaka. I had gone there with the verbal permission of the Deputy Commissioner. It was on that day President Yahya Khan postponed the Assembly scheduled for March 3, 1971. I reached Dhaka from Mymensingh at about 11 a.m. I could hardly take rest when throngs of people came out onto the street in protest against the postponement of the National Assembly. I had to avail myself of a local train and rushed to Kishoreganj the very day I reached Dhaka. On my way back to Kishoreganj on March 19, I could see the Army being deployed at strategic points in and around Dhaka. These struck me again that if Army had a sincere desire to hand over power, there would not be such preparations. The other development in this respect is well- known to all. Everybody knew about the incident involving the unloading of the arms carrying the ship “SWAT” at Chittagong Port. The volunteer students taking dictation from me had to bring me to real life a number of times from my vicarious existence. I do not know whether people can feel the news to come. I am not aware of the existence of such telepathy too, but I must confess my attention was being diverted in two directions on that day of 25.3.71.
From one point of view it should have appeared that everything was going to be alright, and the Army was going to hand over power to Bangabandhu Sk. Mujibur Rahman after his talk with President Yahya Khan in Dhaka. In fact, the Awami League leaders and others connected with developments gave such hints of transfer of power.
Later on I gathered from my friends that there was a declaration in this respect on the 25th of March. I had expressed apprehension a number of times but have been reassured by Awami League leaders that there was no other way for the Army except handing over power to them after their landslide victory in the election. This happy prospect should have reassured me on the 25th of March.
The other dreadful thought could be one in which the Army would not hand over power and would crush the Democratic
14
Movement. I do not know whether intuition pushed me to this apprehension. My in-laws and a few other relatives had arrived at Kishoreganj on the 24th of March. They had a lot of stories to tell: A good number of Army personnel were being deployed at strategic points in Dhaka. The Army would not possibly hand over power and would take Awami League leaders into custody. I was told that there was going to be a large scale of disturbances in Dhaka. That is why my in-laws preferred to be away in Kishoreganj, a Sub-divisional town. Here, perhaps nothing would happen. These stories had their part in diverting my attention a number of times while I was sitting with my book in my Residential Office chamber on the 25th of March ’71.
Nobody on that day could assume the fateful night that was to befall on the 75 million innocent democratic people of Bangladesh. Nobody could think of army atrocities on such a large scale. People in Bangladesh had seen army operations once or twice, but that was on a limited scale. We Bangalees never had an idea as to how ferocious and vindictive an army could be. It was not possible to have any idea as the peace-loving people of Bangladesh could have such an experience. The maximum that skeptics could think of was that the Army would move in to reassert their position. Possibly in this process they would take into custody the top leaders of the Awami League. They would then extend control over the whole country and reassert their position as the dictator of this country, which they had been ruling since the usurpation of power by General Ayub Khan in 1958. That was the maximum the Bangalees could think of. As for myself, because of my young age, I had never seen any Army Operations and like many others used to believe that the maximum army would go for limited operations and would just thaw the transfer of power to the Bangalees.
Yet for some uncertain reason, some of us had a spell of gloom in the evening of the 25th of March ’71. My sister-in-law Mrs. Nilufar Ahmed (Mrs. Naziruddin Ahmed @ Bina) and her husband Mr. Naziruddin Ahmed somehow became very panicky and wanted to return to Dhaka the next day. Until that time, we had little idea or information about the things that had been boiling up in Dhaka. We became concerned only when we were told by the local telephone exchange that in spite of their best efforts, they were unable to contact
15
Dhaka. We persisted in our endeavours for making such a call but to no avail. The gloom was further intensified by the absence of any television programming in that evening. It was in such an uneasy situation we had our dinner that night. All of us went to bed but could hardly sleep because of unknown feelings about such inexplainable fear and agony that night. None of us could ever dream of the holocaust that had already been on in the houses of Dhaka. None of us could think the Army was already in action in Dhaka, killing the Bangalees. I do not know when I fell asleep in such an uneasy situation at the night of the 25th of March 1971.
On 26th March 1971, it was hardly morning and the telephone by my bed side had been ringing for a long time. Since the start of the non-cooperation movement, the telephone used to be near me almost all of the time. Because of late sleep, I could hardly get up to pick up the telephone. My wife had got up earlier. I could feel that she was picking up the telephone and was talking in a whispering voice. The uneasy sleep we had been enjoying could not last longer as I was informed that the S.D.P.O. (Sub-divisional Police Officer) had been waiting for me for about an hour in the Drawing Room. The time was hardly 6 O’clock. I had never had visitors at such an early hour. What could be the reason for his waiting for me from so early in the morning? I had to jump off from bed, for a quick wash and rush to the drawing room for meeting the S.D.P.O.
I could hardly reach the Drawing Room, when the telephone rang up again. The unknown feeling of panic and something unhappy to come had been still on me then. I do not know why my hands were trembling in picking up the telephone. The voice on the other side was that of a Police Officer from the local Police Station. I was told that there was an important wireless message for me from Dhaka. I was astonished to hear that the message was from no one else but Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This was enough for me and I could hardly ask any more questions. I was a Govt. servant and had no connection what soever with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was a surprise to me. What could be the message that would come to me from Sheikh Mujib?I brooded over the possible message quickly and requested the Police Officer on the other side to send the message immediately by a special messenger. Perhaps I would have to ask a number of questions. It appears that the S.D.P.O. had been over early hearing me
16
as I was normally talking loudly. Before I could prolong the discussions by making further inquiries, I was interrupted by the S.D.P.O who took me away to the portico of my Bungalow with the remarks that he knew all about the wireless message and had much more to say about it.
– S.D.P.O and I sat in the portico. I looked at the S.D.P.O.’s face. A man of about 48 years, he looked younger. By his very nature he was cheerful, a quality not given with police officials. The natural cheerfulness and exuberance were lacking that day and gloom was writ large on the gentlemen’s face. His pale look said he did not feel like starting discussions.
We passed some uneasy moments. I lit a cigarette to make the situation look more normal. Ultimately the S.D.P.O. was out with the story. He could hardly speak as his voice kept on trembling. He brought the identical wireless message that he received, from Dhaka illegibly from Mr. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The message read as follows:
“From Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to all of Bangladesh, Pakistan Army has cracked down on the innocent civilian population of Dhaka. They have attacked Rajarbagh Police Headquarters and the Headquarter of E.P. R. at Peelkhana. More than 1.50 thousand have been killed. Street fighting is going on in the street of Dhaka. Resist the enemy in every corner of Bangladesh. May Allah be with you in your struggle of freedom and independence! “Joy Bangla”. – It took me only about 2 minutes to read the whole message. I shuddered at the very thought of the killing of civilians. The S.D.P.O informed me that he had received the message through police wireless. He had been told that copies of the same message were being sent to others concerned, including myself. The S.D.P.O. gave further details of the massacre that a police wireless sent at the Ideal Police Station. The S.D.P.O. told me that he had picked up the message from Dhaka. The centre of the message could not give many details. But the wireless man at Kishoreganj got some idea of the crackdown that had already started in Dhaka since 10 at night. The S.D.P.O informed that the wireless man himself had heard sounds of machine guns firing around when he was receiving the message.
The normal discussions I used held with the S.D.P.O. always centered round law and order problems. This was the first time we
17
were talking about such an issue. The S.D.P.O. looked pale and enquired, though unnecessarily, if I had any knowledge about the happenings. My answer was naturally in the negative. I told him that I had received the first report on the subject though I had been apprehending some localised troubles at Dhaka. I could not improve my continued feeling of uneasiness since the 25th of March when my in-laws and others had arrived from Dhaka. Both of us sat silently for some time. While we were sitting, a police messenger told him the same wireless message had been received by the S.D.P.O. No sooner had I finished having a glimpse of the look than the S.D.P.O. asked me a very fundamental question. What would be our role if the report were true? Would we remain silent or would we resist the array if they advanced towards us? It was a very difficult question to answer at that time. I could only advise the S.D.P.O that we should wait for some time and verify what had actually happened. I did not fail to add that should the need arise, we would rise to the occasion and build up resistance against the army at strategic points. I assured the S.D.P.O that we would do our best after we had verified the facts. After some time, the S.D.P.O left. He looked very pale and gloomy but I was happy to see that he had been showing a good morale. I do not know whether my advice at that time had any meaning to him. But that was all I could do in that situation when I did not know the full facts before him.
When I got up early in the morning it felt like the day that would not be an auspicious one but I never knew that such calamities were going to befall us. In fact, I was not prepared to receive such a sad message.
It was not necessary for me to explain things to the members of the family; in fact they had overheard most of the talk with the S.D.P.O. Bina Apa, in particular, became very panicky and started getting extremely pale and nervous. She had reasons to get so as she along with two of her children was away from Dhaka where her husband had been staying. The other members of the family looked anxious but they would still have the inquisitiveness to ask further questions regarding the message. My brother-in-law, Ghalib went through the wireless message a number of times. Even in that sorry state of affairs, he remarked that the message could be from Sheikh Mujib. It was not for him to doubt his creditability at that time. In
18
fact, all of us went through the message a number of times knowing full well that it would not become anything more than we already had learned. It was, as if, we were trying to discover something new in the message.
It was in this uneasy atmosphere that we had our breakfast. It was Ghalib who tuned the radio to Radio Pakistan, Dhaka. Patriotic songs mostly about Bengali nationalism were on the air. Before we could finish our uneasy breakfast, the radio gave startling news. The anchor announced that the army was going to take over the radio and they could not stay any longer.So the radio went silent and we looked at each other’s face only to read the betrayal of unhappy feelings that was tormenting each of us since the receipt of the wireless message. It was after all true. I could visualise the horrible acts that might have been enacted and still being enacted in the streets of Dhaka. I could hear the deadly sounds all around and could visualise the pools of blood with which the streets of Dhaka might have become red by this time.
The radio remained tuned on to Dhaka Station. All of us were sitting in the drawing room waiting for some announcement. It was an uneasy atmosphere. It seemed that we were condemned for some unforeseen fate and were waiting for the judgement. It was not long before the radio went on air. This time this was not the voice of any Bengalee. It was a harsh and rude voice which announced that the army had taken full control over the chaotic situation prevailing in Dhaka. The announcer seemed to be an ordinary troop member of the Pak Army. We were told that in an hour martial law administrators were going to speak over the radio. It was less than an hour when we heard the announcement in English regarding different martial law regulations. I do not remember how many regulations were announced. But I do distinctly remember that severe punishment in the form of rigorous imprisonment was announced for acts like creating violence, putting resistance to Army advance, destroying means of communications and the likes. The announcement said that the people of about one mile area of the places of occurrence would be subjected to punitive measures and serious punishment if any obstacle were created in that area by damaging bridges etc. for obstructing Army movement. At that time it was not clear whether it was General Tikka Khan himself on the radio. But the voice
19
announcing the regulation did not show any weakness or soft corner for acts which the army listed as anti-state. We would absorb in listening to the Radio so that we did not forget about the surroundings. Millions like us were listening to the radio at the same time. It was not long after that throngs of people were coming out in the streets of Kishoreganj with bamboo sticks, choppers and shouting slogans against Yahya, Bhuto and Tikka Khan. It was a spontaneous action showing hatred for the army and protesting their attack on the innocent civilians of Bangladesh. The people gathered, ultimately making a procession and started parading the streets of the town chanting slogans in almost near the highest voice. It appeared that no one had any doubt that the army had started massacres in the streets of Dhaka. Nobody would have believed if anybody had told that only a minor incident had taken place. All of us witnessed this upsurge protesting the inhumanity. I had seen a number of processions since the start of the non-cooperation movement but never had I seen such crowds which were almost on the verge of destruction and whose faces reaffirmed a sense of Bangalee Nationalism and a glimpse of protest against the hordes of Yahya Khan and Tikka Khan. The angry people of the procession gradually went up and up and there appeared serious apprehension that the situation would go out of control. The processions were away into the town only for some time and soon they returned and assembled in front of my residence.
In the meantime the S.D.P.O. had rushed to my residence in order to ascertain what had actually been happening. There was no need to explain anything. He could see everything for himself. When a procession gathered in front of my residence again, students came up to me and requested me to say something to the processionists if I knew the incidence at Dhaka. I told them that I knew as much or as little as they knew and we should wait for some time to gather more facts. On my persuasion, the prousionsts left the place but the students’ leaders still remained there. The students wanted an assurance from me that we should arise; I would join them and lead the resistance movement. I assured them that I would not fail in such a need if it became really necessary to resist the Army. The senior elements of the leaders seemed to be satisfied with my answer, but the extremist ones demanded that I order immediately to open the entire treasury armoury so that all available rifles and magazines could be
20
distributed out. It took me a long time to persuade the students to stop demanding such things. I had to tell them that if need arose I myself would break open the treasury armoury and distribute the guns to those who wanted to resist the Pak Army. The S.D.P.O nodded his head to show his assent to the proposal. The students ultimately saw reason and left the place.
After the students dispersed, the S.D.P.O himself and one of my magistrates Mr. Golam Akbar sat in my Residential Office chamber for further discussions. The S.D.P.O opined that I had done the right thing by postponing any immediate decision on our participation in the resistance movement, if there were to be one. Though generally he never did give me any counsel, that day in his effective superiority of age, he advised me to go slow. At first he appeared to me that he had got afraid. But sober thinking made him throw his point of argument. After all I still did not have firsthand report of what had actually happened in Dhaka. Though it was unluckily, it should be that the events in Dhaka had been and were being exaggerated. We discussed these things and decided that we should wait for a day or more to really know that actually happened.
I must confess here that after the meeting that day, I remained very much disturbed. Sometimes it appeared to me that I was possibly going very slow and was getting afraid that there had been no counsel from the S.D.P.O. I would possibly behave in a completely different manner. I kept on thinking that everybody had apprehended more trouble and nobody had thought that the army would really launch crackdown upon the civil population as appeared to be from the wireless message and the control over the radio.
Time passed on. Small processions from different institutions and adjoining areas kept on passing through the streets of the town. As usual, the processionists made a point to pass along the front of my residence shouting slogans. This phenomenon continued throughout the day. The Dhaka station of Radio Pakistan kept on blurting out martial tunes as if the country were at war with foreign aggressors. Perhaps there were no instances in history in which the Army of the country enjoyed cracking down upon the majority population of the same country. I was reminded of the humorous statement once made by the late Justice Kayani of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. While welcoming the Chief of Army, he congratulated him this way:
21
“I welcome the Chief of the Army and appreciate the actions of the Army because they have conquered their own mother land”. The time was after 1958 when General Ayub Khan had taken over a Military Coup. It soon became unbearable to keep on listening to the irrelevant third rate Urdu and Panjabi songs on the radio. I felt so disgusted with it that I switched it off.
All of us took lunch in a quite uneasy atmosphere. I was informed that some extremist students had attacked the Guard Centres Post at the Treasury armoury. At the disquinting news the S.D.P.O rushed to the spot. I found that the students were very much agitated. I reminded them of their promise in the morning that they would not do any such things unless we came to know of basic facts. After some arguments, the students saw reason and agreed to go away from the Treasury. The act of persuasion was easier as senior people, including two student leaders and a member of the then Provincial Assembly intervened. It was a small incident from one point of view. It was a big incident from another point of view. I cannot say how things would have taken a turn if the rifles and the magazines were looted at that time. That was too early a time to encourage such lawlessness.
After lunch till evening I kept on receiving visitors who enquired about the incidents regarding the members of the National and Provincial Assembly. We had a meeting with the elite of the town at about 5 P.M. Different aspects of the reports regarding the army’s actions in Dhaka were discussed; ultimately all of us agreed that perhaps we should get confirmation of our apprehensions of a total crack-down and massacres.
After the meeting when some of us including my officers were sitting on the lawn of my residence, someone rushed to us and reported that he had been able to tune to a strange radio station calling itself “Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra”. All of us that were present almost jumped and the poor informer was at a loss to answer the questions which started coming from right, left and center. The next information was that a radio station named Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra was already on the air. The radio station was reportedly relaying patriotic Bengali songs intermixed with occasional broadcast announcing independence in the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It appeared to us as a beacon of light in those dark hours. I got my own radio set and tried to tune in the radio station but failed. Two of my officers then rushed to their
22
respective homes and brought their own radio sets. At that time our only job seemed to be locating that radio station, so that we could hear more about it. It was a scene; almost everybody was trying to do a miracle with his own set. The reported radio station was, however, in imagination as none of us could succeed in tuning to it.
Though the radio station was not an imagination, soon the proof was provided by the eldest son of Mr. Golam Akbar, one of my magistrates. This time there was no mistake as he rushed to the place where we were sitting with the radio sets. All of us seconded and tried together to listen to the broadcast. The song was almost audible even with the song aereal which the boy got hung at quite high an altitude in the meantime, reciting.
Yes. The radio was on the air. Though inaudible, we heard that it was the Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra From the metre band it appeared to be around the Chittagong station of Radio Pakistan. But none of us was sure. We were delighted to hear the voice. I must confess that at that critical time when confusion was prevailing all around, the voice signalled a hope and all of us enjoyed the vigorous feeling of being in an independent state. It was a virtually moral boost up. We were happy because with thought after all there must have been some organisations which had produced this radio station. None of us bothered to think at that time that it could be a transitory phenomenon. We were just happy that a radio station was there to support our cause.
The announcer on the radio kept on playing Bengali song…the patriotic ones…which had been played in later part of the resistance movement from different stations of Bangladesh. The songs were intermingled with occasional broadcasts announcing the independence of Bangladesh and the residence built by what the radio called the Bangladesh liberation army. We were delighted to know that one Major Ziaur Rahman had taken over the command of all Bengali troops under the pioneer of the liberation army. The radio kept on announcing that Bangladesh was no longer under the bondage of the Pakistani rule and that the leader of freedom movement Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was alive and out of the clutches of the West Pakistan army holds. The radio announced that Major Zia would soon address the fighting Bangalees. We were becoming more impatient because the address of Major Zia as promised on the radio did not
23
come through for a long time. In the mean time efforts had to be made – to bring back the station on air as the voice seemed to fade out very frequently. One army officer (possibly it was an army officer) read out certain portion of Major Zia’s speech and again promised that Major Zia would be on the air soon with his address..
That was an abnormal time when a dying man would try to catch at a straw. We were as much anxious to listen to Major Zia as we were worried about the fate of the leader of the movement Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. We were assured by the radio that the whole resistance movement was being conducted under the direction and guidance of the Sheikh whom the radio claimed to be with the rebel groups. We had heard little about the Sheikh earlier. We had wondered whether he had been arrested. Though there was no confusion, we were assured by the announcement by the radio that the Sheikh had escaped. All of us present that day breathed the sigh of relief. Since Sheikh was at the vortex of the revolution, we could hardly imagine a situation in which he would be away from the main stream of the struggle. He was the man who inspired the revolution and he was the man who was most needed at the time. We all shuddered to think what it would have been like if Sheikh were arrested by the army.
All of us were at the height of tension listening to the radio. The knob of the radio had to be adjusted in and then to keep the station in track as the sound sometimes faded out; it was all the time very inaudible in the medium wave metre band. Evidently the radio station was not a powerful one, who cared for at this time. All of us were happy to listen to murmurs from the Betar Kendra. 4. Our joy knew no bounds when we heard that at last Major Zia was available to speak to us. Soon Major Zia was on the air. He first proclaimed himself to be the head of state of independent sovereign Bangladesh. He claimed resistance was going on in full swing and the Pakistani army would be defeated soon. I did not know how others present took the speech but I was quite apprehensive as the voice I heard did not seem to be one of a Bengali. Later on I could understand that I was mistaken because Major Zia was speaking in Bengali with a little Urdu and English accent. It immediately struck me that Major Zia had hardly made any such address earlier in Bengali. Bengali was broken and lounged in an Urdu slag. In the
24
beginning it appeared as if a West Pakistani officer were speaking. Some of us were quite perplexed at this. Was there a y Bengali officer named Major Zia or was it somebody else playing some tricks?
As Major Zia proceeded with his speech it looked like that he was a Bengali though his speech was not commendable. The actual story about the radio was revealed to me later when I reached Agartala and happened to meet some of my friends escaping from Chittagong side. One of my close friends Major M.S.A. Bhuiyan has recorded the story of the radio in his book “Mukti Juddher Noy Mash” published recently.
Major Zia in his speech assured all that Bangladesh troops will definitely defeat the Pakistani army. We requested all to extend cooperation to the liberation army. He told the audience that he would soon form a council for running the administration. I think Major Zia was not in haste as he hurriedly went through his speech and his voice was to be heard no longer. The radio then started giving a news bulletin announcing that rebellion had broken out in the northwest frontier province and Baluchistan of West Pakistan. It rapidly assured the audience that Sheikh Mujibar Rahman was safe and was with the liberation army. The radio claimed that the whole revolution movement was being conducted under his direction and guidance.
Three more important events of that day should be recorded here. Since the crackdown had started, I did not have any contact with my D.C. of Mymensingh, Syed Hasan Ahmed. It was on the 27th I felt like talking to him over phone to know more details and seek his instructions, if any. The telephone exchange tried a number of times to connect me to D.C. but all the times he was not available. It was after a long pursuit I managed to get him on the phone. The D.C.’s voice was broken and evidently it betrayed his concern for this and events which he had not foreseen. He gave me the pragmatic advice to act according to situation and go by the wishes of most of the people. I did not disclose to him that I had already decided to side with the resistance movement against the Pakistan army. The D.C. could not give any further details of incidences that had taken place at Dhaka. It appeared that he was surrounded by a lot of people, including a good number of politicians. He confirmed that crackdown
25
had taken place at Dhaka but could not give details regarding casualties and other atrocities committed. Neither could he give any exact idea about the resistance at Dhaka and adjoining places.
Since information was the most essential thing at that time, I decided to ring up Major Nurul Islam of the army who was stationed at Mymensingh. I had known Major Islam since the election days. At the time of the election, as all of us know, a contingent of army was placed at our subdivision and at most places the contingent was being commanded by a Major. The army contingent was at the subdivision from the 3rd of December till the end of provincial elections. Major Moinul Hossain Choudhury (Now he has become Lt. Col.) was placed at Kishoregonj and Major Nurul Islam got his assignment in Jamalpur subdivision in Mymensingh district. After the successful completion of the election, the D.C. of Mymensingh invited all of us, including the army officers to get together at his official residence some time in the last weak of December. It was in that get-together that I met Major Nurul Islam and others. Major Nurul Islam was in the intelligence branch of Pakistan army and I must say he seemed to be quite profound in his job. At the very first introduction he started to speak to me in broken dialect of Sylhet. His voice was to be heard all over the get-together as he kept on joking right and left with all we… civil officers, a few Bengali army officers and a few. West Pakistani officers.
Major Islam was very jolly and he narrated the story how he once joked with his wife and his father-in-law. He was not a bit assumed to tell us that once he managed to put a picture of famous dancer Amina into the pocket of the shirt of his father-in-law. He was all the time laughing, exposing the reactions of his father-in-law and his wife to such unseeingly gentle behaviour.
Since it became dark after the get-together, we decided to pass the night at Mymensingh. As many of us were there, we decided to stay at WAPDA’s rest house which was large enough to accommodate all of us on beds and floors. Major Islam and Moin and one or two other officers were in the same room in which I was staying. They hardly let anybody sleep because they indulged in a boozing session all through night intermingled with saucy jokes. The voice had to be kept a little down because the colonel Mr. Masud was staying in the next room along with his wife. Mr. Masud entered into our room a number
26
of times and apologised for not being able to enjoy the night with us. It was more of anxious that apology as was evident from iis voice. I could easily feel that he felt that he was missing something. In the night session Major Islam came out with a few more stories which were interesting like the incidents with his father-in-law. He informed the gathering that he had boarded the plain with the picture of Princess Amina while his wife recited the holy verses. In our room there was Capt. Butt, a West Pakistani officer who seemed to be a teetotaller. I shall come to the incidence involving Capt. Butt later. I could never guess that a few days later this Capt. Butt would prove their treacheries with the Bangalees. That day he seemed to be an innocent man devoid of all earthly sins.
This is how I had known Major Islam. In fact I had talked to him a number of times since then. He was posted at Mymensingh. The day Sheikh Mujib addressed historic gathering at the Race Course on the 7th March. It was Major Islam who ringed me from Mymensingh to let me know what Sheikh Mujib said in the meeting. Major Islam like. other army officers was, however, Pakistani at heart till that time.
In the changed circumstance I decided to ring Major Islam on the 27th March. It was very difficult to get him as most of the time the exchange could not contact him at Mymensingh. After a long pursuit he could be traced and soon he was on the phone. I expressed him worry and anxiety and wanted to know what had actually happened. Major Islam informed me that he himself did not know much about what had happened in Dhaka. But he was apprehensive of the whole situation. He assured me that he would not feel to rise to the occasion if situation demanded. Even in those trying times Major Islam was at the height of his job. He assured me that he would contact later at night if he received information from anywhere, including Dhaka. He informed me that he was not aware if anything had happened at Joydevpur, where Major Safiullah (Now Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Army) and Major Moin had been staying.
I had known Major Safiullah from the election time. He was the 2nd in command of the 2nd Bengal Battalion. In that capacity he used to tour the areas where his army contingents were posted during election. It was Major Moin who invited him once to Kishoregonj and I met him at that time. Major Safiullah was a little more aged than us and he found quite sober and calm consistent with his age. At the
27
lunch we gathered; he talked to us in a very affectionate manner and it appeared that he was a person who would win over anybody in a very short time. My first impression of Major Safiullah was that he was an excellent man with finest of behaviour and devoid of army eccentricities which were so commonly found in army officers. Except for his talking some times in army terminology like L of C, denial plan, etc., he never betrayed his profession at any time. In fact it looked like that he would pass for a civilian if he had not donned uniform.
The third major incident of that day was concern with a few escaping police personnel. It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon when I saw throngs of people approaching my house with three armed persons who looked tired and exhausted. They could hardly walk. As soon as they reached the compound of my resident they sat down on the ground with the 3-not-3 rifles by their side. I could see everything from inside the house. They looked like Bangalees and I could hear that the mob was whispering that the S.D.O. should be called out from inside for necessary action. There was no need to call me. I came out myself and enquired about what had happened. As everybody started to speak at the same time, I raised my hand and indicated that only one should speak at a time so that I could understand what had actually happened. The crowd became settled and one from them explained the whole matter. The armed personnel were police men, who were there at the Rajarbagh Police Headquarters on the night of the 25th of March, 1971. The army attacked the police headquarters that night and they were three out of the few who could escape from the attack. They had dragged their way through different places ultimately landing up at Kishoreganj. They had hardly taken anything and needed medical care and food. This was sufficient for me for the time being. I requested the police personnel to get into my office chamber and sit comfortably on a few chairs. Once they sat they looked more composed and I could ask those questions:
“What is your name?” I asked one of them.
He replied that his name was Sultan and introduced the other two as Habib and Ibrahim. Their story was as follows:
They did not know much about what was going to happen on that fateful night of the 25th of March. One of them said that he had heard
28
that the army was going to crack down on the Awami League officials and others connected with politics. Another said that at about 7:30 in the evening, some students had gone around telling all that the army men were going to attack at night and they should not bow down to them and not offer weapons. Instead they should fight and teach the army a good lesson. The students assured that they were all prepared for all eventualities and if the army attacked they would also teach them a good lesson. It was possibly Ibrahim who conveyed this news. He said as a policeman it was his last act to give up his weapon and so they thought that they had nothing to do with army crackdown if it came after all. I think one of the three contradicted the story and said that he had heard from the Subedar that the I.G. of Police had ran up telling everybody that there was going to be a crackdown of all those who possess firearms. The I.G. had said that it could be on anybody and he had advised everybody to act according to situation. Sultan said that they had hardly any time to think as there was a big whisper all around in the police headquarters. Everybody seemed to be resolute that if army attack they should fight back. Sultan frankly confessed that they did not have any idea about the fire power the army could possess and the destruction of such fire power could bring about. There was a big haste in the police headquarters and everybody seemed to be prepared to face any eventualities.
All the three agreed that it was about 10:30 pm when the 1st army convoy approached the Rajarbag Police Headquarters. The army was evidently not aware of the little preparations the police had already taken to fight back. Sultan said that someone from amongst the army near the police headquarters in an open jeep had spoken out in a better operated microphone that all policemen should lay down arms. Sultan’s face glittered in joy when he said that the next moment the army personnel who was speaking over the microphone was shot dead from amongst policemen. Immediately the army took position and started firing with Stenguns and L.M.G. and S.L.R.S. The police personnel were not to be daunted, and they started firing back. There was quite a fight as the army personnel were outnumbered. Many of them were killed while in action and the rest started retreating. Sultan could not say how many army men were killed but he could see a good number of dead bodies from distance. The policemen had already started the fight and got apprehended that the army might
29
come again. Actually this happened and within half an hour a big convoy of army surrounded the Rajarbagh Police Station. They brought in small Chinese tanks and there seemed to be a hill of fire and sound everywhere. Poor Sultan could see his fellow policemen dropping one by one and there was hardly any hope of any resistance. Along with the firing from sophisticated weapons and tanks the army started throwing inflammable liquid all around. And a whole pipe like structure started inflicting flames on them. Soon there was a big fire all around and they could hear the dying sounds of many. Sultan said that there was no hope of any resistance anymore and any resistance only meant death. He could say how he managed to run from the place from which direction. Neither could Ibrahim nor Habib give any account of how they managed to escape. They confirmed that the whole Rajarbagh Police Station was razed to the ground and they could not think of a big number escaping from the holocaust.
Their narration continued for some time and in the meantime more and more people started gathering at my office. With fear largely in the eyes of all, but all seemed to be testing such acts and a few young men muttered that they must take revenge for such acts of betrayal by the army. I had not noticed that the S.D.P.O. Mr. Mutalib had also come to the place and he was also listening to the stories. There was hardly anything to doubt and the legs of the policemen had become swollen because of long walks and the weight of the rifles. I asked them whether they had any food that day. They could hardly speak and it was apparent that they were hungry. In the meantime S.D.P.O. came forward and he started asking them certain questions relating to the police department. They answered all the questions more or less satisfactorily as I could hear. There was no slightest doubt that they were really policemen and there was hardly anything to say that their story was not correct; we all sympathised with their sufferings. We consoled them that was not the last of everything and God willing, we shall put up a better resistance in future. I asked the policemen if they were ready to fight again and if they were ready to join us at Kishoreganj in our resistance struggle. Vengeance was on their face. And they expressed by nodding their head that they would most willingly fight. They were, however, concerned about their families at home and at villages and wanted to visit those areas to ascertain whether their families were all safe. Today I do not
30
remember where they hailed from. We could impose a decision on them and we were allowed to go away the next day. The S.D.P.O. made sure that they deposited their arms with the local police station. The officer in charge of the local police station Mr. Atiur Rahman did an excellent job in arranging food and shelter for these policemen and a few others who had escaped and taken shelter at Kishoreganj. They were put up in a local hospital where we supplied them with food out of my own funds.
Another incident of that day should be kept in record here. Till that night it never struck me that I should try to contact my other colleagues posted at other places. In fact, I had been sitting at the local police station near the police wireless all the time, except when I was too busy.
That night I suddenly felt that I should try to contact a few other colleagues if possible, over the police wireless. The man who immediately came to my mind was my friend and batchmate, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed (I addressed him Rakib) who was posted as S.D.O. at Brahmanbaria in Comilla District. I had my jurisdiction up to Bhairab, 30 miles by rail from Kishoreganj. Across the river Meghna, opposite Brahmanbaria was Ashuganj which fell within the jurisdiction of Brahmanbaria. Rakib and I had met a number of times either at Bhairab or at Ashuganj before. It was nice at that time to be together as the S.D.O’s of two adjacent subdivisions. Brahmanbaria was only about 25 miles from Bhairab by rail and one day in fact I had visited Brahmanbaria in connection with some common matters. Thus the name of Rakib came to my mind first and that is why I asked the police wireless operator to try to contact the S.D.O., Brahmanbaria.
Till then we had been listening to reports from all places and there were occasional reports also from Brahmanbaria telling us that everybody there seemed to be against the army and were preparing for building up the resistance. Brahmanbaria wireless was not far to get, but it was difficult to trace Rakib that night. We tried a number of times but could not succeed; I ultimately gave in and left the message that Rakib should contact me as soon as he was available at the wireless set.
I must put on record here the deep appreciation we had developed for all those who were working around the clock at the police wireless
31
sets. I do not know whether it is known now that the first phase of the resistance movement could be possible only because the policemen on duty at the police wireless set went against the army and cooperated with all of us. In fact, we were getting reports from diverse places like Shunamganj, Cox’s Bazar, and Kaliakoir. The army failed in their attempt to crash the policemen. In fact they had been misled by wrong intelligence reports. It is evident that they had been informed that the policemen were prepared for a rebellion. Evidently it was wrong information as the policemen would not have revolted if they had not attacked first. I do not know whether the wrong information was allowed to appear as a reasonable cause or whether the army deliberately put up such a show to get this impression. It could be that the army wanted to finish all armed able body Banglees who could be a potential danger later any time. The 2nd explanation seems to be more plausible as evident from the report of the journalist Anthony Mascarenhas which appeared later in the Sunday Times of Great Britain. In that report Mascarenhas quoted, the Commander of the 9th Division of Pakistani Army stationed at Comilla that if need be the army were prepared to kill two million people and keep East Pakistan a part of Pakistan for at least next 30 years.
Going to the role of the police wireless sets, I must record it for those who do not know that the earlier phase of information supplied by these wireless sets were a source of panic and encouragement to all those who wanted to resist the movement of the army. If you perhaps know that because of the attack on the police personnel, in the beginning most of the policemen revolted and particularly those who were with the wireless sets started acting as information centres for all around. It was the police wireless set at Kishoreganj which used to supply us all basic information. There was no other source of communication and information except from where they gathered from escaping Bangalees from Dhaka. The operators at the police wireless sets in most of the places worked around the clock and kept on communicating between different places. I distinctly remember one incident which showed how patriotic these people were.
I did not know what was happening in other places. It was at that night that the police wireless set at Kishoreganj told us that the army had also cracked down at Sylhet. The wireless set had informed us
32
that there took place good fights here and there and in the initial fights the Bangalees won. We were informed that Sylhet town was under control of the Bangalees. It was through the wireless set that we came to know that all the policemen in Sylhet had revolted, but they could not get access to the arms as the arms were in the armoury lying logged. The wireless operator at Sylhet gave out that the S.P. of Sylhet was not available and the additional S.P. named Abdul Wadood had betrayed and was acting according to the instructions of the army, he had taken away the keys of the magazines and locked the wireless set in a room. The wireless operator from Sylhet almost whispered about the set and informed us that he had crept into the room by breaking one of the windows silently and nobody around could hear him. He seemed to be afraid for his life because he told us that if the additional S.P. could know his activity, he would immediately hand him over to the army. The wireless operator at Sylhet had risked his life in going to the set only to keep contact with other places and supplied others with as much information as he could give. Today I do not remember what the name of that wireless operator was. I also do not know whether his patriotic act ever did get any acknowledgement from anybody. In the annals of history we always have such unknown heroes who had risked their lives for their motherland. I must put on record the services rendered by this wireless operator.
The wireless operators of other places put out the same show. It is true that many of them had to leave their sets at critical times without any notice. But it must be admitted that everybody has a fear for his life. Permission for such acts must be given and their patriotism should not be doubted just because they had to leave their places for fear of their life.
The details regarding the operation of the wireless sets and the information that could be gathered will be recorded later for different places.
Though I could not get Rakib on the wireless set, I kept on sitting at the police station listening to the messages from the wireless set. At that time, those who used to sit at the time were the S.D.P.O., Mr. Mutalib, CIA of police, Officer in-Charge of police station Mr. A. Rahim, and an S.I.(Sub-Inespector) named Mr. Nazrul Islam. The last mentioned person tendered extraordinary services during the trying
33
times and in the later pages of this book, I shall record in this book the services rendered by all of them. I must also mention the name of the local DIG(Deputy Inespector General) who being an intelligent man revolted and started cooperating with us. At first we doubted his integrity but later on it was clear that he would be the last person to divulge any secret from our side. Messages were pouring in from different places and there was hopeful news. The E.P.R (East Pakistan Rifle) personnel of West Pakistani origin had been surrounded by the Bangalees at Sunamganj, at Pabna, the West Pakistani army and E.P.R. were beaten; at Kushtia the combined forces of the police and the Bangalees E.P.R. and the public had defeated and wiped out a company of the Baluch regiment of the Pakistani army.
Details of these incidents later came to my knowledge when the S.P. of Garo Hills, Mr. Jha, gave me a few back dated Time Magazines for reading.
News was pouring from all sides and Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Golam Akbar and I were very happy that we were possibly going to win the first round. However, we were concerned about Dhaka as there was no news from Dhaka.
That night I also tried to contact Major Islam at Mymensingh but he was not available.
When I returned home from the Police station it was quite late, about 11 p.m.; everybody at the house had been eagerly waiting for me. On my return, I explained the war situation to them and hopefully assured them that there was no reason to get afraid. The Bangalees were putting up fights everywhere and possibly we could win the first round. I must confess here that I had over-estimated our strength at that time and had not allowed for the mighty fire power a modern army could have and the destruction they could cause. I had not seen any war before, neither had I seen the army action anywhere. I had only read about such incidents in books.
Everybody at home got some consolation in my hopeful utterances but all of them seemed to be worried about what had happened in Dhaka. My in-laws and close relatives were staying in Dhaka and I also got anxious to know about them. Bina Apa, in particular, was very anxious for her husband. He was away at Dhaka. He had come on leave to the then East Pakistan when the noncooperation movement had started. The West Pakistani Executive
34
Head of the State Bank of Pakistan, Dhaka, seeing the situation here, had left for West Pakistan entrusting his job to our brother-in-law Mr. Naziruddin Ahmed. Mrs. Naziruddin Ahmed (Bina Apa) had reasons to be afraid as her husband had been virtually acting as the Head of the State Bank in Dhaka almost independently in the absence of any communication or instructions from the Bank Headquarters in Karachi. Responsibility was thrust on him by circumstances he put up a good performance. He obeyed all the instructions of Sheikh Mujib and all the banks functioned according to the detailed instructions he issued consistent with his directives. In those days he used to attend almost daily meetings at the house of Sheikh Mujib which for all practical purposes had become the headquarters of the Government. I remembered he talked to me over telephone one day during the non-cooperation movement and jokingly remarked if I had with me one copy of the instructions from the Awami League. He was a very senior seasoned officer and possibly it was because of him that the banking situation in this part did not get out of control. He had cooperated in all possible ways with the Awami League and this is why Bina Apa had all the more reasons to be worried about him. I consoled her insisting that I should find out some way to send her and her children up to Dhaka. I explained to her that it was not worth consideration at that time. I pointed out the incidents of the afternoon about the three policemen and in spite of listening to me she started getting more panicky. She was almost entreated me to somehow send them to Dhaka. She was my sister-in-law in relation and elder to my wife. She became so impatient that I had to remain silent at one stage because of our relationship; I could hardly tell her anything which could hurt her feelings. My wife intervened at that stage and we all agreed that once we got any news from Dhaka, we would take steps for sending her and if necessary my family up to Dhaka.
It needs little elaboration to explain the uneasiness that was written much on everybody’s face that night. It was hardly any time for having food but we had to eat something. Incidentally, that was the day of the marriage anniversary of Bina Apa. It was quite ironic to see that the dinner table was full of improved diet. It was a custom and had to be observed. We had our food but had very little as we could in that uneasy atmosphere that dark night.
35
That the Pakistani Army had attacked the Bangalees became evident after the speech of the Pakistani President, General Yahya Khan, on the night of 26.03.1971. It was a complete swindling of the General away from one extreme to the other. The speech had no context and no bearing with actual happenings. Suddenly in his speech the General found that the Awami League was a bad party and its leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a traitor. The General explained the background in his own way and emphasised that the army had gone into action to restore the authority of the government. He stated that he could have taken steps against Sheikh earlier but wanted to explore all the possibilities for bringing the importance of Pakistan to home to Sheikh Mujib. The General used dirty threatening words and instructed the armed forces to go ahead. After the General’s speech on the 26.03.1971, it was clear that there was hardly any scope for the army to hand over power. The stories of massacres contained in the wireless message received early in the morning seemed to be true. There was instantaneous hatred as expressed in the reaction of the people and more than a thousand came in the street to denounce the speech of the General.
I must confess here that I could not sleep that night. I was not an Awami Leaguer and did not have any connections whatsoever with the Awami League. But the General’s threats appeared as if he were threatening the whole Bangalee nation. It appeared that he was accusing Sheikh Mujib simply because the West Pakistani ruling clique did not want to hand over power to the Sheikh Mujib on the basis of his six points. I had never seriously thought about the implications of the six points. But that night I felt insulted personally because of the accusations made by the General against Sheikh Mujib, the most respected leader of the Bangalees. It was clear that Yahya Khan was no better than Ayub Khan. He was even worse. All their public utterances earlier were more time saving exercises. I had always doubted that the army would not hand over power to Sheikh Mujib but had some faint hope that considering the gravity of the situation the army would possibly see reason and come to some sort of compromise in which Sheikh Mujib will have to leave one or two points. I had thought that even if the army did not want to hand over power they would manipulate things in such a way that the circumstances would be made to look like one called
36
for army action. The same story was repeated earlier in 1969. As General Ayub Khan saw that he had no alternative but to step down from the throne, he deliberately allowed the law and order situation to get out of control. The situation was deliberately created, and in this situation everybody started speaking that the army’s action was necessary to bring back normalcy and restore law and order. I had expected Yahya Khan would play the same trick and the same game. He would allow things to go extreme and then declare that in the fluid situation, power could not be handed over. In the mean time he could play the old game of division among the Bangalees so as to arise different controversies regarding transfer of power and terms and conditions. Although the sweeping victory of the Awami League diminished the changes of manoeuvrer on the part of the army, there were still a lot of grounds on which the army could play. And if they had played it, they could have created a condition in which people would have become confused regarding the demands of the Awami League.
My expectations were believed after I had heard the speech of the General on the radio. The General sounded blunt and idiotic. What infuriated me most like many of the Bangalees was his indiscriminate accusations of the Bangalees in an indirect manner and Sheikh Mujib as a person. In those days the Awami League stood for the rights of the Bangalees, and Sheikh Mujib was the symbol of hope and aspirations of the Bangalees. Accusing a party which had won all the seats in the National Assembly except two was in other words accusing the whole of the Bengalee population of the Eastern Wing of the then Pakistan. My wife will bear me out that I could not sleep for a single minute that night. Though it was partly for anxiety about what had happened in Dhaka, it was mostly because of the insulting speech of the General. That day Sheikh Mujib appeared to be a person very near to my heart. He appeared to be a person who was denounced simply because he had spoken for the Bangalees. It appeared that Sheikh Mujib had been accused simply because he had risen up against further oppression and exploitation of the Eastern Wing of the country. It appeared that Sheikh Mujib was dubbed a traitor simply because he wanted to bring back the political right to the people particularly the people of the Eastern Wing. It appeared that Sheikh Mujib was crucified simply because he propagated the six
37
points and correctly interpreted the historic Lahore Resolution which brought Pakistan into being.
When the crackdown started on the 25th of March at Dhaka, the information leaked out to the other places mostly through the police wireless and the telephone exchanges. The telephone exchange at Dhaka was soon captured by the Pakistani Army. The police wireless sets kept on feeding people with information throughout Bangladesh. This was inside of the capture of the Central Wireless Headquarter at Rajarbag. I had mentioned all these in the earlier pages of the book. Nobody had yet critically evaluated the significant role the police wireless played during the early phase of the liberation struggle.
I forgot to mention in the earlier notes another source of information. This source was the radio news from All India Radio that played a very significant role as far as information was concerned throughout the liberation struggle. In the early days the news readers sounded excited, and they gave as much details as possible of army actions at different places. People used to believe many if the facts were stated by the All India Radio. But it must be emphasised here that the All India Radio was not treated as a correct supplier of information. This was because All India Radio always used to spread hatred against the then Pakistan. People always had reservations and doubts about the news propagated by All India Radio. The same feeling developed after the crackdown but with less intensity of disbelief. This time people started believing many of the news items broadcast by All India Radio, still the whole story was completely missing and people of a particular area could not possibly believe the news if they had personal knowledge that the events referred to in the news did not actually take place locally. As an example I may cite the broadcast of the All India Radio regarding attack on some places in Mymensingh District. From our personal knowledge we knew that the army had not reached those places. Yet the India Radio kept on broadcasting news about army crackdown in those places. It is because of this reason that even though people looked up to the news broadcast by All India Radio, they always had some reservations about the news and accepted the news with a grain of salt.
Another aspect of the news broadcast by All India Radio confused me greatly. It is general knowledge that around late March, resistance was built up in and around Narsingdi and Demra
38
for a future encounter with the Pakistan Army. If All India Radio knew this information, they’d definitely leak this out and divulge all secret. But this was exactly what was announced in the All India Radio and it was revealed that thousands of freedom lovers– Mujib’s supporters as the Radio call them, had assembled at Narsingdi and were marching towards Dhaka. It is common knowledge today that the Pakistani Army bombed these positions after the broadcast on the air by the All India Radio. Though it is difficult to establish a sequential relationship between the resistance built up and the bombing, many people started having genuine aspirations about the intentions that the Indian government had in the early phase of liberation.
I could hardly sleep during the night of the 27th. When I physically got up from what looked like a sleep, at about 7 a.m., I was told that Mr. Rakib was on the wireless set. The policeman from the local police station had run to my house to inform me that the Subdivisional Officer, Brahmanbaria was on the wireless set and was asking for me. I did not have time to change my dress. I put on a Pajama and Panjabi. I simply washed my face and started for the police station, and reaching the police station in a few minutes, I was at the wireless set. . It was clearly Rakib’s voice. I wanted to know about the actual happenings and his reactions. He told me bluntly that he was on the side of the resistance movement and would be prepared to sacrifice his life for this noble cause. While we were on the wireless set, a cross connection came and Rakib instructed all Bangalees to rise and revolt against the Pakistani Army. Rakib told me that the escaping army men and others were assembling in Brahmanbaria and he expected a good force which could encounter the army if it was needed. If I had any hesitation in my mind it was removed. From that moment, I became one of the freedom fighters myself and like Rakib, I decided to be whole heartedly with the movement no matter what consequences would be for us. As Rakib was very busy we could not talk for more than 10 minutes. I was glad when Rakib told me that they were holding a vast area under their control and they were bent on defending the vast stretch of land from Srimangal to the north down to near Comilla to the South. I was glad to know that Major Khalid Mosharraf of East Bengal Regiment had also defected and was organising the resistance forces
39
after arresting his own commanding officer and killing a few West Pakistani Army personnel.
I had known Rakib for a long time. We had good old days at the University. He was a serious and brilliant student of Chemistry. Even as a student his counsel and advice were sought on different issues. He was very sober and cool and could analyse events most dispassionately. Though he sounded emotional in the wireless, I had not the slightest doubt that he had taken the decision after cool thinking. I had not the slightest doubt that a person like Rakib would not have joined the liberation movement if he were not convinced that the army crackdown was actually a conspiracy against the whole population of Bangladesh. I must confess that Rakib’s stand and assurances that day were a great factor in thrusting away any hesitation and indecision that have been subconsciously lurking in my mind. His voice was sound of judgment, a voice that gave all symptoms of a just stand. Today I am grateful to Rakib that he had called me that day. I would have been with the resistance movement even without his call; as in fact I was with the movement since the receipt of wireless message. But the call did definitely embolden me and boosted up my confused morale. I bade Rakib goodbye on the wireless set and requested him to supply me with any fresh information he might know of at any time. I told him that was available 24 hours and he should not hesitate to call any time he liked.
When I returned home after attending the call on the wireless set, I found that the family members had not had any breakfast and they had been waiting for me for quite some time. It was a time for food. Nonetheless we sat at the table. I explained the talk I had with Rakib on the wireless set. I told them I felt proud that another one of my colleagues had rightly stood up for a just cause. It was around 9 a.m. that the local Inspector of the telephone exchange came to me. Lest I forgot the role of the local telephone exchange, I should put on record here the excellent service they rendered during those dark days. When I was posted to Kishoreganj in August, 1970, the telephone exchange was an automatic one but soon it had to become manual because of some defects that developed in the exchange. Since then it had become a manual exchange. During those dark days of trial, the telephone operators extended all possible help and cooperation. If I wanted any call, the operator was immediately on the line and it was a
40
question of just seconds before I was connected to the desired number. I will describe in later pages how the telephone operators helped in those days. I had to leave Kishoreganj in the night of the 17th April 1971 under extraordinary circumstances. Even though many people had left the town because of fear of army attack and the stuffing that had taken place by the Pakistani Sabre Jets, the people of the telephone exchange resumed their work. They were there at the exchange all round the clock. Our work would have had suffered much if the telephone operators had not cooperated with us during those days.
I came out of the house and met the Telephone Inspector at my residential chamber. Like other Bangalees he also expressed his utter hatred for the army and expressed his satisfaction that we were building up a resistance in the right way. After the general discussion, he informed me that he had come with a specific suggestion. He informed me that he had rather started working on the scheme. He was almost going to connect Kishoreganj directly with Ashuganj and Brahmanbaria because he thought it was necessary since Brahmanbaria was going to be one of the leading points of resistance.
It is necessary to explain the importance of such a scheme which the Telephone Inspector had so correctly foreseen before-hand. Kishoreganj was a small exchange and it was connected with only Mymensingh on one side and Kuliarchar and Shararchar on the other. If anybody had to contact Bhairab, Ashuganj or Brahmanbaria he had to go via Mymensingh. A line direct from Kishoreganj to Ashuganj and Brahmanbaria would greatly solve the communication problem, and two towns of Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria can be in constant contact. I thanked the telephone operator that he had foreseen this important necessity. I told him to not be apologetic unnecessarily as he had done the right thing by going ahead with the proposed connection. My encouragement emboldened the telephone inspector and with his meagre staff he managed to get me through to Brahmanbaria that evening. It was naturally a splendid job and I could only have praise for such an efficient man.
In all respects, the crackdown had been appearing massive and serious. Hundreds of people from different places started flocking to Kishoreganj. I was overburdened soon with the work of relief for those people. I came to know from one of the evacuees that they had
41
left their homes at Dhaka and managed to reach Kishoreganj on foot. The route was from Dhaka to Narsingdi and then on to Monohardi P.S. of Dhaka District; from Monohardi P.S., the escapees reached Husainpur P.S. of Kishoreganj sub-division and from there they came up to Kishoreganj. It soon became necessary to arrange food and shelter for hundreds of people who were coming from all directions and flogging to Kishoreganj. Most of the people were coming from Dhaka via Narsingdi. The students at Kishoreganj approached me with the request that they be entrusted with the job of looking after the evacuees. I most gladly accepted their offer, as I could hardly manage to look after so many things at a time. It was quite a colossal job and the students with the help of local officer in charge of the police station Mr. Atiur Rahman started managing the affairs of temporary food and accommodation. Today I must confess that I did lots of irregularities regarding finance at that time. I had to take out money for this and that had to meet such unforeseen but essential expenditure. People had flogged at Kishoreganj in the hope of food and shelter. They had looked up to us as a source of inspiration. The sagging morale of the escape was boosted up when they saw that the Bangladesh flag was still flying high in all nook and corner of Kishoreganj subdivision. In fact, one of the escapees could not speak for some time when he saw that the Bangladesh flag was flying on top of most of the buildings of Kishoreganj town. He had seen the massacre at Dhaka and experienced much of the hardship. He had seen how the army had dishonoured the flag. He had seen how under compulsion the Bangalees had to replace the flag at Dhaka with the Pakistani ones. It was naturally a pleasant surprise for him to see that at least Kishoreganj had still remained free. I could not discourage the people by raising the question of funds – by telling them that I did not have enough money to feed them. I decided to work on the other basis and started using this and that fund for meeting such unforeseen expenditures. From a financial point of view it was the most irregular thing a disciplined civil servant could do. In normal time a disciplined civil servant like me would have shuddered to think about such expenditure without any proper sanction and without observing the lengthy formality. That was not the time to bother for sanctions. That was not the time to go into technical details. That was the time to utilise all your resources for the people and I had to indulge in such
42
irregularities knowing fully well the serious consequences this could have had later if I had been caught by the Pakistani army.
Along with the question of temporary shelter of innocent civilian people escaping from different places, it was necessary to arrange food and shelter for the escaping armed personnel. A good number of policemen, E.P.R. and Bengal Regiment people started assembling at Kishoreganj from different places. We had to provide them with food and shelter before they left for another destination. Kishoreganj technically became a midway station to which people flogged and from where people started dispersing to other places. The O.C. of the local P.S., Mr. Atiur Rahman, was placed in charge of looking after such escaping armed personnel. He developed a beautiful system by which they could leave Kishoreganj by depositing their arms if they so desired and return later in a few days to work again against the army.
Information was most needed at that time, so I had to think about building up an intelligence source of our own. A few students were very helpful in this respect. We started requisitioning all available Hondas and Vespas for this purpose. The Hondas and Vespas started moving out to different places like Husainpur, Kishoreganj, Monohordi, etc. in order to collect as much information as possible. These agents also worked as special messengers and used to carry letters to different places most of which were negotiable by such small Hondas and Vespas. I must put on record here the excellent services rendered in these jobs by Sergeant Jalil who hailed from Kishoreganj. All readers know that Sergeant Jalil was accused in the Agartala Conspiracy case. I was lucky to get him in Kishoreganj. He was an entrusted messenger with the job of arranging the messenger and intelligent system. The importance of such messengers and intelligent agents at that time could hardly be over emphasised. Those who suffered during those days and even all others know how earnestly and eagerly we waited for any news at that time.
I had confidence in Sergeant Jalil and also had confidence in the people who worked for me and the resistance movement and that they worked excellently was soon proven. A Bangalee doctor was caught by our intelligence people at Husainpur. He was caught because he started giving different answers during interrogation. It was later, when I was sitting at the local P.S. that I saw a crowd approaching the P.S. When they reached the P.S., I could see the doctor, who looked
43
very tired and exhausted. The leaders of the crowd explained the background of his arrest and told me that they had doubts about his identity and intentions. The C.I.A. of police asked the crowd to go away and started interrogating the gentleman. It soon appeared that he was a real doctor and did not have any bad intentions. He explained that he had been faltering during interrogation earlier because of fear and confusion. When we were convinced that he was innocent, we let him go. Our agents had not obviously caught a real culprit but I was glad to see that they were vigilant. We felt happy that the work was going on smoothly.
The question of communication occupied a very important place in our thinking. From the very beginning it was apparent that we might have to destroy a few bridges and extract railway lines at certain places if need arose, for stopping the movement of the army. This could not be done all of a sudden because we had our own logistic problem of movement on the desired routes. Until then we had been keeping most of the areas free not only of Kishoreganj but also of adjoining areas. The readers are aware that most of the railway routes were cut off after the crackdown of March 25, 1971. Until the 6th of April, we maintained railway communication between Mymensingh and Bhairab and after that until the 15th the railway communication maintained between Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria via Bhairab. The railway bridge over Meghna at Bhairab also drew our attention but we decided not to destroy it because it was important and too big a bridge to be undertaken any time. We kept all communication within Kishoreganj subdivision perfectly all right during the 1st phase of resistance movement. For keeping the railway routes open, we had to pay all the railway staff their salary and allowances. The local station master of Kishoreganj railway station cooperated with us in an excellent manner. He did his duty regularly and attended all incoming and outgoing trains. I shall later come to the crucial role played by railway route between Mymensingh and Bhairab, via Kishoreganj and Bhairab. I only mention here the contribution of the railway staff lest I should forget it. Under my instruction, the local station master always kept a big batch of men ready for extracting the rail lines if necessary at a 10 minute notice. The arrangement was so efficient that we once experimentally extracted a few yards of railway lines near the Kishoreganj railway
44
station. As the situation was satisfactory, the railway lines were replaced again and re-fixed. All that I have described till now relates to our organisation supporting the resistance movement. Our efforts were not limited to such supporting organisation alone. People were asked to be trained for possible encounter with the Pakistani army. At that time Brahmanbaria was the gathering place and later on we investigated that we would have to send patches of armed volunteers, those who had received training, to different places. I held a meeting in this connection on the 28th of March, sometime about 12 noon. The responsibility of training up more and more youths in arms was entrusted to the students on one hand and Mr. K. A. Zaman Subdivisional Adjutant of Ansars on the other. At the same time I gave a call through the Sub-divisional Adjutant of Ansars and to all the Ansars of the Sub-division to assemble at respective police headquarters (police station) for action if necessary. At different levels, the Anwar Adjutants were entrusted with the job of training. I was very happy to see that almost all the Ansars turned up and it soon became necessary to open camps at different police stations including Kishoreganj for the joining Ansars. The Kishoreganj saw batches of youths undergoing training with rifles and other weapons. On that day we distributed most of the rifles numbering about 500 from the magazine to the Ansars and the students for possible encounter and for training. A group of volunteers had come from Bhairab and about 50 rifles were given to them for building up resistance and for training at Bhairab. The Awami League, local Adjutant of Ansars at Bhairab and few others took active part in the mobilisation of all Ansars and youths who volunteered themselves for further training and for being kept as reserve for any future use. I do remember today that we issued and then distributed a written pamphlet throughout the subdivision requesting all Ansars and youths to rally round the nuclei of resistance built up at all police station headquarters. Soon we were more than about a thousand at Kishoreganj also for any possible encounter with the approaching Pakistani army.
Along with building up resistance, we had to keep ourselves alert regarding maintenance of law and order during the confused situation. I have assumed to record here today that I failed in my duty as the Sub-divisional Officer on the 27th of March, on which at about 1 p.m. some miscreants broke open the sub-jail at Kishoreganj and got most
45
of the prisoners released. I am proud that many of the prisoners were later rearrested by the police and brought to the sub-jail.
Another aspect which had to be looked after was the provision of security to the few non-locals who were dispersed very sparsely throughout Kishoreganj subdivision. The non-locals were mostly confined at places like Kishoreganj and Bhairab. In order to provide security, I requested them to live at one place under armed guard. Many of them volunteered to be arrested for safe custody and they were kept inside the jail only for security. These non-locals were allowed to keep their families along with them and they were allowed to take their own rations and other necessities inside the jail.
The Awami League at Kishoreganj and other progressive parties completely cooperated with me in my effort to build up resistance. Other parties had also cooperated in the beginning but soon people started suspecting their allegiance. I must record here the laudable role played during this crucial period by the local intelligence officer. He was an intelligence officer but was collecting information for us. It was on the 28th afternoon he told me confidentially that the apparent unity of all political parties in building up resistance was misleading. He informed me that the Muslim League and the PDP had held a meeting the night before in which they denounced the role of S.D.O. i.e. myself, who according to them, were indulging in access. This timely warning and information by the intelligence officer helped me
greatly.
I then had a separate secret meeting with the Awami League and NAP where we decided that for the time being we would not create division but will remain alert about the reactionary forces who might pose a serious problem in any garb at any time. It was decided that the reactionary politicians would be kept under watch secretly so that they could do anything against our interest. Because of my pursuance the Awami League Leaders agreed to maintain such a stand till the Muslim League and PDP politicians come out against us.
The question of leadership of the movement also arose. I was most reluctant to lead the movement and requested the Awami League Leaders to form a council according to the instructions in which the affairs would be managed. The Awami League Leaders first agreed to do so but then requested me to remain as the guiding force. I do not know whether it was out of their respect for me or
46
whether they thought the situation was such that I should issue instructions. All the police officers and other armed personnel started openly saying that they would find it difficult to be instructed by anybody else other than me. It was possibly on the night of the 27th a misunderstanding took between an Adjutant of Ansars and the local Awami League M.C.A. The army people including the Ansars were almost at a revolting point and I had to intervene to save the situation. From then on it became clear that whether I liked it or not, I had to remain there at the top if unity was to be maintained among different forces. I must put on record here that ungrudging cooperation the Awami League Leaders and others gave me during those days in spite of the fact that I was a government servant and a few of them were members of the Constituent Assembly.
It was in the afternoon of the 28th of April, that I talked to Rakib over phone direct from Kishoreganj to Brahmanbaria. We talked about many things and soon Rakib had to leave the phone because according to him they expected an attack on them. Later on I came to know from him that a column of Pakistani army had proceeded from Comilla and there was a fight about three miles away from Brahmanbaria in which three of our troops were seriously injured. I do not remember clearly now but possibly it was on the night of the 28th of March that occupied Radio of Pakistan, Dhaka started broadcasting speeches by people like Nurul Amin, Golam Azam and others. Mr. Nurul Amin was quite restrained in his speech. I listened to the speech sitting at the local police station. Mr. Nurul Amin had maintained some form of neutrality until then. Sitting at Kishoreganj, I had heard that he was sympathetic to the demands of the Sheikh and possibly this time he would take a stand against the army. That was an excellent chance for him to erase his past black history of massacre on the supporters of the language movement in 1952. When Mr. Nurul Amin started speaking on the radio we were naturally surprised. But we were somewhat happy because he criticised only India and did not say anything directly against the movement as such. I had not known Nurul Amin for a long time and as such did not know why he had taken such a stand. A few supporters of P.D.P. at Kishoreganj started saying that it was not Nurul Amin’s voice and one or two persons claimed that the taped speech was deliberately, carefully extracted from one of the speeches Nurul Amin had delivered during the Indo
47
Pak war in 1965. Some people believed the story as a few P.D.P Supporters claimed that Mr. Nurul Amin was at his native home at Nandail, which was only about 12 miles from Kishoreganj. I had kept track of Mr. Nurul Amin and because of this I did know the actual position. But this very fact that Mr. Nurul Amin was on the radio and I could foresee that soon there would be a division among the Bangalees on the question of resistance to the army. The discouragement that we were inflicted by Mr. Nurul Amin’s speech was more than matched by the happy news received from places like Kushtia and Pabna from the police wireless set. We were told that the resistance forces had successfully beaten back the Pakistan army at Nagarbari and Goalondo Ghat. We were further told that the Pakistan army was also defeated at places like Shirajganj,
Kushtia and Chuadanga the most exciting news of that night was the defeat of the Pakistani army at a place named Palashpur somewhere between Rangpur and Gaibandha. We were told that a platoon of Pakistani army and West Pakistani E.P.R. were massacred in a trap at Palashpur.
There was misguiding news too. The wireless operator from Sylhet secretly informed us that all was not well at Sunamganj and Sylhet. We were told that Sylhet was under curfew and the resistance forces are finding it difficult to inflict damage on the Pakistani army, who were controlling most of the town; we were also told that the additional S.P. in charge at Sylhet had betrayed and he was on the set of the Pakistani army. I remember the name of this gentleman a number of times at the wireless set. I do not know whether he still served in Independent Bangladesh. His name was Mr. Abdul Wadood. If he is still serving in Bangladesh, it is a disgrace to our liberation movement. He was the man who took away the keys of the magazine from the police line and surrendered these to the army authorities. He was the one who betrayed the policemen and did not allow them to have any access to the arms. He was the one who points out the possible places of resistance and thus leaked out secret information. People like him deserve nothing less than death in people’s court. Many people betrayed the cause of the movement at later stages and helped the Pakistan army directly or indirectly. There is no doubt about it. But there were a very few people on the 28th of March who consciously or unconsciously did not support the
48
resistance movement built up by the Bangalees against the treacherous Pakistani army.
The most laudable service that any police wireless operator could give was that from Sylhet and Brahmanbaria. I have already mentioned that the police wireless operator of Sylhet almost risked his life in switching on the wireless set, secretly ignoring the known directives from the Addl. (Additional) S.P. The other gentleman was from Brahmanbaria. It was a delight and cheers in those days of trial to hear his voice again and again reassuring us that victory would be ours and we were definitely going to win. He might have been a poor wireless operator but I feel proud today to mention here that I had the good fortune of talking to such a patriot over the wireless. I do not remember distinctly whether it was the night of the 28th of March when we got a false alarm that the Pakistani army had reached Mymensingh. It was about 10:30 p.m. when I was sitting at the police wireless set room, when we were suddenly informed that the army vehicles were moving into Mymensingh. It was very alarming news. We had kept track of Pakistani army through VHF (Very High Frequency) wireless station at Kishoreganj and Sreepur. We had known that the Pakistani army once approached up to Joydevpur but were beaten back. We had known that the Pakistani army had captured Tongi but could not proceed further. It was later that we learned that the Pakistani army had in fact once come up to Jamurki on Dhaka-Tangail road. We had received conflicting news regarding the fall of Tangail. But a volunteer had gone with a Vespa down the road and informed us that Tangail was still free and the army was not here around. On the 28th of March it was too early for us to know that Tangail had fallen. In fact after scanning news all that we could discover was that Tangail was still free and the army was quite far away from that place. It was in this background that the alarming news of the fall of Mymensingh reached us. Mymensingh telephone exchange did not give any good service during those days. We tried to confirm the news about the incoming army trucks from the Mymensingh telephone exchange but no one could be contacted. The whole situation would have become clear if the wireless operator had not become afraid and left his set. We all became alarmed when after repeated calls we could not get any reply from the wireless operator of Mymensingh. Had the army really moved to Mymensingh? Had the army really taken over the town? Had the situation become so
49
desperate that the wireless operator had to leave his set? These were conflicting questions that occurred to the minds of all of us sitting there at the police station. Whatever the situation was we had to be prepared for the worst. Keeping this in view, I decided to call an emergency meeting at the local police station quite late at night.
Immediately a number of policemen and other volunteers were out to reach information to those who were absent at the police station for attending the meeting. In the meantime, I rushed home and since I felt hungry I took some food. I explained the whole situation to all the family members and told them to remain ready for evacuation if such necessity arose. There was a virtual panic in the town as someone leaked the information that the army was possibly going to come here soon. The rumour also got around that the army had already overrun Mymensingh.
From the morning of the 27th of March, I had decided to keep a mike set ready at the police station for emergency publicity. Sometimes the publicity tap given by a rickshaw in the absence of any transport. While I was having food that night my jeep went around the town encouraging all people to stay. The people were told that if necessity arose, we would definitely give prior publicity for evacuation. All capable persons were to remain alert and prepared in case their services were required for any possible encounter. The message was publicised on my behalf urging everybody to prepare themselves for the worst.
When I was back at the police station, it was about 3:30 a.m. the next morning. All the leaders and students had assembled at the local police station for deciding the next course of action. We talked for about an hour and a half and concluded that we would face the army about 10 miles away from Kishoreganj on the MymensinghKishoreganj road since we were expected to come by road. All were unanimous in the decision and instead of the apprehended danger, I felt happy that all had agreed to put back the army in case they approached Kishoreganj within the next few hours.
The next move was deployment of all available armed personnel at the selected points along the Mymensingh-Kishoreganj road. I did not know much about the battle tactics and had to rely on common sense. People were soon at work digging trenches at suitable points. It was one of the most wonderful preparations we could take in so short a time.
50
Before bidding farewell to all the armed personnel, I addressed all of them and explained the whole situation. I emphasised that we did not have right information. It might later turn out that the army was not going to come. I told them we had to be prepared soon and decided to resist the army. I assured them that they would find me around them and there was nothing to be afraid of and soon everybody had to die one day. I noticed that one or two policemen and one or two Ansars betrayed a shaky morale but most of the armed personnel were ready and we could definitely hope for a pitched battle if the army came.
After the armed personnel were deployed at a suitable place, I rushed home and sat in a closed door meeting with Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Golam Akbar. I emphasised the point that if the army came, their first target would be our families, and the innocent members would have to suffer. We decided that the families of three of us should be sent away from the town preferably to a village. One of my orderlies volunteered to accommodate our families. His village home was only about three miles away from Kishoreganj town and we decided that the families should be evacuated immediately to such a place for safety. Though I did not feel the necessity of evacuation of other innocent families, I thought it would be a guilt on my part to evacuate my family silently without telling others to do so. People would then have little respect for me because they would think that I behaved in a self-centred way. It is in this circumstance that I directed that publicity should be given for evacuating families to safer places around the town – places which were not far off and from which the families could be brought the next day if the army did not come. The publicity was given and there was -panic in the town that we could not avoid. I had to bear up with this panic because people seemed to be developing confidence in me. My little son who was only eight months old at that time had fallen asleep. My family got only 10 minutes to prepare with only one portable suitcase. Mr. Naziruddin and his two children looked very tired and excited. My wife kept on expressing her anxiety all the time about my possible fate if the army actually attacked. I told her plainly that she should not bother about me and should try to get away further and further if the army really attack. I told her that I would, God willing, somehow manage to escape as I plan to remain alive for the sake of the country. I told her
51
that in case anything happened to me, she should not bother and try to save others of the family.
I cannot describe in words the emotion and the anxiety under which we had to get separated that night. I do not know whether I am a strong minded person, but there were no tears in my eyes. All the family members were sobbing and I thought it was wise for me to remain calm and cool and conceal my personal feelings of sorrow from all of them, and only to say that ours was a just cause and it was justice and truth which had always won in the history. These are no book words because I had to tell them to keep going. After all that had happened; it was difficult to believe whether justice was favorable to us. But that was not the time to show your weakness. That was the time to remain firm and try to save others who were most near and dear to you. All the three families then left in two jeeps for the nearby village. After they had left Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Golam Akbar and I felt relieved and we had less anxiety now and I had more courage to go ahead with our work. When all the families left the three of us boarded my jeep and driver Subodh Nandi pressed the accelerator taking us to the place where the armed personnel had taken positions. We went around all those places on foot and soon we could see daylight. After examining all, we decided to stay back with them at some points. One Sub-Inspector of the police suggested that we should not stay there unarmed and should go back to the police station and try to find out if the army was really coming. I did not feel like doing so lest all should think that we were cowards and leaving them in grave danger. But soon others also started expressing the same feeling and with the permission of all we had to leave for the police station again in the jeep. With the passage of time it also became clear that some misinformation might have been received by us and the disappearance of the wireless operator from the set at Mymensingh could not be surely taken for the fall of Mymensingh and possibly the army had not even reached Mymensingh. This is why we decided to go back to the police station to make further enquiries and get the correct report.
When we reached the police station we found that the wireless operator of Kishoreganj had been trying frantically to contact Mymensingh. We were told that he had been able to contact many other stations like Brahmanbaria, Shirajganj, Pabna, Noakhali, etc.
52
but could not contact Mymensingh as there was no reply from their side. It was a very uneasy situation in which you were not sure whether the army had already overrun Mymensingh and were on their way to Kishoreganj. We tried to analyse the situation more deeply and concluded that even if the army had overcome the resistance at Mymensingh, they could not possibly advance further that morning without concluding some intelligence report regarding the route and the surrounding conditions. I do not remember the talks on the wireless set that followed after our return to the police station. We were almost in a daze. I do not remember what time it was in the morning when suddenly the wireless operator from Mymensingh started speaking to us. He felt ashamed that he had left the set just out of fear hearing about the arrival of army vehicles. He confirmed that the vehicles which had come were those of the Bengal regiment which was stationed at Joydevpur. In the darkness of night in that confused situation, nobody knew exactly whose vehicles were coming. I remember to have spoken on the wireless set and rebuked the wireless operator for misleading us. I requested him not to repeat this performance in future. He apologised a number of times and assured that in future he would not put up such behaviour.
When we were confirmed that the army had not even come near Mymensingh, I immediately sent a message down to our armed personnel requesting them to come back since the army had not even come to Mymensingh. The armed personnel created a scene while coming back because they got more emboldened. They entered the town raising slogans of Joy Bangla and got dispersed to their respective positions. Later on I came to know the whole story of the Joydevpur incident and the moving of the army vehicle into the Mymensingh town that night. A company of East Bengal Regiment, the 2nd Bengal was posted at Joydevpur. The company was commanded by Col. Masud. The 2nd man in command was Major Safiullah, now Col. and Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army. The other officers in the company were Capt. Aziz, Lt. Ibrahim and Major Muin. I had referred to them in the earlier pages of this book. Capt. Muin later narrated the whole story to me. The East Bengal Regiment at Joydevpur had been suspecting something fishy since the beginning of the non-cooperation movement. They found that the West Pakistani army officers and Jawans were putting up odd behaviour and were
53
trying to hide something from them. When the political talks were in progress at the President’s House at Dhaka, the Pakistani army made a few attempts to take away arms from the Bengal Regiment people under some pretext. Major Muin told me that they had soon through the tricks had been resisting move equally under some pretext. It was under these circumstances Brigadier Jahanzeb Arbab went to Joydevpur Army Station on the 19th of March. His intentions were not clear. He was accompanied by a platoon of West Pakistani soldiers who were fully equipped with sophisticated weapons. The shooting incidents that took place on that day at Joydevpur was known to all. A big violent mob tried to prevent the movement of Brig. Arbab by placing a railway wagon in the way near Joydevpur. The armed personnel had to remove the wagon to make way for the army jeeps and the vehicles. The crowd around were jeering at them. They remained somewhat restrained that time and reached Joydevpur Army Headquarters. It was on the way back the actual trouble took place. Brig. Arbab and his men were obstructed by the mob, a little away from the Joydevpur Bazar, Major Muin and a few of his men were with Brig. Arbab. Major Muin narrated that the angry crowd around were putting up so many obstacles that Brig. Arba soon lost his patience and ordered his troops to take position. The troops were almost going to fire. Major Muin could realize that if the Punjabis opened fire they would kill indiscriminately. Major Muin knew that whatever the mob was, they were no match for the troops armed with sophisticated weapons. He could immediately realise that this pretext would be used by Brig. Arbab to kill a lot of innocent Bangalees, Major Muin explained the position to me later. He was standing just behind Brig. Arbab. It was possible for him to shoot the Brig. down but only at the cost of his own life since in that case the Punjabi soldiers who had taken position behind him would mow down the Bangalee troops and myself. He realised that it was a grave situation and if Bangalees had to be saved he should instruct his troops to open fire instead of giving the Panjabis a scope to inflict a massacre. Few Bangalees possibly knew that the persons who were injured badly at Joydevpur that day were injured by the bullets fired by the Bangalees; Major Muin explained that he had no other way but to open fire on the mob. He praised the Bangalee troops that they fired in such a way that the result were minimum casualties or injuries. If the Bangalees
54
had meant real firing, many more people would have been killed and injured at Joydevpur. Major Muin explained that the Brig. could understand his motive but the situation was such that he did not get any chance to carry out his own plan of miniature genocide on some pretext. At one point Brig. Arbab became so angry that he remarked that the bullets were wasted right and left without really hitting the ring leaders.
When Brig. Arbab had left, the Bengalee Officers and a few J.C.O. met that night very secretly and analysed the whole situation. It became clear to them that the Punjabis would not spare them if they gave them any chance. At that meeting the decision was taken that the Bangalees would take the offensive if the need arose and kill all the West Pakistani officers and soldiers in such a case and then escape to safer places.
The night of the 25th of March was tentatively kept fixed for the offensive. Major Muin told me that they had many more reasons for suspicion. They found that the guard guarding the magazine was a West Pakistani. They could see that the West Pakistani wireless men were having secret correspondences with Dhaka when they remained away. They found that there was a hush-hush situation in which the West Pakistanis were trying to hide something from them.
The fateful night of March 25th was the offensive of the Bangalees; Major Muin described how uneasy he felt at the dinner table that night because he knew the West Pakistani Officers who were sitting with them would soon be killed. He could not explain – it is almost impossible to explain how one could have food with someone he was going to kill in a few minutes. Major Muin told me later that they had to keep the plan a secret and confined the officers only because of possible leakage.
The dinner was soon over. All had been set for the action. Particular officers had taken upon themselves the task of killing the West Pakistani personnel. According to plan the lights went out and it was soon a scene of wild shooting all around. There were cries and agonies of dying people. There were cries for help. The Banglees had also awakened from their sleep. Though they initially could not understand as to what was happening but soon they realised the actual position. The killing went on for about two hours since in some cases some of the West Pakistani troops had to be traced out. Once the firing had been opened there was no end to it. The game was soon
55
over and only one or two West Pakistanis could not be traced in the melee.
I have referred to one Capt. Butt one West Pakistani Officer, with whom we passed a night at WAPDA rest house. I had known almost all the officers of 2nd Bengal including West Pakistani officers. When Major Muin was describing the events to me later at Kishoreganj on the 30th of March, I could recollect the known faces. I definitely felt pity for the West Pakistani officers and troops. I have described earlier that on the 1st of March, I was going from Mymensingh to Dhaka in the morning by the fast train. It was possibly one or two stations before Joydevpur some armed personnel boarded the compartment. It was a group of 2nd Bengal which included two West Pakistani J.C.O’s (Junior Commissioned Officer). I had noticed that the Bangalee officers kept on talking to me freely but the West Pakistani J.C.O’s remained a little aloof and they were quite tight lived. They were not speaking much. That day I could not realise the motive but later I could understand that they might have had some unconfirmed information about the possible crackdown later.
Going back to the topic to Capt. Butt, it was this officer who escaped from the shooting that night from Joydevpur. The whole story was later told to me by one Naik Nurul Islam Choudhury from 2nd Bengal. He told me that he like many other Bangalee troops did not know the plan that had been drawn up by the Bangalee Officers for the killing. When the shooting started he found it difficult to understand the situation. Though after some time he could make out some headway, he was quite late as all the officers and Bangalee troops started moving out of Joydevpur towards Mymensingh. He told me that he could not come out of his hiding place lest he should get spotted by the surviving Punjabee. It was Capt. Butt who had managed to get up to the top of the building. The old palace of Maharaja of Joydevpur kept on shaking when the firing went on. It was Capt. Butt who kept on sitting at the top with a few machine guns and a large amount of magazines. Naik Nurul Islam Choudhury informed me later that when everybody had gone he and one or two left, tried to get out but found it difficult as Capt. Butt was sitting there at the top with the magazine and the machine gun. Nurul Islam Choudhury explained that he had all the intention to kill this Capt. Butt but could not approach him because such move only attracted a
56
volley of machine gun fire from Capt. Butt who was sitting at an advantageous position. Naik Nurul Islam had to give up later as he thought the army would be coming soon from Dhaka. He had somehow managed to escape with great difficulty. It is a matter of regret that the Pakistani Sabre Jets bombed the Joydevpur palace the next day. Capt. Butt did not die and he escaped to Dhaka along with the Pakistani troops that later came to the rescue of Capt. Butt and a few surviving West Pakistanis. I got the news later that this innocent looking Captain Butt later on killed one Bangalee Army Col. whose name was Col. Raquib.
The next story was the story of the move from Joydevpur to Mymensingh. This had to be done very quickly as otherwise the army from Dhaka would have chased and got hold of the Bangalees.
The wireless operator at Mymensingh heard about the coming of these vehicles in which the escaping Bangalee troops had retreated from Joydevpur towards Mymensingh side. Since the Bangalees took offensive at Joydevpur, they got an advantage and could carry most of the army vehicles, jeeps, arms and ammunitions along with them when they retreated from Joydevpur area. Had they been attacked they would have remained busy mostly saving themselves and possibly they could not have carried vehicles, arms and ammunitions along with them. Historians can judge the serious implications of such an event. I am not a historian and do not have any intention to analyse the implications and significance of such a move. I shall describe in later pages how these vehicles and arms and ammunitions initially helped us in our resistance against the Pakistani army. When we had to cross into India and be around the borders, these vehicles, arms and ammunitions were the constant companions of our armed forces. The wireless operators at Mymensingh had mistaken these vehicles for Pakistani Army’s and had conveyed the misleading news.
When all the armed personnel had come back from forward positions, I decided to go home and enquire about the families. When I reached home I sent for the family and they were back in a few minutes. I could imagine how terrible it had been their plight and how helpless and anxious they must have felt. It was at that time we again started worrying about our near and dear relations staying at different places like Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. There are very few Bangalees who do not have any relations at all important towns of
57
Bangladesh, particularly Dhaka and Chittagong. In those dark days, immediately worry was about self and the next worry about your own relatives and others. There a family was separated, one group of members along with their concern for themselves remained anxious about other groups far away from themselves at different places from where hardly any news used to reach. It is said that misfortune does not come alone. This could be felt by all of us in personal bitterness and anxiety in those days of trial.
By the 29th of March, I had been deep into the movement, building up resistance at all possible places and in every possible way, I could think of. A number of times I thought about other colleagues. I was most anxious to know about their fate. However, I was much more anxious to know how they were taking things and what their reactions were. Friends in different services apart, I had as many as twelve colleagues in the then 1967 Batch of the Civil Service of Pakistan. Most of my colleagues like myself were posted at different subdivisions of the country. I used to yearn for news about them. I wanted to know more and more about how they were doing. I would have been most happy at that time if I could know the resistance that was being built up by them also at different places.
I had the good fortune of already having contact with Rakib who was posted to Brahmanbaria from whom I got the news that our friend and batch mate Akbar Ali Khan I called him Akbar, posted as SDO at Habiganj subdivision of Sylhet District had also revolted and was doing everything possible for building up a resistance. I was told that Akbar Ali Khan was lucky. His was an area not accessible by the army. He was lucky because he had one elected representative who was a retired army Colonel. This gentleman was Lt. Col. M. A. Rab who was elected on Awami League ticket. A staunch supporter of Bangalee nationalism and the rights for the Bangalees, Lt. Col. M. A. Rab (he is now a Major General and is a full time Managing Director of the Freedom Fighters’ Welfare Trust) had never been looked upon favourably by the ruling army clique. Akbar Ali Khan was lucky to get his support, advice and active cooperation.
In those days I used to think much about other colleagues. I knew Mr. Mizanur Rahman Shelley was away to Rawalpindi at the President’s House. (Later on I came to know that on the day of massacre he was in Dhaka). I used to worry about my friend Shahed
58
Sadullah who was posted at Cox’s Bazar. I always had doubts about his loyalty to the Bangalee Movement. He used to speak Urdu at home. Though married to a Bangalee girl, somehow or another he had the belief that Pakistan was the solution and not Bangladesh. Later on people told me that my apprehension was correct and during the movement in the first phase some Bangalees saved his life. When the army came he cooperated with them and later on left for West Pakistan as a Section Officer in the Central Government. I am told that he is now opted for Pakistan and there is no chance of his coming back to this country. He was a good person but his convictions were different.
I also used to feel anxious about my good friend Hayat who was posted at Madaripur. Hayat and I had passed about a year and a half at Lahore in 1965-66. We were very good friends and knew all about the Punjabees and their mischievous attitudes towards Bangalees.
In those dark days I used to very much remember the debates that used to be held at Lahore. Contrary to practices here in Dhaka, one of the past time of the Lahore students were arranging debates and participating in such debates in large numbers. I remember in one or two debates some time in August 1966, one Punjabee speaker had raised the question of allegiance of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was Hayat and I myself who stood up instantaneously and protested and his remarks should be withdrawn. Other Bangalee students joined us and on our demand the President of the Debate compelled the speaker to withdraw his remarks, similar occurrences kept on happening at Lahore and soon our fellow Punjabee students started joking with us on this issue. Later on at the Civil Service Academy at Lahore, Hayat and I along with other colleagues had to bear the brunt of attack for openly telling that the Agartala conspiracy case was a fake one and it was just a devise to throttle the voice of Sheikh who was speaking for the Bangalees. At the dining hall of the Civil Service Academy one day there would have almost taken place a serious fight. A diehard staunch Punjabee colleague Aminullah Choudhury had passed certain objectionable remarks about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. We had not yet reached the dining hall. Aminullah possibly thought that his remarks would go unchallenged. Our friend Muhiuddin who later defected at London from the post of 3rd Secretary in the Pakistan High Commission, immediately rose up and protested. They were in the
59
mid-stop shouts and counter shouts when we reached. Hayat and I reached by that time and we supported Muhiuddin and asked Aminullah Choudhury to withdraw his remarks. Had one of the Deputy Directors not intervened that day there could have been serious clashes at the strongest citadel of Pakistani Bureaucracy, the Civil Service Academy at Lahore. Today when people make wild accusations against the CSP, as, they seemed to forget – perhaps sometimes deliberately – that it was the young CSP officers who used to defend the then East Pakistan and crusade for its cause in public and private gatherings at different places of Pakistan including those of West Pakistan. Few people perhaps know that at the Civil Service Academy, Lahore there used to be constant hitch between the Bangalees and the West Pakistanis on the issue of rights for the then East Pakistan. In our batch almost all of us were quite vocal and we outnumbered the West Pakistanis by 5 members (there were 13 Bangalee CSP’s and 7 Bangalee Foreign Service Personnel against 7 West Pakistan CSP officers and 8 PFS officers).
This was Hayat whom I had seen for a long time. I did know that he would always be with the Bangalees and do everything possible for building up a resistance. I had tried to talk to Hayat on wireless set a number of times but in vain, Madaripur is a distant place from Kishoreganj, so it was quite difficult to get it on the set. All that we could come to know via other sets was that resistance was also being built up at Madaripur. I knew it must have been Hayat who had taken up the lead. Though it was not possible to ascertain the whole story at that time, later on in May, I could come to know about Hayat. I had then taken shelter in Agartala town of India, we came to know that Hayat had done a lot for the movement but because of certain miscalculations stayed back and was caught by the army; we were so anxious to hear his plight that we could not discuss anything else that night in Agartala on the 29th of May, 1971. I shall come to that chapter later. In the then Pakistan, one of the favourite things was building up integration between the two wings of the country. The idea got prominence during Ayub days. Ayub Khan started experimenting by carrying some people from East Pakistan to West Pakistan for settlement. Everybody knows the plight of those Bangalee settlers in Barrage areas. Ayub Khan set up a council for National Integration. Ayub Khan thought that if people from East
60
Pakistan travel wildly to West Pakistan they would become more proPakistanis. How mistaken he was in his belief. It was a political question of rights, it was an economic question of domination. And one wing by another; it was ultimately a question of the ruler and the ruled; it was then the question of a mother country and the colony. If integration had to be done in Pakistan it could only have been done by removing the misgiving from the minds of the peoples in the Eastern Wing; by giving them the right to speak for themselves; by allowing them the social, political and economic right they desired as the majority of the then Pakistan. Instead of solving the problem this way, Ayub Khan tried to do some window tracing by setting up such integration council. Ironically enough, I was one of the fellows of the integration council on whose scholarship I had gone to West Pakistan. It is my opinion that most of the persons who had travelled to West Pakistan became more annoyed at West Pakistan after their visit. We became more concerned about the Eastern Wing only when we had visited the other wing of the country.
It is in this context I remembered one of my friends named Shamsuddin. I do not know directly about his involvement in the movement. Shamsuddin, like me, had passed time in West Pakistan – both as a student and as a C.S.P. probationer. He had in fact been for more time there as a full time honours Chemistry student and M.Sc. student. I calculated Shamsuddin could not but be with the Bangalees as he had seen what the Panjabees thought about us. He had seen how degrading we were in their eyes. On the 29th of March sitting at the dining table, I could think of Shamsuddin only as a freedom fighter. Though it was difficult to get him in the wireless set because of the long distance. I always knew that he would not compromise with falsehood and injustice. As a man he was one of the finest who had friends all around but no enemies.
Later on I came to know all about Shamsuddin sitting at Agartala on the 29th of May, 1971. Immediately after the crackdown, Shamsuddin revolted and started organising the resistance forces. He travelled widely and encouraged the Bengalee youths to rally around under one banner for teaching the Punjabees a good lesson. Initially Shamsuddin along with his improvised troops fought a number of battles in different places of Shirajganj and defeated the Pakistani army. He was so among the fellow freedom fighters that they used to
61
call him Colonel Shamsuddin. At the end when Bangalee resistance was breaking down at many places Shamsuddin had to take shelter in the Char areas and organize a resistance afresh. I am told that Shamsuddin at the end of the resistance unluckily miscalculated certain events. He wanted to cross over to the free zone but could not do so because of his obligations. Shamsuddin was the only earning member of his family with his parents, wife, one child and seven brothers and sisters dependent on him. As ill luck would have it Shamsuddin wrongly decided in the last minute to go to Dhaka once and see his parents and others before leaving for the free zone. It was at Dhaka sometime in April that he was killed by the Pakistani army. He had come to Dhaka and had met his brother-in-law, Mr. Safiullah Azam who was then the Chief Secretary of the Provincial Government. Mr. Safiullah Azam mistakenly talked to Mr. Tikka Khan who assured him that Shamsuddin’s past activities would be overlooked and he could safely come and join his place of posting at Shirajganj again. Shamsuddin made the great mistake in entering the Secretariat one day. When he was going to meet the Addl. Chief Secretary, Mr. M. F. Rahman when he was spotted by a Stenographer who was working as P.A. to Mr. R. Rahman. On my return to Bangladesh after liberation of the country I suddenly came across this P.A. of Mr. R. F. Rahman who narrated the story to me. He told me that when he saw Shamsuddin at the Secretariat, he became very concerned. He had seen the atrocities of the army and their treacherous behaviour. He rushed to Shamsuddin and almost begged him to go away immediately with the remark that none could save him if the army came to know about his presence. He had told him that no assurance from the Chief Secretary would be enough. He had told him that diehard bureaucrats like Mr. R. F. Rahman would do nothing for him but to advise him to go and join his place of posting. The P.A. was almost in tears when he was narrating me the incident. Shamsuddin was unlucky and he could not hear much.
The next part was very sad. The killing of Shamsuddin is one of the darkest pages in the history of atrocities of the Pakistani army. Though Tikka Khan assured Shafiul Azam that no harm would be done to Mr. Shamsuddin, Shamsuddin was killed brutally by the army at the Dhaka Cantonment. This happened because the army called for Shamsuddin for interrogation before his departure for Shirajganj.
62
Those were the last minutes of the life of poor Shamsuddin. The army took him to Cantonment and inflicted on him the most barbarous atrocities ever heard of in the history of such army barbarity. Later I came to know about this from my S.P. Mr. Jalaluddin Mia who worked with me as S.P. at Mymensingh after liberation. Shamsuddin was fastened by the leg and was beaten mercilessly. The crack platoon of the torture chamber beat him so much that all his bones had crumbled. He was almost at the point of death but the torture continued; Mr. Jalaluddin Mia could hear cries of agonies from his cell. Before he died, Shamsuddin begged for water but the beasts did not allow him a drop of water. I could hardly check my tears when I listened to the narration of Mr. Jalaluddin Mia long after the Independence sitting in my office chamber at Mymensingh. Immediately it reminded me of the plight of Imam Hussain and his fellow people on the bank of river Euphrates at Karbala. So much was Shamsuddin beaten that his body was mutilated and only by seeing his face one could with great difficulty recognise him. After killing Shamsuddin, the army first asked Shafiul Azam to take delivery of his dead body saying that he had died of heart failure during interrogation. Since the army could not deliver a mutilated body after such a pretext and explanation, later on his wife, parents and others were only shown his face at Cantonment before he was buried. Shamsuddin’s death anniversary was later observed in Independent Bangladesh and we all attended; we all felt so sorry that at the religious function held at the residence of his in-laws, none of us could speak at all. I do not know whether history will record the contribution of Shamsuddin for the freedom movement. I do not know whether he will be remembered long after. But for me he will always remain a friend and a mentor – one who sacrificed his life for the freedom of this country – one who had to sacrifice himself so that we could live today as free citizens of a free country.
I also used to think about other colleagues. Apart from being a colleague Shah Mohammad Farid was a relative of mine. In fact almost all the colleagues of my batch are related to me nearly or distantly. Shah Mohammad Farid was posted to Goalondo Subdivision of Faridpur District. He was a gem of a man with his own eccentricities but he had never compromised with evil. I expected him to be with the movement. I tried to contact him too but failed. Later
63
on I came to know about him, sitting at Agartala on the 29th of May, 1971.
I heard the full story from Mr. Lutfur Rahman Khan, the then Additional Commercial Officer of East Pakistan Railway, who defected later sometime in June. On the 29th of May, 1971 we knew that Shah Mohammad Farid had also been arrested with Hayat from Goalondo. We knew that he was in jail. But it was only in June that I came to know the whole story of his arrest from Mr. Lutfur Rahman Khan.
Before defection Mr. L. R. Khan had to go to a few railway places in North Bengal. It was sometime in April he was coming back from North Bengal via Aricha. At Aricha he saw that Shah Mohammad Farid was sitting in an army truck. He was surprised and shocked. By some pretext he approached the Lt. in charge of the convoy and enquired about the arrest. He politely told the Lt. that Shah Mohammad Farid was a senior officer and the Lt. could show me some courtesy by allowing him to travel with him in his jeep instead of making him travel sandwiched between two Sepayees on the truck. The Lt. first did not speak. Mr. L. R. Khan told him that the Lt. appeared to be a better officer than most of the other Punjabees. He explained that orders on him were to take Farid after putting him in handcuffs. He told Mr. L. R. Khan that he had not done that because of the consideration that Mr. Farid was a Senior Officer, after that Mr. L. R. Khan could not say anything. He was allowed to speak to Farid in Bengalee in the presence of the Lt. It transpired during the talks that the army was also after the D.C. of Faridpur, Mr. Yusuf and the S.P. When Mr. L. R. Khan reached Dhaka he frantically tried to contact the residences of Mr. Yusuf who had escaped to Dhaka by that time. As ill luck would have it he could not contact Mr. Yusuf and the S.P. Later on Mr. Yusuf and the S.P. were arrested by the army and detained in Cantonment until the 16th of December when the army personnel there set free by the liberation forces.
It is out of place to mention here about Mr. Yusuf but it should be put on record that Mr. Yusuf had to suffer a lot during detention. He was assaulted and beaten and when I saw him after liberation, he could hardly be recognised. The army had inflicted so many injuries on him that he had to take rest for quite some time.
On that day of the 29th of March, sitting at Kishoreganj, I did not know the role of Farid but I was confident that he would be with the
64
liberation forces because of his unflinching faith in the liberation of Bangladesh.
Another colleague was Shakoor who was posted at Bandarban the Subdivision of Chittagong Hill Tracts. I did not know what he was doing normally. Bandarban should not be a place of events – I guessed, my colleague Mamun was posted at Kurigram Subdivision of Rangpur district; Mamun had passed most of his time staying in West Pakistan and as such he knew the Punjabees much more than many of us did. Before being posted to Kurigram he was Subdivisional officer of Jhenaidah Subdivision of Jessore District. He had to be shunted out to Kurigram because of an incident involving himself and an army Capt. at Jhenaidah. Mamun had always been vocal about the role of the army in the national politics. I expected Mamun to be with the liberation forces. This actually was his position. Though I did not know it on the 29th of March at Kurigram, I later came to know that we stayed together at number of days at different places after being driven out from the occupied territory.
Our batch mate Hamid was posted at Netrokona and possibly on the 30th of March that I talked to him on the wireless set. Hamid informed me that resistance was also being built up at Netrokona but he was only indirectly connected with it as the lead was mostly with the Local Awami League. Hamid informed me that he was helping the resistance forces in all possible ways. Hamid was a weak-minded person and this decision reflected that he had already gone too much ahead — because it was not for him to take such a decision in so short a time. I shall come to Hamid later in the book…
It was on the 29th of March, that I was reminded of Kamal Siddiqui. He was my close friend at the university but entered Civil Service one year after we did. Kamal Siddiqui was an ever jolly fellow who was the most vocal at that time against the West Pakistanis, and the army.
He hated them and there were a number of incidents involving him at different places. The readers were aware that when the army started killing people during the non-cooperation movement, the direction was to hoist black flag atop all buildings and in transports. The readers were aware that even Sheikh Mujibur Rahman entered the President’s House in a car which carried a black flag. Kamal Siddiqui used to fly a black flag in his jeep. It was possibly on the 18th of March, when he was going
65
to enter the Jessore Cantonment with a black flag that the army guards instructed him to take the flag down. He refused to take down the black flag and was insulted by the army guards. When the Vice Chairman of Awami League, Mr. Syed Nazrul Islam, issued a statement in the 3rd week of March protesting army actions at different places; he specifically referred to this incident involving Mr. Kamal Siddiqui, the then Sub-divisional Officer of Narail Subdivision of Jessore District. We all read the news in the newspapers.
It was in this background I was reminded of Kamal Siddiqui. I knew that he would be the first person to defect and revolt. Actually, this was what happened. Kamal Siddiqui was responsible for the capture and the elimination of a number of West Pakistani army and G.P.R personnel at Narail. He built up a strong resistance movement and approached Jessore town early April with a mass of people laying a siege to the Cantonment.
I knew in my heart of hearts that Kamal Siddiqui would be with us. The whole story was revealed to me even before I could meet him at Mujibnagar later in August, 1971. The S.P. of police of Garo Hills used to give me a number of papers and periodicals while I stayed at Tura, the District Headquarters of Garo Hills. It was in one issue of the illustrated weekly of India, that I read about Kamal Siddiqui and his bold role during the earlyphase of the resistance.
I came to know the whole story about Kamal Siddiqui when I met him at Mujibnagar sometime in August 1971. On the day of the great massacre i.e. the 25th of March, Kamal Siddiqui was at Khulna in connection with some official work. He was accompanied by Sadat Husain, one of our colleagues, two years’ junior to me in service, who was then Assistant Commissioner of Jessore. In the afternoon they were sitting with the West Pakistani A.D.C. of Khulna. They observed that the West Pakistani officers were trying to hide something from them. It is said that there is a great affinity and unity among the C.S.P.s irrespective of the places they hail from. Kamal Siddiqui noticed that the West Pakistanis were not behaving as usual. He and Sadat could sense something and he decided to get away immediately.
They were in Khulna Town when the massacre also started at Khulna. Kamal Siddiqui and Sadat immediately decided to escape and returned to Narail for building up resistance against the Pakistani
66
army. It was with great difficulty, they managed to reach Narail through odd routes. They had to pass sleepless nights along the way in different villages which they had never visited before during their life. Kamal Siddiqui and Sadat ultimately managed to reach Narail where immediately on their arrival; they started building up resistance in all possible ways. Kamal Siddiqui told me later that he had no other option but to order the killing of the captured West Pakistani army, EPR and other personnel at Narail in the first week of April, 1971. He told me that when their siege of Jessore Town failed in the face of mighty resistance with fire power by the Pakistani army stationed at Jessore Cantonment, he had no other option but to attempt escaping to liberated zone. On his way back Kamal Siddiqui happened to meet one foreign journalist. When they were crossing a river from near the border, they along with many others were strafed by Pakistani Sabre Jet. Kamal Siddiqui told me that he and the foreign journalist had to jump out of the boat when the strafing began. The bullets missed them very narrowly. All that Kamal Siddiqui could carry with him was a few rupees and he was in a lungi and a genjee. When he reached Calcutta he had no other belongings with him.
The story of Kamal Siddiqui should occupy a prominent place in the book. He was one of the great freedom fighters who were prepared to sacrifice their lives for the country. Kamal Siddiqui later narrated to me how he escaped from an assassination plot during the early phases of movement. One Bangalee gentleman met him and ultimately confessed that he was sent by the Pakistani army to dynamite the residence of the S.D.O. of Narail. Kamal Siddiqui told me that he started suspecting this gentleman from the very beginning. This gentleman later on confessed everything to Kamal Siddiqui and told me that his wife and others were in the hand of Pakistani army.
They had captured them and told him to do this nefarious job. Kamal Siddiqui could not give me the name of this gentleman. Neither do I know his name. If he is alive today he must come and meet both of us because in the ultimate analysis he is one of the few Bangalees who could not sell his conscience in spite of the greatest intimidation. Possibly Kamal Siddiqui could be most glad to receive and meet him once again.
Kamal Siddiqui did an even more daring job when Jessore and Narail fell to the Pakistanis. He decided to visit Dhaka before his
67
departure for the free zone. He told me that he wanted to meet his parents at least once to tell them that he was alive and they need not worry about him. When Dhaka was under the full control of the Pakistani army Kamal Siddiqui entered Dhaka from Manikganj in a hired Baby Taxi. He was in disguise and looked like an ordinary person in lungi. Kamal Siddiqui told me that he narrowly escaped from the notice of quite a few acquaintances on the roads of Dhaka. However, he could not meet his parents because when he had approached his house, he was immediately advised by someone to go back and hide as the Pakistani army was on the lookout for him. The fate that occurred to Shamsuddin would have occurred to Kamal Siddiqui if he did not escape promptly from Dhaka. He was too a well known person to stay in hiding at Dhaka.
I was also reminded of a good friend Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chaudhury who was posted to Meherpur Sub-division of the Kushtia District. I knew that he would be with the movement because he always stood for justice. Later on I came to know all about him. It was Tawfiq Elahi who built up resistance in the Western Front. It was he who organised the liberation forces and arranged collection of money from different Treasury for running the Bangladesh Government. With him was Mahboob, Sub-divisional Police Officer of Jhenakidah Subdivision. It was Tawfiq Elahi who first made contact with the Indians and appealed to them for arms and ammunitions. Later on in India we could see the newspapers which carried banner headlines about him and his appeals to the Indians for helping the freedom fighters with arms and ammunitions. The Indian magazines also carried write-ups on him praising this thin and short fellow in the highest superlative that a journalist could ever write. He was the guiding force of all freedom fighters in the Western Front. He was the man who was mostly responsible for the declaration of Independence Ceremony on the 17th of April, 1971 at Mujibnagar within his sub-division. He was present at the Independence Declaration Ceremony at Mujibnagar on that historic day.
Unlike many others, Tawfiq Elahi refused to serve the probationer government in any capacity other than in armed freedom fighter. On his insistence, General Osmani was compassionately compelled to enrol him as a Captain in the liberation army. All through the liberation movement Tawfiq remained in the battle field and fought a
68
number of battles with the Pakistani army at different places of Khulna, Jessore, Kushtia and Rajshahi. Mahboob and he never separated from each other and they fought well during the liberation movement. The name of Tawfiq and Mahboob should remain ever glorious in the history of our liberation movement as they were the persons who took lead in the initial period and they were the persons who remained in the actual battle field all through the nine months as dedicated soldiers of freedom.
The thoughts of my colleagues and others flushed across of my mind on the 29th of March. I could hardly think more, since I had to rush to different places and so many things. It was on the 29th of March when I received a wireless message from Major Khaled Mosharraf about 11 a.m. Major Khaled Mosharraf had expressed his solidarity with the movement in the message and appealed to all Bangalees to rise in revolt against the Pakistani army. The message read as follows:
“From Major Khaled Mosharraf to Bangladesh, Let it be known to all that I have severed my connections with the Pakistani army and am with the liberation movement. I have captured my Commanding Officer Lt. Col. and imprisoned a few other officers. We have killed all the West Pakistani troops that we could come across. We are controlling the vast territory from Sermonical to the north down to Comilla to the South. All Bengalees should rise in revolt and build up resistance against the Pakistani army. Joy Bangla.”
When I received the wireless message from Major Khaled Mosharraf,I was delighted. I showed it to all members of the family and soon rushed to the police station, the local Awami League and student leaders and others also saw the message and their morale got a boost. We were all happy that more and more people were coming over to our side. We were happy that the Bengalee armed personnel were rising in revolt against treacherous Pakistani army at different places.
The local Awami League had given a call earlier for a public meeting at the Kishoreganj Stadium that day at about 3 p.m. I had never been a politician and it was not my job to address such public meetings. I was thinking about it and finally decided that I should speak at the meeting. I decided this for different reasons. That was a big opportunity for telling all people that all of us were with the movement unitedly. As
69
Sub-divisional Officer, I carried tremendous prestige and my words would have impact on the public; moreover then public could be given an account of the events at other places. Since law and order had to be maintained at all cost, an appeal could be made to all urging them to cooperate with the administration for maintaining law and order along with building up resistance in all nook and corner of the country.
It was with this consideration that I decided to speak at the public meeting. That was no time to think that it was outside my purview as a government official. That was no time to think I should not speak a meeting arranged by a political party. That was no time to look at technicalities of service discipline. I decided to speak and I did speak that day at Kishoreganj.
The Kishoreganj stadium was one of the biggest gatherings that Kishoreganj is a small town inhabiting about 35 lacs people. The public that had assembled at the stadium that day numbered about a lac. I had never seen such a big gathering at Kishoreganj except on the Eid day at the Eid Maidan. When I was approaching the pavilion for speaking, there were historic scenes of JOY BANGLA all around. A part of the gathering was armed with deadly weapons. It looked like a vast mass of people who were prepared to resist any move by the Pakistani army.
The Awami League leaders were already on the pavilion. I got up to the pavilion and sat in a chair. One student leader was speaking in an introductory manner to the public. When I reached the pavilion the leaders that were present introduced me with the remark that today everybody has joined the movement starting from the Chief Justice of the High Court down to the peon.
I soon started speaking to the gathering. First of all, I showed them the wireless message I had received from Major Khaled Mosharraf. I explained that the movement had gone quite ahead and army officers were defecting in many places, building up resistance against the Pakistani army. I proudly announced that Major Khaled Mosharraf had captured a good number of West Pakistani army officers and killed a number of West Pakistani army personnel. I referred to this incident involving the breaking of the sub-jail on the 27th of March. I told the gathering that we should be ashamed of such a thing as posterity would forgive us for being lawless during such a holy resistance. I appealed to all to remain calm and quiet but be
70
prepared to face all eventualities. I exerted all to join the liberation forces and the camps we had set for undergoing training for facing the enemy. I told the gathering in unambiguous terms that I was with the movement and would do everything possible for it. I requested all to maintain law and order remarking that there was a period of trial in which along with building up resistance we must also show a sense of discipline of maintaining law and order. Like a public speaker, I diluted on the emotional aspect of Bengal nationalism and told the gathering that everybody was united in this fight against the barbarous Pakistani army. I do not remember how long I spoke, but it must have been quite a long time. When I finished, there were claps and shouts all around. There were slogans in favour of Independent Bangladesh and against Yahya and Bhutto. There were slogans eulogising Bangladesh and its great leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
| After I had finished, the other speakers addressed the gathering. All of them appealed to the people to remain alert and be prepared for facing the enemy. All speakers requested the able-bodied youth to join the liberation forces in large numbers. As I had some urgent pressing business I had to leave the rostrum before the meeting was over. Sitting at my residential chamber that day I could see a human sea coming around the town in a big procession denouncing Yahya and Bhutto and raising slogans in favour of independent Bangladesh.
I have not until now said anything about the broadcast of the captured Radio Pakistan Dhaka. We all believed that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was alive and he was in a safe place along with the freedom fighters. There was no news on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on captured Radio Pakistan. It was possibly in the afternoon broadcast of the 26th of March that Radio Pakistan announced the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his residence on the night of the 25th of March. There was no elaboration on that point. We did not believe the news and kept on thinking that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had safely escaped to a safe place from where he had been directing the freedom movement. The three policemen escaped from Rajarbagh and other armed personnel escaped from Government resistance house but Dhaka had optimistically opined that the army could not arrest Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and he was safe in a secret place somewhere near Chittagong. The SHADHIN BANGLA BETAR KENDRA appeared to be near Chittagong looking at the meter bend and this strengthened
71
our belief that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not in the custody of the army. A few armed personnel who had escaped from Dhaka opined that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had escaped along with defecting Bengal regiment and EPR people by river via Sadar Ghat. In those days of trial the news of arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had tremendous importance and somehow or other the news got round in such a way that nobody ever believed that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been captured by the army. I shall come to this part of arrest later somewhere in this book.
Another news that was suddenly broadcast by Radio Pakistan was that everything in Dhaka was alright and the army was in full control of Dhaka. The Radio announced that normalcy is gradually coming to Dhaka. It was possibly on the 28th of March that Radio Pakistan announced the news of big pro-Pakistani procession at Dhaka. The Radio also announced the formation of a Central Peace Committee at Dhaka and issued instructions for formation of similar Peace Committees at all districts and Sub-divisional headquarters. We were at a loss to understand the necessity of forming such Peace Committee if everything was going well in Dhaka. We laughed at the news sitting at the police station and joked that we would form our own committees for sounding a death nail to the army.
I have referred to a few broadcast of Radio Pakistan during the first week of the massacre. There were many other pieces of news on the Radio. Martial Law Regulations were intermittently broadcast from the Radio. Today I do not remember all the broadcasts that were put on air during the first week of the massacre. It soon struck me that it was necessary to engage one person to take note of the broadcast and brief us at night on these broadcasts. The Sub-divisional Public Relations Officer was entrusted with the job. His staff used to work according to a roster and used to put down all important announcements by Radio Pakistan. At night we used to sit at the police station and scan the notes and analyse it for finding out any clue.
Yesterday (19.12.72), I saw in the newspaper that one Rizvi, Director of Telecommunications has been brought before the Court for trial under the Collaboration Act. I must narrate here a few incidents involving this Rizvi and one army Major named Gafur. One day when I was talking to Brahmanbaria on the wireless set, someone
72
was interrupting from Dhaka. I wanted to know who it was. It appeared to be an Urdu voice and it transpired that it was someone named Major Gafur of the Pakistan Army. This Major started speaking in a threatening language and started abusing me on the set. His Urdu and English were tempered with a strong Punjabec dialect. I could immediately understand that he was a Punjabee. I did not fail in responding to his abuses by equally vulgar abuses from the other side. I threw the abuses in Punjabi. I had lived in Lahore for three years and knew Punjabee dialect very well. He was first surprised and then became all the more angry with me. Today I do not remember what abuses I had actually thrown at him. But I remember I hurled all abuses in Punjabi that my command of the language allowed me to do. He ultimately gave in and departed from the set with the remark that they would catch hold of him and give the lesson in the language of arms. I was immediately reminded of the regular threats that Ayub Khan used to give saying that the language of arms will be necessary in case the Bangalees went ahead with their plan of what he used to say secession.
Coming on the topic of Rizvi, it was on the 29th of March, I was told by the Inspector of the local VHF Centre that Rizvi had instructed him on the wireless from Dhaka not to cooperate with what he termed the miscreants. The Inspector told me that they would abide by all the instructions of the liberation forces. When Rizvi repeated his warning the 2nd time, I felt like giving him an answer. I went to the VHF set and soon got Rizvi on the line. I told him that he had no bloody business to interfere in our affairs and we would utilise the VHF sets in any manner we felt necessary. I told Rizvi not to cross his limits because refugees like him had never had any love for this country. I told him that they should have felt grateful for having been allowed to settle in Bangladesh by the Bangalees. I told him that the day was not far off when the people like him would be put on trial in the Courts of Bangladesh for collaborating with the occupation army.
Today when I see in the newspapers that Rizvi is being tried for collaboration, I felt very happy. When I threatened him that day on the 29th of March, I did not know actually when he could be held up for trial. I was glad that a refugee culprit like him had been held up by the Government and people like him deserved to be tried for collaboration with the occupation army. They deserved to have the
73
worst punishment since these were the people who were given shelter by us in our country after they had migrated from India after the partition of India in 1947. They had lived in this country but had never loved its people and culture. They were like Jews who used to have allegiance to others instead of their own country. They acted as saboteurs and always sided with the West Pakistani whenever any question of dispute over the rights of the two wings arose. By the time this book will be published, I am confident he would be rotting in jail which is the last punishment he deserves for collaborating with the Pakistani army against the interest of 75 million people of this country.
29th March started with our preparations for facing the enemy on the Kishoreganj-Mymensingh road. The enemy did not come. But the day was nonetheless one of the most eventful ones in our part of the country. I shall refer to the important events of that day below.
It was possibly on the night of the 28th of March that Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra announced the death of Tikka Khan at the hands of freedom fighters. People had come out in the streets shouting slogans at this news. Like many others, I also first believed this news but later on started doubting it as it was very unlikely that Tikka as head of the military forces in Bangladesh could be so easily accessible by the liberation forces. On the 29th of March the street urchins were going around singing self-composed poems on the death of Tikka. Outside the police station a mock grave was erected by the street urchins. Everyone was laughing at the grave when he passed by it. The street urchins claimed that Tikka was buried there. Radio Pakistan countered the news of the death of Tikka Khan by announcing his receiving the Consul General of Japan.
Till 29th March, we could not get anything on the Television. I had a television set at my house and from the 26th of March onwards we had been trying to get pictures on the set. We were not interested in the programs. All that we wanted to know was whether the television was functioning and if so what programs were being telecast. I distinctly remember that on the night of the 29th of March, we first saw television program. Sarkar Ferozuddin, a television announcer could easily be recognised. On the television screen he looked pale, tired and exhausted. It appeared that he had been captured by the army who were forcing him to participate in the
74
television program. He faltered a number of times speaking. He looked very gloomy. The natural smile was missing. We could immediately understand that he was feeling very bad about being forced to do a job he must have hated from his heart. The sorrow and the gloom in his eyes spoke eloquently of the massacres that had been inflicted on the Bangalees by the occupation army at Dhaka and other places. It was the sight of a destroyed man; it was the sight of one who had been forced to do a thing under compulsion; it was the sight of a Bengalee speaking on the television in a language which was hated by the occupation army; it was the sight of a silent protest against the barbarity of the army, we felt so bad that day that we could only sympathise with Sarkar Ferozuddin.
The most important program of that night was the telecasting of a news item involving Tikka Khan. For the first time we saw that Tikka Khan was sitting in a meeting along with the then Chief Secretary Mr. Shafiul Azam, the then I.G. of Police Mr. Taslim Ahmed, and possibly Brig. Rao Farman Ali. We were annoyed and disgusted by seeing all these faces. I knew all of them personally and I felt very angry about it. I felt particularly angry about Mr. Shafiul Azam because he was shown in a suit. Tikka was shown sitting and he was speaking slowly. I had never seen Tikka before. A good number of people gathered at my house to see the television that night. All of them opined that it was not the actual Tikka Khan but somebody was pretending as Tikka Khan. A few others gave the explanation that the shot must have been of an earlier period when Tikka Khan might have had such a meeting. As Tikka did not move from his seat, a few others opined that he was possibly wounded in the leg. There were such wild speculations all around and it was difficult to understand if the person posing as Tikka at the television was the real Tikka Khan.
That the person shown on the television was actually Tikka Khan was confirmed by Bina apa. As the wife of a very Senior Officer of the State Bank of Pakistan, she had attended a number of parties in Karachi, Rawalpindi and other places where she met once or twice this butcher General Tikka Khan. She did not say anything when the speculations were going around, when the family members were alone at late night in the house; she confirmed that the person who was shown on the television was actually Tikka Khan as she could
75
easily recognise him. The only difference that Tikka was looking a bit more aged in the picture, but she did not have the slightest doubt that it was nobody else other than General Tikka Khan. I must confess today that I was hurt by hearing such an unpleasant disclosure that night. I had never believed the death of Tikka Khan earlier, but always had in my sub-conscious mind his fall. This was the first shock I received regarding the news broadcast by Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. I could immediately understand that we had to accept the news broadcast by the Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra (Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra) with a grain of salt. Though I got confirmed that Tikka had not been killed, I decided not to disclose the others as my words will have a pessimistic impact on the people. From that day onward we were certain that Tikka was alive and kept on insisting in public along with other leaders and officers that Tikka had been killed by the liberation forces.
It was on the 25th March at around 1:30 p.m. I received a call from Mymensingh. Major Muin was on the other side of the telephone. Somehow the telephone system was functioning that day. I have referred to the killing at Joydevpur and the escape of the Bangalee personnel in the earlier pages of this book. Major Muin told me in brief how they had escaped from Joydevpur. He told me that they were at Mymensingh and were having a number of meetings at Mymensingh to decide their next course of action. Major Muin told me that they would be coming to Kishoreganj on route to Brahmanbaria the next day. A battalion of all assembled armed personnel consisting of Bengal regiment, Bangalee EPRs and others would leave for Kishoreganj that evening by train. I enquired about his welfare and the welfare of others I knew. Major Muin assured me that all of them were safe and were no longer in danger from the Pakistani army; Major Muin’s voice was mixed with his hatred for the West Pakistani army. He had been a staunch supporter of Pakistan all through and had a strong belief in army discipline. When I found that he had also defected, I was convinced that the Pakistani army was carrying out massacres all over the country. I was convinced that the war of liberation had already started. It was that day I was convinced that Pakistan was dead and could no longer be revived. I was convinced that an independent Bangladesh was going to be established and it was only a question of time.
76
After I talked to Major Muin, I had another talk with Major Nurul Islam who was posted at Mymensingh. Major Nurul Islam described in brief what had happened at Mymensingh in the two nights before. He could not tell me everything over the telephone but informed me that the West Pakistani army and EPR personnel at Mymensingh had either been killed or captured.
night of the 27th and 28th of March at Mymensingh. The EPR personnel were mixed and most of the Bengalee EPRs were being commanded by West Pakistani officers and D.C.O.s Major Nurul Islam’s contingent at Mymensingh consisted of all Bangalee troops. He was assisted by one Lt. Mannan. After the crackdown on the 25th of March at Dhaka, Major Islam and Lt. Mannan noticed that there were fishy moves on the part of rest Pakistanis, then as news of the crackdown reached Mymensingh, all people came to the streets and approached the EPR Wing Headquarter at Khagdahar, just lying outside the municipal limit of the Mymensingh town on Mymensingh-Tangail road. The West Pakistani J.C.O’s and others had taken shelter at the headquarters end the mob could not approach the headquarters because they kept on firing machine guns from atop the building. With intermittent breaks, the attack was launched at the Headquarter. Before that the West Pakistani 2nd in command of the EPR had tried to disarm the Bangalee EPR’s on some pretext but in vain. Major Nurul Islam told me later that on the night of the 27th of March when they were going to bed, firing started. Major Islam and Lt. Mannan had to get down to the floor. They could immediately realise that the West Pakistanis were firing on them with the intention to kill them. Major Islam told me that they pretended not to be present there and with great difficulty, he and Lt. Mannan managed to crawl out of the building and get away to the other side of the river at Shambhuganj. The next morning they were prepared and let the crowd which led seize of the EPR Wing headquarter at Khagdahar. In the mean time a good number of West Pakistani army personnel had been killed but the West Pakistani who had taken shelter at the Khagdahar camp refused to surrender. It was possibly on the 28th of March that I talked to Major Islam once and requested him to devise some means for setting fire to the building so that the West Pakistanis were compelled to get out. The devices adopted at the Khagdahar
77
camp worked and ultimately the West Pakistanis gave in and surrendered. The West Pakistani 2nd in command of the EPR had in the meantime been killed by some Bengalee EPR. The resistance was thus ultimately broken and Mymensingh came under full control of the liberation forces. When Major Muin and others reached Mymensingh they found that the liberation forces were already in control of the town.
I must emphasise here the importance of the fall of the EPR Headquarter at Khagdahar.Most of the arms and ammunitions of EPR were assembled at Khagdahar and its fall meant the capture of these arms and ammunitions and this could be distributed to different persons for equipping themselves better. Some percentage of the arms and ammunitions are kept for future use. The fall of the Khagdahar camp the liberation forces a great deal in the beginning since we were then desperately in need of more and more arms and ammunitions.
A few lines in passing regarding the arms and ammunitions in the police lines should be written. The Mymensingh police line was a big one and the stock of arms and ammunitions in the police lines was substantial for equipping about a thousand people. I remember that the Reserve Inspector at that time was a West Pakistani and held the keys of the magazines. Most of the policemen at Mymensingh were agitating that they should have the arms with them. The Reserve Inspector was still in charge and he would not allow them to have those arms.The then S.P. of Mymensingh Mr. Shirajuddin played a very dubious role by refusing to take any side even at that time.Ultimately the Reserve Inspector had to vanish and persistent with the demand of the police force, the S.P. was compelled to open the magazines and allow taking away of arms and ammunitions. These arms and ammunitions also helped the liberation forces a great deal because equipped with these arms and ammunitions they could built up obstruction at the Madhugarh, 25 miles out of Mymensingh town on Mymensingh-Tangail road. So afraid that the Pakistani army was about this Garh that they did not enter it a number of days even after their capture of Tangail. It was only with very sophisticated weapons like machine guns, cannons, recoil less rifles and M1-38 tanks that, the army pierced through this obstacle. The Pakistani army had to suffer a good number of casualties at Madhupur. The fight was possibly because of, among
78
other things, the access to the police magazines at the Mymensingh Police lines.
I am not one of those persons who should find fault with anyone who had to stay back in the country during the liberation movement. Many people could not leave and they had their obligation and compulsion. It was one thing to have been forced to live inside the occupied territory.It is quite another thing to stay back consciously in the hope that some form of order would come back and one could serve irrespective of who was at the top and in the command. I personally hate those persons who looked upon their service as everything in life and did not hesitate to side on the people that as Government servants it was not for them to decide who actual control the government.
I say all this with great regret in reference to the role played by the S.P. of police Mr. Shirajuddin at that time at Mymensingh.The liberation movement started with the spell of blood of students at Dhaka University and policemen at Rajarbagh.Mr. Shirajuddin deliberately tried to avoid reference to these events and tried to play a careful game in which he was the least involved in anything. no chance for the army to take any step against him later. He created a lot of obstacles in the way of commencement of police line magazines at Mymensingh. He promised to Major Safiullah, the then administrator of the Mymensingh Zone, that he would to do everything possible for the liberation forces. When Major Shafiullah was away to Brahmanbaria, he started behaving in a completely different manner and tried carefully to remain away from any involvement.My friend and colleague Mr. Mutalib the then S.D.P.O. of Kishoreganj Sub-division will hear me out when I levelled this acquisition against Mr. Shirajuddin.Had nobody been in charge of Mymensingh area at that time, Mr. Shirajuddin would not have been alive today.I must refer here to a very personal incident which would clearly show his attitude at that time.
By the 17th of April most of our resistance at different places of Brahmanbaria had broken down as the army was gradually getting in control of most of the cities and the town.Just to see the reaction of the local S.P.I talked to him in the afternoon of the 17th of April.I pretended that I shall not create danger and told him that I was going to escape to Mymensingh soon.Mr. Shirajuddin got alarmed and told
79
me that I should stay back and informed me in advance if possible the advancement of army towards Kishoreganj or Mymensingh from any direction. In a mock sincerity, I wanted to know what I should do in case the army entered Kishoreganj town suddenly. He advised me that I should hoist the necessary flag after observing the circumstances. He remarked that two flags were necessary at that time and if I had all the two.I did not feel like talking to him after that and cut out that.After Independence when I came back I saw him a number of times here and there but carefully avoided him.I was most surprised to see him one day that he had been promoted to the rank of D.I.G.I do not know at whose suggestion he was later reverted to his original position. This was the man at that time. When the blood of policemen was being spilt at different places, this was the man who was more busy thinking about his own future. It is a disgrace to our nationhood such people are allowed to remain in jobs after independence.
Another remarkable incident of the 29th of March was the passing through Kishoreganj of the first batch of freedom fighters consisting of Bengal Regiment, EPR, Policemen and others. Major Muin had already told me that they would be passing through Kishoreganj that evening. The train carrying about two companies of such troops streamed in to Railway station at around 6:30 p.m.A good number of people gathered at the Railway Station to cheer up the freedom fighters, life had been observing black out for about two days according to the instructions issued from the SBBC.When we assembled at the railway station to cheer the freedom fighters it was quite dark. They were entertained to tea and other things we could get hold of in a very short notice after receiving Major Muin’s telephone call and wireless message to this effect from Major Shafiullah. The group was led by Capt. A. S. M. Nasim and Lt. G. H. Murshed. Their immediate destination was Bhairab and Ashuganj. That was the first time I met Nasim and Murshed. The young officers gave all fortitude they could be in command of and expressed the hope that they would fight to the last against the Pakistani army.The Jawans were in high spirit and the people around got another morale boost up when they saw that the freedom fighters showed an excellent morale for any future encounter with the army.Most of these people fought at Ashuganj and Bhairab.They lost to the Pakistani army but they fought it well.I shall come to the events pertaining to the fall of Bhairab later
80
and willthen try to describe the role of Capt. A.Nasim and Lt. Murshed in the staunch battle they fought against the Pakistani army at Bhairab and Ashuganj.,
The Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra(Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra)had announced the observance of black out throughout Bangladesh. We were informed that the Pakistani army was trying to drop para troopers at different places. We were asked to catch hold of these para troopers and kill them. The people of Kishoreganj used to observe complete blackout throughout the early phase of the Liberation movement, Mr. Mutalib arranged for the air raid siren and the siren helped us a lot during this early period.
O It was on the 29th of March that we could first see that the Pakistani planes were on the air. Two Pakistani Sabre Jets could be seen in the sky of Kishoreganj.We could see them in the afternoon when a few of us were sitting at the local police station. There was no time to take any shelter.Fortunately they did not drop any bomb neither did they strafe any position. The planes encircled the town twice and went away.After this we gave out the publicity that trenches should be dug immediately at important places so that people could take shelter in case of an air raid. Kishoreganj town was later attacked a number of times by Pakistani Sabre Jets and the trenches proved very useful in those times. The Pakistani Sabre jets also strafed many of the haor areas around Nikly, Astogram and Itna Police Stations of Kishoreganj subdivision.I still have a number bullets that were fired from the Sabre Jets on the innocent people a number of places in Kishoreganj subdivision.
I had referred to the persons who were flocking at Kishoreganj from different places especially from Dhaka.The persons, who reached Kishoreganj in the evening of the 29th of March, informed us that attendance at Government offices at Dhaka was very thin. We were told that the army was going around different offices observing attendance. One of the persons told us that he had seen Mr. Nurul Amin going around different offices along with the army requesting people to attend offices.
We set at night at the police station and discussed this problem of compulsion of Government servants for attending offices at Dhaka and other places.All of us agreed that most of the Government employees at Dhaka did not know that except Dhaka and few other

81
places the Pakistani army were not in control. We agreed that if we could send message to different organisations at Dhaka requesting them to send their employees to the liberated zone, this would greatly help the movement. It would also show world that the Bengalee employees were not attending offices at the capital of the country. We all then agreed to get a leaflet printed for circulation to different captured cities urging all Government employees to get out and rally round the freedom fighters in the liberated zones. The leaflet had to be carefully designed so as not to disclose the strongholds of the freedom fighters but at the same time give some indication of the places where milling defecting government employees could come and take shelter. The multi-purpose Society Press was directly under me and I ordered of printing of about ten thousand such leaflets in Bengalee. Through our message system we got them distributed in many of the places including Dhaka.I do not know whether people had been frightened too much in Dhaka because the response was not very encouraging from Dhaka. The leaflets however, encouraged many employees at other places to defect and take shelter in liberated zone. We do not demand the credit that we had done everything but our leaflets did contribute in a humble manner to the defection of Bengalee employees from many places. Since, I had to leave Kishoreganj in extra-ordinary circumstance.
Carry with me any copy of the leaflet in the last minute. How I wish I could be in the possession ofthese documents today in the independent country.How I wish we can be in possession of these documents of Independence.I urge if any of the readers has any copy of the documents he should kindly contact me and hand over the copy so that we could give it a place of honour in a suitable place of this book or anywhere else.
30.03.71 The 30th of March also began like all those days of trial. It was a day different from other days because of a few events.
I must first refer to the incident involving to the arrival of one of the persons from the residence of my in-laws at Dhaka.Shiraj had managed to reach Kishoreganj on that day round 11:30 a.m. He had travelled a long way from Dhaka to Narsingdi and then via Monohardi and Hossainpur to Kishoreganj. When he reached my residence at Kishoreganj I was away at the local Dak Bungalow talking to the Bengal army officers including Major Muin who had
82
come to Kishoreganj from Mymensingh. After hearing the news of Shiraj’s arrival, I rushed to him.
Shiraj had been at Dhaka during the massacre at our in-laws residence in front of Hotel Intercontinental, from the Nasheman official flat they could see the massacre that was let loose by the army that night of the 25th of March. The army had killed a lot of people at the junction of Mymensingh Road and Minto Road.Shiraj told us that our in-laws were safe at Dhaka but afraid for their lives. We were told that most of the officers present at Dhaka had joined their jobs again fearing the army.On the night of the 25th of March nobody around the area could sleep. They passed that night and two consecutive nights lying on the floor.Shiraj delivered two letters to us —one from my father-in-law addressed to myself and the other from DulaBhai (Mr. Naziruddin)addressed to his wife (Bina Apa).The army had set up check points at most of the junctions in and around Dhaka and it was not safe to carry messages in details. Itwas in fact dangerous to carry any message at all. This is why the letters carried by Shiraj lacked all the details. The point made in these letters were that the people we knew were safe at Dhaka and me could hear other details from Shiraj himself.In those letters there were requests to go away from Kishoreganj to safe places. There was a suggestion that Bina Apa and if possible others including myself should escape to a place named Nabinagar near Brahmanbaria which was the ancestral home of Bina Apa. It took us about two hours to interrogate Shiraj and know as much details as possible the incidents that had taken place at Dhaka. Shiraj told us frankly that when he entered Kishoreganj town he was surprised to see that Bangladesh flag was still flying in that area. Nothing like this could be seen in Dhaka.All resistance at Dhaka had broken down and Pakistan army had been controlling the town since the night of the 26th of March.As I proceeded with discussing things with Shiraj, I shuddered to think at the plight of the people of Dhaka.I shuddered to think all the massacres that had been indicted on people at Dhaka for a few days together during army attacks and atrocities.
After listening to Shiraj, all the members of the family sat together discussing the next course of action. There was a division of views. I was in full senses and opined against leaving Kishoreganj at that stage. I tried to convince others that I had already involved myself
83
too much in the movement. There was thus no question of my leaving Kishoreganj. The only place I could leave for was some place in the border from where we could reorganise resistance at a later stage if such a necessity arose. Bina Apa had received the letter from her husband and she was insisting that she should be sent to Nabinagar immediately.I politely pointed out to her the dangerous routes through which she had to go in such a case.I told her that would try to find out an opportunity at the earliest possible time to send her down to Nabinagar by train from Kishoreganj to Kuliarchar and then by launch from Kuliearchar to Nabinagar.I explained the difficulties as Service launches had mostly stopped their operations.I told her that there were reports of army gun boats having been seen in some riverine routes.Ultimately all of us were able to pursued Bina Apa that we had to wait for a suitable time for such a journey. It was also decided that depending on circumstances all members of the family except myself would leave with Bina Apa for Nabinagar.
Since that time I used to take most of the decisions after consultation with Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Golam Akbar, I talked to them about this that night. They agreed with me and told me that they would also like to send their families down to Nabinagar along with my family if I decide to do so. We all agreed that when a suitable time would come we would send the families down to Nabinagar by arranging a special transport. 2. In this connection I must again refer to the arrangement we had regarding keeping railway route open between Kishoreganj and Mymensingh in one side and Bhairab and Kishoreganj on the other. Regular trains had all stopped. With great efforts, with the cooperation of the local railway men, we had been able to arrange running of such trains between Mymensingh and Bhairab via Kishoreganj. These trains did not run as a routine manner. The Bengalee army in command at Mymensingh in consultation with local administration there used to authorise the running of such a train in special circumstances. The trains were mostly used for carrying troops and volunteers and arms and ammunitions. Many people used to avail of this opportunity but they were told plainly that they could not demand it and had to be satisfied with whatever arrangements we could make for such running of trains.For immediate emergency use, I arranged to keep a trolley at Kishoreganj which used to remain
84
ready round the clock for any movement.An engine with few bogies used to remain ready at the railway station for any quick movement from Kishoreganj to Mymensingh or Bhairab.
Coming back to the arrival of the 30th march saw the arrival of defected personnel from Joydevpur.I was sending a message beforehand from Mymensingh informing me that the Bengal Regiment people were all coming down to Kishoreganj with all their vehicles, arms and ammunitions for further onward journey up to Brahmanbaria. As soon as I received the news at around 8:30 a.m., I arranged for wide publicity urging people to receive the freedom fighters in a befitting manner. There was also a need for such publicity as sudden appearance of military vehicles could have created a lot of confusion in the minds of the people.I always had in mind the misleading news that had been sent down to us earlier in this connection by the wireless operator at Mymensingh.This is why I decided that people should know in advance that the Bengalee troops are coming and not the Punjabees. That I was correct in my apprehension was proved when the first convoy of army vehicles started entering into Kishoreganj town. In spite of the publicity and the announcement, there was a bank in the outskirts of the town lying on both sides of the Mymensingh-Kishoreganj road.People in those areas took about 5 to 10 minutes to understand that the incoming troops were our own and they had nothing to be afraid of.
Soon army vehicles started arriving into Kishoreganj town. These included trucks, land rovers, jeeps and ambulances. In all there were about 50 vehicles fully loaded with arms and ammunitions. I was told by the incoming troops that a special train was also coming from Kishoreganj carrying other troops, vehicles, arms and ammunitions. The officers were in that special train and the officers included all those who had defected from Joydevpur. These meant Major Shafiullah, Major Muin, Lieutenant Ibrahim, Major Nurul Islam, Lieutenant Mannan and others.
Before referring to the discussions we immediately held on arrival of the officers, almost referred to the telephone discussion I had with Major Shafiullah as head of the new army command atMymensingh throughout the 29th of March, 1971.I had tried to pursue Major Shafiullah to stay back at Mymensingh telling him that it could be worthwhile to defend Mymensingh against advancing Pakistan army
85
for keeping Mymensingh a free zone.By that time Major Shafiullah had some initial talk with Major Khaled Mosharraf at Brahmanbaria.I did not know the substance of their talk; possibly Major Shafiullah was influenced by these talks to leave Mymensingh.When I rang him for 2nd time on the 29th of March, he told me that his services were noted more for defence of Bhairab, Ashuganj, Comilla, Bhairab axis instead of Mymensingh.He told me that all the defending troops should first meet at a point like Bhairab, Ashuganj or Brahmanbaria and march towards Dhaka.I had to be satisfied with his answer as has a military commander his verdict on the situation and circumstances was the final one.Even then I rang him again for the 3rd time in which he told me that he would leave the defence of Mymensingh and Kishoreganj with us and would try to build up a strong defence around Bhairab, Ashuganj and Brahmanbaria. These defence lines could be stressed up to Sreemongal, Moulvi Bazar and Sylhet to the north and Gangasagar, Akhaura and Comilla to the south.He told me that in all probability they would be strong enough to take an offenand march towards Dhaka.I could not differ with him at that time but nonetheless insisted that with the shaky administration at Mymensingh and a S.P. in charge of the armed personnel, it was hardly feasible for us to build up a strong resistance for the defence of Mymensingh against the advancement of the Pakistani troops from Dhaka through Dhaka Mymensingh road via Tangail. My apprehension later proved to be correct and we could not defend Mymensingh for more than one or two days. That is a completely different story and I shall come to the story somewhere later part of this book.But something needs to be said in passing about the defence of Mymensingh.I was wrong in my assumption that we, with limited number of armed troops and volunteers, could defend such a vast territory against the onslaught
of a modern army fully equipped with sophisticated weapons and artillery.I was quite wrong and over-emphasised our strength as I did not have a full idea of the fire power a strong, disciplined, united army could have. Moreover the army was not alone in the job.They were helped by naval forces in the riverine areas and by Pakistani Sabre Jets in all other areas. Had Major Shafiullah stayed back at Mymensingh at that time the result would have been more disastrous and we would have lost Brahmanberia, Kasba, Telia- para etc. far
86
earlier than we did. After two attacks we lost the last stronghold of our control in that Sector at Telia-para sometime in the first week of May, 1971.
Soon the train carrying the defecting personnel of Joydevpur streamed into the Kishoreganj Railway Station. I received Major Muin and others and took them to the nearby Dak Bangalow. The troops were taken to nearby Azimpur High School.Accommodation and arrangement for food were equally made.All the vehicles were kept there under a green cover of leaves etc. so that these could not be traced by intruding planes flying above.So big was the enthusiasm among the people that for the breakfast and the lunch we did not have to ask for anything. Most of the edibles were brought there by people themselves. The Jawans were in very high spirit and ate according to their hearts content. Major Shafiullah, Major Muin and other masses were personally present to supervise the arrangements and we left only after we had organised different activities by placing one person in charge of our separate activity like accommodation, food, transport, etc.
I have forgotten to mention that I saw a new face that looked like an army man with Major Shafiullah and Major Muin.Soon I was introduced to him.His name was Mr. Zaman and he was a retired Major of the Pakistani army.Major Zaman had fled from Dhaka after the crackdown and managed to reach a safe place where he came across Major Shafiullah and others. Major Zaman was not in active service but he was the senior amongst us all according to army discipline he was referred to as “sir’ by all the officers and troops including Major Shafiullah.Major Zaman was speaking in fluent correct English and he was analysing the whole situation, it was more or less a closed door meeting. All the officers, S.D.P.O. Mr. Mutalib and myself sat at the meeting and started discussing the next course of action.Major Zaman emphasised on a denial plan according to which we should destroy all bridges etc. in those areas we could not think of defending. He emphasised that all the available means of transport in the dangerous areas – the areas which we could not think of controlling should be destroyed so that the advancing Pakistani army could not avail of any opportunity of using such facilities. He was of the opinion that the vast stretch of land from Sreemangal to Gangasagar should be defended at all costs and if we could keep this
87
area under control we could attract international attention and visitors who could see that the liberation forces were in control of a sizeable area of the country.Discussion then took place on all aspects of this plan.For the most part Mr. Mutalib and myself remained silent because we decided to know first the mind of the army officers before we could comment on anything.
I must confess today here the foolishness with which I had looked at this plan.I was surprised to hear this as I could not think of our liberation forces being confined to only such a small area. With the experience of the war today, I am wiser and would have gone in for smaller area if I were to suggest for today.But that day I became pessimistic and could not find any reason why from the very beginning our liberation forces think of defending a small area like the one Major Zaman mentioned. That day I was dismayed. I was in a panic and gloomy.Major Shafiullah could see the change in me and immediately asked me the reason in his usual affectionate style. Though I did not explain everything to him he soon saw through my point and explained the position to me.He told me that we would like to defend a bigger area but it was better to concentrate in a smaller area keeping in view the mighty enemy that we were going to face.
The discussion continued for an hour during which arguments and counter-arguments took place. Ultimately we were all convinced of the plan that had been suggested by Major Zaman.It was at that meeting that the historic decision of defending the Brahmanbaria axis was taken.It was further decided that if the situation became favourable, the combined forces of Major Shafiullah, Major Khaled Mosharraf and others could march towards Dhaka from Bhairab.
Major Shafiullah wanted to talk to Major Khaled Mosharraf at Brahmanbaria.After long perusal, he could just talk to him. Major Khaled Mosharraf informed me that they should have some immediate meeting somewhere at Bhairab for deciding a unified course of action.Major Shafiullah soon became anxious for leaving for Bhairab immediately.
The train was ready as I have told before. The engine had only three boogies attached to it. Major Zaman, Major Shafiullah and Major Islam soon left for Bhairab by train. They had their meeting with Major Khaled Mosharraf and they more or less adopted the same plan that had been suggested by Major Zaman.By that time Major
88
Khaled Mosharraf had already come to know the tactics that had been adopted by the Pakistani army.He already came to know, that it would be a wild idea to think of any advance towards Dhaka.He already was convinced that in such move would simply endanger the lives of all the troops without any substantial result.Major Shafiullah and Major Khaled Mosharraf thus decided to defend the Brahmanbaria axis, the plan that had been drawn up tentatively by Major Zaman.
When Major Shafiullah returned to Kishoreganj that evening quite late, I came to know all about their future plan of action, I came to know about his meeting with Major Khaled Mosharraf and their decisions. Major Shafiullah told me that the Pakistani army had already come to know about their location because when he was atBhairab, two Pakistani planes flew over the town.No sooner had he got down from the train two Pakistani Sabre Jets started strafing the Bhairab Railway Station and the adjoining areas.Major Shafiullah told me how he had managed to escape by taking shelter in the slope of the racked railway track in the face of incessant bullets fired from the Sabre Jets. When he was back he told me that they should leave as soon as possible for Brahmanbaria otherwise there was a chance of Pakistani Sabre Jets strafing their position at Kishoreganj itself.Major Shafiullah and others were very tired and after a meeting we came to the conclusion that possibly that night would be safe and they could pass that night at Kishoreganj.It was decided that everybody would leave by two special trains from Kishoreganj in the early hours of the next day.
Major Muin had been known to me for quite some time by that time.I requested all to come to my residence for a cup of tea.I had one intention to do so.I thought that if my family members could meet these people their morale would go up and that would help them recover from fear and despair. Since all the army officers were tired it was only Major Islam and Major Muin who came to my residence that night.Major Muin hadpassed a number of similar evenings at my residence during those hectic days of election in December, 1970.Major Muin, my wife and myself had lots of interesting talks ranging from serious political issues down to mundane love problem. But today it was altogether a different atmosphere.All the questions that came from my wife and Bina Apa were concerned with the present situation and a fear for things to come. Major Muin did an
89
excellent job that night by telling everybody that we were strong and would definitely win in the war.He later confessed to me at the Dak Banglow that he had to say this because he could easily realise the panic situation that had been created. There was no need for such confusion as I could guess his motive earlier. I was glad that he had spoken in the right spirit. The meeting would have become very serious if Major Islam would not have been present there. There was a person there whom I have referred in the earlier part as of this book.He was a really jolly man who would not be daunted in grave circumstances.Even that night he kept on throwing saucy jokes all around. We could not check our laughter when he repeated his reference to his behaviour with his father-in-law mentioned somewhere earlier in the pages of this book.
Another incident of that day needs to be recorded. When we were sitting in a meeting at the local Dak Bungalow after the arrival of Major Shafiullah and others, we came to know that an officer of East Pakistan Regiment had come to meet Major Shafiullah.This officer was on leave and was staying at his village home in Karimganj Police station.His name was Captain Motin and we were soglad to meet him at that time.Captain Motin told me that he had come to join the liberation forces and he was also glad that such an opportunity had come for him to join Major Shafiullah and others. All the army officers were glad to see that one more freedom fighter had come to join them. Since Captain Motin had come immediately on hearing the news, I had to arrange a transport for him to go home immediately for collection of his essential cloths and other items.He was in the civilian dress when he first met us first. When he came back in about two hours, he was a full-fledged army Captain with the uniform on. The people around had come to know about this and their morale went up when they saw Captain Motin coming back from his village home in army uniform.Captain Motin was with these troops all through the movement.He is now a Major and posted at army headquarter at Dhaka.on 31.03.71 It had been decided earlier that the Bengal Regiment people would leave for Bhairab en-route to Brahmanbaria early in the morning. I was at the railway station at about 4:30 a.m. to bid them farewell.All through these days the officers and Jawans had little hope and most of them were there at the railway station for boarding the long special train which was ready for leaving for
90
Bhairab.I bade farewell to the group and when I came back home it was about 5:30 in the morning. While leaving, Major Shafiullah became impassioned and requested me to keep up the resistance alive in Kishoreganj and Mymensingh areas.He told me that it was not possible for them to stay back and defend the area. He requested me to do as much as possible.But he also sounded a word of caution. He told me frankly not that it might not be possible for me, with all the limited forces we had, to defend the area against real army attack.In that case he advised me to evacuate the people to distant places and escape to a safe zone.He told me that our lives were precious and we could not afford to die foolishly for sentimental reason because if only we remain alive we could keep the light of resistance burning. Major Shafiullah told me that he would talk to me either overtelephone or wireless from where ever he would be.I bade him and other farewell with a heavy heart.
When I came back home I was weary and exhausted. The Pakistani radio had been blurting all nonsense like before giving out amounts of return of normalcy at different places. The radio claimed that army had taken full control of almost all the towns and peace committees were being formed for dealing with what the radio called the “miscreants”. The broadcast of news was intermingled with broadcasts of old and fresh martial law regulations.
Radio Pakistan had all along been a superb organisation excelling in propaganda.The propaganda took a different turn after the start of the attack in Dhaka. The reason for the efficient functioning of radio Pakistan was its organisational capability.I shall come to this topic somewhere later when I mention about Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan, one time minister for Information and Broadcasting of Government of Pakistan during Yahya Regime.
I have forgotten to mention one very important broadcast from Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra possibly on the evening of the 29th or 30th of March. The Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra was broadcastingfrom Chittagong, as all know, fed people with information in the beginning of this struggle against the army. Apart from all India radio and BBC, Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra was the only other source of information. The radio used to broadcast news, songs etc. at irregular intervals. There were no fixed times. The announcer used to depart with the remark to come back any time they thought suitable for the
91
broadcast. The Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra broadcastedfantastic news items like death of Tikka Khan and breaking up of revolt in N.W.F.P and Baluchistan When I met the organisers of the radio later somewhere in a free zone, they explained to me that they used to broadcast such news items deliberately because it was necessaryat that situation.Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra did a wonderful job during the early period of resistance by providing an alternative source of information, a source of information which the Bangalees liked because of their involvement in the struggle.Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra used to give exerted stories of defeat of Pakistani army at many places.
I have referred to the incident regarding appearance of Tikka Khan on the television. This proved that the news broadcast by Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra was false. Many of us used to believe first in the news broadcast by the radio station.But possibly it was in the evening of the 29th or 30th of March that it became clear that we were losing at many places including Chittagong. It was on that day we could guess that the Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra was situated somewhere near Chittagong. It was in the evening referred to above that Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra started crying out for help in the name of humanity from all nations of the world. We were told that the city of Chittagong was burning.For the first time we came to know that Pakistan war ships were very near the coast in the Bay of Bengal. We were told that. the Pakistani warships were inflicting rockets and shells on Chittagong from the sea. There were cries of “Bachao Bachao (Help Help)” from Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra that evening. We were told that Pakistani warship Babar was shelling indiscriminately on Chittagong city from near the port.We were told that whole of Chittagong city was in flames.
We became very sorry when we came to know this from Sadhin Bangla Beter KendraIn fact it was the son of Mr. Golam Akbar who rushed to my residence with the radio to let me hear the cries of help on the Sadhin Bangla Beter KendraAll of us immediately turned gloomy and sad. We got a terrible shock because retention of Chittagong was essential for keeping the resistance alive.I could foresee the fall of Chittagong. It was nothing but the landing of more ships with soldiers, armies and ammunitions. It would mean nothing but a further escalation of oppression against the unarmed people. It
92
would mean nothing but a further subjugation of the 75 million people of Bangladesh.
The fall of Chittagong should occupy an important place in the history of our freedom movement.Later on, I came to know from others that when the army found it difficult to take over Chittagong from the resisting public and the army personnel of Bengal Regiment, EPR, police, they initiated the shelling from the warship ‘Babar’ – the shelling which our forces with their meagre weapons could not withstand. When the Chittagong city went in flames because of the shelling, the army tanks, vehicles and jeeps rolled into the town killing people indiscriminately right and left. Added to this was the landing of fresh troops from the war ships and other war crafts waiting outside the coast. In the face of heavy fire power and shelling from all directions, the freedom fighters could not stand and they were dispersed.Chittagong fell to the Pakistan army sometime in the first week of April, possibly on the 6th of April.
In retrospect, it was difficult to defend Chittagong without setting up strong resistance points equipped with most sophisticated weapons like tanks and mortars. These we did not have and we thus had to lose. I personally informed that we could defend Chittagong at that stage. But in the evening of March 29th or 30th Major Islam rang me from Mymensingh to inform that freedom fighters were fully in control of Chittagong. I was told that possibly one Commodore Momtaz of Pakistan Navy had been arrested by the freedom fighters. Major Islam requested me to arrange some means of sending such news across the border so that the news of our achievements including the news of arrest of Commodore Momtaz could be broadcasted from all India radio.From the night after this talk, I had tried to establish such a contact. What we used to do to sending the news up to Netrokona from where the news used to reach Durgapur P.S., bordering police station of Netrokona subdivision with India.Sometimes the news used to be transmitted through special messenger from Netrokona to Durgapur and sometimes through telephone.An alternate means of transmission was from Kishoreganj to Mymensingh and then on to Haluaghat, the bordering police station and Bazar bordering with India like in Sadar North Subdivision of Mymensingh District.I was told that the news we sent used to be collected by some members of the Indian border security force BSF
93
which used to send them to the press and other news mediaa good number of news men were already on the other side of the border and there used to be virtual riots when our news reached Indian station across the border. For collection of all news for transmission, the SDPO or one of his staff used to work round the clock. There was no fixed time for dispatch of news. We used to dispatch news whenever we could get any.Sometimes the dispatch was done at 2 a.m. early in the morning. Most of the news that used to come at that time in different newspapers and the news broadcast by all India Radio drew their materials from the news we supplied. The Indian newspapers on the radio used to twist the news sometimes because of their cross checking with other sources which appeared to be less reliable than ours.
Another incident worth mentioning in this context was the silence of radio Pakistan Dhaka sometime in the last week of March or in the first week of April.One day at about 11:30 a.m. Radio Pakistan Dhaka went off the air. Different police wireless stations informed us that suicidal squad freedom fighters had attacked the radio station and caused serious damage. When we first heard the news on our wireless set and then on Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra, we immediately transmitted across the border. On our part all the family members remained engaged trying to find out if the radio was coming back on the air again. It is common knowledge today that the radio station was attacked by freedom fighters and it had to remain off the air for more than 24 hours because of the damage caused to the station .A good number of freedom fighters (I do not know the number) were captured and killed during their raid.The army inflicted the most barbarous treatment on the surviving injured freedom fighters. The silence of the radio Pakistan at least for a few hours was a great factor in boost up further the morale of our armed personnel and people.
I have forgotten to mention about money which we gave to Major Shafiullah.Major Shafiullah had requested the then D.C. of Mymensingh to give him some money because he was badly in need of money for meeting the expenses of the troops. The D.C. of Mymensingh tried hard but could collect only about Taka 10 thousand which was sent to Major Shafiullah through Mr. Anwar, the then S.D.O. of Sadar North Subdivision of Mymensingh District.Mr. Anwar carried it up to Kishoreganj for Major Shafiullah before Major
94
Shafiullah left for Bhairab and Brahmanbaria. (This Mr. Anwar did a lot for the resistance movement. He was a vital link in the transmission of news across the border). When Mr. Shafiullah reached Kishoreganj, he requested me to arrange some money for him.As a disciplined civil servant I could not possibly allow the taking of money from the bank.I had a talk with him in this respect and later on decided to take a serious risk.On my certificate the local Manager of the National Rank of Pakistan handed over Taka 10 lacs from the bank to Major Islam and Captain Aziz receiving the money on behalf of the liberation army.They signed the papers and a debit account was opened in the name of the liberation army. Later on when I used to meet Major Shafiullah in the battle fields in and around free zones, he used to tell me how badly they were in need of such money. It will not be clear if I explain the importance of such money for our troops.At a later stage the Indians used to sanction money for our troops.I shall come to the crucial importance of such money somewhere later in this book.
It was in the morning of the 31st March that I suddenly recollected an evening I had at Mymensingh. That was on the 28th of February.The D.C. of Mymensingh Mr. Syed Hasan Ahmed had been transferred and he had desired that all officers should go and meet him at Mymensingh. We were accordingly at Mymensingh on the 28th of February to meet him for the first time as D.C.There was a serious meeting in his office and even circle officers attended from different places. We stayed back at Mymensingh on his request for dinner that night. a few West Pakistani army officers of Mymensingh were also present at the dinner. I marked that while we were enthusiastically talking about the future transfer of power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the West Pakistani army officers remained silent and kept on brooding. There was a Lt. Col. whose name I do not remember at this moment. During conversation he portrayed his uneasiness at the situation telling me that the army was also a party to the transfer of power. In those days there was a debate between the Awami League and the Peoples Party as to who was the source of power. The Peoples Party Chief Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, known for his theatrical performances in politics had somewhere said that the Punjabees and the Sind were bastions of power. The reply was sharp from Mr. Tazuddin who replied by saying that the only source of power was the
95
people of Pakistan. Mr. Bhutto kept on indulging in dangerous statements such as; there were three parties to the transfer of power – the Awami League, the Peoples Party and the Army.Obviously this was a deliberate attempt to complicate the situation because of the overwhelming majority of the Awami League in the future National Assembly. Everyone had seen through his tricks and there were protests from all over Bangladesh against his ill-motivated speech.
That night sitting at the dinner party at Mymensingh we were discussing these aspects in a frank atmosphere. While our reactions were frank and state, the West Pakistanis, particularly the army officers present were killed and calculative. The Colonel was evidently following the Bhutto line when he suddenly told me possibly uneasily that the army also a party to the transfer of power. When the dinner was over, we discussed these amongst ourselves in close confidence.I personally felt very unhappy but I never had any idea that the army had been planning all through for following a disastrous course in order to foil any attempt for transfer of power to the elected representatives of the people.I could not see through the whole situation that day sitting at the dinner at Mymensingh.But when I looked at the dinner in retrospect on the 31st of March, it appeared that possibly most of the army officers were aware of the things to come. They had possibly received some scene of the developments that, were taking behind the scene. Pakistan’s power politics had always been the politics of manoeuvre behind the scene.The massacre that started at Dhaka in the night of March 25th was also nothing but the culmination of behind the scene manoeuvre that had long been going on under the garbs of talks and negotiations. When I brooded over these points on the 31st of March, I felt very very unhappy. I had hardly finished the excuse for breakfast that morning; I was told that I had a visitor from Dhaka.I came out to my residence chamber.To my utter surprise I found that the visitor was none other than Mr. Rashed Khan Menon.Menon Bhai had been with us at the University for about two years. He was senior to us and used to do leftist politics. Though I did not believe in many of the things Menon Bhai and his party propagated, I always had the highest respect for this man who had been in politics with convictions for a long time. I might not have seen eye to eye with him on many issues but I always used to respect his points of view.
96
When I saw Menon Bhai I was most delighted. He had possibly gone through a lot of difficulties because he looked very tired and exhausted. When I got him I immediately took him inside and we started discussing the events that had taken place at Dhaka. I was shocked to hear from Menon Bhai that Shaikh Mujibur Rahman had been arrested. I had not believed this rumour earlier. Like many others, I had believed the rumour that the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was free and in safe zone. When Mr. Menon told me that Sheikh was under custody I could not but look blank repeating the word ‘custody’ to him. Mr. Menon explained the whole situation and told me that he was very near Sheikh’s house when the army came and went away after arresting the Sheikh. He told me in details about the event. Menon was the man who would hardly tell a lie. I knew he was the man who would not say something unless he had any personal knowledge of the thing. I became very sad when I came to know that Sheikh had been arrested by the army.
I was very perplexed and wanted to know why Sheikh had not escape arrest.Mr. Menon could not give a detailed explanation but asserted that Sheikh, being a believer in democracy possibly did not think it was wise to escape.I was not much interested in the philosophy behind the Sheikh’s staying back and get arrested. The news itself was a shock to me and both of us agreed that the news should remain confined to as few people as possible. The news of Sheikh’s arrest could have a dampening effect on our resistance movement. My friends who were with me all through the movement would testify that I have disclosed to anyone even after knowing that Sheikh was arrested. If any of the friends of those days are reading the story, they pardon me for being unfaithful to them at that time. I told that lie throughout the early period of the resistance movement stating that the Sheikh was free and was away in a safe zone. I deliberately lied to all of them during that period. I beg to be excused for hiding this secret from my own friends at that time. Whatever I did I did keeping in view the good of the movement. My judgment possibly was not wrong as the news of the arrest of the Sheikh from my own mouth would have seriously dampened the spirit of the freedom fighters.
Mr. Menon had come to me for some petrol. When I found that he did not have cigarettes I brought out a number of packets and gave
97
those to him affectionately telling him that he should keep the cigarettes with him because it was difficult at that time to get cigarettes in shops.He had come to me for petrol because when the crackdown started I started imposing controls on most of the essential items.Petrol was given strictly according to my instructions and personally issue slips for release of petrol at that time. Renound poet Nirmolendu Goon was going for his native Netrokona also had faced same problem what Menon Bhai had faced, I had arranged some petrol for him also. I had started the control even before Major Shafiullah had come.I could foresee that we would be needing petrol most dearly and we could not afford to allow unlimited use of petrol for any purpose. When Major Shafiullah arrived, he could see the restrictions of control.He was very pleased and thanked me for having imposed such restrictions. With all communications cut off, petrol was the last thing you could get anywhere. In order to ensure that there remained some stock for essential use. I had even arranged the digging of places known to only myself, Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Golam Akbar and a sub-inspector of Police Mr. Nurul Islam. We hide petrol in drums at certain places.
Mr. Menon told me that he was badly in need of petrol and he did not have any money to pay for it. He told me that his people had killed about 3 Punjabis soldiers at Dhaka on the night of March 25, 1971. They had captured the arms from the soldiers.He told me that people numbering about 600 were hiding somewhere in SreepurMonohardi area.He was badly in need of petrol for going to those places. This was the smallest request a respected person like Menon could ever make to me. I gave him the petrol he wanted and told him to meet me again if he needed anything else. I told him to forget about my belonging to a different student party. I would like to help anybody who wanted to take part in the libearation war, no matter what his political affiliation was.
After Menon had departed, I immediately rushed to the local police station to gather further news about the resistance at other places. I sat at the wireless set for some time looking at the incoming and outgoing news. I was informed that Major Shafiullah had reached Bhairab.
A good number of people had gathered at the police station for meeting me in connection with getting permit of different items. I
98
entrusted the job to Mr. Golam Akbar and then left the police station for home. When I came back home I found an important man waiting for me. He was Mr. Nirmalnedu Goon, a rising poet of Bangladesh. I had seen him a number of times on television and remembered his features.It was difficult to recognise him at that time since he had shaved off his beard.I talked to Mr. Nirmaledu Goon for some time and again got another description of the events at and around Dhaka.Mr. Nirmalendu Goon had also come for petrol for his Honda which I had given him.
During the liberation movement, people used to come to me for advice and suggestions. One such person was an elderly lawyer of Kishoreganj town. He was the father of Captain Haider (at present Major Haider of Pakistan Army). Captain Haider was a Commando in the army. His sister was a doctor and she was also in the army as a Lieutenant. She had come on leave to Kishoreganj and Captain Haider’s father used to come to me during those days seeking advice from me whether he should send her up to Dhaka during that uncertainty.I used to feel embarrassed when such elderly people would come for my advice.
I do not know what suggested me that day to advise him not to send her up to Dhaka.I told him that he should try to prolong the medical leave by submitting a medical certificate.He listened to my advice and she did not go to Dhaka. That day he came to me to express his gratitude to me for the suggestion.He told me that his daughter had been saved because of not sending her to Dhaka. But he was most concerned about the fate of Captain Haider who was believed to have been arrested by the Pakistan army inside Comilla Cantonment. The only thing I could do at that time was to give him some consolation and told him that he should not worry over a rumour. I requested to take the news as a rumour. Everyone in Dhaka has heard the voice of Major Haider on Radio Bangladesh Dhaka on the day of liberation and on the next day. Major Haider managed to escape from Comilla Cantonment though he received a bullet injury in his hand. Major Haider did a lot for the movement. He used to plan most of the guerrilla activities inside. I shall come to the achievements of Major Haider sometimes in the later part of this book. I am mentioning his name here only so that I do not forget about him later in this book.
99
I have said that good a number of people used to come through Kishoreganj to other places during those days. On the 31st of March I met a few officers who had escaped from occupied areas of Dhaka, Tongi and Sylhet. Among them was an Engineer who used to work in the telephone industry at Tongi. There were a few officers from Dhaka belonging to Labor and Social Welfare. There was also an escaped officer from Sylhet I came to know about different places from these people. They were badly in need of money as most of them had not received their salaries for March. I must confess today, that I used to give them salary on the basis of a statement and a receipt submitted by them. I did not know what else I could do in those circumstances. I do not remember the names of all those officers who received their salaries in this way from the funds provided by me at Kishoreganj.For officers who were posted within Kishoreganj Subdivision, I could pay through the treasury. But for others I had to arrange payments through some mechanism devised by me at that time. These expenditures were over and above the expenditures we had to incur on general evacuees and for training of armed personnel.
Major Shafiullah rang me from Bhairab sometime before noon and requested me to dispatch as soon as possible the few personnel that had stayed back with a few vehicles. I had to arrange a special train with empty wagons for carrying the personnel and the vehicles.
The most important event that I recollect today about the 31% of March, 1971 is the strafing of Kishoreganj town by two Sabre Jets of Pakistan Air Force. It was about 3:30 p.m. when someone rang me from Brahmanbaria telling me that two Sabre Jets could be seen in the sky. I was told that the direction of the Sabre Jets was towards Kishoreganj and in all probability we could apprehend an attack on Kishoreganj town itself. As soon as I received the message 1 telephoned the police station and asked them to put on the siren immediately. Within two minutes the siren was on and people started taking shelter in the trenches which we had dug at suitable places. The police personnel present at the police station took shelter in the trenches dug at the police station. The family members were very panicky and I asked them to get into the trench immediately. They had hardly taken shelter in the trenches when the sound of the Sabre Jets could be heard.I had just lit a cigarette and there was hardly any time for me to take shelter in the trench.I remained back under the
100
cover of the house. I had been told by my army friend in such a case I should take shelter against any wall opposite the direction of the bullets. I was in a fix and I had to decide instantaneously what to do. I could see that the Sabre Jets were diving down and soon I would be spotted if I did not make a decision. I immediately bend low and leaned against a wall. The Sabre fireda number bullets near my residence. They were diving further below and I could hear thundering sounds of firing from the Sabre’s. I could also hear a few more sounds, which sounded like bullets fire from ground. The Sabre Jets went away and again came back in a few minutes repeating the same performance. You could hear thunderous sounds all-around of firing. It was difficult to understand if there were any other firing other than the sound of the bullets fired from the Sabre Jets. After repeating the performance, a third time the Sabre Jets left and stopped. I would not have got out of my position if there were not phone cell within a few minutes. The Brahmanbaria control let me know that the Sabre Jets were again on their sides and possibly they were not going to strike at Kishoreganj again. I looked around and came out in the open place in the front of my residence. Most of the people had taken shelter in the trenches in and around my residence also came out after seeing me. When after a few minutes we could no longer hear any sounds of the planes, we put on the no-danger signals on the sirens.
Then I asked my family members to get out from the trenches and before they could talk to me I drop down to the police station I had to know the actual happenings. I had to know about the damages done by the firing of the Sabre Jets. The news could be collected very soon. Though the Sabre Jets fired right and left, their target appeared to be the high school where a few vehicles and personnel of the Bengal Regiment were still there. I was told that I was right in thinking that someone had fired from the ground. The Bengal Regiment people guarding the vehicles actually fired from below, but obviously their bullets were no use and could not hit any of the two Sabre Jets. When the situation became normal, I immediately called the station master and requested him to arrange a train immediately so that the army personnel could leave with the vehicles as soon as possible. I had make this decision because I thought that any delay might attract
101
more firings later and serious damage could be caused to our limited resources in times of personnel and vehicles.
The train was arranged in the minimum possible time and the vehicles along with the armed personnel left Kishoreganj railway station just after dusk.
What surprised me most after the attack was the precision with which the Pakistani Air Force had picked up their target.I immediately realised that there were some black sheeps amongst us who passed on the information to the army about the location of the defecting Bengal Regiment personnel.Till today I believe this since otherwise the Pakistan Air force could not have located that area so precisely.I became very gloomy to realise that some people were leaking out information to the enemy.But that was no time to record. So we assembled in a meeting at night after the departure of the remaining armed personnel and tried to analyse the whole situation. We could not spot the culprit out the D.T.O. told us that it could be someone from amongst the members of the reactionary parties who pretended to be with us but actually with the Pakistan army.
I have mentioned earlier that after the crackdown, we had formed an advisory council consisting of all representatives of different political parties.Here I must say few words about the political parties like Muslim League, PDP, Jamaat-e-Islami and others. The local people of these parties joined us in the beginning. I have already referred somewhere that the reactionary parties were attending secret meetings. The representatives of the parties were apparently with us but actually their allegiance was to some other cause. In this connection the major role was played by one Moulana Muslehuddin, a candidate in the elections for National Assembly seat from Kishoreganj town. He had lost the elections to Mr. Syed Nazrul Islam by a wide margin of about 30 thousand votes. At the fag end of our resistance, we came to know his treacherous behaviour. We came to know that he pretended to be with other members of the reactionary parties but he was actually acted as an agent of the Pakistan army.Moulana Muslehuddin arranged secret meeting where stand was severely criticised. They had discussed that we were unnecessarily creating destructions in the way of the army.He dubbed me a secessionists and told the gathering in fact I
102
was acting as a tool in the hands of Awami League and the Hindus. When I came to know this, I did not have time to take care of him.I did not have time to sort out people like Moulana Muslehuddin who could be wiped out just at one of my calls given to any of the army personnel.
When I had to leave this country and take shelter somewhere in India, I told all the activities of Moulana Muslehuddin, his two sons had approached me one day for arms for fighting the Pakistan army. Then the army actually arrived at Kishoreganj on the 21st of April.Moulana Muslehuddin was the man who had received them and encouraged others to come to the town. He was the man who gave all support to the army and he was the man who boasted of victory of Islam over secessionists forces, Moulana Muslehuddin, with the help of the army employed both his sons as Officer in-charge of two Police stations. He was instrumental in the killing of hundreds of people and he was the man who took active part in the raid conducted by the army on the village home of Syed Nazrul Islam.
I would have forgotten about Muslehuddin after the independence if I were not posted at Mymensingh as the Commissioner. I was told that a mob was going to kill him when an Indian army Major saved his life and took him to Mymensingh medical college. He had received some wounds. The Doctor on duty joked with him and told him that he should not live because a ‘Kafer’ had saved his life. The Moulana had lost all his enthusiasm and he did not reply this time. I had the misfortune of seeing him once later in Mymensingh Central jail.He had contested the bye election arranged by the army during the occupation period and became a member of the National Assembly.His two sons were also arrested after independence. One of the two who was posted at Nickli as Officer-in-Charge had done so much mischief that when he was taken out to prison there was a persistent demand from the village women folk for handing him over to them. They wanted to kill him with Chopper, cooking stick etc.Because of the intervention of the liberation forces he is still alive in the Central jail of Mymensingh. After independence when I saw him in the last week of December at Kishoreganj he could hardly look at me. I asked him only one question: Was it for killing the Bangalees that he had met me earlier and had taken guns from me?He could not reply and hide his face with his hands.
103
The other notables who collaborated with the Pakistani Army at that time were one Mustafa, Vice-Chairman of Kishoreganj Municipal Committee, Moulana Atahar Ali, Head of Nizam-e-Islam party, one Tara Mia of Muslim League and one Emdadul Huq of PDP.Except for Moulana Atahar Ali all had pretended to cooperate with me after the crackdown, Moulana Atahar Ali only remained aloof at that tine. We did not want to drag him into this affair as he was very old and weak.But I shuddered to think of the atrocities in which he was instrumental. This old and weak rogue was responsible for the killing of many freedom fighters and others at Kishoreganj. Even at the end after surrender of the Pakistan army, he wanted to put up a fight with the KAFERS with his Mujahids. He was ultimately captured very soon. When I met him at the Mymensingh Central Jail after liberation sometime in July, he told me that he only fought for Islam and did not cause any harm to anyone. He told me that he had even issued Fatwas against the misdeeds of the army. He looked like a broken man and could not speak.I have more hatred for this man than Moulana Muslehuddin because in the jail Moulana Muslehuddin still appeared to be loyal to his misconducted convictions.But this man seemed to be eager to get out of the jail by begging mercy by one pretext or another.Mr. Emdadul Huq of PDP first cooperated with us and he even took lead in the destructions of a few bridges and culverts.I still do not know whether he did this at that time only to be friendly with us and show that he was also with the movement.His record for the occupation period was not also clean and in spite of the army officers dishonoured to his wife and daughter, he clung to their boots and served them during occupation period. I must mention about Mr. Tara Mia of Muslim League separately. When the Bengal Regiment arrived at Kishoreganj he took an active part in arranging food and shelter for them. He used to speak against them very loudly. He told me that he was with the movement and would like to be with me wherever I would be.He offered to be my bodyguard on one plea he could handle weapons of all kinds.I did not need any bodyguard because I always knew that I would never be attacked by anyone except by the Pakistan army.I later came to know that when the army arrived he was also in the reception group. I shuddered to think today what would have been my fate if I would have given any heed to his entreaty for becoming my bodyguard.
104
After seeing off the remaining troops of Major Shafiullah from Kishoreganj Railway Station, I went out to visit the camps of all armed personnel. I first went to the Ansar Training Camp at the local stadium. I went around the camp for some time and asked everybody to remain alert for any call at any time. Then I went around the town to see if blackout was being observed properly. We found was the blackout more or less perfect.One or two cases of slight deviate from instructions were detected and it was corrected on our orders. I must say here a few words about the functioning of offices and the observance of blackout at different places of Bangladesh. As protest against postponement of the National Assembly Session scheduled for March 3rd 1971, all offices, educational institutions and transport came to a halt.
When Major Shafiullah reached Mymensingh from Joydevpur this aspect was discussed and it was decided that everything would function normally as before but with the stamp of Independent Bangladash.This was done to show that we were capable of running our own administration in a free country. The call for blackout at night was given by Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra possibly on the night of the 27th of March. The call was given after the resistance fighters could see some tricks with paratroopers in Chittagong area. Major Safiullah upheld this call and he also gave the call for blackout at night. This was done to prevent any bombing and strafing at night and dropping of paratroopers from intruding Pakistani planes. In fact the whole of Kishoreganj observed blackout throughout the first phase of the struggle until the 22nd of April when Kishoreganj fell to the Pakistani army.After taking over the administration of Mymensingh, Tangail area, Major Safiullah issued a circular for distribution. The circular contained our resolve to fight to the last and a number of instructions including observance of blackout at different places, particularly urban areas. It was in this context we used to go round to see if blackout was observed. Mr. Mutalib used to accompany me in my tours at night.
After the tours were over, as usual we went and sat at the police wireless station listening to the incoming news. We were told that the freedom fighters were controlling in Chittagong but Comilla was in the hands of Pakistan army. Noakhali including Feni was free and attempts of Pakistan army to proceed towards Feni and Noakhali had been voiled by the freedom fighters at Subhapur Bridge.We were told
105
Shirajganj had seen a number of battles and the town was free. The same was not the case with Pabna where the chances of the fall of the town were very high.Rajshahi seemed to be within the control of the Pakistani army.Jessore was free but the Pakistani army was confined within the Jessore Cantonment. Till that time the Pakistan army had not been able to come to Tangail.he initial attack by Pakistani army for landing troops at Goalondo and Nagarbari had failed. Serious fighting had been going on at Kushtia, Rangpur and Dinajpur. The situation seemed to be confusing for the Sylhet area and it appeared that the freedom fighters and the Pakistan army were in control of different places of Sylhet.
That was not the time to get all details from the police wireless set. The places which had such sets could only supply the news. These sets used to supply the news for their own areas and the adjoining arena. When we could not get any news from any wireless station we used to assume that the place had fallen to the army. Our analysis news was in this context. Though there was no certainty or basis for all such news, surprisingly most of the news received by us happened to be correct.Today, I can say that because I used to have long discussion with my colleagues when all of us driving out of our places. The events and timings mentioned by me in those discussions used to get support from others coming from different places. It was thus at a later stage sometime in May and June that I could verify the sources of this news – not for any use but for my own satisfaction.
The period from the 1st April to the 4th April was a period in which we started to lose at many more places. Our precarious hold on Chittagong, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Sylhet, Jessore, Khulna, Faridpur and a few others fell through. We started losing more and more battles in the face of coordinated Pakistan attack properly planned beforehand and assisted by the Navy and the Air Force. It was naturally difficult fight back with our limited resources against the concerted attack of the three wings of the Pakistan armed forces.
Undonted, we however proceeded with our preparations and training. The training continued and also the intelligence survey continued in and around Kishoreganj.
In the night of April 3, 1971, we finally decided that our family should be evacuated to a safer place. We had already fixed up Nabinagar near Brahmanbaria for such evacuation. That night Mr.
106
Mutalib, Mr. Golam Akbar and myself sat together and came to the conclusion that immediate evacuation was necessary. This we had to do possibly after getting the news of our defeat at different places. it was quite difficult to work, in an anxiety free manner if we always had to think about our family. Moreover the routes were gradually getting more and more difficult and the Pakistani army was getting control of many of the routes. If we did not make a decision that night, we would not possibly be able to plan things later and actaccordingly.
After everything had been decided, in the last minute that Mr. Mutalib came up with the suggestion that if all the three families went to one place they would attract attention of people around. God forbid if we had to leave, our families would easily be betrayed and it would be a constant danger.He suggested that his family should go in one direction.He told us that he had made certain tentative plans and his family could go to a place in Austogram p.s., one riverline police station of Kishoreganj sub-division difficult to approach by usual means of communications. That night we again set to discuss his plan and finally agreed to his suggestion.Mr. Golam Akbar, however, insisted on his sending his family along with mine to Nabinagar.
None of us could go to bed that night. Uncertainty was looming large and that night, for the second time, we had to be separated. That was not a separation under normal circumstances. That was a separation under extraordinary circumstance in which none were sure about the things to come. That was a situation in which it required tremendous courage to make such a decision. That was a situation in which you had to pay a big premium in risk against an uncertain future. That was a situation in which none of us could talk.
As per my instructions the family members took with them minimal possible things that were necessary. For example, my wife only took two sarees (Women’s traditional Bengalee dress) and a few other clothes. The only heavy item in the luggage was the food and clothes for the baby.The baby was apparently innocent and he could not do away with things which he needed all the time. I do not know if God gives anything to the babies. It was surprising to see that even after awakening him; our baby did not cry that night.
Like others he also looked gloomy and looked around to understand what was actually going on.
107
After asking for the preparations, Mr. Mutalib and myself left for the railway station as we had to get hold of the Station Master and arrange for the departure of a train early the next morning. The train had to go early in the morning because journey during the daytime with ladies was pretty dangerous. Apart from other complications there was the danger of attack from the Pakistan Sabre Jets. We thus wanted to keep the news secret because we knew the enemy would do anything they could for giving us a blew at the time of the retreat for our families.
With the help of the local station master we could easily arrange the departure of the train the next morning, rather than this morning because it had already become 2 a.m. from Kishoreganj railway station. It was decided that only two boogies will be attached with the engine for the journey.
The planned hour inevitably approached soon. It was at about 4:30 a.m. when my wife, Bina Apa and others had to leave the house for the railway station. We had to make two trips in jeeps to the railway station which was about two miles from my residence. Words cannot describe how wishful they looked behind when they left the residence.Circumstances had forced us into this place since the crackdown. We had been living there for quite some time. We had in fact loved the house. After the crackdown we received a number of bad and good news but the spirit of living together enabled us to get over initial shock and surprises. It was very painful for them to think that this spirit would no longer be there. They thought that I would be left home alone.I thought they were going away from me for an uncertain period in an uncertainty.I did not know how they would fair and whether they really be safe after all. That was the time when tears came out from the eyes without any reason. That was the time when one suddenly recollect that the separation was coming too soon.But this had to be borne out. We had to leave the house for the railway station.
When everything was set for the journey, we left Kishoreganj at about 5:30 a.m. Looking in retrospect I still can hear the sound of the railway engine and the boogies. I still can visualise the compartment in which all of us were sitting tight lived. I had made a number of journeys on this route as a S.D.O.I had made surprise checks on this route for catching ticketless travellers.I had travelled on this route all alone on
108
empty compartment, looking into the files. I had travelled on this route at day and the night alike. That was the route for my travel between Kishoreganj Kuliarchar, Bajidpur and Bhairab.I never did feel before this route one day I would have to leave at the dead of night with my families for ultimate separation from them. That was not a routine train. The message of departure had been sent from Kishoreganj and luckily we got all the lines clear. The train was running quite fast and only the sound of the wheels could be heard.For about an hour none of us could speak.’Whatever we spoke on the train was about the precautions any separating wife will leave to her husband. The talks were all advises and requests.
The journey was soon over and at about 7 we reached Kuliarchar station. The local Circle Officer (Development) had been acting according to my instructions all through.He was an excellent man who really believed in the ultimate freedom of this country. I was most glad to see that he had come at the railway station even at that time to receive us.
The Kuliarchar Dak Bungalow was very near and we walked down to the Dak Bungalow in about 10 minutes. It was time for baby’s food and food was prepared. The local Circle Officer had arranged some tea for us. We had not taken anything since our dinner last night. The tea refreshed us and we felt invigorated for the next journey.
The C.O. (Development) then told me that he had arranged launch for us for the journey from Kuliarchar to Nabinagar.That was a private launch which had come to Kuliarchar with passengers. The launch was feeling insecure to run on its usual route. The Sareng of the launch had agreed to undertake the journey for my sake. The launch was at the ghat.
After taking rest for some time and after examining the route and dangers, we left for the ghat. The off shot of the Meghna at Kuliarchar had broken most of the adjoining areas.I remember that in rainy season most of the areas used to go under water.It was in August 1970, I was posted to Kishoreganj as the S.D.O. I saw the fury of the floods at that time. The floods had in fact engulfed most of the Kuliarchar and I still remembered how we could get down from the launch to the boat and row direct to the office of the Circle Officer through water. The waters were not there this time. The rivers had gone
109
down and usual make shift shapes had come off. When we could approach the ghat, a good number of people gathered at the ghat making different enquiries, because of my touring around the area instantaneously I was a known face and everybody was eager to know what the S.D.O. was going to do with the launch.
When the family members boarded the launch, I could see that a large number of people had gathered at the ghat.Most of them were passing remarks cursing the Pakistan army for compelling such actions. Most of them looked very unhappy and gloomy.I was however concerned since wide publicity could have serious implications.I then talked to the C.O. and both agreed that it was not safe for the families to go alone down to Nabinagar. The C.O. wanted help with a man who knew the areas well. We both agreed that, that was also sufficient.
In the meantime, a good number of intending passengers had also gathered at the place. Quite a few of them approached me and expressed the desire that they be also allowed to board the launch for the journey. That was not the time to say no to such a requests.Moreover I could immediately realise that travel alone by only our families would attract unnecessary attention and there may be serious dangers.I could realise that if the launch carried its full quota of passengers it would look like a service launch.Such a service launch, even if intercepted by the gun boats of the Navy could possibly escape notice.On this consideration, I allowed all those who wanted to avail of this opportunity for making the journey up to Nabinagar.
The inevitable separation than took place.I cannot describe any words how bad I felt when the launch left the ghat.I kept on looking at the launch for quite some time and pray to God that the journey would be a safe one. Before the launch left I promised to my wife that I would try to meet at Nabinagar one or two days later. In the last minute my older brother-in-law Ghalib decided not to go with the group.He stayed back and accompanied me back to Kishoreganj.He remained with me throughout the movement until liberation of the country.He had to undergo the trials and tribulations and hardship we had to undergo as escaping convicts of the army regime. That is however a different story and I shall come to it later somewhere in this book.
110
I kept on looking at the launch until it took the turn and vanished. For the first time throughout the whole period, my body shook and I felt very weak.I felt that I was heading for an uncertain future in which there would be no guarantee of my reunion with my wife and would never see the face of my son.I felt that I had deliberately committed a blunder and would get no chance to rectify it throughout my life.
That I committed a blunder by sending my families and others away that night became clear when I had to try hard to locate my family and take them to the free zone. I shall come to this topic somewhere later.
It was possibly the C. O. (Development) who could understand my mind at that time. Mr. Golam Akbar himself was feeling very shaky and soon I had to come back to my form to assure him and encourage him again.I could easily feel that my breaking down will dampen the spirit of the people.I felt that colleagues like Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Golam Akbar would feel worse. Hence, I decided to come to my form again at last and come back to the Dak Bungalow near the railway station.
When I was back at the Dak Bungalow, I was told that all was not well at Kishoreganj. Somebody had got around a rumour that the S. D.O. had fled from the town. The C.I.A. of police had been in fact trying to locate me at Kuliarchar when I was away at the launch ghat.I soon went to the railway station to hear the whole story.From the other side of the telephone the 0.C. of the police station and Mr. Mutalib told me that a virtual panic had been created in Kishoreganj town. Though he had been trying to scratch all rumours, it had got round that the S.D.O. was not in Kishoreganj and possibly he had fled to some safe place.He requested me to go back to Kishoreganj immediately if we were to keep things within our control.I told him that he knew my intention best and I would be the last man to leave everybody in uncertainty without giving a notice.He listened to all these patiently and still insisted that I should come back immediately. There were a few other people who were at that time with him when he was speaking to me on the phone.I made it a point to talk to all of them and assure that I had not fled but was coming to Kishoreganj very soon.
111
I had a mind to stay at Kuliarcnar for some time and examine our preparations at different places.I had a mind to discuss with people there and try to find out if anything else had to be done. The telephone call upset all my programs. I could foresee that if I did not return to Kishoreganj very soon, the rumour will get more and more credibility and there was a chance that situation would go out of control.I could foresee that the armed personnel would get frightened and would not possibly listen to anyone else. It was in this circumstances I decided to board the train again immediately and leave for “Kishoreganj immediately.The return journey was a safe one, except for the sighting of one or two planes in the skies when we were coming back.It was beyond Shararchar Railway Station that we had to stop because of the training attitude displayed by two planes that were hovering round over our head. When we found that the planes were diving low we stopped the train and jumped out of the compartment. We lay in shunting position and the armed personnel with us fired from below. The planes made two dives down and fired a few bullets.Fortunately none of us was hit and the bullets fell quite far from us. That was a very tense moment with the sound of bullets from above and below.I knew that we could not hit the planes with automatic weapons and the stun guns we had with us.But we had to fire to show that we were also prepared and would keep on firing if necessary.I still did not know what the intentions of the pilots were since they left after making two dives.Had they really meant to kill us that day, they could have easily done so in a few attempts.But this they did not do.It was possibly their intentions were to frighten us and that was all.
When the planes could no longer be seen, we boarded the train again and it started running, we picked up a number of donations of rice, wheat, etc. collected by people from different places and delivered to us at different railway stations.Against our wishes we had to make small waits at different stations for collecting the donations. At that time it was difficult to reach supplies to Kishoreganj by means of transport, though our journey was a secret one I found that a good number of people had gathered at all each railway station, shouting JOY BANGLA at the top of their voice. We could only reciprocate their sentiments by shouting back and accepting whatever they offered to us for the freedom fighters at Kishoreganj and other places.
112
After collecting all the unscheduled supplies that were offered to us at different places we reached at Kishoreganj at about 1 p.m.I immediately drove down to the police station.I found that a good number of people gathered at the police station inquiring about myself. When the people saw me, there was a loud whisper amongst the crowd. I could easily see that the leaders and others heaved a sigh of relief at seeing me.It soon became necessary for me to speak a few words for the crowd.I told them that I honoured their sentiments but they should not gather that way and assemble at any place. That was a dangerous time when such gatherings used to be strafed by Pakistani planes.I told them categorically that my going away from Kishoreganj temporarily was because of necessity.I told them that I would be the last person to leave everyone is danger without giving them a warning. I assured those who had assembled at the police station that if I ever felt that there is eminent danger, I shall give wide publicity and leave along with other after giving due warning. I told everybody that they should feel secure so long as I remained at Kishoreganj and when I would have to leave, people should leave the town because I would not be able to ensure guarantee security to anybody.
My short speech had a good impact on the crowd and they left the place.
After talking to the crowd, I sat at the police station and rang up C.O. (Development) making inquiries about the situation at Kuliarchar and the journey. Though the C.O. could not give any detail at that time, he confirmed at night that our families had safely reached Nabinagar.He told me that the person who had escorted them at Nabinagar had come back.I felt very relieved and thanked God for being so kind to us.
The families were gone and all of us were now free to work to the best of our ability. We concentrated on the training of the people and indicated that soon we would be in a position to send the trained personnel down to the place where there presence would be necessary. That night I talked to Major Safiullah and came to know that they had temporarily given up the plan for marching together towards Dhaka.Major Safiullah told me that he had sent two companies of armed personnel towards Dhaka and he expected them to give good fights at different places. The credit of the resistance offered by the freedom fighters in the outskirts of Dhaka after the first
113
spell of victory by the Pakistan army goes to the troops sent by Major Safiullah from Brahmanbaria. Major Safiullah told me that they were concentrating on the defence of the stretch of land from Sreemongal and Moulvibazar to the north and up to Gangasagar to the south.I came to know that one Lt. Col. Raja who had then been active service in the Pakistan army hadmanaged to escape to Brahmanbaria, his home town and he had been entrusted with some job. In fact Col. Raja was the Senior-most member of the armed forces till that time, of the Pakistan army who defected and joined the liberation forces.For certain unavoidable reasons, which are not clear to me, the services of Col. Raja could not be outlined in the best manner and this officer had to do many odd jobs which meant he was all through under-worked. I met Col. Raja later at Brahmanbaria and came to know all this from him.I could not say anything about this because this was purely army affair.I shall come to the topic of Col. Raja sometime later in this book.
One of the points that Major Safiullah made during his talk with me that night was that they were planning to defend the area by posting forces at suitable places. It was considered very essential to defend Bhairab and Ashuganj.Bhairab was the nerve centre of all riverine routes of Eastern Bangladesh. The control of Bhairab would give a tremendous leverage and advantage to the Pakistan army.The fall of Bhairab could be colossal for us. Hence, I was told that the combined forces of Major Safiullah and Major Khaled Mosharraf had decided to defend Bhairab at all costs. The riverineapproached to Bhairab were guarded by posting forces at places like Lalpur, Adampur, etc. To stop the movement of the Pakistan army through the railway route, it was decided to blow off one bridge about five furlongs from Bhairab railway station at Ramnagar at Dhaka railway route. Along with the defence of Bhairab the town of Ashuganj lying on the other side of the river Meghna had to be taken up. The arrangements were made in such a way that if effective resistance could be we could effectively defend the area contemplated by Major Zaman. The main camp for the armed forces was kept at Teliapara, a tea garden just in the border of Sylhet District with Comilla District. The terrace of the area was very suitable for keeping the forces there for movement to other places as per requirements. Despite all over of efforts, Bhairab fell to the Pakistan army on the
114
15″ of April virtually bringing a collapse to our defend system. This is a different story and could be elaborated in due course.
From the very birth of Pakistan, Bhairab had always been a strong centre of the opposition.Before the crackdown like many other places, Bhairab had supported the six-point of Awami League.A few persons took active part during the liberation movement in the defence of Bhairab.I must mention here particularly the name of the 0.C. of Bhairab police station Mr. Kutubur Rahman was at the back of all resistance effects at Bhairab.During those days of trouble, Kutubur Rahman worked tirelessly in organising the resistance of Bhairab with the help of one local business man Mr. Mostu Mia (he was later trapped and killed by the Pakistan army), one Awani League worker Mr. Siddique and one Adjutant of Ansar (unfortunately now I could not memorise his name), Kutubur Rahman was a person who could not be brought for the whole world. He was the person who was the last man to do any compromise with any injustice.He worked day and night in organising the resistance and when he felt he had to take shelter in some other place.Later on I met him a number of times in the border areas of Brahmanbaria Sub-division.At the risk of his own life he used to enter the occupied territory of Bhairab-Brahmanbaria area and used to collect information and organise splinter guerrilla group here and there. The guerrilla at places like Kuliarchar, Bhairab, Ashuganj, and Brahmanbaria were broadly organised by him. People like him like to work secretly without being publicised. He never wanted to be given the credit for what he had done.at
Pakistan was born on the 14th of August, 1947, with its two far flung wings in the West and in the East of the sub-continent.I had always wondered what actually kept Pakistan alive. I was referred to a few incidents to show that the West Pakistan never treated Bangladesh as part of Pakistan. We were as if a different territory.
I am reminded today of the Lahore student who was doing his M.A. in Geography.His general knowledge was so excellent that he did not know that people in the Eastern Wing of Pakistan used to speak Bengali.He told us that he came to know this thing for the first time when he met us. While we stayed at Lahore, many people used to ask us questions whether passports were necessary to travel to East Pakistan, many people used to ask us whether we had the same rupees as they had in West Pakistan.
115
Such illiterate and ignorant people apart, many knowledgeable people also used to treat East Pakistan as a separate entity.It was possibly in the month of December, 1959 that once I had the chance of meeting Mr. Altaf Gauhar, the then Information Secretary or the Government of Pakistan and Mr. Enayatullah, the then Addl. Secretary of Establishment Division. One of my West Pakistani friends, who had come with these two gentlemen for a meeting in Dhaka, had been staying at my residence. Mr. Enayatullah came to my residence to pick him up and with him was Mr. Altaf Gauhar. They were very senior officers and I felt odd for receiving them at an odd time without notice. While my friend kept on arranging his luggage, Mr. Altaf Gauhar and Mr. Enayatullah sat in the Drawing Room chatting with me.Possibly unconscious of my presenceonceMr. Altaf Gauhar remarked that they would be quite late when they would reach Pakistan.A clever person, Mr. Altaf Gauhar could immediately read the reaction on my face and joke that they were anyhow in a part of Pakistan even at that time. Ultimately they left.This was a small incident but I became sad to see the attitude of the stalwarts of the then Government of Pakistan towards this poor Wing. Mr. Altaf Gauhar was one of the most important figures in the Pakistani ruling clique at that time.If his attitude was thus, one can easily understand the attitude of others belonging to the ruling West Pakistani.
It had always looked like Pakistan was an unnatural entity and would break apart at the slightest provocation.I always used to think that it was something unnatural which was holding the two parts together. I felt that it was possibly the ignorance of the people and their poverty which was exploited by the West Pakistanis for maintaining the two parts together under the pretext of Islam.But there were some even in West Pakistan who thought about these things and were certain that Pakistan could not last long.
Today, how sadly I think about the dead old gentleman Mr. Hamid of Indore State, Inder Nagar, Muitan Road and Lahore.After going to West Pakistan, ironically enough as a fellow of the Pakistan Council for National Interrogation, I got very much familiar with a few families of Lahore. Mr. Hamid’s daughter Iffat used to study with us at the university in Sociology. We were very close to this family and used to visit their house very often.Iffat’s father, Mr. A. Hamid was a grand old gentleman who had taken his degree from Cambridge
116
ong back in English.He was a fine gentleman who used to speak fluently in English and could discuss everything on earth.He used to like reading and he had a small library at his residence.He used to tell us affectionately about his own life.He had earlier married a British woman whom he divorced and than married Iffat’s mother. Mr. A Hamid was a man with a far sight. I have to say this today because of his predictions.
Because of close relations it so happened that one of my friends named Salauddin Choudhury got involved in a love affair with Iffat.Both of them used to love each other very deeply and they decided to marry.
I do not know how the proposal was communicated to Mr. A. Hamid, the father of Iffat. Mrs. Hamid was quite responsive to the proposal but Mr. A. Hamid emphatically declined to give his daughter in marriage to Salauddin. In this connection, I used to meet him very often. I still remember that day when he called me to his small library and started talking to me in confidence. He told me that he observed in myself an analytical capacity and asked me a number of questions.He asked me whether there is any country in the world which was separated like Pakistan.Since I did not reply, he went on and started talking like an angle.He told me that West Pakistani’s and Bangalees could never be the same nation.He told me that their culture, language, history all were different and it was an unnatural phenomenon.He told me that with such diverging attitudes and background, Pakistan could not last long.He told me that he could not give his daughter in marriage to a Bangalee simply because Bangalees are going to be apart very soon from West Pakistan.He predicted that Pakistan could not last longer than 10 years. It was possibly in August 1966 he told me this thing. When he started arguing, he closed his eyes and as if he were looking into the future, he predicted that Pakistan would break apart very soon.
When I went back Lahore as a probationer in the Civil Service Academy in October, 1968, Mr. A. Hamid had already died. Whenever I used to visit his house, I had always remembered his saying I myself was never sure that the two wings of Pakistan could remain together.But I never foresaw that Mr. Hamid’s prophecy would come true so soon.Mr. Hamid predicted the fall of Pakistan within 10 years. But this occurred far before that. Today, when I look
117
in retrospect, I can simply praise the far sight and vision of this grand old man who could foresee that simply religion could not hold together two divergent cultures and societies.
On10th April, 1971 I got up early in the morning. I had already decided in the last night that I would try to go to Nabinagar today via Bhairab and Brahmanbaria.
I left Kishoreganj Railway Station in a trolley along with my brother-in-law (Ghalib) at about 7:30 a.m. When we reached Brahmanbaria it was about 9 a.m.There were lots of people at the railway station to meet me. I could see elaborate arrangements had been made for the defence of Bhairab. The approaches to the bridge on the river Meghna had been cut apart and it was impossible to go over that bridge in the trolley. I got down from the trolley in the Bhairab and came to know that it was risky to go in a launch to Nabinagar at that time. People told me that the Pakistan army had approached Narsingdi and Pakistani gun boats had been sighted in some riverine routes. When I found that it would be impossible for us to go to Nabinagar, I decided to go around Bhairab town and see the preparations. I went around the town and met everybody and exerted them to right to the last if the question of defence arose.I came back to the railway station at about 1 p.m. We had something like lunch at the railway station which was arranged by late Mr. Mostu Mia and Mr. Zillur Rahman at present General Secretary of the Awami League was at that time at Bhairab and it appeared that he was trying to help the liberation movement as far as possible. I was told at the railway station that Captain Nasim was supervising preparation on both sides of the river and someone told me that he was very near on this side of the river Meghna.He then approached the river by the trolley.Capt. Nasim was on this side and he was inspecting the digging of the trenches on this side. He greeted me when I got down from the trolley and made inquiry. I told him that I had planned to go to Nabinagar.He told me that I could not possibly go since the launches were terribly short of petrol.He told me that apart from this there was the danger of interception by Pakistan gun boats.
After having a discussion with Capt. Nasim, I decided to go to Brahmanbaria and meet Rakib and others. Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar were with me and they agreed with the proposal. It was felt that it would be useful if we could go down to the Brahmanbaria and have a
118
talk with Rakib and other army officers there. We walked over the railway bridge and crossed the bridge in about 20 minutes. There was no train on the other side of the river.Capt. Nasim spoke to Brahmanbaria in about an hour time. We waited at the railway station discussing various aspects.Captain Nasim sounded very confident and he told us jokingly once they have been part of the same Pakistani army.They knew the tricks of the Pakistani army and thus would be able to teach them a lesson when they came for capturing Bhairab and Ashuganj. We talked about many things. As a civilian officer it was not my job to point out different aspects of the military strategy to Capt. Nasim.But I felt like telling him a few things.I told him that the Pakistani army could approach Bhairab from different sides either by road or through the river.Capt. Nasim told me that they had kept all these points in view while preparing the defence of Bhairab and Ashuganj.
We kept on talking till the train arrived from Brahmanbaria. The train carried some supplies for the troops stationed at Bhairab and Ashuganj. After unloading the materials, it soon became ready for return journey to Brahmanbaria. All of us boarded the train. There were only three boogies attached to the engine. Brahmanbaria was only about 25 miles away and it took us about an hour and a half to reach Brahmanbaria.
When we reached Brahmanbaria, it was about 4 p.m.Message had already been to Bhairab from Ashuganj about our arrival. The jeep was at the station waiting for us. This time the arrival at Brahmanbaria was different from other times when I visited Brahmanbaria and met Raquib.On our way, we found that a good number of people deserted the town and everyone looked grim on the street.
There could be seen groups of armed people moving on the streets could be seen.We came across a few army vehicles on our way to the residence of Rakib.
Soon we reached Rakib’s residence. There were quite a few army officers at his residence.All of them had been discussing something. We were greeted by all and I immediately sat down with them, while they restarted the discussion.
Soon a senior officer had arrived and Rakib introduced him to me as Col. Raja.He had just come from Akhaura and he started giving in detail his observances on the defences. He gave a few suggestions on
119
the improvement of the preparation.Col. Raja was a man who talked much.Soon he became so friendly with us that he started to address me in ‘TUMI (TUMI”means which address to “very close one informally”).I could see that the man was very informal and was an open hearted one.
Tea was soon served. Rakib told me that he had been expecting Major Safiullah, Major Islam and others. Soon they arrived and the discussion changed. Major Safiullah told all of us that the situation at Sylhet was precarious.He told us that the liberation forces were in control of the town but they were finding it difficult to occupy the airport.From the beginning of the liberation struggle one of our aims was to capture airports. It was mainly because of failure in this respect that we suffered in many places.Major Safiullah told us that his troops and others had been trying from two nights to capture Salutigar Airport of Sylhet.But they had been unsuccessful because of lack of fire power. The best weapon they could fire from was a three-inch mortar, which caused only little harm to the runaway.Major Safiullah told us that the Pakistan swiftly repaired the damages on the runway and the liberation forces were finding it difficult to approach and capture the terminal building. We were told that Pakistanis had dug trenches at Salutigar Airport and they were well fortified. Whenever the liberation forces attempted to approach the airport, they met volleys’ of fire power from the Pakistani army from all directions.Major Safiullah also gave number of accounts of that situation at Sreemongal, Shamsar Nagar at Moulvibazar.He told us that the Shamsar Nagar Airport had been successfully captured and the runway destroyed to some extent.Major Safiullah told us that he had reports that attack was eminent on Moulvibazar on which the control of the liberation forces was very precarious. There could not be a long discussion as Major Safiullah seemed to be in a hurry to rush immediately to Moulvibazar for guiding and supervising the operations. He was dressed in the battle dress with all front line ammunitions and soon he whisked away in a jeep towards Moulvibazar.
After Major Safiullah and Rakib were gone, Rakib and myself sat together and started discussing the past events. He explained in detail how the rebellion started and how Major Khaled Mosharraf had defected.He told me that they had repulsed an attack from the
120
Pakinstani army at Gangasagar.He told frantically that in the beginning we made a commendable start but it was difficuit to keep on the different places with meagre resources and personnel.I was told that Akbar Ali Khan, our batch mate at Habiganj had been doing everything possible for organising resistance.
We talked about many other things and had some food at night.Nothing was available at that time at Brahmanbaria and our food consisted of only rice, dal and a bhajii (fried vegetable).
It was a very lucky day for me as at about 9:30 p.m.Akbar Ali Khan turned up at Brahmanbaria from Madhabpur, one of the places in his sub-division which was only about 20 miles from Brahmanbaria.I was surprised to see that he was equipped with a revolver. Akbar Ali Khan was known for his intellect. It was unnatural for him to carry a revolver. Everyone used to praise his wisdom and judgment. In our friend circle he used to be known as the learned. It was after a long time I met him and three of us sat together discussing things up to quite late at night.
Soon it started raining very heavily. There were sounds of thunder bolt around. Since there were a shortage of beds, Rakib and myself shared one bed and could not sleep because of the thunderous sounds.During that night Rakib did not sleep at all and went out a number of times to see that everything was alright and there was no chance of being attacked unaware.Still today, I distinctly remember that night. That was the night that three of us together passed on the free soil of Bangladesh before all three of us had driven out. That was a night which could be dangerous for us because in the confusion of the rain and thunder, the Pakistani army could approach Brahmanbaria and capture us unaware.The enemy was so near in all directions that none of us could sleep without anxiety.It could not be called sleep at all.Possibly it was a psychological need of the body which compelled us to sleep that night.I do not know when I feel asleep. When I got up the rain was no longer there and the light of the sun was coming through the window.
As usual Rakib, Akbar and myself and others sat for the breakfast.It could hardly be called a breakfast and was just an excuse for it.I asked Rakib also whether it would be possible to go to Nabinagar.He had told me in the night before that it was pretty risky to go at night since at night the friend and the enemy could not
121
be easily distinguished.Rakib narrated to me an incident telling me that our riverine troops posted at Adampur and Lalpur once mistakenly opened fire on a launch which was carrying our own personnel.He told me that I should not take such a risk because it would be difficult to send advance signal to this guard post for my journey.I had given up the idea of going to Nabinagar. The next morning after breakfast, I again inquired about the possibility of going to Nabinagar but Rakib told me that it would not be advisable to go since it would take a long time for me to return.Ultimately, I decided to give up the idea of going to Nabinagar and decided to return to Kishoreganj.
Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Akbar and myself left for Ashuganj from Brahmanbaria about 9:30 a.m. In those days the trains used run according to the dictates of necessity and circumstances. Thus, we had to wait for the train in the morning and leave at the suitable time. We reached Ashuganj at about 11 a.m.I decided to go down to the resistance headquarters at Ashuganj and meet Cap. Nasim and others.
We met Capt. Nasim and others in the Bungalow at Ashuaning. We found that the bungalow had been made the temporary headquarters of the resistance forces at Ashuganj and it was well fortified with trenches at all important points.Capt. Nasim and Lt. Murshed were very happy to see us. They had in fact been sitting together and listening to the wireless messages transmitted through. the army wireless by Pakistani army officers. While escaping from Joydevpur our officers had managed to take away a few army wireless sets. We sat near Nasim and Murshed and started listening to the messages on the wireless sets.
The messages were being transmitted occasionally in a code language.At one time a Pakistani army officers from the other and was reporting that he was facing a lot of resistance and needed air coverage. The reply was that the air power was terribly tight up in other places and they should fight themselves without depending on the air power.At one point there were cries of help from some Pakistani army units. Nasim explained to us that the Pakistani army had completely changed the code of their transmission. It was thus very difficult for us to locate the source of transmission of the wireless message.I must confess that I felt very excited while
122
listening to the message transmitted by the Pakistani army. Though we could not locate fun places we became very happy to know ihat theirs was not an easy sail.They had been facing resistance from the freedom fighters at many points. We were happy to see that our forces were really fighting at many places and even if we lostwe were giving the maximum possible resistance to the Pakistan army. We became so delighted and absorbed in the talks that we hardly could speak anything to each other.I do not remember today the other messages transmitted on the set.But most of the time the army commanders on the Pakistani side were sighting code numbers and talking in a different language. Sometimes they became annoyed and started speaking even in Punjabee.Looking in retrospect it was one of the most interesting experience I could have ever had during those hard days of trial.
At some point during the listening of the wireless message, at the instance of Mr. Mutalib I hinted to Nasim in a law voice that we should leave for Kishoreganj immediately and he should arrange a launch to cross the river.It was at that time not possible to walk over the bridge. Most of the sleepers and railway lines of the bridge had been extracted and the approaches dug wide apart. We thus had to avail of a launch to cross the river and to be on the other side at Bhairab.Nasim immediately sent some one for an inquiry and requested us to wait for a few minutes.
In the meantime I had more experiences. We found that rice, dal and curry were coming from adjoining areas for freedom fighters located in Ashuganj area.Arrangements had been made and people were spontaneously cooperating in supplying whatever they could give for the freedom fighters. There was about a company of armed personnel at that time at Ashuganj.Apart from the regulars, I could see a number of volunteers who had received training at different places including Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria.At one point Nasim and myself went out and inspected a group of volunteers numbering about 50 who had assembled near the bungalow at Nasim’s instructions.Nasim called them all and gave instructions for dispatch to different places.
In the meantime, the messenger who had gone to inquire about the launch came back telling us that the launch was taking diesel and would be ready for leaving for the other side in a few minutes.

123
Had Nasim and Mutalib not insisted on our staying back for a little more time that day we would have possibly left for Kishoreganj via Bhairab.Nasim and Mutalib affectionately told us that we must stay back for a little more time for having lunch with them. It was an imprompt lunch which had been supplied by the villagers for all the personnel who had stayed at Ashuganj at that time.Nasim and Murshed joked with us and requested us to have the food with the remark that that could possibly be the last we had together on the free soil of Bangladesh. They told us that it would be difficult for us to meet in such circumstances at any other time.
How I feel happy today, as I recollect the lunch I had that day with Nasim and Murshed. Whatever they told us was a joke. These jokes however returned out to be a real crucial jokes. That was in fact the last lunch we had together on the free soil of Bangladesh before independence. That was the last occasion on which we sat together and talked to each other. Later in August, when I met Nasim at a place near Salda river in Comilla district, an enclaved hold by the liberation forces – we remembered in with pleasant memory the lunch we had together at Ashuganj that day.
The lunch was over and we wanted to leave for the other side of the river immediately.No sooner had we come out of the bungalow and were on the raised land, we could hear booming sounds of shells fired from 25 pounder cannons.We heard as many as eight sounds. The sounds were from a very near places and there were echoes to the sounds. We did not speak and attuned our ears to the sounds.Nasim and Murshed in particular attempted to locate the sources of the sounds. After listening to the sounds in careful attention, Nasim broke eyes by saying that possibly the sound was from the Narsingdi side. Since we did not have 25 pounder, it was evident that the shells were being fired from Pakistan cannons. We could immediately realise that the Pakistan army had attacked our strong positions near and around Narsingdi.Though we got a shock, we felt happy to see that the Pakistani’s were finding it difficult to overcome the resistance. Otherwise they would not have used 25 pounder guns.
I immediately recollected the conversation on the army wireless sets.I heard sitting at Nasim’s place a few yards away. I wondered if the sources of one of those messages could be the Pakistani positions
124
near Narsingdi.Nasim and Murshed brooded over the point and agreed with me that it could be so. The sounds soon subsided and we could hear nothing more.
The sounds we heard at that day at Ashuganj actually the sounds from Narsingdi.We came to know this later sometime. It is common knowledge today that after having been beaten in certain areas near Dhaka, the retreating liberation forces met their companies at a place called Panchdona, five miles away from Narsingdi on the NarsingdiDhaka road and in Narsingdi itself. The Pakistani army tried to pierce through the axis and captured Narsingdi.
Their attempts were foiled once or twice at Demra.Everyone knows that the all India radio gave out news that the resistance forces had accumulated in large numbers at and were preparing to proceed towards Dhaka.I do not know whether because of this news or on the basis of other reports the Pakistani Air Force Sabre Jets dropped a few bombs on that period. This broke the resistance and Pakinstani army could easily pierce through the axis and coming up to Panchdona.At Panchdona they faced some resistance but with their superior might and fire power overcame the resistance and could easily capture Narsingdi.The sounds we heard that day were the sounds of the shells fired from Pakistani guns on the positions of the freedom fighters in and around Narsingdi area.
When the sounds subsiding, we bade farewell to Captain Nasim and Murshed and boarded the launch for crossing the river Meghna. It took us about 20 minutes to cross the river.I have crossed the river sitting in railway compartments a number of times.It never appeared to me that the river was so big and wide. When we went on the other side of the river, I could see that Mr. Kutubur Rahman was waiting for us. Along with him were late Mostu Mia and a few others.I asked whether they had heard the sounds. They all replied in the affirmative and told that they felt quite worried about it.Kutubur Rahman informed me that he had already sent some one down secretly to inquire about the source of sounds and he would be in a position to let me know possibly at night or the next day about the actual position.Kutubur Rahman was a very efficient man and many times he took such correct decision without waiting for instructions from anyone.During the first phase of the whole resistance movement, one of the primary tasks he performed was the collection of news from all
125
directions. The news supplied by him helped us in many ways and many of the news items we sent across the border for publicity on all India Radio and other news media of India. Apart from collecting news, he also organised food and other necessities for the fighting personnel located at Bhairab and Ashuganj.
When we walked up of the slope of the river we could see that a good number of people were working for making strong trenches were being fortified for with standing any possible air attack from the Pakistan Sabre Jets. We stood for some time and went around the area looking at those trenches. * We soon returned to Bhairab railway station. The message had already been sent down to the station masterKutubur Rahman for arranging a down train for us up to Kishoreganj. The station master told us that the train was ready and we could leave for Kishoreganj immediately if we so like.
In the meantime, Kutubur Rahman suddenly recollected that he had received a message from Kuliarchar inquiring about him.He told me that the Deputy Comissioner of Sylhet Mr. A. Samad was frantically looking for me from Kuliarchar.Kuliarchar is far away from Sylhet and I got more surprises to hear that the D.C. of Sylhet had been looking for me from this place.I thought Kutubur Rahman and others must have made a mistake and possibly it was someone else who was looking for me.Kutubur Rahman insisted that he had heard correctly the message and it was Mr. Samad himself who had really been looking for me. Since I could not be sure, I decided to talk to Kuliarchar. The line was immediately through and I could talk to the C.O. (Development) Kuliarchar.He confirmed that Mr. Samad had arrived at Kuliarchar from Sylhet and he was looking for me. He told me that they had been trying to locate me at Kishoreganj but were told from the other side that I was somewhere near Bhairab.I told the C.O. (Development) that he should go to the station with Mr. Samad and wait for us.I told him that we would soon be leaving for Kishoreganj and would stop on the way at Kuliarchar for meeting Mr. Samad.
The telephone call was over, we bade farewell to all those present and boarded the train.Today, I particularly remember the gloomy face of Mr. Mostu Mia.I had known Mr. Mostu for about 6 months since my posting to Kishoreganj as a sub-divisional Officer. Mr. Mostu Mia
126
was a leading business man of Bhairab and at that time he was the Vice Chairman of Bhairab, Municipal Committee.He used to donate generously as he was a philanthropist. Whenever I was on tour to Bhairab, Mostu Mia was always there to receive me and look after my comfort.His hospitality was well-known. It was very difficult to refuse him.He had charming amiable behaviour and could be found by the side of any needy person at any time. When I bade farewell to Mr. Mostu Mia and others that day, I could never think that this nice gentleman would soon be killed by the Pakistan army.Not even once did it strike me that was the last meeting we were having. I heard the sad news of the capture and death of Mr. Mostu Mia sometime in June sitting at the Indian town of Agartala.By that time all the defence had fallen and we had lost the first round of the liberation war. The story was told to me by Siddique the Awami League Secretary of Bhairab.Mr. Mostu Mia had done everything possible to help the freedom fighters during the resistance.He was a member of Sangram Parished that had been formed at Bhairab during those days.Siddique told me that when the Pakistani army captured Bhairab, Mostu Mia, along with others fled from the town and took shelter in a secret place in the nearby village. After looting and blundering the resources of Bhairab, the Pakistani army got around the news that the businessmen could come back to the town without fear and start their normal avocations. Through the C.O. (Development) of Bhairab who had by that time returned from Hajj, it was initiated that Mr. Mostu Mia would give about 2 lacs rupees to the Pakistani army major and he would not do any harm to him.Poor Mr. Mostu Mia fell into the trap and returned to Bhairab and gave the money to the army Major.On the pretext of some interrogation Mostu Mia and a few others were taken to Brahmanbaria only two days later and that was the last people heard about them. Their whereabouts could not be traced and they had surely been killed by the Pakistan army.Abu Bakar Siddique told me that the army major had taken the money already but he possibly did not feel safe and thus decided to wipe out all the businessmen from whom he had received money to destroy all proves of intimation and illegal bribery. When I bade farewell Mr. Mostu Mia that day I did not know that he would be dead so soon, with all his faults, he was an excellent gentleman who was a source of help to the administration. Businessman like Mostu Mia have been killed at many
127
places.But Mostu Mia’s name deserves a special mention because few people spontaneously did so much for the movement as he did.
Kishoreganj. When we reached Kuliarchar Railway Station, it was about 4 p.m.Drizzling rains had already set in. I expected the C.O. (Development), Kuliarchar would be at the railway station along with Mr. Samad. The C.O. was there but I could not see Mr. Samad.I got down from the train and inquired about him. The C.O. told me that he was nearby in the launch with his family and would come when called.I asked the C.O. to rush to the ghat and bring him.
We kept on sitting at the railway station for about 20 minutes before Mr. Samad came. Mr. Samad came accompanied by his Addl. C.O. Dr. Rashid and one Executive Engineer of Sylhet.I was quite pleased to see him at that time. They all sat and we started discussing things.
Till now reports I had received about Sylhet had been from different unconfirmed sources. Mr. Samad and others started giving vivid details of what had happened in fact at Sylhet. The Pakistani army did not actually move to the town on the 25th night.Troubles started from the next day on the 26th of March and the army clamped curfew on the town for a continuous 72 hours from the 27th morning. Mr. Samad told me that a good number of people were killed by the army on the pretext that the ignorant people had broken the curfew.In the meantime, the Bangalees, EPR’s, a few policemen, volunteers had revolted and started attacking the army at different places like Khadimnager, Ambar Khana, etc. The army did not seem to be prepared for such sporadic attacks.They swiftly moved out of the town and went into the stronghold of Khadimnagar and Salutigar air field.The liberation forces started controlling the town from the morning of the 1st of April. In the meantime reinforcements had arrived from Dhaka by plane and Pakistani army had made detailed plan from wiping out all forms of resistance from Sylhet.The Pakistan army soon attacked the town with a vengeance and started killing people right and left.Mr. Samad told me that they entered the town and killed Dr. Shamsuddin, the eminent Surgeon of Sylhet Medical College Hospital along with one of his colleagues. The police guards at the National Bank of Pakistan had taken their jobs very seriously and had stayed back. The army Jawans approached the National Bank
128
of Pakistan and at the first sight shot down six policemen.After the army hadtemporarily retreated for a few hours, panicky people of Sylhet came to know all about the killings. Some of them even went and saw the dead bodies of the policemen. The evacuation from the town had already started. After these killings it took 3 serious turns and people in large groups started leaving the town. In establishing control over the town Pakistan army faced good resistance from the freedom fighters and a few of them were killed and seriously injured.One such injured soldier taken to the Medical College Hospital was in a daze and he repeatedly announced that he would like to kill the D.C. himself.After all that had happened, this was a serious disclosure.A Junior Doctor of the Medical College Hospital, on coming to know this, rushed to the residence of Mr. Samad and told him everything. He told him that Mr. Samad was quite unaware of what had been going on.Mr. Samad had already become upset because of the killing of the innocent police guard at the National Bank of Pakistan Building. The doctor told him that he should not waste a single moment and must get out of the town if he wanted to escape the Pakistan army.Mr. Samad could realise the gravity of the situation and then left the town along with his family, Dr.Rashid and his family, the Executive Engineer and a few others. They managed to escape through different places and reached Sunamganj.From Sunamganj they boarded the launch and later reached Kuliarchar.
When Mr. Samad’s story was over, we started asking him for greater details.He could not give replies to all our inquiries but confirmed that there was no hope of resistance in Sylhet town and the town was completely under the control of the Pakistan army.
When Mr. Samad was talking of reinforcements from Dhaka by air, I immediately recollected the news and messages I had received earlier regarding sighting of civil planes and C-130 aircrafts over places like Nikli, Austogram, etc. – the haor areas – all of Kishoreganj Sub-division.I used to receive these messages. These messages had indicated that Pakistani planes had been making a number of flights a day towards Sylhet. When Mr. Samad was speaking, I could immediatelyrealise that those flights had carried the troops and arms and ammunitions from Dhaka to Sylhet.The officerin-charge of Nikli P.S. was instructed by me to try and hit any of these aircrafts.He was a weak frightened man who used to take shelter
129
under the cover of a house whenever he hears any sounds of army aircraft.I lamented to Mr. Samad that I knew about the movements of the aircrafts but could not do anything for stopping these movements.I felt a sense of guilt as I could not in any way stop the flights of these aircrafts which carries signals for death of many in Sylhet.
The rain continued for some time.I asked Mr. Samad about his next program.He had passed through a terrible time and could not give an answer to any query. Instead he requested me to suggest what he could do in those circumstances. Though it sounded a little embarrassing, I asked Mr. Samad point blank whether he had heard or seen anything. In fact, I asked him whether he was sure that he would not be killed by the Pakistan army if he returned to Sylhet.He brooded over the question for some time and replied that he was more or less convinced that the Pakistani army would not spare him.I do not know what made him pass these remarks but he appeared to be firm in his conclusion.
Apparently, Mr. Samad’s coming back was out of questions. Hence I had to suggest him other alternatives.I suggested that if he wanted to join actively in the movement he should go down to Brahmanbaria and then cross the border. I told him all about Rakib and his conviction.I explained the circumstances to him and told him that if people like him could go across the border and tell the world what had actually been happening, it would be of great advantage to our liberation movement.Mr. Samad, until then was the only D.C. who had escaped after seeing the massacres unleashed by the Pakistan army.His accounts and testimony would expose the intention of the army and would be of tremendous publicity value.I told Mr. Samad that if he decided to go to Brahmanbaria, I could ring up Raquib or send him a wireless message to that effect.I told him that in that case he would also get a chance to know further details regarding the massacres of the army and our preparations for fighting the army at different places.
I also gave Mr. Samad an alternative suggestion.I told him that there was no need for him to go by whatever I said. I was a junior officer and as a young man possibly looked at things more emotionally than a seasoned officer would do.Hence I told Mr. Samad that if he needed to consult anyone before making a decision, he could come along with me to Kishoreganj.I told him that I would
130
arrange his coming down to Mymensingh safely.Mr. Syed Hasan Ahmed, D.C. was one year junior to Mr. Samad.Samad could go to Mymensingh and have consultations with Mr. Hasan Ahmed for making a decision.I told Mr. Samad that everything was within our control in Kishoreganj and Mymensingh areas and he could rest assure that his journey from Kuliarchar to Kishoreganj and then from Kishoreganj to Mymensingh would be absolutely safe.
Young people like us make decisions quickly than by relatively older people.Mr. Samad could not decide anything and he started thinking. As an officer junior to him I had to allow for such thinking and wait for his reactions. He started taking so much of time that Mr. Mutalib started getting emotional and told me in whispers that I was wasting my words on an insensitive person. I felt naturally shy to insist on a quick decision. After passing some time, Mr. Samad still could not come to any conclusion. He requested me to send one train for him to Kuliarchar the next day. He told me that he would make a decision by the next day.
Talking about one quick decision of young officers, I am reminded of the reactions of General Tikka Khan when Pakistani army came to know about the defection of many young civil officers.For various reasons my father-in-law nameMr. Q. A. Rahim (Quazi Abdur Rahim) was High Official of Pakistani Government in Finance Department, he was the Honourable Member of Finance of East Pakistan Internal Water Transport Authority (IDWTA) in the year of 1967 he was appointed as Joint Secretary of East Pakistan (in the year of 1970) in addition engaged as Director(Finance) of East Pakistan Shipping Corporation (EPSC) (on the year 1970-1971) also was one of the founder member of National Pay Commission which was established by the Father of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibar Rahman in the year of 1972 had to stay back in the country.He had to attend meetings convened by General Tikka.In one of the meetings the question of defection of young S.D.O.s had come up.
General Tikka Khan became very annoyed when this topic started. I was told that he referred to us as to us as pig-headed.He lamented that these young boys who were supposed to uphold the integrity of Pakistan as members of the Central Civil Service of Pakistan had defected with the miscreants. At one stage he even
131
admitted that he had these young boys not defected, the army could have possibly have an easier time in roping in the miscreants.
Mr. Mutalib and myself started looking at each other. We could realise that it was no use to suggest anything more to Mr. Samad and his companions. We got up from the discussions and bade farewell to Mr. Samad and boarded the train. The train started running and we reached Kischoreganj in about an hour and a half.
Later on when I had to cross the border for talking shelter in India, I used to think of Mr. Samad. Mr. Samad had committed a blunder by not accompanying me that day. In the evening of the next day I met him, i.e., the 13th of April, the Pakistani army contingent started moving towards Ramnagar and Bhairab from Daulatkandi and Methikanda stations lying on Dhaka-Bhairab railway route. They went ahead and started firing right and left. The army set fire to many of the villages that fell in their way.Mr. Samad came to know about advancement of the army in the afternoon of the next day.He even heard the sounds of firing from a distance. The O.C. (Development), Kuliarchar rang me on the night of the 13th telling me that Mr. Samad had left for an unknown destination on hearing the bad news and the sounds of the firings.At that time I became very anxious for knowing the fate of Mr. Samad.He kept thinking about him even after crossing the border, he used to keep track of all the important officers inside the occupied territory. Some were reportedly in work and some were killed or in army custody.Mr. Samad’s name, however, did not appear on any list and we became very apprehensive about his fate, we had taken him for dead in cross firing until the end of August when one day he suddenly turned up at Shilong. We came to know his plight from him later in Calcutta.
After his meeting with me, Mr. Samad had to leave Kuliarchar in the afternoon of 13th April because Pakistani military were advancing. He went around different places and remained in hiding. A few days later when Bhairab, Kishoreganj and such other places had fallen, Mr. Samad went to Kishoreganj in disguise and inquired about me.Nobody could give any correct information about the S.D.O.He told me that one person started interrogating him when he wanted to know the whereabouts of myself. Mr. Samad evidently could not give his identity and this gentleman told me that the S.D.O., meaning myself
132
was somewhere in the Bhati areas, of Kishoreganj subdivision leading resistance forces of about 20,000 forces.Mr. Samad joked with me by saying that the gentleman gave an air of secrecy and told me that in confidence. When I told Mr. Samad that I had never been in the haor areas he joked by saying that nonetheless, people in Kishoreganj had some ideas what their S.D.O. was in the haor areas leading resistance forces. When Mr. Samad failed to get any confirm news about me, he decided to leave for the safe zone leaving behind his family in a safe place with his near relatives.He made a few attempts for crossing over to the safe zone.Each time some difficulty arose and it gradually became more and more difficult to get out unnoticed by the Pakistani army.Ultimately he could do so only by hiding in the heaps of rice bags in a boat, with the appearance of Mr. Samad, all our apprehension about him had subsided.I told him that he would not possibly have suffered so much if he had listened to most suggestion when we met at Kuliarchar.Mr. Samad became very moody and accepted my mild accusation.He, however, laughed at the end remarking that he had ultimately been able at least to cross over and join us in the free zone.
On 6th April 1971, I had hardly any sleep the night before. The telephone rang early in the morning to tell me that Captain Nasim and few others were coming down to Kishoreganj from Brahmanbaria on a mission.I could immediately realise what the mission was.By that time we had already decided to blow up a few vital bridges around Kishoreganj town. We had made tentative selections of two bridges, one railway bridge which is outside of Kishoreganj near Nilgan railway station and the other a road bridge 10 miles beyond Kishoreganj on Kishoreganj-Mymensingh roads.I could realise that Captain Nasim was coming for blowing up these bridges.
Captain Nasim arrived at about 10:30 a.m. I was at the railway station to receive him. He was not alone.I could see that an Indian army officer was with him. The cigarettes smoked by the men in civil dress, immediately betrayed his identity to us. There were a few troops with them in civil dress. The group was carrying good quantities of explosives. We soon sat down in the room of the station master at the railway station.Captain Nasim explained the position to the Indian army officer and told me everything. In the meantime, he had been introduced to me.Captain Nasim remarked that the local S.D.O was in full agreement with them regarding the destruction of the two bridges.
133
After finalising the arrangements all of us left for the places. The troops working under the command of Captain Nasim immediately got down to business and started fixing the explosives at suitable places on the road bridge. It took them about two hours to fix the materials. The road bridge was a relatively long one of about 8′ spa. When the fixing was over at the road bridge, the group walked down to the railway bridge about a fourth of a mile away and fixed up the explosive.I talked to Captain Nasim and decided that we should give publicity in the town and adjoining areas for the people so that they did not frightened at the sound of the blowing up of the bridges. Publicity was accordingly arranged and people were told that the freedom fighterswere in a mission near Kishoreganj soon and they should not get disturbed by hearing loud sounds. Some volunteers went up and down the places and supplied the group with food and drinks.
When everything was set, fire was applied. Sitting at the police station, we heard two big sounds of the blowing up of the bridges. Soon the group came back with photographs of the blown up bridges. The photographs were watched and we could see that the bridges had really been damaged beyond repairs. On completion of the mission, the group left Kishoreganj for Brahmanbaria at about 9 p.m. In the meantime we had sent the news of the successful destruction of the two bridges down to Brahmanbaria through the police wireless.
I must explain here the philosophy of destruction of such bridges in the beginning of the liberation struggle. We thought that the destruction of such bridges would dampen the movement of the army and the resistance forces could take them on at choice sites, we had little idea that the transport division of an efficient army could make temporary arrangements for overcoming such difficulties. No doubt the destruction of such bridges was a part of our strategy of denial of facilities to the Pakistan army.No doubt the destruction of bridges and culverts and railway lines caused a serious destruction in the program of advancement of the Pakistan army.Because of the destruction of various overheads, Pakistan army could never restore the original facilities thereby failing in their attempt to restore complete normalcy. Those who stayed inside during the occupation period would agree that the destruction caused by the liberation forces in the
134
beginning and in later periods did create innumerable problems for the army.Looking in retrospect, I, however, can have only some regrets for such destructions.Had I known that we would not be able to stop the movement of the army by such destructions, I would have definitely decided from doing this. It was necessary in the context of our strategy at that time to destroy such bridge but in retrospect analysis, such destruction did not do as much good as we had thought. In fact, I am reminded of an interesting evening later when the country became free.
I was going to Kishoreganj from Mymensingh. It was my first visit to Kishoreganj on the 29th of December, 1971 after assuming the office of Dy. Commissioner, Mymensingh. When I approached the bridge, I found out that the bridge had not been until that time repaired. We had to avail of a Feri at the damaged bridge. There were people all around and quite a few of them recognised me. They started whispering among themselves. One of them even approached me and jokingly remarked that I had to bear with the trouble as I had myself destroyed the bridge during the first phase of the liberation movement.
On the 15th of April, 1971, after starting of the crackdown on the 25th of March, 1971, we had to pass eventful days.I remained at Kishoreganj from that date until the night of 17th of April. We lived during this period in extraordinary circumstances.But the spirit remained high all through and different areas of Kishoreganj kept of flying the banner of Independent Bangladesh.From the 25th of March to the 17th of April, almost all of those days were eventful and marked with special incidents.A few days, however, were outstanding and it would be years before I can forget of those days. I have mentioned in a few days, particular. One such important day was the 15th of April, 1971.I shall record here the events that took place that day in Kishoreganj sub-division.
Like other nights, I had just had a pretext of sleep on the night of the 14th of April; I could not sleep for various reasons.I had been receiving disturbing news about the fall of different cities and towns to the Pakistan army.I had treated this news with great concern.Apart from the fall of a place like Dhaka, Chittagong, Jessore, Khulna, Sylhet, Tongi, Faridpur, and Pabna, etc. in my immediate neighbourhood there was eminent danger of fall of Tangail,
135
Mymensingh, etc.On my return from Brahmanbaria, I came to know on the 13th of April that the Pakistan army was making systematic efforts for repairing and re-fixing the railway roads from Tongi onwards toward Bhairab.
On the 13th of April, I came to know that a few miles had been repaired and the army train had in fact crossed Ghorasal railway station.Possible the Pakistan army knew about the serious resistance they would face at Bhairab.As a result after a few stations from Ghorasal the Pakistan army started marching on foot along the railway track.Whatever fell on their way were destroyed.Houses were set to fire and people were killed. The Pakistan army forced many civilians to carry their luggage arms weapons, etc. at gun point. They kept on proceeding towards Bhairab on foot and on the 13th of April, we came to know that they had advanced up to Methikanda Railway Station. The Pakistan army set their base camp at Methikanda and from their about two companies of the troops started moving towards Ramnagar. On the morning of April 14″, I was told from Bhairab that the attack had already begun.A company of the Pakistan army kept engaged our advanced forces stationed at Ramnagar.Capt. Motiur Rahman soon found it difficult to check the advance of the Pakistan army equipped with sophisticated weapons. The exchange of fire continued throughout the 14th and I was told from Bhairab that the Pakistan army had really attacked seriously.
It was in this background the telephone rang early in the morning of the 15th of April, 1971.The telephone operator had fled from Bhairab.Kutubur Rahman told me from Bhairab that an all-out attack had started.He introduced me to a student volunteer who kept on handling of telephone exchange in the absence of the operator.I exerted the student operator to remain at the telephone exchange and told him that much depended on his sending news.I told him frankly that if a situation became very serious, I did never expect that he should keep on to the sets and get killed unnecessarily.I told him that his life was as much precious to himself as us as our lives were.I only made one request to him. He should leave the telephone exchange only after making final call to me so that I knew that the situation had gone out of control and our defence had fallen.
Kutubur Rahman told me in the morning that the attack had started. Two companies of Pakistani army kept on engaging our
136
advance troop at Ramnagar. Kutubur Rahman told me that four Pakistani Sabre Jets had come to the field and they were strafing and bombing different positions at Ashuganj and Bhairab.He told me that it was difficult to get out and see what was actually happening as the intensity of bombing and strafing by the Pakistani Sabre Jets was very serious.He told me that our forces were trying to reply from the trenches but they were finding it difficult to do anything in the face of such serious attack from the air by four Pakistani Sabre Jets. When I talked to the telephone, I could hear big sounds in the distance.Kutubur Rahman was possibly correct in saying that it was difficult to know exactly the situation outside as there was hardly any pause in the bombing by the Sabres.I told Kutubur Rahman that he should not unnecessarily risk his life by getting out without taking precaution.He could do as much as possible and wait for seeing the final result.I made it a point to tell him that he must not in any case commit a blunder by surrendering to the Pakistani army.I told him that he was clever enough to understand the situation. If the situation went out of control he should try to escape secretly.
Immediately I jumped up from the bed and put on my clothes. I hardly felt like any tea or breakfast. I called out Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar and told them everything I heard from Bhairab.I sent down messages to all my leaders and soon they came to my residence. We sat together and tried to analyse the situation.
While we were analysing the situation the telephone rang again. The student volunteer from the other side told us that he has risked his life by getting up to the top of the building and had seen the bombing and strafing all around.He told me that it was difficult to speak in a low voice as loud sounds all around were continuing.
The resistance forces were replying from the ground and the Pakistani Sabre Jets were making careful dives down for bombing and strafing their selected places. The boy was talking at the top of his voice and yet we found it quite difficult to hear him.Possibly something happened and the line went out immediately.
We kept on sitting. I could easily foresee the Pakistani army had made a careful plan for dislodging our troops from their positions. It was about 10:30 a.m. the telephone rang again. The news this time was much more alarming. The boy from the other side informed us that 4 Pakistani Helicopters had appeared in the skies. The helicopters
137
were carrying troops, about 30 or so in each sortie.The troops were being dropped at unconventional places.I was told that the troops were being dropped all around Ashuganj and Bhairab.Our forces were finding it difficult to combat such landings because of the incessant bombing and strafıng by the Sabre Jets. The boy told me that the helicopters were making queries up and down from Dhaka or some other places carrying troops and dropping them each time at different places at and around Bhairab and Ashuganj. We could immediately understand that the Pakistani army’s plan was to catch our troops unaware and surround them from all sides taking the advantage of bombing and strafing by their Sabres.Possibly the troops wanted to surround our freedom fighters and mob them up. We became very alert to hear this news.
That was not the end of the bad news. The C.O. (Development) from Kuliarchar rang up from Kuliarchar to tell us that Pakistani helicopters were dropping soldiers at different isolated places in and around Kuliarchar also.He told me that he had received an unconfirmed news that the troops who were dropped were boarding launches at different places and were trying to advance towards Bhairab.He told us that he had received news that two launch loads of Pakistani troops were faced advancing towards Bhairab from Narsingdi.
The news was so disturbing, that all of us could not speak for some time. There was nothing much we could do at that time but to waitand see the turn of events.I had foreseen these calamities and had warned Captain Nasim and others about these earlier. With Meagre resources and personnel they had to adopt a strategy which their resources permitted and they could not stretch the resistance too far, to make it very thin. They had in fact allowed for all such eventualities except for the continued bombing and strafing by the Sabre Jets.I did not think that I would be wrong in my saying if I say that a substantial part of the Pakistani army and the air force were deployed that day for the capture of Bhairab and Ashuganj.
All of us kept on sitting. We became very sad to hear the very alarming news.The news kept on pouring from both Kuliarchar and Bhairab.Nobody could give a confirm details of what was going on.But it was clear that the carriage of troops by helicopters continued.He also continued the bombing and strafing by the
138
Pakistani Sabre jets except for about 10 minutes. We could imagine that serious fights were going on at Bhairab. We could imagine the plight of our troops surround from all sides and hit from above.
We kept on receiving unconfirmed news from Bhairab and Kuliarchar. It was possibly at about 12:30 p.m. that the student volunteer from Bhairab gave me the final ring. He told me that bullets were falling near the telephone exchange building and it was simply impossible to stay further in the area.He told me in probability troops were on the point of entering Bhairab town from the river side.He told me that our forces were shooting down a number of Pakistani soldiers but were finding it difficult to match them both in numbers and weapons.He told me that hand to hand fight was going on at certain places and the Pakistani helicopters were bringing in more and more troops from different places. The boy kept his promise and before departing gave this final ring. I told him with a heavy heart that there was no point in his staying further at the telephone exchange.He could leave the place and take shelter in a safe area. I bade him farewell and told him that God willing, we shall definitely meet some other day in free Bangladesh.
Today looking in retrospect, I do not remember what the name of the student was.I do not remember whether I had met him any other time.I do not remember whether I ever met him personally.This country is independent now and I shall be most glad to receive him and meet him any time he would come to see me.If he is reading this book today he should immediately respond and write to me by giving his address.I shall definitely try to contact him. If his is not alive, I can only pray for the departed soul of this brave young boy who risked his life for feeding us with valuable information at the most critical hour of our struggle for the defence of Bhairab. Till now we had had some cautious optimism about the defence of Bhairab. With the departure of student volunteer all hopes collapsed and we could foresee that Bhairab would soon be destroyed by the Pakistani army.I became most sad to think about the plight of our troops.
Looking in retrospect today I can analyse the situation better.Pakistan army possibly came to know of the preparations at Bhairab and Ashuganj from their intelligence sources. They possibly concluded that an all-out attack would be necessary for the capture of Bhairab and Ashuganj. This is why they possibly did not make any attack though they could do it any time from the 6th of April
139
onwards. They took time and worked out a coordinated attack plan. It was a part of their strategy to keep our forces at Ramnagar by a company or so of their troops. It was a part of their strategy to keep on bombing and strafing Bhairab and Ashuganj so that our forces could not get out of the trenches.Taking the advantage of the air cover, they brought in forces from Dhaka, Narsingdi and other places. They had planned the attack from all directions, from air, from land route and from the river. This is why they had kept, stationed a number of launches at strategic places. The troops dropped by the helicopters were picked up by these launches and these launches kept on advancing towards Bhairab.Possibly from intelligence source the Pakistan army had come to know about the actual locations of our troops. It was very difficult to hide those secrets as we were fighting a people’s war. Our forces had never taken part in such a battle and they possibly did not try to hide as much as possible.Even if they had tried to, they would have failed since it was a people’s war and people had been taken into confidence. This is the story of the strategy of the Pakistan which they adopted for routing out the forces resistance from Bhairab and Ashuganj.The Pakistan army and correctly foreseen the importance of Bhairab and had thus met a detailed coordinated plan for it capture.
I must record here a few things regarding the bridge over river Meghna at Bhairab.I have told earlier in the pages of this book that we decided not to blow up the bridge because of its tremendous value and technical resourcefulness, and that it would be difficult for us to repair this bridge later if we blow it up.Apart from the physical necessity of having lots of explosives, this aspect also induced us not to take a decision for the destruction of the bridge.
But we did actually plan the destruction of one span of the bridge lying towards Ashuganj side. Nobody who listened to the Pakistan radio at that time must have heard that the Pakistan army could find out explosives in dangerous positions fitted to the bridge when they captured Bhairab. The radio gave out the news that the Indians had fitted explosives to the bridge for blowing it up.The radio announced that the timely intervention and capture of the bridge by the Pakistan army saved this colossal property of Pakistan. Whatever the radio said was correct in one sense but incorrect in another. The radio in fact told the story by exaggerating the explosive that had been fixed up to the
140
bridge. It was not the Indians who planned this destruction. It was very much we who planned this. We had in fact planned to blow up one side of the bridge in case of extreme circumstances. In fact, one J.C.O. of East Bengal Regiment was placed in charge of setting the fire to the explosives.As illluck would have it, he was kept under heavy fire by the Pakistani army and could not set fire to the explosives.He did light the match and set fire to the fuse.But again because of some unknown reasons the fuse did not burn as swiftly as we planned.This is how the Pakistan army could put out the fire and save the bridge from destruction.
From 12:30 p.m. onwards we kept on sitting. It was a gloomy day and we understood that like other places we had lost one more place to the Pakistan army.This was much more than a loss of a place or a town.Bhairab was constituted in such a way that its control would give leverage to the Pakistan army.An important railway junction and river station from Bhairab the Pakistan army could control the railway network in the Eastern region and the riverine routes of this area. We could immediately understand that Bhairab capture in fact destroy all hopes of defence of places like Kishoreganj and Mymensingh.The Pakistan army had already advanced from near to Tangail.I could easily realise that we would be soon trapped if we did not try to make an escape through some route via the northern region. In fact I had during talks with Rakib told him earlier that in case of any serious eventually of attack from the Mymensingh side we could get down to Brahmanbaria for safety. We could see that this hope had been destroyed forever. There could not be now any question of going towards Brahmanbaria. With the fall of Bhairab the defence of Brahmanbaria would become very difficult and I apprehended that Brahmanbaria would very soon fall to the Pakistan army thereby bringing a complete collapse to our resistance in this eastern region.
I tried to contact Kuliarchar at about 2 p.m. but failed. Nobody picked up the telephone from the other side from Kuliarchar.It appeared that Kuliarchar was also under serious attack and possibly people had escaped to safe places.I had already ordered the extraction of railway lines between Kishoreganj and Bhairab.A good number of yards of railway lines had already been extracted between Kuliarchar and Bhairab. With the receipt of the news all the precarious situation
141
in Bhairab should be extracted. On the 15 of April, railway gunmen started seriously with their job and by the 17th of April most of the railway tracks were missing between Bhairab and Kishoreganj.
At about 5 p.m. that day, two local leaders rushed to me telling me that the news about Bhairab was not correct.They told me that they had just received news that the Pakistani army had not been able to capture Bhairab.The messenger that carried the news from some place was immediately brought to us. We started interrogating him and from his reports it became apparent that this news was not in any way a convincing one.I had myself been convinced by that time that Bhairab had fallen to the Pakistan army.I had reasons to believe so.I knew Kutubur Rahman very well and knew that he would not definitely contact me if Bhairab had not fallen to the Pakistan army. The very fact that nobody was there on the other side of the telephone at Bhairab convinced us ultimately that Bhairab had fallen to the Pakistani army.
Free from all anxieties about families we went to the police station and kept on sitting near the wireless set in the hope of getting further news about the Bhairab and other places. It was difficult to get Brahmanbaria on the wireless set.The wireless operator at Brahmanbaria had been working round the clock and he had always been available on the set. This time on the night of the 15th of April, in spite of our repeated efforts there was no reply from Brahmanbaria. It became very clear that the wireless operator had left Brahmanbaria. It also became clear that the Pakistani army attack did not remain confined to Bhairab and Ashuganj alone but they had possibly attempted and advanced towards Brahmanbaria as well.Later I came to know the incident. After capturing Ashuganj and Bhairab, a contingent of the Pakistan army attempted to move towards Brahmanbaria. The effective resistance had been broken at Bhairab which helpedthe Pakistani army to move forward towards Brahmanbaria. In spite of the fall of Bhairab and Ashuganj the liberation forces resisted the movement of the Pakistani army for quite some time but ultimately failed. It was possibly on the 18th of April, Brahmanbaria totally fell to the Pakistani army.
We had already become gloomy after hearing the news of the fall of Bhairab and Ashuganj. We became much depressed after getting no reply from Brahmanbaria on the wireless set. It soon became clear
142
that in a chain of events we were gradually losing one place after another.Brahmanbaria was one of our strongholds and we had planned to defend the vast stretch of land from Sreemongal from the north down to Gangasagar to the south.It appeared that it would become very difficult, to stick to our original plan about the defence of this area. We became very sad to think that in spite of our best effort we were unable to resist the move of Pakistan army for establishing their control over most of the cities and towns of Bangladesh.
After a crackdown of March 25, 1971, the police wireless sets had been keeping us informed of events at different places and the preparations of the freedom fighters. With the intensity of attack from the Pakistan army, gradually more and more places started falling to the Pakistani’s for us one of the source of confirmation of such fall was going out of air of the wireless set of the place concerned. As the resistance continued at different places and as Pakistani army kept on moving out in different directions, gradually more and more wireless set started going out of air. We gradually lost contact with most of the places. After Dhaka, places like Comilla, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Pabna, Jessore, Kushtia fell to the Pakistan army. We came to know that night that the fall of Tangail was also eminent and the Pakistani army was very near Tangail town. Sitting by the wireless set it appeared that it was perhaps the only set which was working round theclock. The whole-time companion of Kishoreganj had been Brahmanbaria but tonight it was also sadly missing. We could only contact a few other places the names of which I do not remember today.
Looking in retrospect, I must record here an account of the fall of different cities and town of Bangladesh after the crackdown of March 25, 1971. As everybody knows Pakistani army initiated the game by starting pre-planned large scale attack on the student halls, EPR lines at Peelkhana and Rajarbag Police Headquarters in Dhaka on the night of March 25th 1971.Because of heavy fire power and initial offensive the Pakistan army could get control of most of the Dhaka city by the evening of the next day.Gradually they started dispersing from Dhaka and other cantonments. The Pakistan army set fire to the refuges of the freedom fighters at Jinjira, Tarabo, and other places. In a few days they captured places like Narayanganj, Tongi, Narsangdi, etc. Since
143
the Bengal Regiment people defected from Joydevpur, they also captured Joydevpur within a few days.
In Chittagong the Pakistan army had been in the game since March 22, when Brigadier Majumder, a Bengalee was hili-lifted from Chittagong to Dhaka Cantonment. With his departure, the whole scale attack began over the unloading of the army carrying ship “SWAT”.The public and others resisted the move and sporadic fire had been going on.The Pakistani army behind in the most treacherous manner and killed most of the recruits of the last Bengal Regiment in the night of March 25′”, 1971 in Chittagong. Soon the freedom fighters started eating back.They captured the Chittagong Radio and a fe other strategic places. The Pakistani army were compelled to retreat to their strong holds in the cantonments. The city of Chittagong came under the control of freedom fighters for a period up to April 6, 1971. In the meantime the Pakistani war ships like “JAHANGIR” and “BABAR”, started shelling the city from the coast. It was too large for the freedom fighters. In the meantime the supporters of the Pakistani army the “BIHARIES” also got out and started active conspiracy against the freedom fighters. The reactionary forces joined hands with them. In the melee of confusion created by the shelling from the warships, the Pakistani army moved into the streets of Chittagong again with tanks, mortars and other heavy weapons. They killed people right and left, set fire to houses and ships and looted the properties of the Bangalees in collaboration with the “BIHARIES”.The freedom fighters had to retreat and the city fell to the Pakistani’s.
Rangamati, Headquarters of Chittagong Hill Tracts District could have resisted the Pakistani army for longer time had not the rebel Mizos joined hands with the Pakistanis and started killing the freedom fighters. Still then Rangamati withstood attacks for quite a few days and it fell to the Pakistani’s totally only in the first week of May, 1971, along with another stronghold of the freedom fighters, Cox’s Bazar.
While talking about the fall of the Chittagong Hill Tracts District to the Pakistani army, I must mention a few incidents regarding the role of the hostile Mizos.It is common knowledge that the Govt. of Pakistan used to harbour and equip the hostile rebel Mizos of India. The Mizos had been glamouring for a homeland of their own. The Indian
144
government crushed their movement and the hostile rebel Mizos took shelter in the then East Pakistan. The rebel Mizos used to be trained by Pakistan army commanders and used to send across the border to Indian Mizoram district committing raids and sabotages. Along with others the rebel Mizos leader Laldanga used to receive all help and patronage from the Govt. of Pakistan.Ladar and his forces were surprised by the development of events in Bangladesh since March 1, 1971, the time virtually revolt broke out in the East Pakistan over protest against the postponement of the National Assembly session. With the starting of the crackdown of March 25, 1971, Laldanga and his forces started getting behind hiding places. They did not take an active stand for or against Bangladesh.But soon they turned hostel and joined hands with the Pakistan army and both the groups worked in collaboration against the freedom fighters. When the Pakistani army started moving into Chittagong Hill Tracts through various routes they were helped to a large extent by the rebel Mizos and a few treacherous Chakmas.The Pakistan army started exerted thrown from one side and the rebel Mizos under the leadership Laldanga started chasing the freedom fighters from the other side. It was with great difficulty that some of the freedom fighters could escape slaughter from the hands of the Pakistani’s and the Mizos.Evidently there was a critical position sandwiched as they became between the Pakistani army on one side and the rebel Mizos on the other.
I came to know details about these developments from Mr. H. T. Imam, the then Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Hill Tracts who defected with the freedom fighters and did everything possible for resisting the advance of the Pakistani army.I came to know this from him in the last week of May when we met each other in the borders of Comilla District.
The details were however communicated to me by my colleague and friend Mr. Syed A. Samad, who was then Addl. D.C. of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.Mr. Syed A. Samad told me that he could foresee that the rebel Mizos would very soon create trouble for the freedom fighters.Even after the crackdown of March 25, the Mizos did not first react in a hostile manner. Mr. A. Samad told me that he did not believe this neutral attitude of the Mizos. The Mizos had been driving out of the India and for them it was of tactical importance to have a hiding place in East Pakistan. The Mizos knew that an
145
Independent Bangladesh, supported by India, would not harbour them and encourage their activities. They knew that, the establishment of Bangladesh would seriously jeopardise their internet since they would then have no place to fall back upon.The rebel Mizos leaders were on the wanted list. They could not cross over to India also. The only alternative left for them was to support the Pakistani army and try to hold on to the Hill Tracts with the help of the Pakistani army.For the rebel Mizos, East Pakistan was the only solution and not Bangladesh.
Mr. Syed A. Samad told me that no one could foresee these developments just after the crackdown.He could realise that the Mizos would turn against the Bangalees, but to speak of helping them. The interest of rebel Mizos and Bangalees were completely contradictory.No one could expect the Mizos to be a party to the destruction of Pakistan which had been harbouring them and giving them protection and support for a long time. Mr. Samad could clearly analyse this and he wanted to discuss these with relevant authorities immediately.
Mr. Samad told me that he got a chance very soon. After the crackdown the borders of India and Bangladesh became free for all and in the borders.Mr. Samad met an Indian Major General whom he explained everything. He told the Major General that in the absence of Mr. H. T. Imam, he was the local D.C. who could authorise the entry of Major General and his troops into Chittagong Hill Tracts for chasing the Mizos.Mr. Samad told the Indian General that he could beautifully plan the whole operation in such a way that the Mizos would be caught unaware.He told the General that since India was interested in the capture of rebel Mizos, they could cash in this excellent opportunity.Mr. Samad assured the General of all help and support from his side.
Like others, ultimately, Mr. Samad was also driven out of the country.He had to track a long way from Mizoram district of India unto Shilong, the capital city of Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya, and Nagaland. Mr. Samad gave the story of the Mizos to a correspondent who interviewed him at Shilong.His interview was published in most of the Indian papers including the Hindusthan Standard, Calcutta.Mr. Samad lamented in the interview that the Indians did not take the chance of capturing the Mizos when he offered all help and support for such a plan.

146
The time when Mr. Samad made the offer was too early for the Indians to have made a decision. Till then the Indians had been watching the situation and trying to analyse it. The Indian General possibly could not take an isolated stand and get into the Chittagong Hill Tracts for mopping up the rebel Mizos.I don’t know the whole logic behind non-intervention by India in Chittagong Hill Tracts, but it appears that the Indians did not intervene because they had not taken a stand on the issue till then.
Reply given by Mr. Samad to a question from Indian journalist: a “Shagore Petechi Shojja
Shishire Ki Bhoy.”
(I have made my bed on the sea—why should I fear mere dewdrops?)
The story of the fall of Khulna, the 3rd major city of Bangladesh is similar to that of the fall of Dhaka. The Pakistani army moved into action in Khulna on the very night of March 25th and started attacking in suspected strongholds of the Awami League and others. They set fire to various places of the town and kept on killing people indiscriminately. The preparations at Khulna were far less than in Dhaka and Khulna fell to the Pakistani’s within 24 hours.
The story was, however, not the same in the case of Jessore. While talking about Jessore, I am reminded of the sad fate of the 1st Bengal regiment, who were firing upon by the Pakistani’s inside the cantonment.Lt. Col. Jalil, the commanding officer of the 2nd Bengal had been outside the cantonment before the crackdown. When the report of the crackdown reached Jessore like other places leading people of the liberation movement attempted to contact Lt. Col. Jalil and pursuance him not to return to the cantonment with his troops.I do not know whether he was successfully contacted by anyone or not.Mr. Mahbubuddin Ahmad, the then S.D.P.O. of Jhenaidah and Mr. Tawfiq-e- Elahi Chaudhury the then SDO of Meherpur, Kushtia district frantically tried to get down to him and persuade him from going back to the cantonment. It is not clear whether Lt. Col. Jalil ignored all such requests or not.
Until now I have met a lot of people and they complained that Col. Jalil did not pay any heed to the warnings and requests from other resistance forces and returned to the cantonment. The Pakistani army attacked the 1st Bengal Regiment inside the cantonment and mercilessly
147
butcheredCol. Jalil and most of his troops. The attack started in a preplanned manner at night and the Pakistani army took the offensive.Only a few troops could escape from the cantonment and later they joined the liberation forces. The whole of Bangladesh came to know the story of the massacre of the 1st Bengal from the members of these troops. In the meantime liberation forces had taken preparations and they marched from all sides and captured Jessore town. The town remained free up until the 3rd of April with the Pakistani army confined to the cantonment.A huge big mob numbering about more than a lac(100000) led a seize to the cantonment. It was at this time the Pakistani’s decided to strike back.Tanks and artillery vehicles moved into the streets of Jessores and started shelling in all directions. The liberation forces repulsed the attacks once or twice but would not stand up to the disciplined army and the sophisticated weapons.Jessore ultimately fell to the Pakistani army on the 4th of April. The Pakistanis had been controlling the airport. It was very easy for them to bring from Dhaka in Civil Fokker Friendship plane by PIA escorted by Pakistan Sabre Jets. The story of the reinforcement by air has beencovered in one of the weekly issues in Aprilof American Time Magazine.
I have already described the fall of Sylhet.The capture of Jessore and Sylhet was almost parallel.For the initial period like in Jessore, the Pakistani’s remained confined to the cantonment and the airfield waiting for reinforcement, when reinforcements arrived they hit back ferociously with all their might of the infantry and the air force and regained control of the tow of Sylhet like Jessore.
The resistance forces did not get virtually any chance to give a fight in Comilla as the Pakistani army swiftly came out of the cantonment and brought the town under their control.During this process they lamented whatever little resistance they received. The army arrested the D.C. of Comilla Mr. Shamshul Haq Khan along with the Superintendent of police. They were not heard of after that and evidence found after liberation indicated that they were killed by the Pakistani army.Like Comilla, Rangpur was a stronghold of the army.Both Rangpur and Dinajpur had congregation of Bihari population who were none but supporters of the Pakistani army.The EPR’s and defecting public personnel attempted to put up resistance to the Pakistani army at different places.At a place in between Rangpur and Gaibandha, a platoon of Pakistani army was wiped out
148
by the people of the area who included a good number of Saotals.The Pakistani army also lost in the northern areas of Rangpur at places like Raomari, Bhurungamari, Chilmari, etc. They lost outside Panchagarh in Dinajpur District.For a considerable amount of time the liberation forces controlled the Shanty air field at Thakurgaon in Dinajpur District. Though the resistance offered in Rangpur and Dinajpur was limited to a few places. The resistance was very severe and ferocious. The result was that a good number of Pakistani soldiers were killed in these districts.The Pakistani army let loose a reign of terror unheard of on such a large scale, that almost half the population of Dinajpur had to escape and take shelter in the bordering districts of India.Pakistani army chose to wipe out the Hindu, particularly the moneyed Hindu.I came across such a Hindu gentleman named Agarwala on the other side of the border. Though his companions were killed by the Pakistani army mercilessly, he miraculously escaped death.He wrote an article on the massacre of the Hindus at Rangpur and Dinajpur in one special issue of the New York Times in June, 1971.Mr. Agarwala offered his services to the liberation forces and donated the honorarium received from the New York Times to the Bangladesh Government.Rangpur and Dinajpur, however, could not check the advance of Pakistani army for a long time and they also fell.It is a matter of great pride for me to record here that vast stretch of land in the northern regions of both Rangpur and Dinajpur could never be captured by the Pakistani army throughout the 9 months of liberation war. These areas always remained within our control and were simply on our hope and aspirations for recapture of occupied territories of Bangladesh from the clutches of the Pakistani’s. The riverine marshy areas of Raomari, Bhurungamari, Chilmari for a long time and also areas like Panchgarh always remained with the control of the Bangladesh Government. The acting President and the ministers used to visit these areas frequently during those days of trial.
The battle for the capture of Kushtia is a glorious addition to the achievements of the liberation forces. The Time Magazine of USA gave wide coverage when the battle of Kushtia under the same heading. Initially a company of Baluch regiment went to Kushtia early in the morning of the 26th of March and attempted to extend their control.The EPR policemen and students grouped and arranged resistance and attacked them. The company was overpowered and
149
Kushtia came under the control of the liberation forces. Kushtia remained within our control for a few days before it foiled to the Pakistanis. The Pakistanis first attacked Kushtia with a battalion of troops.Facing heavy resistance they brought in one more battalion and the liberation forces could not stand against two battalions of regular forces armed with more sophisticated weapons and given cover by the Air Force planes from above. The Pakistan army and the Air Force shelled Kushtia so much that most of the buildings in Kushtia town received bullets. World Bank Team which was on a visit to the then East Pakistan under the leadership of Vice Chairman of World Bank Mr. Peter Kargil, visited Kushtia among other places. The secret report which got public in spite of the attempts made by World Bank President Robert McNamara to keep it secret, described the plight of Kushtia begins as a city of the dead just after a nuclear war.
The Pakistani army faced heavy resistance from the freedom fighters at Pabna and Rajahahi. They could extend control in Rajshahi quite easily but in Pabna they had to incur big losses. Mr. M. D. Nurul Quader Khan, the then Deputy Commissioner of Pabna was instrumental inarranging the fierce resistance against the Pakistani army. The resistance against the Pakistani army ultimately, however, failed and Pabna came under the control of the Pakistani army in the first week of April. The only resistance that was kept alive was by the late Mr. Shamsuddin the then S.D.O., Shirajgaonj, the sub-division of Pabna District. It was because of his efforts most of the areas in Shirajgaonj remained free for a long time.
Faridpur fell to the Pakistani army after the fall of Nagarbari and Goalondo to the Pakistani forces.Had it been possible to defend these two river ghats, it would have been possible to defend Faridpur for a longer time. Though the freedom fighters succeeded in defending Goalondo and Nagarbari against the defence of Pakistani forces for quite some time, ultimately they had to go in the fact of combined attack from the Pakistani army, Navy and Air Force. With the fall of the two riverine junctions Faridpur easily fell to the Pakistanis.
On the 17th of April, 1971, we had not had any peace of mind after the fall of Bhairab on the 15th of April.On the 16th of April two Pakistani Sabre Jets circled over the town of Kishoreganj and strafed a few places. The news of the fall Bhairab had by that time been confirmed. People in large numbers were leaving the town seeking
150
shelter in near and outstanding villages. On the 17th of April, it appeared that it was of no use for us to give any resistance to the army.It appeared that the fall of Kishoreganj was eminent and there would be no point in trying to defend an isolated place well inside the border like Kishoreganj.I have personally seen the tremendous preparations that the liberation forces bad taken at Bhairab.If Bhairab could fall to the Pakistani’s in spite of such preparations, it was of no use to give resistance and unnecessary causalities on our side.
It is in this context, I convened a high level meeting of all senior officers of Awami League Leaders and students. We had very heated arguments and discussions that day. There were a few extremists who insisted of giving a fight to the Pakistani’s when they try to approach Kishoreganj by railway from Bhairab.Obviously the Pakistani’s would have to repair the railway lines for such an advantage as by the evening of the 16th of March, I had personally ensured the extraction of all important lines between Bhairab and Kishoreganj. There were merits also in the meeting. I could realise that it would not be advisable for me to pass judgment in the beginning. I could also realise that it would not be advisable for me to just start with the leading question. For the first part of the meeting, Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar and myself remained silent and listened to various arguments and counter arguments from others.I spoke in the note clearly emphasising that we must look at the situation from a practical point of view.I analysed the whole situation and concluded by saying that if everybody wished, we could definitely give a fight to the Pakistanis.But such a fight would be an unnecessary one and might result in the unnecessary killing of many of our freedom fighters.I told them in spite of this we could send contingent of our forces for the defence of Mymensingh.A good number of freedom fighters had by that time gathered and prepared for the defence of Mymensingh.I told the meeting that it would be of no use for us to stand against the Pakistani army in small numbers. Our might could be better utilised if we diverted our forces from such a confrontation towards Mymensingh where they could supplements the efforts of freedom fighters who had already taken preparations.
After long heated arguments, we unanimously agreed that there was no point in giving resistance to the Pakistan army for the defence
151
of Kishoreganj. We came to the conclusion that the forces should be sent to Mymensingh instead where they would be of greater help. I emphasised and everybody agreed that from now on one of our strategies in battles should be the minimisation of casualties of our side. This had to be done since if we wanted to re-attack the army in the 2nd round, we would have to keep a minimum number of forces alive for building up more strength around themselves.
When it was decided that there would not be any resistance to the advance of Pakistani army,I decided to get a publicity around telling people that they were in real danger now and could leave the town. The publicity told the people that the S.D.O. could no longer give them any security. They would have to do according to their own. The publicity also gave a hint that if need should arise, the S.D.O. and others would leave the town without any notice to the people.Though the announcement created a panic, it was welcomed by the people. I, for myself, felt very relieved.I had promised to the people of Kishoreganj that I would give them prior warning if grave circumstances developed leading to a possible destruction.I felt happy that I could keep my promise in spite of the dangers involved in the announcement, I knew that from now on I would not be able to control persons and events.But if I had to be faithful to the people, I had to give this announcement, as I could not think of any other alternative. The only alternative was to leave Kishoreganj without any notice.This I could not do because I had promised that I would give prior warning to all.
I must record one incident of the evening of possibly on the 15th of April.I was informed that a platoon of Mujahid were coming from Ashuganj side. I was informed that they were being placed under my command for utilising them at the best place or in the best possible manner, I could think of. We had been observed no the blackout enforce throughout the Bangladesh by the high command of the liberation forces.Like others days, blackouts was there also that evening. Soon I came to know that the train had reached Kishoreganj railway station with the Mujahids.I rushed to the railway station in the jeep.I could get in with great difficulty. The leader of the platoon came and explained things to me.I told them that for the night they could rest in the nearby Dak Bungalow. I told them that I would think about utilising them the next morning.
152
I mentioned this incident because I am still reminded of that night when I miraculously escaped death. It was only God’s nercy that saved me.Going back to the Mujahids, with my instruction they left the railway station and started walking down to the Dak Bungalow.The Dak Bungalow was very near and they possibly reached the place within six or seven minutes.I had some other discussion with the station master and I had to stay back. When they had all left and possibly reached the Dak Bungalow, I got my jeep and drove towards the Dak Bungalow.No sooner and Subodh babu, my driver, entered just the gate, then cries of halt came out from the Dak Bungalow.In the light of the jeep I could see that a few of the Mujahids had taken position and they were almost going to fire.I immediately fell on the ground and cried out my identity.One bullet went out of one rifle but far off. With my cries, the Mujahids lowered their rifles and did not fire anymore. When I entered the Dak Bungalow, I rebuked the leader of the Mujahid by telling him that they should not be so trigger happy.I told him that there were no Pakistanis around for the time being and they must not open fire without any real cause. I told that fool that had it not been for God saving me, the bullet from the rifles of his Mujahids could have pierced through my body.He felt very shy and for some time I could see that the Mujahid could not speak.I, however, cheered them up and told them there was nothing to worry since no bullet did actually hit any of us.
Talking in retrospect about this trigger-happy attitude of the Mujahids I am reminded of a few other incidents. My readers would possibly frown at me for mentioning a very small incident like that of that evening at Kishoreganj.For me, that was not a small incident.Had I not taken shelter and had I not cried out, I could have been easily killed that night. The trigger-happy attitudes of the Mujahids and Ansars was partly because oftheir wrath against the army and partly because of the nervousness of some of them.I am reminded of the incident at Modhupur.
After the Pakistani army had captured Tangail they wanted to advance towards Mymensingh.They did not do so immediately because of many reasons.Mymensingh could be approached only through the Modhupur jungles and their intelligence had reported that the liberation forces had dug up trenches in the jungles and had taken
153
adequate preparations.Besides these the Pakistani army had to cross resistance at places like Kalihati, Ghatail, etc. The Modupur jungle phobia frightened the Pakistani army so much that they took about a week for the final advance towards Mymensingh. It was in the context of renaissance, known as reckie in army terminology that a group of Pakistani soldiers in a truck followed by a jeep proceeded towards Modupur. Having to come to know this beforehand, a few freedom fighters had taken position in and around the Modhupur police station. The group included a few Ansars. The plan had been that when the Pakistani army contingent in more than one vehicles would enter the shooting zone, everybody would open up fire and thus, it would be easy to kill all.The Pakistani army were proceeding very cautiously. The truck gradually entered the dangerous limit. It was at this stage a bullet suddenly came out from the police station area.The Pakistanis immediately jumped out of their vehicles and took position. The exchange of fire continued for quite some time and ultimately the Pakistani retreated, leaving behind about 7 dead. When they had gone out of night, the freedom fighters came out and could see the dead bodies. The leaders lamented that they could not kill all the troops because of the premature firing from someone amongst them.On inquiry and interrogation, it came out that the bullet accidentally went out from the rifle of one Ansar. Under interrogation and pressure he admitted that he got nervous and frightened and faulted the trigger. Today I do not know what made the Mujahid to almost open fire that night.I am happy that they did not actually fired except one otherwise I would have been dead today.
Coming back to the 17th of April, after giving wide publicity for evacuation from the town, I sat down to solve other problems. I called in the Adjutant of Ansars and the S.D.O.P. we had a meeting and we decided to have the reactions of armed personnel including the officers and the policemen.Accordingly all the armed personnel, particularly the Ansars and the policemen fell in a line at the police station. We went there and each of us addressed the gathering. We told them the incidents that had taken plce without deeply analysing the situation. We told them that in the extreme circumstances that had already set in, they were free to remain with us or go into hiding. Since the majority of the armed personnel indicated to stay and fight, we made out a plan for sending them up to Mymensingh for
154
strengthening the defence there. In the meantime the three of us discussed another aspect and I decided that I must give ad rance pay for three months to all the staff including policemen and the Ansars. The second officer who as Acting Treasury Officer incidentally would not do so unless I order him in writing. This nervous man never cooperated with us throughout, the movement and remained aloof. We virtually forced him out of his hiding and brought him into the town. The local manager of the National Bank of Pakistan was also brought and payment was arranged to all.All the staff of my office and all policemen and Ansars were given three month’s pay in advance.I told them that God forbid if we had to separate from each other, we could keep alive with the money that I gave to them. Apart from the policemen and Ansars, there were many others like the railway station master and the gunman who could not be paid through treasury.Payments were made to them from other funds. Since they had also worked very hard with us throughout the period of struggle.The arrangement of payment took about three hours and when it was complete, it became almost 4 p.m.
Mr. Golam Akbar, myself and Mr. Mutalib sat in the portico of my residence and had our evening tea.I had already been feeling very gloomy and sad , none of us could speak much as in our heart of hearts we knew that we would have to leave Kishoreganj very soon, for an unknown destination. We had lived together at Kishoreganj for a long time and had passed through the initial shocks of difficulties together with determination. We did not know under what circumstances we shall be in the future. We did not know whether all of us would be able to remain together. We did not know whether or not we would be able to arrange resistance again for the recapturing the occupied territory of Bangladesh from the clutches of the Pakistani. We kept or sitting at the portico and hardly talked.
It was about 5 p.m. the Station Master of the local railway station rushed to us.He looked very sad and blank.Since there was nobody else he could divulge secret to be told us.He told us that the news we had been receiving about the repair of the railway tracks from Bhairab toward Kischoreganj was correct.He told us that the Pakistani army had already crossed Sharar Char Railway Station and were on their way to Manik Khali only ten miles from Kishoreganj itself.Earlier we had got the news from different sources and the Station Master’s

155
disclosure was only a confirmation of the news received by us earlier. We thanked the Station Master for confirming the news and requested him to get out of Kishoreganj immediately for his own safety. We told him that he should also instruct other railway staff and gunmen to go into hiding. We impressed upon him that life was precious and there was no point in his staying back and possibly getting killed by the Pakistani army. We had by that time learned that the Pakistani army on their first arrival behaved most mercilessly and killed anyone who came within their sight. The Station Master almost broke into tears when he left us. He left my residence with a very heavy heart and told us that God willing, the difficulties would be over soon and we would meet again.
When the Station Master was gone, we looked at each other. The final bell of retreat had already struck.It was now a question of hours for us to leave Kishoreganj. We decided that we must leave immediately as otherwise one fine morning we might find ourselves surrounded by Pakistani troops brought from helicopters. The enemy was very near, in fact about 10 miles from us and the basic decision had to be taken quickly.We swiftly talked it out amongst ourselves and decided that we must leave that night whatever the consequences. After making the decision, I immediately sent for the elected member of National and Provincial Assembly.All of them were not available in the town and only a few came.I again explained the circumstances to them and told them that it was no use to get killed by staying at Kishoreganj.I told them that if they so liked they were welcomed to accompany us to an unknown destination. They need not give their reaction immediately and wanted some time from us and went away.Before they left, I repeated my proposal to them and emphasised that whether they accompanied me or not they must not remain in the town and must go into hiding.
The final hour was soon approaching. The place where we could go, became a subject of argument and discussion.Mr. Mutalib suggested that should remain only a few miles away so that we could keep track of events at Kishoreganj. Mr. Akbar and myself did not agree with him. I told Mr. Mutalib that it would be unwise for anybody to be very near Kishoreganj when Kishoreganj would go under the control of the Pakistani army. This would be unwise because it would be difficult to get out of the nearby place since Kishoreganj subdivision was well inside border and did not
156
have any border at all with India.I was emphasising on border simply because by that time I had been convinced that in case of extreme eventuality the only place we could go for seeking shelter would be a place near the border or across it.I knew in my heart of hearts that given all the circumstances and our total allegiance to Bangladesh the only alternative left to us was either to get killed staying back or to get very near or across the border irrespective of what security wecould exchange from those places.None of us knew whether the Indians would allow us any freedom. None of us knew whether or not we would be welcomed across the border. None of us knew whether or not we would be handed over to the Pakistani’s. The Indians had been supporting the Bangladesh since the crackdown and we concluded that they would not hand us over to the Pakistani’s. Mr. Mutalib ultimately gave in and agreed to accompany us wherever we decided to go.Soon we broke apart.Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar went to their residence for making the final little preparations for leaving Kishoreganj.On my turn I instructed my brother-in-law, Ghalib to take one or two small suitcases for the unknown journey.Some of the articles at my residence had already been removed elsewhere by the Nazir Mr. Dewan.But most of the things remained and it was no use to lament over their loss as there was no way to save these.
We had decided to travel by jeep for as much distance as possible.I had already arranged one more jeep from Malaria Eradication Department quiet long before because one jeep had to be kept as spare for emergency. We decided that these two jeeps, the jeep of Mr. Mutalib and other jeep handed over to me by Captain Motiur Rahman would be used for the journey.The driver of my jeep was a Hindu named Subodh Nandi.He volunteered to come with me.He had a family and children.I asked him to get prepared along with his family and his family would possibly attract merciless behaviour from the Pakistani soldier because of their being Hindus.Subodh babu went home hurriedly and soon he came back to tell me that he had made all preparations for the journey.
Different articles that I decided to take with me were dumped into my jeep.. One Assistant Adjutant of Ansars, and three Bengals egiment people and one M.C.A. from Brahmanbaria also agreed to go with us.
157
When the final decision had been taken I immediately called the telephone inspector and told him in confidence that I would be leaving Kishoreganj very soon.I told him that he and the staff had given the most commendable services during the hours of trial.I requested him to get out of the Kishoreganj immediately along with his staff as I could not guarantee any security to them. When the fall of the two was eminent there was no point of anybody’s staying back. The telephone inspector expressed his gratefulness and left.Soon the operators rang me from the exchange to convey their best wishes. I had never seen these people before.I had only heard their voice.During the days of struggle they relentlessly gave report by working around the clock.History would record the services of many gallant fighters but possibly not mention anything about the services of these brave people who worked around the clock remaining completely in the background. If you believe would perhaps would come to know them and know their names. When I returned to Mymensingh as Deputy Commissioner later, I decided to meet these people. It was on the 29th of December, 1971, when I first visited Kishoreganj after liberation I drove straight from Mymensingh to the telephone exchange to greet these brave people who had extended all support to us during the days of trial.
Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar were soon back to my residence. In fact, when the final hour for departure had come, there was hardly any need for preparation. There was hardly any need to take things with you.All you did was to collect a few at random and leave behind everything in uncertainty.Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar had got some of their things removed earlier.Since most of the other things had to be left behind, they needed only about an hour to pack up and get ready.
When three of us met again, we decided to call Mymensingh if possible.I requested Mr. Mutalib to talk to the S.P. at Mymensingh.Fortunately for us the line was through and we could hear the S.P.’s voice on the other side. In a mock depression, Mr. Mutalib told the S.P. that the army had captured Bhairab and weresoon approaching Kishoreganj.I could not hear what the S.P. said from the other side out he wanted to talk to me.So I talked to him exerting the whole affair and telling him that the army was very near to Kishoreganj and would soon capture the town.I told him that they would possibly march towards Mymensingh after that.I wanted to
158
know, just for knowing his reactions and whether we should retreat to Mymensingh immediately.
Till now I could not forget what this dubious character told me the evening of the 17th of April, 1971.He requested me to stay back at Kishoreganj and supply me with as much information as possible. This character behaved in such a way as if we should stay back and get killed but nonetheless, supply him with information for his own place for safety. On my asking what to do in case the army suddenly got into the town.He told me that I should have two flags ready.I could immediately raise the Pakistani flag and save my skin. There was hardly any point in talking to such a person and I got off my talk abruptly by saying Khoda Hafiz. When the telephone call was over we burst into laughter even in those sad circumstances. The laughter was mixed with a tinge of hatred and treachery.How could a Bangalee have such reactions at that time? We had simply made a mockery of him and possibly he had thought that we really asked for his advice and suggestions.
We kept on sitting at the residence. More disturbing news of advance of Pakistani army started pouring in from different sources. The last such report told us the Pakistani army had already reached at Manik Khali and they had set up a camp there possibly for that night. We had already decided to take out the police wireless set since there is hardly any use of it. The wireless operator to our surprise and shock had run away in the last night.A new operator was there at the set and he told us that in case of any eventuality he would get out with the set.He would try to carrying the set to any safe place and if he fail to do so he would destroy the set in any possible manner.
As we were sitting time passed by.It had almost become evening. We got a telephone call from the police station telling us that two persons had come from Bhairab side and they wanted to meet me.I wanted to know who the two persons were. I was told that the names of the persons were Badal and Apel.I sent the jeep to the police station for them and they came to my residence.
I talked to both the gentlemen. Mr. Badalwas the cameraman of Asian television. I soon recollected that I had seen him a number of times in different functions in Dhaka. In fact once he used to stay as a neighbour of my father-in-law at the year 1969, Shiddeswari. Mr. Apel Mahmood’s face, however, was not known to me. He was
159
introduced by Mr. Badal who told us that Apel Mahmood was a freedom fighter and he sang beautiful songs.
There could be a worse time you would like to receive such visitors. Badal and Apel Mahmood had traversed the long way from Bhairab and they had a long story to tell. I ordered a 2nd round of tea and started listening to him. Most of the time Badal talked and he talked very impressively giving details of account of events he had seen and the trying times he and Apel Mahmood had passed through.
Badal was in Dhaka in the night of the crackdown of March 25th. He was at his residence when a large scale attack started in different areas of Dhaka. When the curfew was lifted sometime the next day Badal was called to the army headquarters and asked to remain ready for shooting films and making movies of different things the army wanted him to do. For the next few days he accompanied the army commanders to different places and took some shots of various socalled normalcy scenes and pro-Pakistani processions. He was asked to take shots of massacres of non-Bengalees. He gave an impression to the army that he was doing his job very faithfully and sincerely. In fact he even flew to Chittagong to take shots of the so-called normalcy. He even met General Tikka Khan and took snaps of him. The army was very pleased with his performance as Badal faithfully obeyed their orders.
What the army did not know was that Badal did not take shots of things that directed but also shots of many more things. In one or two places he got a chance to get out and he took shots and snaps of massacres committed by the Pakistani army. He took shots of heaps of dead bodies, destroyed buildings, destroyed student halls of Dhaka bayoneted women and children and so on. He did these very carefully without going out in such impression to the army. When his reel was almost complete with moving documents of atrocities and massacre, Badal decided to get out of Dhaka and also get out these valuable materials to the world publicity media for necessary publicity.
Badal had Apel Mahmood for quite some time. When he decided to get out of Dhaka, Apel Mahmood also agreed to go out with him. Badal and Apel Mahmood passed through Narsingdi on to Brahmanbaria. From Brahmanbaria they went to Agartala on the 9th of April. From Agartala they flew to Calcutta. It was possibly at Calcutta, Badalsold invaluable treasures he had with him to the
160
Representative of German television. Many people today know that the film of massacre that was shown on the television abroad, drew their materials mostly from the shots and snaps taken by Badal during the first few days of the army massacre in Dhaka, Chittagong and other places.
The next part of Badal’s story was played. He was taking his way back from Agartala when he fell into difficulty at Bhairab. Badal told me that he was at Bhairab when the Pakistani Air Force planes were incessantly strafing and bombing the area. Badal told me that he was almost going to be hit by a bullet from a Sabre. He managed to escape with great difficulties. He told me that he had been dragging his way up to Kishoreganj through different places sometimes on Rickshaws and sometimes on foot.
When Badal had finished his story we wanted to know what his next plan was. He told us that he would like to get back to Dhaka immediately. In all probability the army had not, until then, suspected him of any sabotage. He needed to be at Dhaka immediately because his continued absence might create suspicion in the minds of the army commanders. He told me that on going to Dhaka he would first ascertain if the army had developed any suspicion towards him. If he found that they were suspicious about his movement, he would secretly get out of Dhaka and go across the border. If he did not notice any serious reaction, he would stay back and try to collect any information and pictures from the army.
Badal wanted to know how he could go to Dhaka at that time. I lamented that he had come at such a time I could possibly do nothing substantial for him. I had to place confidence in him and told him that he could accompany us along with Apel Mahmood up to Husainpur from where he could drag his way up to Narsingdi from where he could avail such as buses, trucks, etc. for going to Dhaka. Badal thought over the proposal for some time and agreed to this cheerfully with the comment that whatever was available was good for him.
We discussed a number of things with Badal and Apel sitting in the porticos of my residence. Because of their arrival we could temporarily get out of the depression that we had been having for a long time. I asked for food to be prepared for us including the two guests. In the meantime, during the conversation with Badal, I got a few other things done.
161
I had not sent any messages down to my in-laws in Dhaka. I thought that Badal could easily carry a letter from me to my in-laws. I wrote a few lines and gave it to him. I told him that God forbid if he were to come back from Dhaka secretly he should try to hand over the letter to my father-in-law as secretly as possible. Badal interrupted me and told me that there was nothing to worry about. He knew how to do things in those circumstances. I could rest assured that the letter would reach its destination irrespective of whether he could stay in Dhaka or had to get out.
Soon it was time for dinner. This was the last meal that we were going to have at Kishoreganj. Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar joined us for the dinner, as there was not any point of them eating at their houses. There could not be any worse time that you could have guests for dinner. As a normal Bengalee, I sounded apologetic and told Badal that he had come at a very wrong time and that I could not possibly do anything more for him. Badal was a jolly man and he laughed at the apology and laughed away my excuses.
The dinner was over and we had a last look at the things we had taken with us. It was surprising that I did not forget to take the mosquito curtain with me. When we had finished the checking of our arrangement, we decided to move out. Subodh babu and his family had by then gathered at my residence and there was practically no problem for leaving the town. b
We soon got into the jeeps. The jeeps started moving. I kept on putting on an air off but in my heart of hearts, I felt very bad. I have lived in Kishoreganj for a very long nine months and had almost loved the place. There could not possibly be a better love than that of his own Sub-Divisional Officer. As the jeeps kept on moving along the roads of Kishoreganj, memories of good old days kept flashing into my mind. I was first posted to Naogaon a sub-division of Rajshahi in Northern Bangladesh. The transfer order was later cancelled and I joined Kishoreganj in the first week of August, 1970. Till then I had been passing hectic days being busy in supervising flood relief operations. The memories of the late nights during elections days flashed into my mind. At one point I became so restless that I felt like returning home. I felt like staying back at the place which I had almost loved. The jeeps soon crossed the narrow roads of Kishoreganj and were on the way to Husainpur, a Thana headquarters
162
only ten miles away from Kishoreganj. The whole town looked deserted and we could not see anybody on the road. It was about 10 p.m. When the jeeps were on the roads across the fields, we could see only light from the headlights of our vehicles. It was still dark on all sides. Possibly all of us felt alike because none of us spoke. It was only Badal and Apel who were talking and me listening. I must confess that I could not listen to most of what they said that night. I was deeply absorbed in thoughts and it was only a physical existence beside them which I could think of.
When we reached Husainpur it was about 10:40 p.m. Husainpur being a smaller town looked much more deserted. The joy and delight which I had seen earlier at Husainpur during my tour was completely lacking. It appeared that because of an uncertain fear the whole town had gone dead. There was no light around and it was with great difficulty we could get into the T.T.D.C. Centre. Fortunately for us, a guard was there and through him we sent a message down to the Circle Officer (Dev) who was living nearby.
I had earlier contacted the C.O. over telephone during day time and had told him that we would possibly pass through Husainpur that night. I could not tell him everything on the phone. Hence when the C.O. came almost running to us, we had to spend a lot of time explaining our journey to him. He was an excellent gentleman who had cooperated in all possible ways for building up resistance against the Pakistani army. Through his own intelligence network he had been feeding us with valuable information regarding the movement of Pakistani troops. When we told him that we were leaving Kishoreganj he became very sad and could not speak for some time. Mr. Mutalib had already broken down and he lay down on a bench lying almost motionless. The O.C. had arranged some tea for us and it was with great difficulty Mr. Mutalib had to be pulled up from his resign identity.
Mr. Mutalib had all along been thinking in terms of not leaving Kishoreganj. This became clear when after taking the tea he opined that we could stay at Husainpur for a few days to watch the situation. I had earlier decided to be as far away as possible. There was no question of staying back at Husainpur. If we had to stay at all we could very much stay back at Kishoreganj. Mr. Akbar and I had to exercise great efforts in convincing Mr. Mutalib that there was no point in stopping when we had already come out of our cherished
163
home. I told Mr. Mutalib that it would be no difference if we stayed back at Husainpur instead of Kishoreganj. I told him that Husainpur was only 10 miles away from Kishoreganj and was as much inside the limits of the border as Kishoreganj themselves. The Pakistani army could easily catch hold of us no matter whether we were at Kishoreganj or at Husainpur.
It was with great effort we could ultimately physically forced out Mr. Mutalib from his place. In fact I had to drag him out for boarding the jeep. While doing that I felt very sad. I was a young man and could take innumerable risk. Mr. Mutalib had served for a long 27 years and it was difficult for him to undertake such a journey into an unknown future. I felt very much for him. All along I had been respecting his sentiments of age and experience. All along I had been respecting his own way of looking at things. That Mr. Mutalib decided to rise up in revolt against the army was in itself an accomplishment. This is why I had to persuade him to board the jeep, I could not force him. I would have listened to Mr. Mutalib and left him behind or all of us would have stayed behind but for a simple reason. The day I had decided to rise up in revolt against the then established authority of the Pakistan army controlled government; I had already burnt the board. By deciding to cooperate with the resistance force, Mr. Mutalib had also forfeited the existence and future. From that day on I knew that I was on the other side. We have crossed the point of no return and there was no point in our coming back or rejoining the government. From the first day, I knew fully well that we had already forfeited our lives. I knew fully well that the minimum punishment for us would be death. I could respect the sentiments of Mr. Mutalib but could not allow him to be a prisoner of his nervous state of mind. I could not allow him to stay back and get killed by the Pakistan army. He might falter but it was for me to persuade him to go with us. This is why I almost put pressure on him to accompany us into the uncertain future. It was time for us to leave again. Mr. Badal and Apel Mahmood had to stay back as they would go to Dhaka the next morning via Monohardi. I explained the position to the C.O. and requested him to extend all possible assistance to these two gentlemen. The C.O. assured me that they would have no difficulty at night and could leave easily the next morning to Dhaka via Monohardi.
164
We soon bade good-bye to all including Apel and Badal. While leaving Badal assured me that he would definitely get my letter to my in-laws. Later on I came to know about this. He kept his promise and thought he could not stay in Dhaka for a long time because of the identified fear of being identified by the Pakistani army he did hand over my letter to my in-laws as he had promised me at Kishoreganj and Husainpur.
In normal circumstances our journey from Kishoreganj ‘to Netrokona would have been along the main road from Kishoreganj to Mymensingh. We would have had to change the direction mid-may somewhere near Atharobari. This journey was not a normal one. The main road was not pliable because we ourselves destroyed the bridges and culverts. We had also dug out my positions on the road. This is why we had to go via different places along the similar roads which could be made pliable with great difficulty. This is the reason why we first moved into Hussainpur in some other direction.
Soon we left Hussainpur for our next point in the journey – Nandail. Nandail was a peculiar place since it was one of the few places which did not have majority supporters of the Anami League. The person who got elected from Nandail was Mr. Nurul Amin, a P.D.P. candidate. For him, Nandail was considered to be a strong point for the opposition. Our destination had to be Nandail as we had no other option left.
When we reached Nandail through smaller routes, it had already become 1 a.m. Even in those grave circumstances, I decided to have some fun at Nandail in order to cheer up the whole group. It was almost the dead of night and nobody could be seen around the place. Our jeep silently moved into the Thana compound. It was at this stage that I cried out in Urdu asking for the Pakistani flag and the Pakistani National Anthem. I had passed a long time in West Pakistan and could speak Urdu very fluently. No sooner had I cried out for fun we could hear sounds of escaping of unknown people. It was with great difficulty that we could catch hold of the O.C. of the police station. The lights were put on and he could see that we were not Pakistanis but Bengalees. He frankly admitted that he had been frightened and a few of his men had run but for hiding. We then cried out in Bengalee asking them to return. All of them returned but felt ashamed for running away earlier. Mr. Mutalib was very critical and he remarked
165
that people like those did not deserve to live. He requested them to be more bold and face the Pakistans if necessary. I could realise that Mr. Mutalib’s words were going in vain because most of the police personnel, unlike the ones at Kishoreganj, suffered almost a nervous breakdown. Fear was there written largely on their faces.
For the most part I remained silent and Mr. Mutalib kept on making queries from the O.C. police station. It was getting late and I interrupted Mr. Mutalib and told him that we must leave.
We were on our way again. This time the destination was at Netrokona. By going around different routes we had taken up quite some time but had covered only about 12 miles. The distance in front of us was much larger. We would now have to go via many other unknown places to Netrokona. The rest of the journey was long and tedious. We had to go through many places which we had not been to earlier. As far as I remember we went via Kendua and Purbadhola. But on our way we had to get down from the road on the field a number of times because of broken and damaged bridges. Fortunately for us the rains had not come. Otherwise the way could have been blocked down and the journey would not have been possible by jeep. It took us a long 4 hours to reach Netrokona. The bridge on the river outside the Netrokona town soon came within our view; Mr. Mutalib informed us that we had come very near to Netrokona. I had never been to Netrokona earlier and had to take his words for granted. It was at about 5 a.m. when we reached Netrokona and drove into the Dak Bungalow.
When we drove into the compound of the Dak Bungalow we could not find anyone there. Dead silence was prevailing all around and it was dark. We had to see our way with the help of the lights coming out from our jeeps. It was after great persuasion and efforts we were possible to catch hold of one Chowkidar (House Guard) of Dak Bungalow. He got frightened seeing us. I have forgotten to mention that three Bengal Regiment people were with us and they all had automatic weapons. When the Chowkidar (House Guard) saw us he looked surprised but did not ask any question. Obediently, he opened all the rooms and we got into them.
We had come out of our residence at, about 10 p.m. the night before. It was about 5 a.m. the next morning at that time. Because of the jerking and the tedious journey all of us felt very hungry, tired and
166
exhausted. But there was no question of exporting any food. So we hurriedly made a few beds and lied down. We were so tired that we fell asleep a few minutes later. When we got up from sleep it was about 3:30 a.m. in the morning. In fact we would have slept longer had we not been disturbed by noises all around. When we got up we found that a good number of people numbering about one hundred had gathered at the Dak Bungalow. It appeared as if they had been waiting for us for some time. We had gone to bed with whatever we had with us the early morning. There was thus no question of changing clothes. I came out to see what had actually happened. A few gentlemen introduced themselves to me and told me that they had come to hear the story of our coming from us. One of those gentlemen was Mr. Khaleque a prominent Awami League leader from Netrokona. He had visited Kishoreganj a few days back and I could recognise him. Mr. Khaleque told me that the crowd had gathered outside only out of curiosity. I told Mr. Khaleque that we were very tired and could not possibly talk without having a cup of tea. Mr. Khaleque and others than sat down in the drawing room and waited for hearing our story.
In the meantime, Mr. Hamid, one of my batch mates had come to know about our arrival. We had kindly sent down for tea and snacks. I cannot describe in words how satisfied and happy we felt at the sight of the tea and the snacks that morning. All of us were immediately busy with the food.
After having tea I started talking to Mr. Khaleque and others. I explained the whole situation to them and told them that we had come to Netrokona because there was no point in staying back at Kishoreganj which was going to fall very soon to the Pakistan army. I told Mr. Khaleque and others that the Pakistan army was within a 10 mile radius of Kishoreganj town itself and the fall of Kishoreganj was eminent. Mr. Khaleque and the others listened to us very attentively and cried to appreciate our points.
Soon Mr. Khaleque and the others went out. In the meantime, Hamid dropped in. I had explained the whole story once again to him. Hamid was a nervous man and he apparently got a shock. However, he showed an extraordinary boldness when he told me that he would also like to face the Pakistan army if the need arose. I explained the position to Hamid and told him that possibly it would be of no use to
167
get engaged in open confrontation and regular battles with the Pakistani army as they were much more disciplined, well-organised, and equipped with sophisticated weapons. I told Hamid that the Pakistani army had the air support. I referred to the battle of Bhairab and tried to convince him that our position would simply be to jeopardise and people could be killed unnecessarily if we made more attempts for often conventional confrontation with the Pakistani army. Hamid and I kept on discussing different matters.
When we were in the midst of discussion Mr. Khaleque and others returned. Mr. Khaleque had a strange story to tell. He informed us that because of our arrival, a panic had been created in the town. People had taken to the idea that the Pakistan army had advanced too far and were soon going to take over Netrokona. Mr. Khaleque explained the details and insisted that some publicity was necessaryto remove necessary apprehension from the minds of the people of the town. We appreciated his points and it was decided that publicity would be given in the town saying that the S.D.O. and others from Kishoreganj had come to Netrokona on a special mission and there is nothing to be afraid of. Mr. Khaleque and others soon went out. We could soon hear the announcement from the publicity van telling people that had been decided. The publicity had a good affect and people started dispersing from the compound of the Dak Bungalow.
I did not know that many Hindus from the Kishoreganj Subdivision had already moved out towards the border. Quite a good number of them had come to Netrokona. Soon a few of them dashed into the Dak Bungalow to say hello to me. They told me that they had come down to Netrokona because of fear of the Pakistani army. It appeared that most of them had already planned to cross the border into India. Many of them actually did cross the borders that night or the day thereafter. One of the persons who met me at Netrokona was a very prominent man from Kishoreganj. He was Mr. Biraj Mohan Roy, whose ancestors were the Zamindars of Kishoreganj in the old times.
Soon Hamid left us and went to his office. I told Hamid that I would go to his office and meet him there. I had gone to his office that day. I travelled in the jeep and the three Bengal Regiment people were in the same jeep. They were all armed.
After liberation I met a number of people that told me many stories they had heard about me during the struggle. One of the stories

168
was that I was arrested by the Pakistani army and someone saw me under army guard. I laughed at the story when I first heard it. When I thought over this, it flashed into my mind that the story could possibly be that of Netrokona. I had gone to Netrokona with three Bengal Regiment people who were accidentally with me. These people were very loyal and devoted. They used to accompany me everywhere I went. In Netrokona, I went around the town in an opened jeep and as usual the three people were with me in the jeep. Someone must have reported this to people in Dhaka. This story must have taken the colour of arrest and custody by Pakistani army; for ordinary people it was difficult to distinguish between armed personnel. The reporter of the story must have mistaken the EBR personnel for Pakistan army man and he must have thought that I was already under detention of the Pakistan army.
I went around the town and then went back to Hamid’s office. I was surprised to see that affairs at Netrokona were being run in a completely different manner. At Kishoreganj, I myself had taken the lead of the resistance movement and this is why and how I kept control over the affairs. At Netrokona the situation was different. The Awami League Leaders there as asserted more and it appeared that they are virtually running the administration at that time. It was possible because of Hamid’s nervousness that they stepped in for leading the movement. A disciplined person like disciplined civil servant could definitely arrange things better. It appeared at Netrokona that because of the running of the administration by indefinite unspecified people some confusion had been prevailing.
I had another round of tea at Hamid’s office. Soon the police personnel came and their leader entered Hamid’s room with his permission. He referred to the payment of advance salaries at Kishoreganj and requested that Hamid should make such payments also. Fortunately for him he could immediately pick me up and told Hamid to get confirmation from me. On Hamid’s query, I explained the position to him telling him that before leaving I had made orders for advance of three months’salary to all Government servants including the police and the officers. Hamid was in a fix and he requested for some time.
Soon I came back to the Dak Bungalow and Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Akbar and myself sat down to discuss things. By then we had been
169
convinced that our presence at Netrokona was unwelcomed. We had by then come to know that our continued presence would create more panic in the minds of the people. We had not seen disorganisation or chaos earlier but Netrokona offered such an experience. After a prolonged discussion, we decided that we should move out of Netrokona and go towards Durgapur, a police station headquarters of Netrokona Sub-division. We decided that there was no point in delaying the departure. We then tentatively fixed the time for the afternoon.
It was possibly at Netrokona we received bad news. We came to know that two Pakistani Sabre Jets had strafed Shambhuganj, the place across the river opposite Mymensingh town. About eight people were killed in that strafing. Our apprehensions of eminent fall of both Kishoreganj and Mymensingh were substantiated by such news.
Hamid was kind enough to have arranged food for us for the lunch. We had lunch and then started preparing for the journey up to Durgapur. None of us knew the areas well and no one could say with certainty that the road was accessible and alright. I had sought Hamid’s help in this regard. Fortunately for us a local man of Zaria Zanzail, a place between Netrokona and Durgapur, was there to act as a guide. He was badly in need of going to Zaria Zanzail, his home, in his own jeep. On our request, he agreed to accompany us during our journey late in the afternoon.
I must record here a few more incidents of that day. While leaving Kishoreganj, I could not bring the available arms and ammunitions which could be sent to Mymensingh. S.I. of police Mr. Nazrul Islam did this wonderful job by carrying the available rifles and ammunitions in a trunk from Kishoreganj to Mymensingh. He left Kishoreganj sometime after we had left the town. Before we left for Durgapur, he managed to come back from Mymensingh. He reported the whole matter to us and told us that the arms and ammunitions had been handed over to the leaders of the freedom fighters at Mymensingh. He told us that the people at Mymensingh were very happy to receive the arms and ammunitions. He confirmed the news regarding the strafing of the Pakistani Sabre Jets. He told us that about 8 people had been killed by this action.
Before leaving for Durgapur in the afternoon, Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Akbar and I decided to visit Hamid at his house for the last time.
170
When we were at his house, we found that the families of the D.C. and A.D.C. of Mymensingh had come. It was clear that none was feeling safe even at Mymensingh. The families had come reportedly for the purpose of going deep into villages. When outside people were not there, Hamid confirmed this and told me in confidence that the D.C. had requested him to send his family and others down to a village in Netrokona where they had some distant relatives.
In normal course the sight of the families of the DC and the ADC should not have created any reaction in me. In these circumstances it was the most natural thing to do. But for unknown reasons I looked at this from another angle. For the first time since April 4, when I had gone to Kuliarchar to see off my family, I felt very bad. I felt a sense of guilt in that possibly I had not done the right thing by getting separated from my wife. I felt that I had sent them to a distant place where they might have been facing difficulties. It suddenly struck me that our last meeting at Kuliarchar was possibly the last we had on the free soil of Bangladesh. I felt bad because I did not know what would happen in the future. As things were going, we were being driven out gradually. If we crossed the border and went into India it would be more difficult for us to get in touch with our families. All these thoughts struck me after I had seen the families of the DC and the ADC at Hamid’s house. That Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar were also thinking on the same line soon became clear when they remarked that we should not have gotten separated from our families.
I had not been to Netrokona before and thus never had been to the SDO’s official residence at Netrokona. I had come to Hamid’s house for the first time. There could be no worse time in which both of us could meet at his residence. His wife did come to meet us but she looked all pale and blank. We had felt so much depressed that we could not talk much. We only sat and stayed for some time before we finally departed after bidding farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Hamid.
After liberation when I came back to Mymensingh, I found that poor Hamid had been continuing as SDO, Netrokona. He was my batch mate and had been posted to Netrokona as Sub-divisional Officer before me. It was very much embarrassing for me to be the DC with my own batch mate as the SDO. The first thing I did after coming back to Mymensingh was to rescue Hamid out of Netrokona.
171
I posted him as Additional DC and brought him to Mymensingh. On my insistence the Government had to yield and regularise him as the ADC in the senior scale. In fact Hamid got the promotion before all of us in the batch in a normal manner.
I am referring to the above circumstances only with a point of view. The point is whether I persuaded Hamid in April, 1971 to leave Netrokona and accompany me. On my return I was asked this question by many people including our common friends. I did persuade Hamid at Netrokona to leave his place. I explained the whole situation to him and told him that a man with honour and dignity could not think of serving the Pakistan army after all they had done to us. I told him this in unambiguous terms when I met him a number of times on April 19, 1971. At his office Hamid sounded very bold and told me that he could not definitely consider moving across the border later. Evidently I could not force a decision on him. When I was going to bid farewell to him at his residence that afternoon, I again requested him to consider my proposal and get out of Netrokona. I indirectly requested him to accompany across the border if necessary. On my return after liberation, when I rescued Hamid out of Netrokona and brought him to Mymensingh, he had a long story to tell. In fact he would have been killed by the army but for one good Colonel who took a lenient attitude towards him. Hamid had committed all crimes, all crimes pertaining to treason in the eyes of the Pakistanis. He had silently consented to the distribution of arms to the freedom fighters; he had taken the salute of the freedom fighters and had raised the Bangladesh flag. He had made three months’ advance pay following my example. All these were sufficient for his conviction and murder. That he was not killed was only for the lenient attitude that the Colonel had taken towards him because of possibly for compassionate reasons. Later when we met, Hamid told me all these and frankly confessed that he had definitely committed a mistake by not accompanying me on the 18th April in our journey. He frankly admitted that in that case he could have suffered but not suffered so much as he did every moment during his stay at Netrokona during the long nine months of army occupation. Today when Hamid will be reading the story I am confident, he would be subscribing to my contentions. I did all I could to persuade and convince him on the 18th April. I could not force a decision on him.
172
Hamid definitely gave me this allowance that I did my best for him. He would definitely not hold me responsible for not explaining everything to him on that fateful day of 18th April, 1971.
By the time we left for Durgapur it had become about 5:30 p.m. The road was quite good for some time but after that we were on a Kutcha road (made of soil)) which was very muddy. There were even ditches on the road at intervals. It was really a terrible journey. The jeeps could not run more than 20 miles an hour. At certain places the speed had been lowered down even further because of the terrible condition of the roads.
In all there were four jeeps with us besides the jeep that have been taken by the guide gentleman. We were all feeling bad but still kept on the conversation. We were facing a lot of difficulties with two parallel of betrayals which we had put on one jeep. Betrayal was the most serious thing you could get those days. We had to foresee the future and allow for taking such betrayal for emergency use.
The journey continued for more than two hours. We could not even reach Zaria Zanjail which was about 10 miles away from Netrokona. Near Zaria Zanjail we had to cross a small river. The river was very shallow and there was a small bridge on it. It was very difficult to get the jeeps through over this bridge. It was rather an improvised jeep which we had to negotiate with great difficulty.
I had never before seen such a dark night. This darkness in the open field could not be compared with any other we had seen at Kishoreganj, Netrokona, or Hussainpur. There were sounds of insects all around. The only sound which kept us conscious about our existence was the sound of jeep engines. There was no light anywhere and we had to rely on the headlights of the jeeps. When we had crossed the improvised jeep, with great difficulty it had already become very dark. The darkness, it flashed into my mind, matched the uncertainty of our journey. I was immediately reminded of the dark night in which I had received the Mujahids at Kishoreganj railway station. It were, as if, we were being pierced into darkness. Except our own lights no light could be seen. The environment was completely in keeping with our own condition and future. We could not see a ray of hope anywhere but were certain that there must be light somewhere at the end of the journey, which we could see only if we go through the period of trials and tribulations.
173
I must record one very important incident of that night. It could as well be that we would all have been attacked that night by villagers. It could be that we could not explain anything to them.
When we were approaching Zaria Zanjail, it appeared that a good number of jeeps were coming together. The jeeps were moving with great caution as a slight mistake would take them down the road into the uneven grounds and ditches that were all around. As we kept on moving, we heard a great din and bustle coming from a distance. We did not know what was happening. It was at this stage we could see a few lights moving at different places in our front. It looked like that a good number of people were assembling and they were moving in darkness with lamps and hurricanes in their hands. In fact we had come to a virtual stop by seeing such lights and feeling such movements ahead of us. We decided to know what it was all about. The guide gentleman who was with us volunteered to go ahead and find out the causes of such movements. We stopped on the road and bade him farewell. He went ahead in his own jeep and we kept on waiting. We got down from the jeeps and got an opportunity to smoke leisurely. We kept on waiting and time passed by. It was about half an hour after we could see about 23 or 30 people approaching us on foot along the road. The guide gentleman cried out from a distance telling us that there was nothing to be afraid of as he was coming on foot with a few villagers. Soon he was near us and we could see that he was accompanied by a good number of villagers who carried deadly weapons and one or two of them even carried guns. He narrated the whole matter and we came to know what had actually happened.
In fact, we had a good saving that night. We were told that the villagers from distance had seen these jeeps. In those days, only a few transports used to move and hardly at night. The villagers ahead of us had thought that a convoy of Pakistani army had been moving. They had been observing the movement. They had decided to obstruct the convoy. One elderly villager told us that God was great as otherwise it would have been a same-side. He told us that they could know about our real identity only after the guide gentleman had gone ahead in advance and told them of our journey. We all thanked God that He had saved us all from a misunderstanding. No sooner had I made this common full-throated slogans of JOY BANGLA raid the air than it s
174
attracted more people and we entered Zaria Zanjail almost in a procession on foot. The jeeps followed us in a very slow speed from behind.
At Zaria Zanjail we had to wait for more than half an hour as the villagers insisted on our having some tea and snacks. It was already about 10:30 p.m. We had been feeling hungry and we decided to stay for some time and have some food. When we were having tea a good number of people gathered there and they started speaking about a lot of things. It appeared that they were very happy to see us. They were happier to learn that we were not going to join the Pakistan army, but fight them with a different strategy in future. I met a prominent person there that night. Later when I came back to Mymensingh after liberation, he came to meet me. He told me that my brave words had in fact boosted up the morale of the people that night. He told me that even after our crossing across the border, people used to talk about us and praise us a lot.
The tea was over and we decided to move on again. Before we started, we thanked all – particularly the guide and the prominent villagers for their cooperation and hospitality. We told them that we had possibly lost the first round of war. But it should not be treated as our surrender. We told them that it was of no use to fight the Pakistani face to face as we lacked in manpower, arms, ammunitions and air covers. We told them to become guerrillas and go into hiding if necessary. The only way we could survive and attack again was by going into hiding and forming a guerrilla movement.
When the jeeps were on the roads again it was about mid-might. The tea refreshed us temporarily but that did not last long. We soon started feeling very weak and exhausted. We could not expect any food anywhere and thus had to remain satisfied with whatever we had already taken.
The journey continued and we were soon on the bank of river Kongsho. Some misunderstanding developed even there as a section of EPR troops had mistaken us for Pakistanis. They had almost taken position when we were driving into with great difficulties we could communicate with them and told them that we are Bengalees. They received us cordially and gave us further guides regarding the road ahead. They told us that river Kongsho was very near and we would have to cross the river.
175
To our utter surprise we were told that there was no bridge on the river and we would have to drive through the shallow waters over the river beds. We were told that the waters were less than knee deep. On my request a villager of that area volunteered to go ahead of us and show us the stretch of river which was the most shallow and which could be negotiated with some difficulty by jeeps.
Soon we were on the bank of the river. It was a sandy tract of land and there was no difficulty in approaching the river. The difficulty was with the waters. Contrary to what we had been told, we found that there was a good amount of current in the waters and it looked like the jeeps would not be able to cross the river.
During the 9 months of trial, I passed sleepless nights at many places. I went through many hardships. However, when I looked in retrospect today, I must confess that I possibly did not have any experience parallel to that I had that night while attempting to cross the river. At one stage it appeared that it would not be possible to cross the river at alland our jeeps would be shifted away by currents. That night of the 18th of April, or should I say the early morning of the 19th of April, will always remain in my memory. I must describe what ordeal we faced and how we passed through it.
The villagers volunteer got into the water and started guiding us. No sooner had the jeeps had gone a few yards, we found that the waters were not in fact knee deep but were more. We had already gone into the waters and there was no possibility of getting back. We had to cross the river at any cost. It was possibly in the mid-stream that we got stuck and the jeeps virtually refused to move, waters were passing by and it appeared that the level was gradually rising. We cursed the villagers and told him that he had guided us into a wrong route. However, he insisted that that was the only route through which we could pass. He told us that he had seen jeeps pass along that track.
It was the most pitiable scene that one could ever think of. We were in the midst of water. Water was all around. In fact, I had to raise my legs to avoid being drenched completely in the lower part. Water had gone into the jeeps as well. There were people with us – particularly Subodh Nandi’s wife, the children and my brother-in-law who did not know how to swim. They all cried out in fear. It was a moment of trial we had to remain cool and calm. I consoled all by telling that we would soon be getting out of the trouble.
176
It was at that moment we had to decide that we must try to get at least one jeep out to the other bank. The jeep that Capt. Motiur Rahman had left with me was travelling ahead. It was a brand new jeep of Willy’s Model. The driver who had volunteered to come with us was also an expert one. He was a jolly good fellow who did not get even slightly nervous. He put the four wheels on and with great difficulty crossed the river. This feat encouraged us and we tried to do the same with other jeeps but without any results.
It appeared that the water level was rising. So we had to devise some means for quickly taking the jeeps out of water on to the other bank. The driver of the brand new jeep suggested that the other jeep should be unloaded as far as possible so that he could try to drag those jeeps by the new one. There could be no love at that time for cloths and shoes. All of us took off our shoes and got down into the water. The water was very very cold and we started almost shivering. As I had expected, there was quite a bit of current and it was difficult to stand at one place. The only favourable factor was the relatively even sandy bed of the river.
Driver Subodh did a great part of the job. All of us got into business and carried the children on to the other side of the river from the jeeps. He carried my brother-in-law. He also carried his own children and his wife. The rest of us walked through the waters to the other side.
It now remained a problem to take the jeeps out of the water. We got down and fastened one jeep by rope, to the new jeep. The new jeep did its best and along with pushing with great difficulty we were able to take one jeep out of the waters. We repeated the performance four times to get all the jeeps out of the water with great difficulty. When the whole operation was over we found that it had cost us about two hours. When all of us were on the other bank we felt so tired and exhausted that all of us sat down on the sandy ground and started taking rest.
After taking rest for about 20 minutes, we got into the jeeps again for the rest part of the journey. Durgapur was still about 5 miles away. I cannot describe in words with what great difficulty the jeeps had to climb up the uneven slope of the river bed on the other side. I am sure if the new jeeps were not there, we would never have been able to cross the river and then drive and get on to the Kutcha road again. :
177
The next part of the journey was eventless. We drove into Durgapur at about 3:30 a.m. Nobody could be seen around. We drove into the Dak Bungalow after locating it with great difficulty. A few EPR personnel numbering about 6 had been staying at the Dak Bungalow. They had in fact again mistaken us for Pakistanis. The misunderstanding would have developed but for our caution and tactful dealing.
When we got down from the jeeps at the Dak Bungalow we were all shivering. All of us had been in fact drenched completely. We could hardly stand or walk. The local officer in charge of the police station somehow got the message and came to receive us even at that time. He was a jolly nice man. He enquired of me if we had taken any food. I nodded my head. I told him that it would be wonderful if he could arrange some rice and dal for us.
The EPR troops very kindly vacated two rooms of the Dak Bungalow and we were now free to sit or lie down. It was taking some time for the shifting. I could not even stand. I took out the bed from my jeep, got them down on the verandah, I washed my hands and feet and changed into Lungi. I could not speak and lay flat on the bed in the verandah. The others went ahead with washing and other things. I could feel that they were doing it slowly. As I could not wait, I lay flat on the bed. In fact all of us were soon on the bed.
I was so tired and exhausted that I did not know when I fell asleep. When Mr. Mutalib awakened me it was about 5:30 in the morning. Daylight was just setting in. I saw that the officer-in-charge of the police station had done a marvellous job. It was surprising to see that he had even arranged some curry for us. We took the food with great relish. I could feel that day how bad a man could feel if he wasstarving. I could feel the pains of hunger and thirst. I am fortunate enough to have had different varieties of food and dishes at many diverse places on many colourful occasions. But I must admit here that I never had any food with so much satisfaction as I had that night sitting in the Dak Bungalow of Durgapur.
After finishing food I laid down again and soon fell asleep. When I got up late in the morning, sunlight was coming into the room. I looked at the wrist watch. It had already become 10:00 a.m.
After getting up, I changed clothes and came out of the room. Quite a good number of people were waiting outside. That included
178
the officer in charge of the police station, one Subedar of EPR and a member of the then Provincial Assembly who hailed from that place. The name of the member of the Provincial Assembly was Mr. Tara Mia. We sat over a cup of tea and started discussing things. Mr. Tara Mia heard all about us and the background of the fall of Bhairab and other places so far as we knew. He told me that he had come to the Dak Bungalow after hearing about our arrival from the O.C. of the police station. I thanked him for taking the trouble and requested him to make suggestion if he had one.
Mr. Tara Mia definitely had a suggestion. He told me that he had contacted the Indian BSF on the other side of the border a number of times. The BSF had assured him of all help in arms and ammunitions but the supply from them had been very meagre till that time. Mr. Tara Mia told me that the BSF Captain on the other side would be glad to meet me.
Mr. Tara Mia was of the opinion that I could extract a better explanation of the attitude and support of the BSF towards our liberation movement if I met the Captain of the BSF on the other side of the border. I was told that the border was about three and a half miles away. On our side we had a beautiful police inspection Bungalow atop a hill and also a forest Dak Bungalow atop another hill in that locality of Bijoypur. I was told that there was a small river which divided India and Bangladesh in that area. The place opposite Bijoypur was named Baghmara, a small police station headquarter looking more or less like a village. Mr. Tara Mia told me that we could go up to a place called Langura by jeep with some difficulty. Langura was about one and a half miles ahead of Durgapur. From Langura we would have to walk up to Bijoypur and then on to Baghmara through the fields and a village road. In between Langura and Bijoypur, we would have to cross a river by ferry a little ahead of Langura. Mr. Tara Mia gave vivid details of the location and the routes and wanted to know when it would be possible for us to go towards that side. Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Akbar and myself discussed the matter with him and decided that we would go to Bijoypur the next day. We tentatively fixed that day because we were feeling very tired and exhausted that day at Durgapur.
The EPR Subedar was sitting all through when we discussed various aspects with Mr. Tara Mia. When Mr. Tara Mia’s eyes fell on
179
him, he again introduced the Subedar to us by praising him. We were told that the Subedar had carefully and tactfully arranged the killing of all the West Pakistani EPR personnel of the border outposts. We were told that in all 67 such West Pakistani had been killed by the Bengalees soon after the news of the crackdown at Dhaka and other places had reached Durgapur. We could only praise the Subedar and ask him to continue with his efforts. He was a different kind of man who observed more and spoke less. It was thus difficult to know his reactions. Frankly speaking, we could not even realise with what attitude he had been looking at us.
When the Subedar and Mr. Tara Mia were gone we sat down with the O.C. and started discussing various things with him. He gave us a good amount of what had happened in that area. He told us that the EPR Subedar had, in fact, done a good thing by eliminating the West Pakistani army personnel. In doing so, no mercy could be shown, they had to be eliminated for bare necessity as otherwise they would have taken the initiative and attempted killing the Bengalee armed persons.
The rest part of the day was eventless. We went around Durgapur down and met many more people and talked to them about their reaction. We could see that a good number of people, particularly Hindus had gathered at Durgapur for ultimate crossing of the border into India. Nearly all houses in the Thana town had a number of guests who had escaped from other big places and had taken shelter there thinking the place to be relatively safer in consideration of its proximity to the Indian border. The track of evacuees saddened us. I looked into the future and would foresee a situation in which a good number of people of this country would go out into India after having been forced out by cruelty and in some cases by the sense of fear in their heart.
The rest part of the day was eventless except for the sudden appearance of a person we would not have liked to meet in any case. I had never seen this man before. When he came to the Dak Bungalow in the afternoon, I was sitting inside the room. Mr. Mutalib got into the room and told me that the eldest son of Mr. Emdad Hussain alias Moti Mia of Kishoreganj had come to meet us. Mr. Mutalib was quite critical about his appearance and told me that he suspected something. He told us that there was no need of this gentleman’s coming to us. Mr. Mutalib agreed with me that he was not welcomed at all. But
180
after all he had come and I had to go out and talk to him for some time. We talked about this and that without giving out any secrets or reactions. The fellow informed us that he had been living at Durgapur for quite some time in his relative’s home when all these started. Apparently there was nothing to suspect him and as we knew very little about his background we simply continued talking to him without any warmth or any possible indication of dislike.
The next morning, Mr. Tara Mia came again to confirm that we would be a leaving for Bijoypur in the afternoon just after lunch. Mr. Tara Mia was accompanied by another gentleman named Mr. Sadiruddin who had been elected to the National Assembly from that area. Mr. Sadiruddin was a fat and short man whose voice was quite shrilling. He did not talk much but agreed with Mr. Tara Mia’s suggestion that it would be wonderful if all of us would go to meet the Captain of the BSF on the other side and find out their actual attitude. He told Tara Mia that we had decided to go and it would be wonderful if he could kindly drop in around 3 p.m. for the journey. Mr. Tara Mia agreed to come back at that time with Mr. Sadiruddin and both of them then left.
I have missed a very important point regarding the personnel who had been accompanying us from Kishoreganj in our journey. Apart from Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Akbar, our driver & his family and one man from Kishoreganj had volunteered and had come with us driving the EBR jeep. He was a jolly good fellow whose presence was a source of encouragement and delight. Apart from these drivers, the other important person of the entourage was one assistant adjutant of Ansars and one Mr. Bachchu Mia, and elected MPA from Brahmanbaria. The 3 EBR people who had joined us in the journey were accidentally there at Kishoreganj with Bachchu when we started the journey from Kishoreganj. I must give some background of the arrival of Bachchu and the EBR personnel at Kishoreganj from Brahmanbaria.
I had recorded somewhere earlier in this book that when we found out that we had been looking in many places, we decided to arrange shifting of the cash from banks and treasuries from inside areas to more safe places. It was in this context Captain Mannan was sent by Major Safiullah with a few troops to Kishoreganj on the 6th or 7th of April. Captain Mannan and his troops came by train and they went
181
back on a train with Rs.1,13,50,000/- (One Crore Thirteen Lac and Fifty Thousand) only handed over to them by the banks at Kishoreganj. Lest anybody should have any suspicion, we devised a wonderful system for such transfer of resources from Kishoreganj to Brahmanbaria. All the bank managers of Kishoreganj town accompanied Captain Mannan to Brahmanbaria on the train and deposited the amounts in their respective banks at Brahmanbaria. There was thus no physical handling of the cash by anybody else and no scope of any allegation of corruption and misappropriation. The bank managers returned to Kishoreganj the next night and informed me that they had personally deposited the amounts in their respective sister banks at Brahmanbaria and Captain Mannan and his troops helped in this. Their only role was to act as guards for the physical movement of the money from Kishoreganj to Brahmanbaria. It was with the same procedure, Mr. Katubur Rahman, officer in charge of Bhairab police station transferred about two and half crores of rupees from Bhairab to Brahmanbaria. I shall come to the significance of this money somewhere later in this book. It was unfortunate that the money accumulated at Brahmanbaria could not be taken across the border for unavoidable reasons. When bombing and strafing started intensely on Brahmanbaria, nobody could dare take out the money and take it across the border. This is however a different story and I shall come to it somewhere later in this book.
It was in the context of transfer of money from Mymensingh to Brahmanbaria that Bachchu and the EBR personnel came to Kishoreganj. When Captain Mannan was at Kishoreganj on the 5th or 7th of April, he talked to the DC at 5P at Mymensingh and requested them to arrange the transfer of the money from there to a safer place like Brahmanbaria. Mymensingh treasury and banks alone had cash resources of more than rupees 20 crores. I had myself repeatedly requested Major Safiullah to arrange the transfer of the money from Mymensingh to Brahmanbaria. I knew fully well that if we could deny this money to the Pakistanis, they would be a hard hit. In our turn we could finance our liberation struggle for a far longer time if we were in possession of such cash resources.
On the 6th or 7th of April when Capt. Mannan talked to the D.C. and S.P. and Mr. Rafiquddin Bhuiyan of Awami League at Mymensingh, they replied that it would not be safe to transfer the
182
cash amount from Mymensingh to Brahmanbaria. I had expressed this apprehension long before to Major Safiullah and had told him that the O.C. and S.P. at Mymensingh had been playing it quite safe. They would not like to get involved in any such dangerous transaction, partly because they were afraid of it and partly because that would leave a solid proof and clue of their participation in the movement against the Pakistani Army. When Capt. Mannan finished talking to this gentleman over the wireless set from Kishoreganj, I told him that my apprehensions were correct and we would not be able to transfer the cash amount from Mymensingh if Major Safiullah did not send some people for this job. I talked to Major Safiullah that night explaining everything to him and told him that he could have to take initiative for transfer of the amount from Mymensingh to Brahmanbaria. I told him plainly that as a disciplined civil servant, I could not pick up an open fight with my own D.C. over this issue. It would be a wonderful and tactful idea if Major Safiullah could send someone from Brahmanbaria up to Mymensingh for undertaking this risky and very important job. Major Safiullah promised that he would look into the matter and would do whatever was possible for him.
It was in this context Bachchu and the EBR personnel accompanied us on our journey back from Brahmanbaria to Kishoreganj possibly on the 12th of April. Our troops had by then been bogged down in open confrontation against the Pakistanis at several places like Narsingdi, Bhairab, Ashuganj, Moulvibazar, Salutigar, Longla, Sree Mongal and Shamsher Nagar. Then I met Col. Raja and Major Safiullah at Brahmanbaria, they explained the whole situation to me and told me that they could not anyway spare any troops for the job of transferring cash resources from Mymensingh to Brahmanbaria. Mr. Bachchu had been cooperating with the liberation forces and he volunteered to do this job. Col. Raja on my insistent agreed to spare six EBR personnel from Brahmanbaria with Mr. Bachchu. Mr. Bachchu and these troops accompanied us back to Kishoreganj and the next day they went to Mymensingh. The 0.C. and S.P. at Mymensingh were far more intelligent and clever than Bachchu. Bachchu could not make any impression whatsoever on them and came back empty handed to Kishoreganj only two days after. By that time the attack on Ramnagar and Bhairab had already begun and there was no way for Bachchu and the EBR troops to go
183
back to Brahmanbaria. They decided to stay with me and they kept on staying with us. We sent three EBR personnel up to Mymensingh and three remained with us. Bachchu and these three EBR troops accompanied us in our journey towards Netrokona and Durgapur on the night of the 17th of April from Kishoreganj. Bachchu and his companions remained with us .till we decided to finally cross the border. There is a lot to talk about it and I shall come to this sometime later.
Tara Mia and Mr. Sadiruddin came back as promised at about 3 p.m. We boarded the jeeps and started towards Langura. We were not going away permanently and hence we did not carry many things with us. We carry only a few items for passing the nights at Bijoypur. The roads through which we were passing could hardly be called a road and it was nothing more than a kutcha path of raised lands. It was with great difficulty we kept on approaching. At one or two points we had to call out some villagers and get their help for removing the obstacles from the way and getting our jeeps out of ditches. In about 25 minutes, we reached Langura and got down from the jeeps. We left instructions with the jeeps to go back to Durgapur Dak Bungalow and wait there for us. The jeeps were asked to get back to Langura in the afternoon of the next day for picking us up in our journey back the next day from Bijoypur.
The jeeps soon left the place and we started going on foot. The border outpost at Langura of EPR was only about a few yards away. We entered the outpost and the Jawans took some time recognising us. After sitting there at the outpost for some time we again left for Bijoypur.
This time this was really hard walking and soon we approached the sandy bank of the river which we would have to cross for going to Bijoypur. The leanly boat doing the ferry was on the other side of the river and we had to wait for some time. We stood on the sands of the river and talked and looked around. After about 10 minutes the boat returned and with great difficulty all of us got into the boat. We were quite a few in numbers. Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Akbar, Mr. Tara Mia, Sadiruddin, Bachchu, the jeep driver and myself. I crossed rivers in boats before but this time it was different with all of us virtually hurdled in a very small boat which could hardly accommodate so many of us.
184
Having reached the other side, we started walking again. Soon we reached a Bazar the name of which I do not remember today. There were lots of people in the Bazar and almost a crowd gathered to see us and talked to us. Mr. Tara Mia tactfully managed the talking and we could thus leave only after 10 minutes of detention at the Bazar.
The rest part of the journey was on foot. When we approached Bijoypur we felt very tired because of walking and I asked Mr. Tara Mia if our destination was far away. Mr. Tara Mia told us that Bijoypur was very near and we would have to walk only about half a mile. It was difficult to walk as we were feeling very tired. The terrain was unknown to us and we could see Garoees all around. It appeared to be mainly inhabited by Garoees.
Soon some houses atop a building attracted our sight. On enquiry, Tara Mia told us that that was a Christian Mission. He told us that the police Dak Bungalow was just across the mission and thus we had almost reached our destination. We were very happy to know this as it was gradually getting dark. The defused sunlight would be there only for a few minutes. Soon we were at the foot of the hill on which the police Dak Bungalow was. We climbed up the hill and reached the Dak Bungalow. The Dak Bungalow was a small beautiful place. It had three rooms and a kitchen. From the top of the Dak Bungalow you could see the area all round and it was so pleasing to look at Bijoypur from atop the hill. The scene had a variety in that it was a hilly place all around. From near down the hill was flowing the river. We could hear the sound of flowing waters. I had never visited Bijoypur before. During my tenure of offices as SDO Kishoreganj I had heard a lot about this picturesque place. When we all SDOs were together for meeting at Mymensingh, Hamid and Imtiaz SDO of Jamalpur used to talk a lot about this place as well as another place called Ghazni is Jamalpur sub-division. In fact people used to go to Bijoypur for picnics. In my presence Imtiaz once made a plan for visiting Bijoypur with his wife. Just before the start of noncooperation movement, the DC of Mymensingh, Mr. Hasan Ahmed, had been transferred to Dhaka. On the first March, I was on train on my way to Dhaka. Mr. Hasan Ahmed had gone to Bijoypur to see the area for the last time before his departure from Mymensingh.
I had heard so much about Bijoypur that I kept on looking all around from the top of the hill. I could easily realise that whatever had been told

185
about the place had been no exaggeration. Hamid was right in boasting about having such a place in his jurisdiction. I felt very bad because I had never visited this place before. I was ultimately there but this was no visit. That was the worst time you could go to Bijoypur and that too all alone. There could not be a worse time in which you would go to such a picturesque scenic place as Bijoypur was.
It soon became very dark. Bijoypur being a small place there was no electricity and we had to take the help of hurricane. Mr. Tara Mia told me that he was trying to talk to the Capt. of the BSF on the other side of the border. In the normal times, there would not have been any communication between Indian BSF and the EPR. I was informed that after the crack-down the EPR had taken initiative and had gone a line across the border connecting Bijoypur outpost with Baghmara BSF post telephonically. It was thus possible now to talk to BSF from Bijoypur. Mr. Tara Mia sent out again to see if it had been possible to contact the Captain. A few minutes later he came back and informed us that he had personally talked to the Captain and we could leave immediately for Baghmara which was about a mile and a half away. We were told that we would have to walk down the distance across paddy fields along some village routes.
We hurriedly left our belongings in the Rest House and got down from the hill. Soon we were in the fields walking across along a village route. It was a very dark night and nothing could be seen around. Tara Mia had been in this area and he knew the route well. It is with his guidance we started walking along the route. We had seldom walked in such routes and that too in darkness. Fortunately for us Tara Mia had managed one torch light and it showed us the way all through. In a moment we faltered, Tara Mia turned back and put the light on for our convenience. I presumed we walked for about 40 minutes when we could see lights at the distance. The lights appeared to be electric lights at Baghmara which had electricity. There was some construction going on off a bridge at Baghmara and the contractors had taken initiative for arranging a few lines of electricity for their own convenience at Baghmara. This is why a small place like Baghmara had electric lights which appeared to be completely contradictory to the surroundings.
Soon we were on the borders. We found that across a small Khal at a raised place one BSF guard was standing with rifle. He
186
challenged us and when Tara Mia gave his identity, he called us ahead and requested us to wait at a place which was virtually the noman’s land.
I had lived in India for a long time in my childhood. My father used to serve in the Assam Oil Company which was at Digboi, a small town in Northeast Assam. Though I was born in Bangladash, then British India, I had passed my earlier years at Digboi. My father had Pakistani Passport and it was for this reason he was retreated from the Oil Company in late 1957. We came back to then Pakistan in December 1957 and settled down at Sylhet. During my father’s stay at Digboi, we had made a few journeys across the border first without any passport and then with passports. After coming to then East Pakistan, I had made only one journey to the village home of my maternal grandfather with passport sometime in 1962. I had never been to India after that.
I write all these to describe my reactions in the proper context of that night when we were in the no-man’s land between Baghmara and Bijoypur – between India and Bangladesh. Because of my earlier stay in India, I had come to know all about the Indians. Frankly speaking, I always had a bad idea about them and used to treat the Indians as enemies of Pakistan like many others of this country. I cannot describe in words how badly I felt that night when I was going to cross the border. We had all along been told that India was Pakistan’s enemy number one. How ironically it was that we were looking up to India for help for maintaining our existence in what used to be Pakistan. It was ironical that a Pakistani was trying to seek support from his so-called enemy no. 1 in the event of his confrontation with his so-called own countrymen. Believe me or not, my feet trembled when I was going to cross the border that night. Mr. Mutalib was far older to me by age and he felt worse. At one point he could not hide his feelings and told me that he lamented the day God had in stars for us on which we would have to take shelter in India.
The BSF guard was back soon in a few minutes. Along with him was a gentleman in civilian dress who was assured stout. He looked like an army man with a mustache. It appeared that his age would be around 40. He was walking with a stick in his hand. He came forward and greeted Mr. Tara Mia. Mr. Tara Mia introduced him to us. He was Captain Murari Ram, Assistant Adjutant of BSF of that area.
187
Possibly the number of BSF company was 83. Captain Murari Ram came forward and shook hands with us one by one. He behaved in a decent manner and from the very beginning started addressing me as ‘sir’.
It would be out of place here to mention these things. The Indian army and the para military forces had always been under the control of democratic institutions. This is why they had learned to be courteous towards civilian officers and I was told later that in India even an SDO was senior to an army Major in rank and status. I got the proof of this after liberation when as D.C. Mymensingh, I used to be saluted by Indian Colonels. The Indian army officers always behaved with dignity with the civilian officers. The arrogance the Pakistan army officers used to show towards civilian officers was completely missing from their behaviour. I remembered of the early days of Yahya Khan. I was posted at Demra after the great cyclone for being in-charge of relief and rehabilitation there. It was just after the taking of General Yahya Khan in April, 1969. At that time a good number of army officers used to visit my office which was temporarily located at Latif Bawani Jute Mills at Demra. The army had just taken over and the army command thought that it was their duty to supervise the relief operation undertaken under the guidance of the civilian officers. At that time I was acting as Assistant Commissioner, Dhaka. I remember how arrogantly these army officers used to behave. They used to come to meet us. The additional D.C. of Dhaka was an old man and he used to be quite afraid of them. I never gave any undue importance to those people. They used to go for supervising relief operation, they hardly understood anything. Most of the time they used to sit and create obstruction in our work. These damn bloody fools used to make idiotic queries and simply wasted our time. At one point I became so fed up with them that I reported to the D.C. of Dhaka Mr. Khurshid Anwar, that if they continue to interfere with our work that way we would possibly have to close down all operations. Mr. Khurshid Anwar was a bold man but he had his own difficulties too. The red-ribboned Brigadier used to create a lot of difficulties at his end. I must, however, appreciate Mr. Khursid Anwar because of his bold attitude. When I complained to him about the idiotic obstructions created by the army officers, he told me that in the future I should ask them to contact the DC for any query or information on
188
the plea that I was a junior officer and was not authorised to deal with such things. This devise worked quite well and we were able to get rid of the uniformed fools that way. I am writing all these to explain the basic difference in the behaviour of the army officers of India and Pakistan. The Indian army officers had never had the chance of seeing any martial law. They had always been under the control of democratic institutions. They had been taught to respect such institutions and civilian government contrary to the contempt that had been taught to the Pakistan army officers by the hot headed generals who did not miss any chance to come to power in Pakistan at the slightest provocation.
Captain Murari Ram behaved quite in a dignified manner and took us to a small room in the Baghmara Bazar. Possibly that was some Union Council office or something like that. I could understand that we had already crossed the international border and had gone to India. We sat inside the room and Captain Murari started talking. He told us he welcomed us but did not know of what service he could be to us. I could feel that Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar had been feeling bad about such meeting arrangement. Possibly Mr. Tara Mia could realise this and he told Captain Murari that we would be grateful if we could go up to his office or some other place where we could sit comfortably for a longer time and discuss things. Captain Murari hesitated for some time and then requested us to follow him up to some other place.
The place where he took us was the Inspection Bungalow quite deep inside. The Inspection Bungalow was quite nice though small. Captain Murari apologised for not being able to make better arrangements. He told us that he hesitated to take us to the place partly because he should not do so and partly because the place was full with inmates.
We sat quite comfortably inside the drawing room of the Inspection Bungalow and thanked Captain Murari for taking us to that place.
Soon Captain Murari begged leave of us and went inside into one room. He was back with one couple who introduced themselves as Mr. & Mrs. Chakroborty. Captain Murari told us that they were Bengalees and joked that we could feel at home. Incidentally, Captain Murari himself was from Hariyana state of India. Captain Murari told us that Mr. Chakroborty served in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of
189
India. He had come to Baghmara for a survey. He had been staying there for a few days and would leave the place soon. Mrs. Chakroborty looked like a purely Bengalee lady and she asked us whether we would have tea or rice. We told her that we would be back to our place soon and there was no necessity for her to arrange food for us for the night. Frankly speaking we were very much surprised at the offer as an Indian Bengali Brahmins’ it was the last offer Mr. Chakroborty could make to the Muslims. Mr. Chakroborty possibly could read the reactions in our eyes and face. He came closer to us and told us that he originally hailed from Rangpur district of Bangladesh, he told us that he had been shocked at the crack-down and the massacre of the Bengalees inside Bangladesh and felt really sad about the whole business. He told us even though he was an Indian, in his heart of hearts he was a Bengalee and thus felt very bad at the sad plight of the Bengalees in the hands of the Pakistani army. There was no pretension in the voice of Mr. Chakroborty. He sounded all sincere and honest. We could gather from his modulated voice that he was really feeling very bad about all of us – our sufferings and difficulties. Mrs. Chakroborty also spoke highly about the Bengalee and told us that since we had met we must take/have some tea and some snacks. Soon she went inside possibly for making the preparations. At this point Captain Murari again joked that the Bengalees were alike no matter whether they were inside Bangledesh or in India.
When Mrs. Chakroborty was gone we sat down to talk business.
Mr. Chakroborty kept on sitting with us and it appeared that Captain Murari did not have any objection to his presence. Mr. Murari opened the dialogue by wanting to know what the attitude of BSF and the Indians was towards our struggle for liberation. He in fact went further and wanted to know if India was going to supply us with necessary arms and ammunition so that we could prepare ourselves better and face the enemies.
Captain Murari looked at each of us and apologised that he was a very small officer to give an answer to such leading questions. He told us that so far as he knew the Indians were all sympathetic towards our cause. He told us that he had received instructions from above to help us in all possible ways. He informed us that the BSF had already supplied good number of rifles, grenades and explosives
190
to the freedom fighters across the border through places like Haluaghat and Dalu. He told us that they gave as much as possible for them. Captain Murari requested us to go towards that side if we could and see for ourselves of the help the BSF had been giving in the shape of arms and ammunitions to the Bengalee freedom fighters. On my query Captain Murari admitted that they had not received any written instructions to this effort. Neither could he tell me whether the decision had come from the highest level. All that he could tell us was that the instruction had come from BSF Headquarters at Tura which might have received similar instructions from further up from Shilong. Mr. Murari explained the position of their set up and told us that he could not say anything more because he was not in the know of all things. Mr. Murari sounded very sincere and I allowed him this difficulty. Obviously he was a junior officer in the chain and could not possibly say anything in an authoritative manner about the attitude of the Indian government and the armed forces.
We then kept talking about many other things. Captain Murari told us that it would be no use if we try to fight the Pakistanis in open battles. He agreed with us that our strategy should be that of guerrilla warfare. It was in this way we could best tackle the Pakistan army. Captain Murari referred to his own life and informed us that he had been a Commando in the Indian army and had taken part in Indian army operation in the border between Indian held Kashmir and Pakistan Kashmir.
We kept on talking about a lot of other things. Captain Murari informed us that he was quite in a tight corner as a good number of refugees had already crossed into India. He told us that they were facing difficulties in accommodating the evacuees who were coming in a stream. He told us that with the continued operation of the Pakistan army, the number of evacuees would definitely come up and they would have hell of a time tackling the situation. Here again he could not give any definite policy and told us that they would definitely allow the evacuees cross the border but he did not know whether they would be allowed to get deep inside India. Captain Murari told us that in all probability they would be housed in camps in Baghmara itself.
We had not finished the discussion when the tea came. Mrs. Chakroborty had taken a lot of trouble and she had prepared quite a
191
few items. It was quite delicious to have those sitting at the Inspection Bungalow at Baghmara. Mr. and Mrs. Chakroborty apologised a number of times in Bengalee custom that they could not do anything more for us. Mrs. Chakroborty was almost in tears when she started eulogising the Bengalee freedom fighters. She told us that she felt proud of the struggle and was confident that the Bengalees would ultimately succeed in defeating the Pakistanis.d
Soon it was time to get back. We told Captain Murari that we would try to meet him again in a few days for going towards Dalu and Haluaghat along Indian routes to see for ourselves the supplies that were giving from SBF side. Captain Murari told us that we were welcome to meet him any time and that he would definitely make arrangement for our movement towards Dalu and Haluaghat if we decided to do so.
During our talks, Mr. Murari had at one point spoken about the difficulty of the route we had come through. When we were ready to get back we found that Mr. Chakroborty had in the meantime gone out and procured a good torch light for us. He handed it over to Mr. Mutalib and requested him to accept this as a token of goodwill. All of us had been feeling the necessity of such a good torch light for the return journey but had not made any mention about it. Mr. Mutalib first hesitated but Mr. Chakroborty had insisted. We then gratefully accepted the gift.
We had walked up to the Inspection Bungalow, while coming from Bijoypur. The Inspection Bungalow was half a mile away from the no-man’s land. Mr. Mutalib was kind enough to arrange an Indian made jeep for us in the return journey from the Dak Bungalow to the no-man’s land. We were quite a few in numbers and thus had to hurdle into the jeep. Somehow we accommodated ourselves and soon we reached the no-man’s land. Before boarding the jeep, we thanked Mr. and Mrs. Chakroborty again and again for their hospitality and wish them well. He told them that God willing we would definitely meet some day somewhere. I have not met Mr. and Mrs. Chakroborty since then. How. I wish I could meet them again on the free soil of Bangladesh today. If by any chance, Mr. and Mrs. Chakroborty is reading the story they should kindly send me up a few lines for letting me know their present address. I am sorry I have lost the small piece of paper in which Mrs. Chakroborty had written down their address at
192
Calcutta. At the no-man’s land we stood for some time and thanked Captain Murari Ram for being kind and generous to us. Captain Murari apologised in his usual dignified manner for not having been able to do more for us. He bade us farewell with the remark that we would definitely meet again in better circumstances. My first impression of Captain Murari was that he was a fine army officer devoid of any army eccentricity. He was a clever man who knew he own limitations and did not hesitate to admit these. He seemed to be a man who knew how to behave with dignity with civilian officers.
We were soon back on our journey again through the fields. This time it took us less time to get back. This was possible because of the torch light we had received from Mr. Chakroborty. When we got back to the Inspection Bungalow it was about 10 p.m. at night. We kept on discussing what we had talked about with Captain Murari. We soon changed our dress and had our food. There were not enough beds in the Inspection Bungalow and Mr. Tara Mia and Mr. Sadiruddin went out for passing the night in the nearby EPR outpost. On our part we improvised arrangement for passing the night at the Inspection Bungalow.
When we got up the next morning, it had become quite late. Mr. Tara Mia and Mr. Sadiruddin had already come from EPR outpost. We sat at the table for breakfast and started discussing the next course of action. We discussed many things but agreed that one of us at least must go towards Haluaghat side to see what the BSF was actually doing about the supply of ammunition to freedom fighters. For the time being we decided to get back to Durgapur. We left for Durgapur soon. After crossing the river we boarded the jeeps at Langura and came back to Durgapur.
During the journey to Baghmara across the border I lost a good amount of money. I do not know how it happened. I had taken some money with me for emergency. It was all in hundred rupee notes. The next morning at Bijoypur Dak Bungalow I could not see the amount in my pocket. Still today I do not know who took the money away out of my pocket at that time. I thought it was wise to record FIR with the police at Durgapur on our arrival at Durgapur from Bijoypur.. . It was possibly on the 22nd morning that S.I. Nazrul Islam rushed to Durgapur from Mymensingh. He had very serious news to give us. He told us that the Pakistan army had already advanced up to
193
Modhupur forest and fighting had been continuing in the area between the army and the liberation forces. Because of the advancement of the army, freedom fighters in the rear positions got annoyed and started doing certain things which they should not have done. It is a matter of record that possibly on the 21st or 22nd of April, a reign of terror was let loose in Mymensingh on the non-local population. I became sad to know that some rifles supplied by us were used on apparently innocent Bihari people. All of them were not innocent was proved later when the army entered the town. But I could never reconcile myself to the idea of brutally killing large scale of people for the fault of some of them.
Sitting at Durgapur on the 22nd of April, I could foresee that Mymensingh town was falling to the Pakistan army. It actually happened like this. On the 23rd of April, the Pakistan army contingents over-powered the resistance forces at Modhupur and other places and entered the town. The Pakistan army used two American light tanks for attack on the town and these tanks kept on shelling on the town for about six hours. All these are matters of record. Later I could see a report in this connection in the Time Magazine, which gave vivid details of the attack of the Pakistan army at Mymensingh town. The report submitted by Mr. Peter Cargill also mentioned the dissolute condition of Mymensingh town after a few days’ of capture of the town by the Pakistan army. The report mentioned that no shops were open in the town and about 90% of the people fled. It was reported that the team was finding it difficult to buy food from any shop. Mymensingh town fell into the Pakistan army after the army over-powered very strong resistance they had faced anywhere in Bangladesh.
When I heard about the fall of Mymensingh town I became very much concerned about the fate of DC and others. I had some idea that they would not be present at or near the town at the time of the capture, it has happened in most places that the army, when entering, killed whomever they came across. This was the reason for my belief about the absence the DC and others in and around town at the time of the actual capture.
Later I could get the whole report about the capture of the town and the fate of DC and others. When the army entered the town most of the people including the DC and other officers went into hiding.
194
The DC of Mymensingh would have been killed but for one reason. He had tactfully saved the lives of three West Pakistan’s officers posted in Mymensingh district. One of them was Mr. Tasnim Siddique who had been acting as Additional DC. The other two were Mr. Imtiaz Javad, and Mr. Khaled SDO and SDPO respectively of Jamalpur subdivision of Mymensingh district. It was with great difficulty that the D.C. managed to save them. I must put on record of our appreciation for this noble task because our liberation struggle was never directed against any innocent individual no matter what his area or domicile was. The people at Agriculture University campus took the leading part for ensuring the safety of these three persons when they were in hiding. I had myself talked to the D.C. about them once or twice on the telephone. Imtiaz was my colleague and Khaled was known to me for a long time. I could not see any reason why we should take the revenge unnecessarily. When Major Safiullah was at Mymensingh he also took a number of measures for protection of non-local people including the West Pakistani officers. Because of saving these people the army did not take a very strong view against the D.C. When the army entered the town, these three officers told them that the D.C. was innocent and had not done any harm to any of them. They praised him and told him that it was because of his tactful dealings that they had managed to remain alive throughout the period. These officers took initiatives in locating the D.C. in hiding and brought him out after obtaining assurance from the army that they would not do any harm to him.
All these about the fate of the D.C. were communicated to me long after the actual capture of the town. I had in fact different news about them. When we were at Baghmara, by the by, Captain Murari told us that he had heard that the D.C. and S.P. of Mymensingh had escaped to Tura, the district headquarters of Garo Hill District bordering the whole Mymensingh district. Captain Murari could not give details but told us that he had information that the SP of Garo Hills had gone down near Haluaghat to receive DC and SP of Mymensingh. Captain Murari was frank in admitting that his information source was secondary and he could not confirm it. The reactions from us were very happy. Mr. Murari and I actually liked the idea. We thought that it would be of great help to the struggle if senior people like the D.C. and the S.P. of Mymensingh had escaped
195
from the occupied territory. It was after a few days on arrival at Baghmara that we could come to know that the D.C. and S.P. had gone to Tura.
We passed two days at Durgapur on the 21st and 22nd of April just wasting our time. I had mentioned that Mr. Murari had come with us with great reluctance. This was not to say that he wanted to stay back for joining his job. But he was anxious to remain near Kishoreganj to see the end. On the 22nd of April, Mr. Mutalib’s pressure we decided that we should go back towards Kishoreganj again because possibly nothing had happened to Kishoreganj till then. It was agreed that we would be leaving Kishoreganj early in the next morning. The Assistant Adjutant of Ansars S.I. Nazrul Islam and a few others left on the 22nd of April themselves as an advance party in a jeep. We stayed back from leaving Kishoreganj again in the next morning. se
Today looking in retrospect, I shuddered to think the plight that would have befallen us if we would have taken the dangerous suicidal course of action. It would have been difficult for us to get out from deep inside. We would have been trapped on the other side by the Pakistan army. I must give some details of how we were prevented from leaving for Kishoreganj in the morning of the 23rd of April.
Like other days, we got up very early that day also. All preparations had been taken for the journey back to Kishoreganj. It was at the stage when we were almost going to board the jeep that we could see that a jeep was coming toward Durgapur from Netrokona’s side. We wondered who it could be and eagerly waited for its arrival. When the jeep arrived, we could easily recognise Mr. Abdul Khaleque, Secretary of Netrokona Awami League. Along with him was Mr. Mustafizur Rahman, an MCA from Kishoreganj. When Mr. Mustafizur Rahman came to know that we were thinking of going back, he virtually forced us up into the room of the Dak Bungalow and started narrating the plight of poor Kishoreganj town in the hands of the army.
The story of Mr. Mustafizur Rahman was sufficient to stop us from proceeding. The story was long and sad. Mr. Mustafizur Rahman told us that the law and order practically collapsed at Kishoreganj after we had left. The army was very near and the town looked deserted. It was in the evening of the 21st of April, the Pakistan army entered our favourite town of Kishoreganj and where
196
on their way for its rape. The army came by train from Manikkhali. The engine carried a Bangladesh flag and a few people that had remained in the town first became very happy to think that possibly more freedom fighters had come. Quite a few people rushed to the railway station to greet the freedom fighters. In fact, it was not the freedom fighters but the Pakistan army who had come up with this trick. As soon as they got down, one of them fired at the flag and hit it away. The army started marching in the town and on their way as the beginning first shot dead four poor Rickshaw pullers who were around. The army major commanding the troops got hold of one or two persons and asked them to guide them to the quarters of the officers and professors. These poor people had no other way but to lead them to the residence of the SDO. The army entered my residence at Kishoreganj with vengeance. They had possibly come to know that I was not there. They possibly also knew that the SDPO and Mr. Golam Akbar were absent. When they approached my residence, they started firing from a distance and the bullets hit the front end of the back walls. I could see the signs of the holes from repairs later after liberation when I visited Kishoreganj town. On their arrival in the area they divided themselves into a number of groups. One group went straight towards my residence while others went in other directions. Soon one could hear the sounds of bullets all around and fire started raging in different shops and establishments. One group kept themselves busy by setting fire to many places. Mr. Mustafizur Rahman reported that he had heard that one Kabuliwala who use to reside at Kishoreganj was with the army and he pointed out different places to the army. Mr. Mustafizur Rahman told us that he could see flames all around and could immediately understand that it was time for him to escape unnoticed. He told us that he could hear the sounds of bullets all around and it was in this circumstance he left Kishoreganj hurriedly taking small by-lanes.
The army was not content with just firing at my residence. They compelled one of my persons on duty to raise a Pakistani flag and beat him mercilessly. They caused extensive damage to the residence. They broke open the confidential offices and ransacked all papers and burned lots of it. On entering my residence they threw all my books right and left and set fire to some of them. They got hold of the chicken we had been breeding and ate them up for dinner. Later, I
197
was reported that the Major brought the beheaded of one victim and put it on the dining table and told the people that the same fate was awaiting treacherous people like myself. They did all this to frighten my persons and others. They did so much damage to my house and property that on my return, I could not get anything back from the house. A few days later after they had left, the Nazir, Mr. Dewan managed to save a few books and other personal effects with great difficulty.
The army was so annoyed that they drove out most of the patients from the hospital. They took out the beds from the hospital for their own use. The Major made my residence his headquarters and kept contingents of the army at places like the hospital and the Dak Bungalow. For days together with the help of collaborators and others, they kept on letting loose a reign of terror in the area.
All the details mentioned above were not known to me when I met Mr. Mustafizur Rahman. However, he supplied us with as much details as possible to go back towards the Kishoreganj side. We all sat dejected at the Dak Bungalow at Durgapur.
The necessity that was felt a few days after the Declaration of Independence of Bangladesh was that of a Government which could take it upon itself the burden of directing the liberation struggle. Because of the sudden attack and the resultant disorganisation, the Awami League Leaders could not get together and work out the formation of such a government. Obviously as the Awami League had received the mandate from the people, it was the party who could form the government. The necessity of the formation of the government was felt by everybody. The readers are aware that its first broadcast over Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra Major Zia announced himself to be the President of the Revolutionary Government. Later on, he modified his announcement and declared that he was leading the armed struggle in the name and on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Mr. Zia’s announcement only asserted the necessity of the formation of a government but he and his colleagues did not obviously constitute the government.
We are sitting at Kishoreganj, like many others eagerly awaiting the formation of a government by the Awani League. The Awani League Leaders at Kishoreganj were quite vocal about it and some of them even got impatient over the issue. All of us were
198
anxious since the movement could not be guided if political force did not take the lead for proper organisation and confrontation. The policy directives could only come from the elected representatives. Moreover the formation of a National government could enhance the prestige of the struggle and raise altogether different hopes in the minds of the people. The foreign power could then be persuaded better. We felt all these and eagerly waited for the formation of the government.
When Major Safiullah reached Mymensingh and Kishoreganj, he also agreed with us that a government should immediately be formed. There was,at that time,a frantic search for some elderly politicians of the Awami League. Since nobody was sure about the fate of the Sheikh, it became obvious that the only man who would be more suitable for formation of a government was Syed Nazrul Islam, Vice President of Awami League and the man next in command to the Sheikh. Sayed Nazrul Islam happened to be from Kishoreganj P.S. itself and this is why Major Safiullah and all others put pressure on me to locate him so that he could take initiative for forming a government. I must praise him for the foresight of Major Safiullah and others who rightly foresaw that the job of the armed personnel was simply to fight according to given directions. The directions could only come from a civilian government consisting of the elected representatives of the people.
Throughout the beginning of the liberation struggle, one of my aims has thus been the location of Syed Nazrul Islam. The scanty news we used to get from Dhaka implied that Syed Nazrul Islam had fled from Dhaka. But nobody could give details about where he could be. On many occasions Major Safiullah and Major Nazrul Islam used to enquire about it from Brahmanbaria over wireless. When a few days had passed they became very anxious and repeatedly requested me to locate Mr. Nazrul Islam.
Since Mr. Nazrul Islam’s home town was Kishoreganj, I was confident that he would have to come this way, even in hiding. This is what actually happened. It was possibly on the 6th or 7th of April that Mr. Mustafizur Rahman Khan had secretly approached me and told me that Mr. Nazrul Islam was in hiding at the village home of his wife. Mr. Khan came to me with the request for a transport and sufficient to cover Nazrul Islam’s journey from Kishoreganj to
199
Durgapur. Mr. Khan told me that Mr. Nazrul Islam was aware that all of us were in the freedom movement, he hesitated to come out in public because that could have many implications. From that day on, I knew the whereabouts and movements of Syed Nazrul Islam but I kept my promises in keeping these as top secret. The only information I gave was to Major Safiullah telling him that I had knowledge that Mr. Nazrul Islam had proceeded towards the free zone. I told Major Safiullah that things were gradually broadening up and the formation of a national government was eminent.
How Mr. Syed Nazrul Islam fled from Dhaka was an interesting story. While proceeding from Kishoreganj towards Durgapur, he was located 10 miles outside the town by my S.I. another Mr. Nazrul Islam. The S.I. was coming back after a survey of the area in the evening. From the distance he could see that another jeep was coming from the opposite direction. As soon as Mr. Nazrul Islam’s jeep could see the other jeep, the travel of the jeep stopped it and Mr. Nazrul Islam tried to hide to avoid identification. S. I. Nazrul disclosed the story to me on his return to Kishoreganj. He told me that soon he could understand that it was possibly Mr. Nazrul Islam who was in the other jeep. So he cried out giving his identity and requested them to come out from hiding. After repeated assurance, all of the passengers of the other jeep came out and Syed Nazrul Islam soon left towards Netrokona and Durgapur. He sent a message through S. I. Nazrul to me, thanking me for the cooperation I had extended to him. When I heard the story from Nazrul, I requested him to keep it as a secret and not to disclose it to anyone.
When Mr. Nazrul Islam could reach the free zone, the government was formed. It was possibly on the 10th of April that the All India Radio gave the news of a formation of a civilian government announcing the names of the Ministers. I was sitting at the local police station when the Awami League Leaders rushed to that place with sweets even in those circumstances of trials and tribulations. All of us were really happy that after all, a government had been formed. I always had this belief that such liberation struggle could not proceed in an organised manner if a top body like a government at the top did not guide the movement in a proper way. This is why I became extremely happy to know that a civilian government had been formed for Bangladesh.
200
The announcement of a government on the 10th of April was after consultation among different leaders of the Awami League. Later on, I came to know the whole story about the background of the formation of the government. Mr. Mustafizur Rahman Siddiqui and Mr. Zahur Ahmad Choudhury both from Chittagong Awami League had escaped to Agartala. At Agartala they used to sit with others in meetings discussing the formation of the government. It was after the arrival of Mr. Tazuddin that the talks were finalised and the tentative government was fixed up. Mr. Nazrul Islam’s arrival was later and even though he was absent, he was tipped as Vice President and Acting President in the absence of Sheikh Mujib.
Incidentally, it would be of interest to know that the parlays in this connection used to be held in the residence of one Mr. K. P. Datta, a Deputy Director of Education in the Tripura Government. I later met Mr. K. P. Datta at Agartala. Mr. K. P. Datta was originally from Sylhet District of Bangladesh. During my stay at Agartala I had come in close contact with him. Mr. Datta used to narrate how all these began and how the ultimate decision of the formation of the government was taken up. Since I myself was from Sylhet, Mr.Datta and myself could communicate in our native dialogue and possibly because of this we were very very close to each other. Mr. Datta is an intelligent type of man whose wife is also in the education line. I had seldom come across such a nice man during that period. Mr. Datta used to tell me the story about the government. He told me that in his house there used to be sessions which used to last longer than midnight. It was after a lot of discussions, the final decision for the formation of the government was taken up.
Though the announcement of the government was on the 10th of April, it was on the 17th of April, that the actual government was placed to the journalist, both foreign and Indian. Few people know that the 16th of April was fixed for the ceremony of swearing in of the government at Chuadanga. This could not be done because of heavy bombing from Pakistani planes and attacks on the towns by the Pakistan army. It is in this context Baidhanathtola was selected for the ceremony on the 17th of April. I came to know about all of this from my friend Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chaudhury who was then SDO of Meherpur of Kushtia District within the jurisdiction of which this
201
Baidhanathtola was situated. The place was only a few miles from the Indian border. The journalists were taken there without any notice. The ceremony was simple but impressive. The Ministers were sworn in on the 17th of April, and the actual government started from that day.
Captain Murari Ram of BSF told me a story about Syed Nazrul Islam. He told me that his friend Baljid Singh another Adjutant of BSF one day received information that Syed Nazrul Islam was coming. None of them had seen Syed Nazrul Islam but they had heard lots about him. They knew that he was an elderly man. Ultimately, the man who landed at Haluaghat was a young man who introduced himself Nazrul Islam. Baljit Singh was the first, not in confusion, had told everybody Syed Nazrul Islam had come. When other officers of BSF went to meet him, after some time, they would find out that this was not Syed Nazrul Islam, but Professor Nazrul Islam Choudhury, an elected representative from Mymensingh District. The confusion was soon cleared. Captain Murari joked with me that when Syed Nazrul Islam actually arrived this time Baljit Singh took precaution and started asking him a number of questions. This time the gentleman was none other than Syed Nazrul Islam himself and possibly he became very confused at such reaction from the BSF. When Baljit Singh became satisfied after a long time, he sent the message up to his senior officers that Syed Nazrul Islam had come. Captain Murari Ram jokingly told me that Baljit Singh had not first believed, even this time. There were queries from above how this gentleman looked like and poor Baljit Singh had to talk to so many people, attempting to convince them that this time he had made no mistake and that the gentleman was really Syed Nazrul Islam. When all went to meet Syed Nazrul Islam, they found that he was really Syed Nazrul Islam and quick arrangements were made for his movement from the border areas to another place where he could meet his other colleagues.
The S.P. Garo Hills, whom we met after coming over to Tura was from Bihar. We had an interesting story to tell about Moulana Bhasani. As everybody knows, Moulana Bhasani had been hospitalised for bad health. On the 25th of March Moulana Bhasani was at Mymensingh Medical College itself. Moulana was a clever man and he had his own source of information. This was evident
202
when on the 26th the hospital staff and the doctors found that Moulana had disappeared from the hospital. When Moulana Bhasani entered India through Haluaghat, he was received at the border by the D.C. of Garo Hills, a Khasi gentleman named Mr. Cajee and S. P. Mr. Jha. The Moulana was driven away to Tura. Mr. Jha told me that when Moulana Bhasani sat with them at Tura he started speaking a lot about massacres. He was all the time speaking against the Biharis who had committed a lot of crimes in Bangladesh. As Mr. Jha himself was from Bihar, he could not possibly join in the discussion in the same manner. When Bhasani saw that Mr. Jha did not sound as much enthusiastic, he wondered what might have happened to Mr. Cajee, D.C. had been smiling all through. The Moulana at his wits and when Mr. Cajee told him that Bhasani was describing things to a person who was himself a Bihari. Mr. Jha told me later that as long as Moulana Bhasani stayed at Tura, he used to refer to this incident and cut jokes with Mr. Jha telling him that he was a Bihari and thus at the side of the Pakistani.
After we had heard all the details we could get from Mr. Mustafizur Rahman, it was necessary for us to plan our next course of action. Mr. Bachchu from Brahmanbaria had become very impatient and he pleaded that we should get out and proceed toward Sylhet through hilly routes. None of us were enthusiastic about it as we were not sure of the next outcome and the result. Me, however decided to shift to Bijoypur for more consultation with Captain Murari Ram of the BSF.
At Bijoypur we stayed for about 2/3 days. A few of us had mistakenly left for Kishoreganj and thus the group was small. It was at this stage that Mr. Bachu came across three students who had somehow managed to reach Bijoypur. One of these students was the son of Mr. Mazharul Islam, the renounced architect. I do not know how Mr. Bachchu got very pally with these students. He found them to be very moving, every time with them and they started discussing their next course of action.
A few other incidents happened in those 3/4 days. These incidents made us quite unsafe and virtually compelled us to cross the border and take shelter in India. I had already referred to the loss of money I had incurred. There was a lot of pressure from Mr. Bachchu and the three students requesting us to follow them towards Sylhet. At one
203
stage I virtually lost my temper and told the students that they had no bloody business to ask to do this or that. I, as an SDO, did know what was good for me. The relationship between Mr. Bachchu, the students and ourselves, thus continued to be strained. It became more strained when Mr. Bachchu requested me to spare the three armed EBR personnel with me to go with them. These three men had already seen the frivolous attitude of mine and Mr. Bachchu and they had lost all confidence in him. At that time, I was not prepared to leave those three persons. Moreover, they themselves were against any such proposal. They told me clearly that they could be commanded only by myself and nobody else. When Mr. Bachchu kept on pressing for these three persons, I told him that he was at liberty to take them with him if they agreed. They did not agree and hence Mr. Bachchu could not take them with him. The students saw in this a trick I had played with them somehow convincing the armed persons that it would not be wise for them to go with Mr. Bachchu and his companions.
Strangely enough, Tara Mia and Sadiruddin also started behaving in a different manner and it appeared that Bachchu, Tara Mia and the others had all grouped together against us. I was most concerned because any misunderstanding at that time could have serious complications for all of us. Any division would merely jeopardise our own existence. I cannot describe how a strong minded person like me bore with their undue requests and pressure in those days. In my very presence they used to speak about things which they should not have done. They met Captain Murari Ram a number of times and told me that Murari had promised to send them towards Sylhet across Indian territory in transport. I only used to listen to them and did not make replies.
The situation would have remained like this if the idiotic EBR Subedar did not also start to behave in an insulting manner. It was one day when I was coming back from meeting Captain Murari that the Subedar sent me a sheet requesting me to spare the armed personnel for action by him. He even had the audacity to request for the key of my jeep. I had in fact tolerated a lot but this was the height of my limit. I felt like calling the Subedar to the Dak Bungalow and teach him a good lesson. On second thought, I resisted from doing this. Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar also suggested that we should try to avoid any conflict at that time. However, I refused to spare the three persons and
204
the key of my jeep. The Subedar, evidently became very angry and he went around telling people that the SDO was not cooperating with him in any way. One night in fact we could not sleep and the armed persons I had with me guarded the Dak Bungalow for the whole night. Since it became impossible to live with these people, we shifted to the nearby forest Dak Bungalow though the approached route to that was very different and the Dak Bungalow was at quite high altitude. I cannot forget the service of the three armed persons who repeatedly assured me that they would protect me till the end of their life and nobody could touch me as long as one of them was alive. They kept their promises. I had come across many people but I cannot forget the unflinching loyalty to these three persons and the unshakable faith they had in my leadership.
Things were going out of my control and soon it became apparent that I could not keep on living like this in the borders. We had all the intentions to remain inside Bangladesh but people would not allow us to do so. The army had already come up to Netrokona and they were reportedly on the move towards Durgapur and Bijoypur. Things worsened as some people got it around that we were carrying a lot of money with us to Kishoreganj. Mr. Tara Mia started behaving strangely and started looking at us suspiciously. I do not know what made him and Mr. Sadiruddin to do so but all of them thought that we were carrying a lot of money and possibly it was a golden opportunity to snatch the money from us. Mr. Tara Mia could not hide his feelings as one day he had openly told me that he had heard that the S.D.O. of Kishoreganj had fled with one and a half crores of rupees. Even in those grave days, I could not check my laughter. I had reasons to do so. These fools did not have any idea about the volume of that money. They did not know that one and a half crores of rupees could not be accommodated in even 10 suitcases not to speak of one. I had seen one and a half crores of rupees at the railway station at Kishoreganj. I had never seen such a big amount of money before in my life neither do I think that I would ever see such a big amount. It took about four compartments for accommodating the chest which contained the money. The chest numbered no fewer than 20 to 30. This is why I laughed when I heard that I had allegedly fled with one and a half crores of rupees. Any sensible man could have understood two 14 inches suitcases
205
that were with me could not even contain one lac of rupees, not to speak of one and a half crores.
We laughed our hearts out when we heard all these wild accusations and rumours. However, these had to be taken quite seriously as all those around started looking at us with suspicion. I thought it was wise to contact Captain Murari and tell him all about the unsafe position that we were in because of such rumours and possibly motivated propaganda.
It was in this context I met Captain Murari Ram on the 26th of April in his office in Baghmara. I explained the position to Captain Murari clearly and told him that I did not feel secure in the face of such propaganda and rumours deliberately unfolding possibly to malign or harass me. I told Captain Murari that time had come for me and the others to move across the border and take shelter in India. I made it quite plain to Captain Murari that he was free to conduct any search in my belongings for his own satisfaction. But I could not allow myself to be insulted by people who did not have any authority to raise such questions. When I made this proposal Captain Murari seriously nodded and indicated that he would be the last person to behave with me in that way. He frankly told me that he had already come to know much about me from the evacuees who had taken shelter at Baghmara. One of the evacuees had reportedly told him that if Bangladesh could have 10 more people like myself, the liberation would come very soon. Captain Murari begged my apology for asking for such views from the evacuees from Kishoreganj. He told me that they were Indian officers and had a completely different attitude towards high ranking civil officers. Thus according to Captain Murari, I was free to move to India anytime I felt, without any fear. I must put on record here the deep gratitude I felt because of such nice behaviour from an Indian Army Captain. Whereas a lower noncommissioned functionary like a Subedar had the foolish audacity to ask me about many things, the Indian Captain behaved in a completely different manner and his behaviour spoke eloquently of the training they had received under democratic institutions regarding behaviour towards respectable civil officers.
Captain told me to move into India the next day. He told me not to disclose that to those who were trying to find fault within us. He was kind enough to accompany me down to a place and showed me a
206
dilapidated structure in which we could take shelter temporarily. Captain Murari begged excuse and told me that, that place would be more suitable for us as the Bangladesh border from that place was a stone throw. The place was situated on the hilly side, inside an enclave territory almost like a bulge into Bangladesh. It was like a stave of land which was the plains of Bangladesh bordering India . On our part, Mr. Mutalib, Mr. Akbar and I assured Captain Murari that we would be able to put up there with as much comfort as could be physically available at that place.
We returned to the forest Dak Bungalow and prepared for the journey the next morning. We felt very bad that we were virtually being forced out by our own people into India. We moved into that place the next morning and settled there for two days. In the meantime, Captain Murari made arrangements for putting us up in a bungalow type small house atop a hill at Baghmara which was about 2 miles away from the meddled crowd of the Baghmara Bazar. Captain Murari explained that he had selected the place because of its aloofness. Many evacuees had already arrived from different places including Kishoreganj. Captain Murari felt that it would be inconvenient for us to stay near the public as he had seen that the evacuees did not miss a single chance of approaching their former SDO whenever they could find him out. We were quite happy to be at that place which was atop a hill. It was quite far off. We had definitely stunt difficult about transport to the Bazar and about water which had to be fetched from down below with great difficulty. But we nonetheless enjoyed our stay atop the hill. I must record here the surprise with which Tara Mia and the gang looked at us when we were proceeding towards Baghmara. We had virtually outwitted them and they became quite angry for insulting them. This was the best attitude we could take towards such mischievous and treacherous people. We could not, however, take the jeeps into India as there was no road communication worth the name.
Standing atop a hill at Baghmara, one or two days later we could hear the sounds of Pakistan fire. We could see the blazes of fire all around as Pakistan army were approaching towards Baghmara. We silently kept on seeing the large scale arrival of evacuees from different areas of Baghmara. The small place, Baghmara, quickly became overcrowded and the civil authorities of Garo Hills District

207
and Captain Murari were practically fighting with circumstances in their attempts to provide food and shelter to the helpless innocent victims of Pakistani army atrocities. The day we left for Baghmara we did not tell anything of this to Bachu and his friends. They had in the meantime decided to leave for Sylhet with the help of Captain Murari. They in fact left for Sylhet possibly on the 29th of April. We could not hear anything about them except they were proceeding safely.
As Captain Murari insisted on surrender of the fire arms we had with us before going to Baghmara proper, I asked the three EBR personnel if they would like to do so. So I told them that they were at liberty to accompany us or decide any other course of action now that we were going across into India for an uncertain period. The three persons were really soldiers and the leader of them a Naik Subedar that as army personnel they would be the last persons to surrender their arms. They thanked me for my offer of taking them with me but refused to go to India on the condition of surrender of arms by them. It was a very painful circumstance we thus got separated on the 29th of April at the temporary shelter in the enclave. I gave whatever money I could to each of these persons and told them that we were very grateful to them for their loyal support and help. They left for Karmakanda enroute to Sylhet across Bangladesh territory when we proceeded towards Baghmara proper. I have not heard of these people since then. In different border areas I came across a number of known people during those days but I was unfortunate not to have met any of these three persons anywhere. I do not know whether they are alive, nor do I know their address. If this story attracts the attention of anyone who knows about any of these three persons, he may kindly send a message down to me. I shall remain grateful to such a person as I consider it an honour and privilege to meet such a brave son of the soil of Bangladesh who did not agree to enter India simply because as soldiers they refused to surrender arms.
We stayed at Baghmara for quite some time. In fact we stayed there from the 29th of April to the 4th of May. This was not because we liked to stay there but because we were virtually forced to do so. I am coming to this episodes in the next pages but before that, let me mention a few important events that took place during our stay at Baghmara. It was at Baghmara that I first got acquainted with the
208
S.P., Mr. L. K. Jha of Garo Hill District. Garo Hill is a small district with a population of only four and a half lacs. One of the three districts of the newly created state of Meghalaya of India is mostly hilly and mountainous. The population is very thinly dispersed and they are mostly Garo tribal people. Garo Hills District has only six police stations of which Baghmara is one. Crime rate is very low in Garo Hills because of the simplicity of the Garo people and their inability to tell any lie. All these were told to me by Mr. Jha when we met at Baghmara.
It was in the afternoon when we were sitting at the house atop the hill a jeep came for taking down to the Dak Bungalow where the S.P. had reportedly come. Because of heavy rains it was quite difficult to get out and we were sitting inside. When the jeep came, we boarded the jeep and proceeded towards the Dak Bungalow. We reached there in about 20 minutes’ time. On arrival at the Dak Bungalow, Captain Murari introduced us to the S.P. He was a heavily built man, about 5′ 8″ in height. He spoke to us in English and appeared to be quite jolly. The S.P. appeared to be in mood as we saw an open bottle of whiskey on the table inside one of the rooms of the Dak Bungalow in which he had taken shelter. In all we talked about 40 minutes. The S.P. wanted to know a good number of things from us regarding the crackdown and the massacre. He was particularly interested to know about the fate of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. We told him everything we knew. At one point Mr. Murari told the S.P. that I could write well. The S.P. was immediately on the idea and requested me to write a few pages on the different aspects of the crackdown and the massacre. I responded by saying that I was not in mood, naturally in those circumstances and could hardly be able to write. I, however, promised to him that I would try to write something for him whenever it would be possible for me to do so.
When the S.P. finished his side, we raised ours. I explained to him the peculiar situation in which we had been forced into. I told him particularly about our families. I told him that we had already committed by mistake by getting separated from our families. As the S.P. agreed that things were going to protract, I did not have to elaborate on the necessity of making some arrangements for bringing over our families into India from across the occupied territory. The S.P. sounded quite sympathetic and he told us that he would explore
209
the possibility of our going over to Agartala via Tura and Gouhati: We were interested in going to Agartala because it was only a few miles from Brahmanbaria and Nabinagar where the families of Mr. Akbar and my own had gone into hiding. Mr. Mutalib wanted to stay back and contact his family from Baghmara. All of us were, however, unanimous that we would have to go to Agartala in a short time to get in touch with other people for deciding our next course of action. I could easily guess that Akbar Ali Khan and Rakib would escape to Agartala as Brahmanbaria and Habiganj had already fallen to the Pakistan army. We got confirmation from the S.P. that the D.C. and S.P. Mymensingh had not crossed into India. This meant that if we kept on staying at Baghmara or Tura, we would remain cutoff from the main stream of people who had possibly escaped toward Agartala and Calcutta sides. For the stake of the struggle itself, we had to have meetings with our own people to find out what had happened at different places, to know their own experiences and then take a decision regarding the next course of action in consultation with all. If we were going to fight back, and I was confident that we would have to do so, we had to get together and find outside a common course of action for all of us. Because of all these reasons we fervently requested the S.P. to make arrangements for our movement from Baghmara towards Agartala via Tura and Gouhati. The request had to be made as Captain Murari had expressed his inability to allow us to move out of Baghmara without any approval or confirmation from authorities of Tura.
The S.P. was quite sympathetic and he listened to all that we told him. He left for Tura just after dusk. Before leaving, he assured us that he would look after this problem and try to find out some way by which we could go to Tura in first instance for our ultimate journey towards Agartala.
When the S.P. left for Tura, we returned to our residence. We kept on discussing about him that night. Since he promised something at the very first meeting, all of us relied on him and hoped that something would come through enabling us to move out of Baghmara to Tura enroute to Agartala. Mr. Mutalib did not sound very enthusiastic and he could trace his family more easily if he stayed back in Garo Hills District. Mr. Mutalib’s family had gone to some place in Austogram PS of Kishoreganj subdivision. The place was
210
nearer from Baghmara communication wise. This is why he opined that,in case we were allowed to move out of Baghmara,we could leave him behind and move towards Agartala. He, however, agreed to accompany us up to Tura to see for himself the reaction of senior Indian officers towards us. Since there was no necessity of any uniformity in this regard, all of us agreed that we would take our own course of action for bringing over to India our families. After that, we could meet at a common place at Agartala and work out our next strategy in consultation with others.
Our hopes did not go through for a long time. I must mention here the long agonies through which we had to pass our days at Baghmara waiting for promotion which would enable us to go to Tura. Though the S.P. promised that he would take up the matter with the D.C. and others at Shilong, nothing seemed to come from him. It was a long wait which ultimately made us sick. We could understand that as days were passing by, it was becoming more and more difficult for us to recall our families. Sitting at Baghmara, we could hear reports of continued army atrocities inside the occupied territories and the fall of the remaining strongholds of the liberation forces. We could foresee that almost the whole of Bangladesh would soon come under the control of the Pakistan army and then it would become much more difficult to penetrate into any place for establishing a meaningful contact with our families hiding near Brahmanbaria and Austogram deep inside Bangladesh territory.
As the fear of inability to establish contact increased, we started becoming more and more impatient. Mr. Mutalib, in particular, became quite depressed. There were reasons for that. He was a relatively aged man who could not take such hardships as easily as we could. Moreover, Mr. Akbar and his rifles, revolvers had to be deposited with the Baghmara police station authorities. This was all but natural since no government could allow foreigners to roam about with arms in its own territory. But in those circumstances the simple deposit because of the necessity of law of the land created adverse reaction among us – particularly Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar. I tried to consult them by telling them that they should be thankful to God that Indian authorities were not contemplating handing us over to the Pakistan army. I tried to defend the Indian authorities by explaining that they had their own difficulties and possibly could not allow a
211
stream of people to penetrate deep into India without any record or permission. No doubt we were privileged as important people but we were nonetheless foreign nationals and as such the Indians had to have some form of study about us before they could allow us to leave in any direction as we liked.
No doubt, I gave all these councils to Mr. Golam Akbar and Mr. Mutalib but when the time continued to pass I also started becoming impatient. The driver who had accompanied us also added to the suspicion by describing alarming stories. He told us that the Indian authorities did not want to register his name spontaneously without some verification as he happened to be Muslim. The driver reported that other Hindu evacuees were being readily registered. This infused some form of suspicion into our minds but I prevailed on everybody to remain patient and not to get agitated over such an issue. We had been India’s enemy No. 1 and all but natural that Indian authorities would do some scrutiny regarding evacuee Muslims when they entered India.
The driver’s story was not the whole truth. Later on I came to know that the local authorities had instructions to follow such procedures. They had been instructed not to allow anyone to go beyond deep into India. This was evident when I came across Biraj Mohan Roy, the descendant of the Zaminder of Kishoreganj. Mr. Roy was very respectable and used to enjoy prestige and reputation at Kishoreganj and other places of our sub-division. He had somehow come to know about us and came to meet us. From him, we came to know that the Indian authorities were not allowing them also to move from their present temporary shelters in spite of the fact that some of them could produce some evidence that they had near relatives at other places in India. Of course, such people who had relatives in other places in India were later allowed to move out of Baghmara on production of documentary evidence or on the arrival of the near relative and their furnishing a bond to the effect that they would produce such a person on demand. But the very fact that people like Mr. Biraj Mohan Roy was also detained for a considerable period spoke eloquently of the limitations under which the local authorities were forced to act.
Such limitations became more clear when my driver Subodh returned from inside. He was also held up and Captain Murari told me
212
that he could not allow him to go beyond Baghmara even if he was a Hindu. Once Captain Murari entertained us to a simple lunch. He had possibly read our minds. This is how he remarked that the idea we had about the Hindus in India was completely wrong. He had food with us and told us that the Indian Hindus these days did not have any inhibitions in mixing freely with the Muslims or other religious people or even take food with them.
We could understand all this later, but in the meantime the driver and the son of Moti Mia who had insisted on crossing the border with us had in fact crossed, became impatient beyond limits. It came to such a pass, we were forced to tell them that they were at liberty to get into Bangladesh if they so liked. It was after 5 or 7 days these two persons crossed over again into the occupied territory. I had not met the driver anymore after liberation not the son of Mr. Moti Mia. Later on when we came to Bangladesh after liberation, we came to know that this son of Mr. Moti Mia, on his return from Baghmara, went around spreading rumours about us, telling people that we were virtually prisoners in the hands of Indian authorities. He even went on to describe fictitious maltreatments that had been metted out to us. We had always looked to these people in suspicion. But in those days it would have been cruel if we had asked him to get separated from us. We could not possibly do so because of our own shyness and inherent goodness. I am sorry to note that this person completely forgot the benevolence with which we treated him and went around maligning us in all possible ways on his return to the occupied territory from Baghmara.
When these two persons left we became more lonely. Captain Murari kept on meeting us now and then but he put up a number excuses each time. He told us that the permission would soon come and we could go. That ‘soon’ never came so soon. In the meantime, Captain Murari appreciated our difficulties of movement and water and other necessities atop the hill and kindly brought us down to the Dak Bungalow. The Dak Bungalow had beside it an adjacent structure which was being constructed. This was quite a nice place to stay and we temporarily forgot our worries and anxieties for the time being.
We soon became impatient at this relatively nice place also. It is difficult to explain the mental anxiety of one who always remained
213
anxious of his family to other in words. All of us committed the greatest blunder by getting separated from our families. No corrective measure was in sight. Mr. Mutalib could make some preliminary attempts for establishing contact with his family but for us, it was impossible as Brahmanbaria could be contacted far more easily from Agartala side. We started becoming very impatient and in fact started bothering Captain Murari very frequently. In our very presence, Captain Murari one day rang up Tura and talked to S.P. and his commanding officer, the Colonel. I do not know what the S.P. told from the other side but Captain Murari seemed to be sincere in trying to advocate our cause. The reactions from the Colonel were possibly adverse as Captain Murari tried to put up some excuses by saying that the Colonel was soon coming down to Baghmara and he would like to talk to us personally about the whole thing.
We could feel that Captain Murari was trying to avoid us. His office was situated on top of a hill, the approach route to which was very difficult. You had to climb at least 400 feet to meet Captain Murari. We started becoming very impatient and Captain Murari could possibly understand this. One day with great difficulty we had to catch hold of him at his residence as he was reportedly seen. Captain Murari told us that he was trying to arrange some permission for us to leave Baghmara. The commanding officer of the 83 BSF of which Captain Murari was the Assistant Adjutant, soon came down to Baghmara possibly on his routine visit. As usual we were called to meet him. His name was Colonel Ranga Rajan and evidently he hailed from South India. He talked like an army officer and devoted himself mostly to glories. We did not feel that he was the slightest bother about our fate. He told us that we could stay at Baghmara and keep working for Bangladesh in different ways. I told him plainly that I was least interested in staying at Baghmara. I told him that for me the foremost task at that moment was to get my family out of the occupied territory. I also told him frankly that we did not have any intention to work on project initiated by them before we could have some consultation with our own people. The Colonel was quite surprised and possibly to please me he told me that he would take up the matter of our going over to Tura en route to other places on his return to Tura. We had received this assurance from others before with no result and thus, this time also we could only thank the Colonel in an expressionless manner.
214
In the meantime the S.P. of Garo Hills had been doing some positive work for our movement out of Baghmara. One day we received the copy of the letter the S.P. had written to the D.C. requesting him to allow us to move out of Baghmara. But that was all; we did not hear anything more from the S.P. or other authorities.
It will be unfair if we kept describing the bad side of our stay at Baghmara. There were a few redeeming features also. Because of our stay at Baghmara we could come in close contact with the local Indian officials and know about them. We could also see the plight of evacuees who had been streaming into India in large numbers for safety and shelter. It was at Baghmara we came across a number of people who knew me as SDO, but whom I did not know personally before. The momentous experience we gathered in human affairs was in itself rewarding.
Another important good side was the availability of reading materials at Baghmara. I had referred to the formation of the government earlier. The Indian newspaper carried the detailed accounts of the formation of the government and photographs of the Ministers. The Mujibnagar ceremony held on the 17th of April was widely covered by the Indian newspapers. It was at Baghmara we got hold of these newspapers and read the whole story which naturally seemed very interesting and absorbing to us. Because of our involvement in the whole thing, any such reading material would have created an interest to us. It was a great delight for us to have gotten the opportunity to read such Indian newspaper – even their old issues which carried reports about Bangladesh and its provisional government. I must thank Captain Murari for arranging such reading for us. It was from the newspapers that we came to know that the Pakistan Deputy High Commission at Calcutta had been taken over by the Bengalees. We came to know that all the Bengalee staff of the ex-Pakistan High Commission at Calcutta had defected and joined the liberation movement. In those days this was a big story not only in diplomatic circle but also elsewhere. The name of the former Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Mr. Husain Ali became a household word everywhere – particularly different parts of India. Mr. Husain Ali also became the symbol of all hopes and aspirations. It would take a number of pages if I have to describe the defection of Mr. Husain Ali and his contribution to the liberation movement. I
215
shall come to this topic somewhere later in this book but shall do great injustice if I do not mention here that the formation of the provisional government and its liaisons with the outside world including India would have become impossible if Mr. Husain Ali had not defected from his post. If the sincere contribution of anybody to the freedom movement could be evaluated, Mr. Husain Ali will rank among one of the top few people after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman because of whose devotion and unflinching loyalty this country could become free and independent.
Sitting at Baghmara, we had the opportunity of reading the defection of the Calcutta Deputy High Commission staff led by Mr. Husain Ali. I had never heard the name of Mr. Husain Ali before, not to speak of having met him anywhere. But from that day Mr. Husain Ali became very familiar with us because of his loyalty. It appeared that people like Mr. Husain Ali had always worked for justice and fair play for the Bengalees. The news of the defection of the Calcutta Deputy High Commission staff had another significance to me. The first Secretary to the Deputy High Commission Mr. R. I. Choudhury happened to be my brother-in-law from my wife’s side. Mr. R. I. Choudhury is my wife’s first cousin on my mother-in-law side. Though the Indian newspapers did not particularly mention his name I was confident that he must have also defected with others. We became happy to know this partly because these would boost up our struggle and partly because from now on we would be able to get some help from people like him. For me there was further good news. My friend and batch mate Mr. Anwarul Karim Choudhury was posted to Calcutta as Third Secretary at the Deputy Commission. We had passed one complete year at the Civil Service Academy Lahore and naturally were very close. I could feel that A. K. Choudhury had also defected.
This was a good news as I could now contact Mr. Anwarul Karim Choudhury for trying to help me get out of Baghmara.
It was with great pride that I had told Captain Murari about these people. Captain Murari told me that I should send two telegrams to these two persons requesting them to help us in some way. In those days the local telegraph office became so over-burdened with work that the meagre could send an urgent telegraph only after two days. Almost all the evacuees had relations here and there in India and they were
216
going to the telegraph office with urgent telegrams. The result was that there were piles of papers that gathered at the telegraph office. Nobody knew when their telegram would be dispatched. Captain Murari was kind enough to take our telegrams personally and arrange for its dispatch to Calcutta as soon as possible. I became sure that telegrams had been dispatched the next day with Captain Murari handed over two receipts to me for the telegrams.
The next course was evidently weeding. It was after waiting for 5 days I received a reply from A. K. Choudhury telling me that I could come down to Calcutta and stay with him for the time being. The telegram was brief and it gave me the hint that we could come down to Calcutta first for consultation before we could work out our next course of action. Captain Murari saw the telegram and again called Tura on telephone telling the authorities about that. As Captain Murari did not tell us anything, it appeared that the authorities were still hesitating to allow us to move beyond Baghmara.
Because of mental agony and physical hardship we soon fell ill. I particularly developed high temperatures. I had already become impatient like the others and it was in this circumstance that I one day almost abused Captain Murari telling him that he did not have any right to detain me like that. In retrospect, I must praise the patience of Captain Murari as he kept listening to me with a smile in spite of the dirty words used by me against him. He then called in the local Doctor and arranged for prescription and medicine for me and the others.
He got a certificate from the local Doctor saying that I was quite sick and needed to be sent to Tura immediately for treatment. Captain Murari told me that we could now leave to Tura at least on this excuse of serious illness. Of course for this he had to ring up Tura and tell the authorities there that my case was serious I had to be sent up to Tura for treatment. Captain Murari almost imposed the permission on the authorities by telling them that he was going to send up all of us to Tura that evening.
In the meantime Captain Murari had arranged to get my jeep out of the occupied territory with great difficulty. Captain Murari told me that I could avail of my own jeep and go to Tura. Since it was becoming dark, he arranged for an armed guard to accompany us up to Tura.
217
It was the 5th of May, 1971. Though I had a running temperature I felt so happy that at least we were going to get out of that rotten place at least temporarily. One of Captain Murari’s friends named Captain Chouhan had come from some other border areas. Captain Chouhan had also helped us a lot and we were ready for the journey up to Tura in the afternoon of the 5th May 1971..
Soon we were on board the jeep and ready for departure. Captain Murari personally saw us off. It was a virtual cramming in one jeep but we had to bear such difficulties since a second jeep could not possibly be arranged or the whole movement could get delayed or even jeopardised if we waited for another jeep. We thus left Baghmara in the afternoon of 5th May for Tura.
I had always some suspicion regarding the capacity of the jeep to negotiate hilly roads. My jeep was already old and it had never plied along such hilly roads before. My suspicion became correct as at only a distance of one mile from Tura we got bogged down and the jeep refused to climb up the road. We tried a number of times, but without result. We had no other option but to return and report to Captain Murari about the whole matter. Possibly Captain Murari had got too much of abuses from us. This is why he immediately went out and tried to get another jeep for the journey. Mr. Murari was particularly insisted that we must leave that evening. He whispered in my ears that if we waited for the next day that something else might develop and our journey might get jeopardised. Captain Murari was soon back with another jeep which he said he had hired with great difficulty from the local Block Development Officer, an officer corresponding to our Circle Officer (Dev). We thanked Captain Murari for his sincerity and effort and again left for Tura in the new jeep.
Tura, the headquarter of Garo Hills District of Indian State of Meghalaya, was about 70 miles from Baghmara. We had already become late for the journey. When we crossed a few miles it became very dark and only the lights from the jeeps could be seen. It appeared that the atmosphere was completely in keeping with our own condition and the night resembled the one of the 17th of April, the day we had left Kishoreganj for an unknown destination. The journey towards Tura was a continuation of the journey towards unknown destination. We kept on moving through the hilly roads which were very steep at some places and zigzag. On both sides of the roads you
218
could only see hills with only forest. The road was mostly without any traffic and whatever traffic we came across was on the first few miles. After that it became completely deserted. Naik Preetsingh who was accompanying us as a guide and escort told us that the road remained deserted like this after dusk because there used to be a little movement of vehicles on the road. This was because Garo Hills District itself was very sparsely populated and also because this road did not have any particular significance. Naik Preetsingh, however, told us that there was nothing to be afraid of as instances of crime on the road even at dead night was few and far between. We listened to whatever Preetsingh told us but we must confess we felt very lonely moving all by ourselves along the hilly zigzag road towards Tura. At one stage we entered into further conversation with Preetsingh. He was a nice jovial fellow who liked to inform others of everything he knew. He told us about his experiences in the Western border of India with Pakistan during the 1965 war. We could not possibly join Preetsingh in denouncing Pakistan since at that time we ourselves happened to be citizens of Pakistan. Naik Preetsingh told us that if we were lucky we could possibly come across one or two leopards on the road or even a herd of elephants. Evidently none of us were interested in meeting such creatures during the journey. But Preetsingh was happy to point out the passing across of two cat-like creatures from a distance at one stage. On enquiry he confirmed that those were leopards. He told us that there was nothing to be afraid of as these creatures never dare to do any harm to men as possibly they had seen many of them.
The journey at night would have become very monotonous if we had not the chance of having Preetsingh amongst us. All of us kept on gossiping and time passed by. It took about one and a half hours to reach a place called Dalu which was about 30 miles from Baghmara. I heard about this Dalu from Captain Murari Ram. He used to refer to this place and tell us that a lot of Bengalee evacuees had taken shelter at Dalu. Captain Murari had in fact requested us once to proceed towards this side and meet some of our own people at Dalu. We had never felt encouraged to do so because somehow or other we felt we would not be able to meet anyone of importance at such a place.
At Dalu we stopped for about an hour. Tura was still 40 miles away and we had to have some sort of food for the further journey.
219
We had to listen to whatever Preetsingh told us. He told us that we would not get any other place where we could have our dinner. This is why we wasted an hour at Dalu.
Dalu seemed to be very small place and according to Preetsingh, did not have a population of more 5 to 7 thousand. Preetsingh was quite sympathetic when he referred to the incoming evacuees telling us that these people had increased the prices of everything in Dalu. Dalu being very remotely connected with Tura, which was itself a remote district headquarter of India, prices of things were much higher than those prevailing in other towns of India. When we went for buying Chapati and curry for our dinner we could get confirmation of what Preetsingh had told us. Not only that the things were very very dear, but also it took us a lot of time and even a bit of shouting for procuring these edibles. The two small restaurants of Dalu could not keep up pace with supplying so many demanding customers. We had to be satisfied with whatever we virtually snatch away from the bearers of the restaurant. It was with great relish we ate the food we got with Preetsingh. Preetsingh was very happy about it and he again came with a story of how a Bengalee Colonel had shown favour to him during his army career.
We attracted the notice of most of the other customers very soon. A few Bengalee evacuees who were around soon gathered around us and started talking about the massacres. All of them were very vocal against army atrocities and sounded very pessimistic. What pained me most was that some Hindu evacuees were trying to give the whole affair communal colouring by saying that the Muslim Pakistani army people were after the blood of the Hindus. They did not stop at that and went on describing the atrocities committed on them by fellow Muslims at different places. The places they referred to were somehow known to us. As we had not heard of such communal bad feelings in those places, we looked in surprise at each other. We could feel that the people who were themselves very communal and could look at it only from a communal point of view. We could feel that they thought that communal colouring and exaggeration would give them better standing and credence in India. Near our heart of hearts we could only deplore the attitude of such evacuees. The place was unknown to us and thus we could not make any attack on them for their mischievous portrayal of the whole thing. We felt the discussion
220
was going along the wrong track and thus we hurriedly got into the jeep for the onward journey towards Tura. We were very happy that the poor Preetsingh who had a completely a different idea about genocide inside Bangladesh irrespective of communal attitude did not misunderstand us because of such wrong portrayal. This was because he could not follow most of these extremist evacuees exaggerated in Bengali.
The rest of the journey was more or less eventless. The jeep broke down at one place and we had to get down and wait for the repairs. It had already become about 11 p.m. On enquiry, Preetsingh told us that Tura was still 12 miles away. He told us that it would take almost another hour before we could reach Tura. When the repairs were over, we again boarded the jeep. It was almost a quarter to twelve. We were feeling quite tired and thus kept silent for most of the next part. Possibly at a distance from 3 or 4 miles we could see a number of lights on the body of the hills at a distance. It looked very beautiful and none of us could remove our eyes from those lights. We did not have to ask any questions as Preetsingh came out with a reassuring smile telling that Tura could now be seen and we would soon reach the place. The first impression of Tura was very beautiful and we all along to be there in the minimum possible time. Because of the zig zag road we, however, did not dare to tell the driver to go faster as we had already asked to go quite slow.
It was about half an hour after midnight when we reached Tura. The approaching road to the town was quite steep and we could see two rows of shops and other establishments on both sides of the roads. None of the shops was open at that time. The road happened to be along the front of Tura P.S. Our jeep was interrupted by some policemen who wanted to know whether the jeep was coming from Baghmara. When the driver replied in the affirmative, the policemen did not ask any further question but requested us to wait and went into the nearby P.S. which was only about 20 or 30 yards away from the road a little down. We could see that they were coming back with one gentleman who looked to be an officer. The officer came and introduced himself as Choudhury. He told us that he was the officer-incharge of the police station and had received the message about our coming from Baghmara from the S.P. Tura. Mr. Choudhury behaved in a very nice manner and he did not even forget to salute us. He told us
221
apologetically that Tura was a very small place with only 15600 population and thus, he could make only humble arrangements for our stay. We on our part told him that we would be happy with anything he could provide us with. Mr. Choudhury soon boarded his own vehicle and started guiding us to the place where we would stay temporarily during our stay at Tura.
The place he led us was the hostel of a local Tura Government College. It appeared that the college was closed and thus there was nobody in the hostel. In fact Mr. Choudhury had made arrangements for us in the residential block of the Bachelor Lecturers of the college. This soon became apparent as Mr. Choudhury went out and came back with a gentleman who introduced himself to be Mr. Prukayastha, lecturer of History in the Government College. It appeared that Mr. Prukayastha was aware of our coming. We were led to the tin roofed residential block where Mr. Prukayastha showed us two rooms where four of us including my brother-in-law, Ghalib, could stay. Mr. Choudhury introduced us to Prukayastha again and left us there bidding us good night and telling us that he would come the next morning for meeting us.
It will take a number of pages if I go on describing our relationship with Mr. Prukayastha from then on. I shall resist that temptation for the time being and refer to events only chronologically. I had noticed that Prukayastha had been talking to Choudhury in Sylhety dialect and it was clear that both of them originally hailed from Sylhet. On hearing this I could only laugh inside waiting for giving a surprise to Prukayastha.
Mr. Prukayastha was a queer and interesting person. He led us to one room and calling out loudly someone named Geeta. We felt very embarrassed as we thought he was calling his wife. Mr. Mutalib in fact started feeling very apologetic and told Prukayastha that possibly we were giving him too much trouble and possibly he should not have called his wife out so late at night. Mr. Mutalib told Prukayastha we could meet his wife later the next day. Prukayastha did not reply Mr. Mutalib. In the meantime, we found that a young boy had come hearing the call of Prukayastha. Prukayastha laughed out and told us that this was Geeta, his servant who was a Garo. He proudly told us that he was a bachelor and did not have any intention of marrying in the near future. There was a familiar need in whatever Prukayastha
222
told us and it appeared that a man like him could make anyone feel very near to him at the very first meeting.
Prukayastha evidently felt very amused as he had been able to spring a surprise on us. But there was a surprise in store for Prukayastha also. He simply kept on looking at me when I started speaking to him in Sylhety dialogue. In fact he became so pleasantly surprised that he embarrassed me and rebuked me that I had not disclosed this earlier. Mr. Prukayastha told me that he could not explain how happy he felt to have met a man who was from his own native district, Sylhet. People of other areas of Bangladesh rightly criticised Sylheties for their clan feeling. This was evident even that night from the behaviour of Prukayastha. Prukayastha was an Indian and he was a Hindu. I had never seen him before. There was no reason why he should have felt happier than he should have by meeting me. But he did feel happier simply because he met me- another Sylhety. From then on, his attitude changed further and he started talking about everything on earth with me in Sylhety dialogue. He was quite aware that others in the group including my own brother-in-law were possibly enjoying his behaviour. In his characteristic smile, he begged excuse from them telling them that Bengalees like them should not mind our conversation. Incidentally, people from other districts outside Sylhet are still referred to as Bengalees in Sylhet. This is what Prukayastha was referring to and he found a great source of joke in this oftrepated humour. Prukayastha, in fact, became so in deemed that he refused to sleep in his own bed which was evidently a better one and gave it for myself and Ghalib. I was hesitating and told him that I could sleep on the cots that had been arranged for us in the other room. Prukayastha insisted that he would be hurt if I did not listen to him and sleep in his own bed. He joked with me by telling me that the bed could be spared for an S.D.O. who was a very big man. He joked with Ghalib by telling him that he could also avail of this opportunity because he had got his sister married to a Sylhety. Prukayastha kept on laughing and joking and when we looked at our wrist watch we could see that we had already passed about two hours in gossiping. It was under Prukayastha’s insistence Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar slept in the other room with different cots. when Prukayastha saw that I was not feeling sleepy,
223
he came out from the other room and gave me a number of magazines to go through if I did not feel like sleeping.
Prukayastha was a nice man who looked after us very well during our stay at Tura. That he was quite alert became clear the next morning when Prukayastha himself came up with a cup of tea. He had somehow the mistaken notion that “big people like us were used to taking bed tea.” I told him that I had long given up this habit but would like to have a cup of tea because of insomnia of last night. Prukayastha kept on sitting beside me and started talking about the journey of the last night.
It was at about 9 a.m. that the officer-in-charge of the local police station Mr. Choudhury came again to take us to the S.P.’s residence. Mr. Mutalib and Mr. Akbar had not deposited their revolvers. They did this on the way with the local police station and were issued receipts by which they could claim the revolvers later when they would go into Bangladesh. After depositing the revolvers we went to Mr. Jha’s residence.
Mr. Jha’s residence was about one and a half miles from the place we were staying in. As Tura was situated in the mountains, the residence was atop a hill and looked very beautiful from a distance. Mr. Jha received us cordially and enquired about the journey. At the very first meeting we expressed our anxiety about our families and requested Mr. Jha for arranging permission for us to move beyond Tura as soon as possible so that we could make attempts for establishing contact with our families from Agartala. Mr. Mutalib on his turn wanted to stay back for some time and look for his family from this side. Mr. Jha assured him that he would provide him with transport for going down to Dalu or Baghmara so that he could trace his family from there. Mr. Jha told us frankly that we were free to move anywhere we liked and there were no restrictions. He politely expressed his inability to allow us to go beyond Tura and told us that he would take up the matter with the authorities at Shilong for such permission.
We stayed in Tura for a number of days, in fact up to the 28th of May, by which time we became completely exhausted and impatient. I must record here a few important events that took place during our stay at Tura.
After meeting the S.P. we went around the town. It appeared that Tura was a very small town and it looked like it would not have the
224
population beyond 15,000. The population was dispersed over a large area and hence the town looked quite big relative to the population. It could hardly be called a big town as we saw only a few shops and establishments. There were only two or three main roads and the rest were simply lanes and by-lanes. In the end, we went to the local post office and sent a few letters addressed to friends and relatives at different places.
We returned to the college hostel at about 2 p.m. and had lunch with Prukayastha who had arranged it. As all of us were quite tired we started taking rest and did not go out in the evening.
It was after 2/3 days, one morning, the S.P. sent a jeep for me. When I went to his office I found that he had been waiting for me. He told me that he had called for me only to have some gossips. But from the environment I could feel that the S.P. wanted to learn a few things from me about politics and political trend in Bangladesh. Possibly he wanted to send a report about us and the situation in Bangladesh from his own source. This is why he thought that he could make queries to me and get correct answers. When I could feel that, I told the S.P. that there was nothing for him to feel ashamed of. It was all but natural that he should interrogate us in some way for sending a report up to his own superiors. I told the S.P. that there was no need of any pretension and he could easily ask me whatever he liked. I assured him that I would give reply to all the questions. I told him that the replies would depend on my knowledge and experience. Mr. Jha felt quite embarrassed at such frank attitude from me but he tied it over by remarking that the police administration was under the control of the civil authorities like us.
The question and answer session soon begun. Mr. Jha was particularly interested about knowing the trend of leftist politics in Bangladesh. I analysed the situation from my own point of view and told him that the present liberation struggle was mainly sponsored and initiated by a strong nationalist group led by Awami League which could at best be called a centrists political organisation and not leftist. On Mr. Jha’s query I told him that the leftist once were at that moment not quite organised and there were many divisions among them. I told him that there were pro-Moscow and pro-Chinese factions in the leftist groups who believe in different ideologies. Mr. Jha seemed to know this broad categorisation. He wanted to know if I

225
could give more details. In fact, I gave more details but each time remarked that he should take my words at face value as I was talking from my own point of view. Mr. Jha and two other officers were sitting inside the room virtually shook up when I told them that I met Menon during my stay at Kishoreganj after crackdown. All of them were more surprised to know that Menon was with us in the University as a student. As Mr. Jha wanted to know the whereabouts and political beliefs of Menon, I told him that I did not know his present whereabouts but suspected that he could be around places like Monohardi or Sreepur on the borders of the Dhaka District.
As regards to his political beliefs, I informed them that he was a leftist by heart and believed in communist philosophy leaning towards the Chinese pattern. I frankly told Mr. Jha that all of us greatly regard Menon in spite of the fact that many of us did not believe in his political ideology or convictions. Mr. Jha soon came to the topic of Trade Union Movement and wanted to know if leftist forces were quiet dominant in that field. I told him about Sramik League and Sramik Federation and in that context mentioned the name and political beliefs of people like Kazi Jafar. Mr. Jha seemed to be more interested to know about people like Toha and Matin, the extremist leftist persons in Bangladesh politics. I told Mr. Jha that I did not know them personally but from analysis it appeared that they believed in an ideology which was similar to that of naxalities in West Bengal. Mr. Jha referred to his meeting with Moulana Bhasani and made certain assessment about him. He wanted to know whether I agreed with his observations. I told Mr. Jha that it was difficult for me to make any assessment of this elderly politician who had behaved in the most unpredictable manner in many situations.
We kept on talking about a lot of other things what we felt about the future of Bangladesh. As it was getting quite late, Mr. Jha ordered for dry lunch and our talk continued. I told Mr. Jha very frankly that I myself personally had very optimistic ideas about the success of the liberation struggle. I quoted instances from history and told him that nowhere in the world any liberation movement could be suppressed with forces. I told Mr. Jha that he had not seen the massacres and the atrocities that had been committed by the Pakistan army. I referred to the speech of Mr. Tazuddin Ahmed and emphasised that Pakistan was dead under the corpses. I told Mr. Jha that Yahya Khan deliberately

226
took the decision of destroying Pakistan in the night of the 25th of March and reunion of the two parts was beyond in question. I pointed out the weakness of the strategic position of the Pakistan army in Bangladesh and told Mr. Jha that with such a long unpredictable supply route originating in West Pakistan, the Pakistan army could not keep on suppressing the Bengalees for an indefinite period. Mr. Jha seemed to agree with me and told me that it would possibly take some time but he was also confident that liberation would come for Bangladesh.
We talked for about more than three hours. Not that all the talks were about what Mr. Jha wanted to know. Sometimes it was gossip and sometimes Mr. Jha wanted to know certain things personally for his own analysis and satisfaction. I had earlier had some good notion about the efficiency of Indian intelligence. I had been told that the Indian authorities knew everything about what was going on inside the then East Pakistan. I was simply appalled to see that they knew almost nothing. It appeared that their intelligence had not worked efficiently at all. Alternatively it could be that Mr. Jha was actually pretending that they knew little and in fact hiding their actual performance. I would have believed the second version but for one thing. Before and after meeting Mr. Jha and a good number of Indian officers in different fields, their ignorance about East Pakistan was utterly revealed. Because of this I tend to believe that the Indian intelligence had not worked quite efficiently and the Indian authorities did not know much about us before the crackdown. : Mr. Jha’s questions soon got exhausted. He thanked me for giving frank replies and confessed that this would be of great help to him personally as he would be able to compile a good report and send it up for the perusal of his superiors. I assured Mr. Jha that he was at liberty to call me any other time for such queries. I assured him that I would try to give replies as far as possible.
Before I forget, let me mention other important events that took place during our stay at Tura. It was possibly on the 8th of May that we were informed that the Governor of Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland were coming down to Tura on a visit. We could see the activities of the district officials as they prepared for the visit. Mr. Jha told me one day that he would definitely ensure that the Governor meet us. We were not particularly interested in meeting the Governor
227
but Mr. Mutalib rightly thought this would be a nice opportunity for us to tell him about our plight and request him for permission for going beyond Tura. Accordingly, we expressed gratitude to Mr. Jha and told him that we would be most delighted if the Governor would kindly give us a patient hearing.
It was about 3:30 p.m. on the 8th of May we were called to the Circuit House to meet the Governor. The Governor, Mr. B. K. Nehru, a relative of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, was kind enough to receive us. He was a heavily built man and very tall. He was putting on a light blue suit with a rose in the button of the coat. Apparently it appeared that the Governor was a polished gentleman with years of experience in administration. The Governor first asked us about our welfare and wanted to know why civil officers like us had to leave the country. He elaborated the point by saying that nowhere possible the officers were involved in such a movement. He told us that political disturbances could take place in a country on a large scale but that did not mean that there would be insecure conditions for civil officers. I politely pointed out the basic difference of the present political disturbances which I preferred to call the liberation struggle of whole people and other political disturbances the Governor was referring to. I sighted a number of examples of how the Pakistan army had behaved with civil officers after occupying a town or station. I informed the Governor that a number of officers had been killed on the very sight. He was quite amazed to know this. I took the liberty of explaining the situation further and told him that all people of Bangladesh including officers felt that Pakistan had died. I told the Governor that all of us felt that we belonged to a different nation and thus there was no question of working under a military dictatorship of one part of the erstwhile country. We talked about other things and informed the Governor of the position of the Awami League, their success in the election and their role in the present struggle. The Governor made a few queries but for the rest of the time he listened to us very patiently. When such conversation was over, we politely told him about our plight and told him that we would be glad to get out of Tura for recovering our families. The Governor pointed to the man who was sitting beside him and requested him to look into the matter and if possible to do the needful. The man referred to us was one Mr. Saigol, the then relief Commissioner of Meghalaya Government.
228
The ADC of the Tura came soon into the room and informed him politely that everything had been set right for the helicopter flight of the Governor for Tura. The Governor begged leave of us and we also got out. Soon he was gone in a car to the heliport and we stayed back at the Circuit House.
The person the Governor referred us, Mr. Saigol, took us to his own room and ordered for tea. We sat with him for about two hours. It appeared that Mr. Saigol was very fond of exercises in analysis of international affairs. He started discussing the whole background and strategy of the international struggle in Bangladesh and started analysing the situation in his own way. He told us that if India intervened, the Chinese could not possibly get into the whole thing. He analysed the situation by remarking that the Chinese had never entered into such struggles and had never sided with a military regime for a long time. His analysis was that the support Peking was extending to Yahya Khan, was only temporary as it suited their own purpose. On this point we tended to agree with him because in our view the Chinese support was based on political expediency. We thought China knew it for granted that the Pakistan army could not suppress the Bengalees for a long time. If during the process more centrists or rightists were wiped out, there was no reason for China to be unhappy. As China believed in the Ultimate Emancipation of the Bangalees, she would definitely like the struggle to prolong as this would bring the pro-Chinese leftist elements to the forefront. China possibly believed that the leftists alone were capable of continuing a long drawn out war. The temporary disadvantage of the pre-Chinese factions for Chinese blatant support to Yahya Khan could be easily overcome because of the abysmal poverty of the region. China took it for granted that a poor area like Bangladesh could hardly go rightists in any way. Apart from these beliefs, China did not want to destroy the balance power in the area by weakening Pakistan for the time being. China regarding India as her enemy and thus strategically it was already with her to support Pakistan against India by creating and exerting the fears of Indian intervention in what China would definitely call Pakistan’s Internal Politics. Mr. Saigol listened to my analysis patiently and opted that I was possibly as he held similar views.
Our main purpose of meeting Mr. Saigol was to convince him of the necessity of our going beyond Tura. But it appeared that he was
229
pre-occupied with his interesting analysis and was hardly in any mood to listen to such personal problems. He went on analysing the situation making reference to the U.S.A.’s role in the game. We interrupted at one stage and told him our problem again. Mr. Saigol was a frank man and he agreed that he did not see any reason why we could not go beyond Tura. He told me that he would definitely do something on his return to Shilong the next day.
It was very interesting for us to have met Mr. Saigol. At last we found one person who showed some interest not only in ourselves but also in the whole state of affairs of Bangladesh. Mr. Saigol informed us that he was originally from Pathan tribe and they were settled before partition in Jhelam area of West Pakistan. He frankly admitted that in his heart of hearts he was Pathan and greatly admired the Pathans for their courage and frankness. During conversation we came to know that the District Magistrate of Agartala was his younger brother. Mr. Saigol told us that he would talk to him from Shilong and would try to know who were there at Agartala from Bangladesh. This point arose as I pointed out that I thought my friends like Akbar Ali Khan and Rakib had taken shelter at Agartala. Mr. Saigol told me that he would confirm the position. He told me that there was no need to worry as he would keep on visiting Tura because of the evacuee problem. He told me that when he would come next he would be able to satisfy me on all pointsl had raised about ourselves and our friends at Agartala.
There was something in the assurance of Mr. Saigol. We had been assured for about a number of times about permission to move beyond certain areas from the time we were at Baghmara. But somehow or another possibly because of some intuition, we took a fancy to Mr. Saigol. There was something in his way of speaking that convinced us that he was a man of his word and would definitely do the best he could for helping us out of our present plight. When we left Mr. Saigol that evening we left with an assurance that raised hope in our minds that we would soon be able to get out of Tura and be at Agartala.
Days passed by but there was nothing we heard from Mr. Saigol. He visited Tura once again a few days later and I met him and wanted to know what had actually happened. Mr. Saigol told us that he had inquired about my friends, Raquib and Akbar, who had taken
230
shelter at Agartala along with many others. Mr. Saigol politely told me that he did not see any reason for which we would not be able to get out of Tura. He, however, told me that he had not been able to get the confirmed procedure in this respect because of his remaining pre-occupied with the evacuee problem day in and day out. Mr. Saigol was only on a day’s visit to Tura and he left again assuring me that he would definitely do something when he came back to Tura after a few days.
As time passed by we started becoming more and more impatient. In the meantime I used to meet Mr. Jha, the S.P., once in a few days positively and inquired about our fate. I do not know why Mr. Jha always tried to avoid the question by telling us that he would definitely do something for us and that there was nothing to worry about our movement out of Tura. Mr. Jha had his own way of talking and whatever he told it never appeared that he was not sincere. Rather it appeared that he was really trying hard for getting permission for us to go beyond Tura. In fact, in my very presence one day he rang up Shilong and wanted to know about us. It appeared that he did not get a favourable reply from the other side as his face gradually turned sober and grave when he kept the receiver back on the set. He, however, immediately recovered from his temporary reactions and with his characteristic smile, told me that the police and the civil administration were all the same lazy everywhere including Shilong and Gauhati.
In the meantime, Mr. Mutalib became very impatient. There was no point for Mutalib to be interested in moving out of Tura for the time being. But he had always given us company and helped us in our attempt to get out of Tura simply because he himself strongly felt about the need of our contacting our families as soon as possible. Since Mr. Mutalib’s family could better be contacted from Haluaghat and Baghmara side, it was in his interest to stay back at Tura and do the needful from this side. We all sympathised with Mr. Mutalib’s views and opined that there was no reason why he should keep on staying with us at the cost of his own interest. It was with great difficulty we persuaded Mr. Mutalib to go down to Baghmara and inquire about his families. When Mr. Mutalib ultimately agreed, he repeatedly told us that we should not think that he was acting in a selfish manner. In fact, none of us had this suspicion. A friend like
231
Mr. Mutalib could never be suspected. In this context I must mention the gravity of those dark days and the reaction of very close friends and relatives towards us. The reader must be aware how frightened people were to give shelter to the families of those who had defected to the liberation movement. I personally and bitterly know that my wife had to request so many people for shelter when she got separated from me. The situation made everybody so selfish and self-centred that only people with large hearts could come out with such an offer for extending support and help. There were very few people who agreed to give shelter to my wife and child in those dark days. That is a completely different story and I would come to that part some time later in this book.
Talking about Mr. Mutalib’s leaving us, we never doubted his sincerity. We knew that his departure from amongst us would make us lonelier but soon it was in the interest of his family we had to bear with this temporary separation. In my heart of hearts I never had the slightest doubt that Bangladesh was going to be free one day. I knew it for certain and knew all so well that if Mr. Mutalib could survive the darkest days, God willing we would definitely meet again in some better environment and situation.
It was possibly on the 14th or 15th of May that Mr. Mutalib left us and proceeded towards Baghmara. Mr. Jha was kind enough to provide him with a jeep by which he could go down to Baghmara. Mr. Jha even allowed him to take back his revolver in case he needed this weapon because of his improbable decision to get some distance into Bangladesh for establishing contact with his family. Naturally all of us were very sad to bid farewell to Mr. Mutalib. The only request I made to him while we got separated temporarily was that he should never risk his life by entering Bangladesh. I told him that if he could manage to establish contacts with his family by remaining in a safe zone, he should not become over-enthusiastic and blind so as to disregard completely the grave risk implied in his physical movement into the occupied territory.
When Mr. Mutalib was gone, after that, Mr. Akbar, Ghalib and myself felt very lonely. There was some outlet for Mr. Akbar and Ghalib. They had by that time come to know a good number of people at Tura and almost in every afternoon they used to go out with Prukayastha and go around the town. I did not feel inclined to do so.
232
My only pre-occupation during those times was to write to friends in the Foreign Service who were posted abroad at different stations. I wrote to them giving vivid details of the massacre and the crackdown and urged all of them to defect for justice and independence. I was not sure whether my letters were reaching all my friends since in the absence of detailed address I had to mail them in the address of the respective Pakistani Embassy and High Commissions at different world capitals. Later on after independence, I came to know from a few friends that they received my letters but a few told me that they did not. I cannot say whether the letter persons deliberately told me a lie. But it could be so that the letters were interrupted by the Pakistan intelligence at missions and were never actually delivered to my friends.
The other pre-occupation was for me to go through the old issues of Indian papers and magazines. In fact I read almost all the back issues of Indian papers and magazines which carried some form of report about the movement in Bangladesh.
It was simply rewarding to have gone through such issues. I do not remember the number and the date of the issue of the illustrated weekly of India which carried a report about my good friend Tawfiq Elahi of Meherpur subdivision. It referred to him as a lean and thin young man with bright sparkling eyes. I do not remember the exact words today but the report gave a vivid description of how he had organised the resistance at Meherpur, Chuadanga and other places and boldly he had first made the appeal to the Indians across the border for help in terms of arms and ammunitions. It was possibly the same issue of the illustrated weekly which carried another report about my friend Kamal Siddiqui who was then posted as the SDO of Narail in Jessore District. I have made mention of these two persons along with others in earlier pages of this book. The illustrated weekly found these young Bengali Officers exuberant with patriotism. It described how Kamal Siddiqui sat in a court and passed judgment of sentence of death on a number of West Pakistani military and para military forces and a few non-local spies. As far as I remember the words were as follows: “The young Bengalee Officer was sitting with his grave face. His face contorted when he passed sentences of death on the guilty who had been found by the court guilty of high treason and collaboration with Pakistan army.” There were many other issues of
233
The Turbulent 1971: My Diary the illustrated weekly of India which carried reports about genesis of the movement, the real causes and forces behind the Bengalee nationalism and similar topics; we had never had the chance of reading such materials before inside East Pakistan. To me it was wonderful reading since most of the writers seemed to be quite deep in their analysis and they had an objective approach to the whole issue. I do not know whether others will agree with me but I am of the opinion that the articles written in those days in the illustrated weekly of India were of reasonably high standard which could at least provoke some serious thought in the minds of the readers.
It was also a wonderful chance during that time to have gone through to the back issues of reputed American weeklies “Time” and “Newsweek”. Mr. Jha was a regular subscriber to Time Magazine and one of his DSPs (I do not remember his name now) was a subscriber to “Newsweek”. I had seen two copies of Time and Newsweek sitting at Kishoreganj on the 17th of April. I have referred to these two magazines which Cameraman Badal of Asian Television had brought back with him from Calcutta. Mr. Jha and his DSP were kind enough to give me those copies and all other relevant copies for reading. It was in the Time Magazine I read the cover story about what Time called the Civil War in Pakistan. The analysis, though not completely partial to the Bengalees, gave quite a good account of the genesis of the crackdown. The very first issue of the Time Magazine after a crack down predicted that East Pakistan was sooner or later going to be independent or going to achieve some form of autonomy. I personally did not like the use of the word autonomy in the prediction but on second thought had to allowsuch observation from a foreigner who was naturally far less interested and knowledgeable about our affairs. Time Magazine must be given all the praise for coming out with such a prediction in one of his first issues after the crackdown. It was in the Time Magazine I wrote about the heroic battle of Kushtia which Time Magazine carried under the banner “The battle of Kushtia”. This issue carried a photograph of a few West Pakistani army prisoners in the hands of the Bengalees at Kushtia jail. The Pakistan army’s atrocities and their wrong claim of normalcy were also exposed to the world in its own characteristic way by the Time Magazine. Newsweek carried similar reports and covered the events with a deeper understanding of the causes of Bengalee revolt and the
234
Bengalee’s fight for independence from the clutches of the Pakistan army.
Another important event that took place during our stay at Tura related to the attack on a BSF outpost by a contingent of the Pakistan army; I do not remember the exact date today but possibly it was the 15th or 16th of May which I came to know all about this. We could feel that a virtual panic had been created in the town. The report taking many forms of rumours was in the lips of everybody. The report was briefly that a contingent of the Pakistan army attacked the border outpost of the BSF at Dalu early in the morning. The BSF outpost there was situated in a bulge into Bangladesh territory and his outpost was very near the borders. The BSF had earlier possibly fired a number of rounds on the Pakistan army across the border. The next day early in the morning, a contingent of Pakistani troops surrounded the BSF outpost from two sides and opened fire. As many as 9 BSF personnel were shot and a few were injured. The BSF were taken unaware completely and they could not even fire back. I must say that the people of Tura acted most cowardly by betraying their fear on hearing this news. We were most concerned to hear that few Mukti Bahini boys were also killed during this operation. We personally attended the Namaj-e-janaja of one boy whose dead body could be recovered. We had to give him a Muslim funeral and bury him in the unknown hills of Tura. Though it is out of place, I may mention here that when after liberation two brothers of this young boy, who was not more than even 18, approached me for permission to go to Tura to visit the graveyard, I could hardly check my tears. The two brothers of the dead Mukti Bahini boy got some consolation from my words as I told them that their brother had died for a very noble cause and we were personally present at his burial.
I never did have a good impression about the boldness or efficiency of the BSF. This was because I treated BSF in the same way as former EPR. These people were para military forces and lacked courage, initiative and dynamism. That BSF were quite apprehensive of Pakistan army attack became clear to me even during my stay at Baghmara. Captain Murari used to boast much about the morale of his forces. He used to tell me that they would not allow the Pakistan army to even approach the borders. But when the Pakistan army actually approached the borders, rather when they were at them,
235
The Turbulent 1971: My Diary the reaction from the BSF was simply mild. Captain Murari possibly felt some uneasiness and told me that he could not do much because there were no orders on him to open fire into the occupied territory.
The relative cowardice of the BSF also became quite evident during the attack of the Pakistan army contingent on Dalu outpost. I got the whole story from an eyewitness who happened to be an acquaintance of Prukayastha. He visited Prukayastha one day after the incident and narrated the whole story. He told us that the report of the attack was correct but the report that the BSF fought back was completely false. This gentleman was a Superintendent in the Malaria Eradication Programme and his small office was very near the outpost which the Pakistani attacked. He told us that when the Pakistani opened fire, he had no other option but to go under the cot and take shelter for safety. He told us that when the attack was over he came out and came to know all the details. A non-commissioned officer of the rank of Sub-Inspector was taken prisoner by the Pakistanis and the Pakistanis took him inside the occupied territory. The superintendent told us that the big BSF centre at Dalu was only less than about one and a half kilometres from the post which the BSF attacked. He told us long after the attack was over, the BSF personnel came out with arms and ammunitions from the main centre. This gentleman told us that he felt ashamed to notice that the BSF personnel were looking very coward and depressed. These troops pretended that they had not heard anything. It was simply absurd since the place was very near. They pretended not having heard anything because that suited their purpose. According to the Superintendent possibly they were too much afraid to come out in the open and challenge the Pakistanis.
Lest I forget, I should record another similar incident that took place during our stay at Agartala. The Indian police station at Khowai was just across the river opposite to Pakistani (i.e. Bangladesh) outpost of Chatlarpar. One day a Pakistani army Captain accompanied by two or three troops crossed the river into Khowai and threatened the officer- in-charge of the police station that if anybody fired on them from Indian side they would kill him. We were reported that the 0.C. of the police station was simply scrambling to see the Pakistani Captain. When the Captain had finished whatever he had to tell, he turned back and started for Chatlarpar. He moved a little and then turned back again jokingly telling the 0.C. that no one should fire on

236
him from behind. He told him that if they were fired upon from behind, he would burn and destroy the whole town of Khowai. There were a good number of armed policemen at the P.S. and elsewhere very near but none of them dared to say anything neither fired any shot on the Pakistani Captain and his companions.
Coming back to the story on the attack on Dalu outpost, when we went to meet Mr. Jha that day we found him absent. He had reportedly gone to visit Dalu. We could meet him only after two days but even at that time he looked very nervous and told us that he was quite busy because of the incident. Mr. Jha did not tell us anything in details in his characteristic police style but we could read from his face that the Indians had got a shock after this Pakistani attack on their outpost.
Another important event was my contact with Mr. Syed Abdus Samad, formerly ADC of Chittagong Hill District. During his second meeting Mr. Saigol told us about him. On inquiry from me he told me that Mr. Samad had taken shelter at Shilong along with another Tea Planter of Sylhet. Mr. Saigol told me that I could possibly contact him on telephone at Shilong Pinewood Hotel where he had been lodged by the Meghalaya Govt. authorities. I tried to contact Mr. Samad over the phone a number of times from Tura but the telephone line remained disturbed for most of the time. It was with great difficulty I was able to contact him one day. He was quite surprised to hear that we were virtually detained at Tura and could not move up beyond Tura. I told Mr. Samad about our problem and requested him to see if he could help us in any manner. Mr. Samad assured me that he would try to do his best and ring me back about the outcome.
I have told earlier that during my stay at Tura I used to make very little movement even inside the town. I remained worrying most of the time for my family. I tried to pass days by reading newspapers and magazines. I, however, met a number of people at Tura. One of them was Mr. Das, who also happened to be originally from Sylhet district of Bangladesh. He was the Principal of the local Government College. He was very nice and amiable man whose quarters were situated just beside the lecturers Hotel. Because of his being a Sylhety, we became very close soon. He used to come to our rooms any time and give us company. I could make contact with Mr. Samad over the telephone at his office only through his courtesy as he so
237
kindly allowed us to use his telephone at his office in the college which was just across the road. Mr. Das extended all possible help and assistance to us during our stay at Tura. I must record with gratitude his sympathetic attitude towards us and his moral support to our cause during those dark days.
One important aspect that caught my attention a number of times during my stay at Tura was that the Bengalees, on the whole, extended all help to evacuees like us. They were all sympathetic towards our case. Prukayastha used to openly tell us that they had more feelings for Bangladesh than for Meghalaya which according to him had already become a state of the tribals. Mr. Das used to tell us in confidence that they felt in heart and insulted as they thought they were treated as second class citizens of Meghalaya state. I was told that they could not purchase any land in the state if they had not lived there for a continuous period of more than 12 years. Prukayastha, Das and others used to tell us in confidence that they had great hopes on Bangladesh because at least by the emergence of such a new independent nation, a good number of Bengalees would for the first time be really free in any land. Mr. Das and Prukayastha used to refer to the number of language riots that had taken place in different parts of Assam. They told us that they felt as much insecure in those conditions as we possibly felt under Pakistani army occupation. They used to tell us in confidence that they had already been deemed to their fate. We could still fight and gain independence for us. From this they would definitely get a mental satisfaction. Prukayastha used to joke about the whole matter sometimes but nonetheless seriously say that the establishment of Bangladesh would enhance their prestige to the people in Assam and Meghalaya. Because of the presence of an independent Bangladesh inhabited by only Bengalees, Prukayastha felt that their position would be more secure in Assam and Meghalaya states of India. The reader may raise his eyebrows at such sympathetic outburst from Das and Prukayastha who in the ultimate analysis were nothing more than Indians. But I must record that I always noticed sincerity in what they said. It was far more than mere outburst as it was a vicarious joy at the possibility, though faint at that time, that a great number of Bengalees would one day be really in complete independence and would be able to guide their own destiny in accordance to their own wishes.
238
Another important event that took place during our stay at Tura was my meeting with a gentleman named Subramaniam. It was possibly the 19th or 20th of May. I had just got up from sleep and was sipping a cup of tea. Soon a gentleman came in with Prukayastha and told me that a big Indian officer named Subramaniam wanted to meet me. I was told that Mr. Subramaniam would be glad to meet me and discuss a few things. Evidently the request had to be complied with. I changed my clothes and came out. The gentleman had come with a car and we started for the Circuit House.
When I reached the Circuit House, a middle aged gentleman with a good physique came out and greeted me. He introduced himself as Subramaniam. He took me inside his room and requested me to feel at home. I could feel that he was going to ask me a number of questions. I had the experience of undergoing such trials quite a number of times and as such prepared myself for the coming question and answer session. It was interesting to see that Mr. Subramaniam after ordering for tea close the doors. He gave a feeling that he was going to discuss very important secret things with me.
When Mr. Subramaniam closed the doors, I got quite apprehensive as to what actually his motive was. He sat across the table and looked straight into my face. We made no secrets and he plainly told me that he was a man from intelligence. When I heard this I laughed out and told him that there was no need for him to tell me this. I could realise this the moment he closed the doors. Mr. Subramaniam appeared to be a very nice man. He also laughed out with me and told me that he thought it would be better if he frankly admitted that he was none but an intelligence officer. In my quarry he told me that he was a humble man of the rank of DIG and represented the Central Intelligence of the Govt. of India at Shilong.
The introduction over, Mr. Subramaniam started asking me a number of questions. Most of these related to my experience of the last days and my assessment of the situation. He made a few broad references to the leftist politician in Bangladesh. When I heard him utter names like Menon, Jafar, Toha, Matin, etc. I could not help laughing out again. This time Mr. Subramaniam was possibly taken aback as he wanted to know why I had actually laughed. I told him that frankly I was really being amazed at the way in which all the Indian authorities seemed to be interested about leftist politics and
239
political trends in Bangladesh. I made reference to my question and answering session with Mr. Jha and told Mr. Subramaniam that Mr. Jha had also asked me similar questions. When he heard this Mr. Subramaniam also laughed out. He leaned forward and told me almost whispering that they had to be preoccupied with the leftists as these people created problems everywhere including India. Mr. Subramaniam dubbed them as nuisance and told me that it should be as much my headache as his as a portrayal with modern views to expose such people as much as possible.
Mr. Subramanian’s questions continued and I replied to these questions as far as I could. On Mr. Subramanian’s inquire I told him that a good number of my friends had also defected and joined the liberation movement. I particularly mentioned the names of Akbar Ali Khan, Rakib, Toufiq Elahi, Kamal Siddiqui and Waliul Islam. This was possible because I knew personally about Akbar and Rakib and had learned in the meantime about others. Mr. Subramaniam kept on taking notes as I gave replies. He asked me a number of questions about my assessment of the Pakistani strength and the structure of administration in Bangladesh. I tried to satisfy him in all possible ways.
In the meantime, the tea had come. Mr. Subramaniam and I took tea and continued our discussion. When Mr. Subramaniam had almost come to an end he frankly enquired whether I would be willing to work for him in the intelligence set up. He told me frankly that they were going to set up a big channel for such intelligence along the border. Mr. Subramaniam was of the view that because of my knowledge of the interior, I could effectively help them in organising such a system. Mr. Subramaniam, however, assured that there would be no need for me to go inside but I could arrange messengers for collecting information from inside the occupied territory. Lest I should feel otherwise he told me that he would arrange for a handsome salary for me for the period I would be willing to work for him.
I was simply amazed and surprised on such an offer from such a responsible Intelligence Officer of the Central Government of India. Mr. Subramaniam should have known that I was a civil officer and would be least inclined to do with such a job. When Mr. Subramaniam repeated his offer, I told him point blank that I would
240
be the last person to do such a job. Mr. Subramaniam wanted to know if I consider this beneath my dignity. I avoided his question by telling him that as a Civil Officer I had the last intention or capacity to do such things. I told him that I was not suited for such job because of my background. Mr. Subramaniam then took another line and told me that I could serve my country during the process. I told him point blank that I can take a decision about my future course of action only after I had a meeting with my colleagues and others from Bangladesh possibly at Calcutta or Agartala or at some place near the border. I told Mr. Subramaniam that I had been worrying a lot about my family and in that condition it was impossible for me to make a decision.
Mr. Subramaniam ultimately gave in and told me that no matter whether I agreed to work for him, he would do his best to arrange my going over to Agartala for tracing my family. Mr. Subramaniam told me that he would contact Agartala on his return to Shilong and would try to gather as much news as possible about my friends and my family. Though it was an assurance from an intelligence officer, I got some assurances as Mr. Subramaniam seemed to be quite sincere in his words. Mr. Subramanium, however, boasted of the efficiency of their intelligence system and told me that it would not be difficult for them to get my wife out of the occupied territory in a short time. I did not hold such a view over their efficiency and thus had to remain silent when he kept on telling me all these.
Before leaving Mr. Subramaniam I again requested him to look into my problem. Mr. Subramaniam came out to the car and bade me farewell by repeatedly assuring me that he had been quite impressed by me and do everything possible for helping me out as soon as possible.
On my return to the residence, I kept on brooding over what Mr. Subramaniam had told me. I particularly felt agitated about his offering of a job in the intelligence. I had thought earlier that the Indian Authorities would extend help and cooperation to the freedom fighters in a systematic way. I had thought that the Indian authorities had quite good ideas about what to do in those circumstances, given their stand of support and help to the independent government of Bangladesh. I was in fact disappointed to see that high Indian officers like Mr. Subramaniam had nothing but disorganised ideas about the

241
whole thing. It appeared to me that the Indians were until then not quite clear about what their role should be in those circumstances. It was also clear that they were yet to take a concrete policy according to which they could best help the government of Bangladesh. If Mr. Subramaniam’s words were anyway authoritative, there was no reason why these would not be authoritative, the Indians still then suffered from some form of confusion about their role and the means by which they could help Bangladesh in achieving their goal.
I do not remember other important incidents that took place during our stay at Tura. Time kept on passing and Mr. Akbar and myself started becoming more and more agitated over the issue of our going to Agartala. We kept on building up pressure on Mr. Jha to allow us to leave Tura. In the meantime, I had sent another cable to Anwarul Karim Choudhury at Calcutta giving him some background of our troubles and requesting him to send a signal from the Indian authorities at Calcutta to Shilong for allowing us to go to Agartala. Mr. Anwarul Karim Choudhury replied by requesting me to wait for some time. He assured me that they had already taken up the matter with the Indian External Affairs Ministry and we could wait for a few days. There was clear indication in the telegram that a signal would soon be sent by the Indian External Affairs Ministry at Calcutta to Shilong asking the Meghalaya authorities to allow us to move beyond Tura. I also tried to contact Mr. Samad over the phone and we had managed to get him. Mr. Samad had told me that he had taken the matter up with the DC of Khasi jointly Hills, one Mr. Bagchi, a Bengalee who had reportedly assured him that he would persuade the authorities to allow us to move from Tura via Agartala from Gauhati. Mr. Jha noticed this activity on our part and on his turn he also kept on sounding Shilong about our fate. We started becoming more and more impatient and kept on requesting Mr. Jha to find out a way. On my request Mr. Jha telephoned Shilong and told the authorities that I had received a telegram from Bangladesh Mission at Calcutta requesting me to go over to either Calcutta or Agartala. Mr. Jha, however, could not get the permission as he appeared to be quite annoyed with his own superiors.
In the meantime, Captain Williamson Sanghma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya visited Tura again. He had come to Tura with the Governor.
242
It was his second visit. I had already become too much fed up with all these dignitaries and did not have any intention of meeting Capt. Sanghma. Prukayastha one day brought news and requested me to meet Captain Sanghma as according to him he was the most influential person in Meghalaya state and a slight hint from him that everything could be alright. On Prukayastha’s insistence, one day I went to the residence of Captain Sanghma and met him.
Captain Sanghma was a short built person who looked much younger than his actual age. Prukayastha had told that Captain Sanghma was a Garo Christian and he did not observe any formalities whatsoever about meeting people. This was particularly from when he used to be at his home residence at Tura. When I went to Captain Sanghma’s residence, Prukayastha was with me. It appeared that whatever Prukayastha told us was correct. I found a number of people from different walks of life sitting at the drawing room of Captain Sanghma. I had already met Captain Sanghma when he had come with the Governor. But that was only a first introduction. This time Prukayastha introduced me again to Captain Sanghma who immediately recollected his earlier meeting with me when he had come to Tura with the Governor. As there were a lot of people inside the drawing room, Captain Sanghma led us to an empty room inside the house where one of his friends, an Indian Bengalee Doctor, Mr. Bhasker Choudhury, was sitting. Captain Sanghma introduced me to this gentleman and we then all sat in this room. Captain Sanghma appeared to be quite hospitable as tea and other soon came. I was least interested in these and soon got to the point by stating to Captain Sanghma that nothing so far had been done about a simple permission to be given to us for our movement beyond Tura. Captain Sanghma listened to me patiently and told me that many people wanted to come out of different places, that it had become quite difficult for the authorities to tackle this problem. He assured me that I would not have to wait for more than 10 days within which the permission would definitely come. He told me that he would look into the matter on his return to Shilong and in the meantime would leave instructions with the local DC and SP for pursuing the matter from Tura. I could not press him further because I thought it would be discourteous. I had already had experience that with Mr. Jha, who could not procure the permission after such a long time. I had less confidence in the

243
local DC, one Mr. Cajee, a Khashi who was a bachelor. I met him twice or thrice and he recollected meeting me earlier. From his very appearance it used to appear to me that he could hardly extend any help to us. When I used to refer his name to Prukayastha, Prukayastha used to laugh and tell me that I was possibly one of the few strangers whom Mr. Cajee could recollect having met during second meeting. I was surprised to know from Prukayastha that Mr. Cajee was more or less an abnormal man who used to forget his meeting people almost every time. Thus when Captain Sanghma told me that he would leave instructions with the local authorities, I felt the least interested. I felt it wise not to point out that we had lost all confidence in those people. I, however, got some assurance as Mr. Sanghma told me that he would definitely do something from Shilong within a week or 10 days. When we came out of the house of Captain Sanghma, Prukayastha told me that I could definitely have confidence in this great man. Prukayastha told me that Mr. Sanghma had taken such a sympathetic view of our plight. Since I could not have formed an assessment about Captain Sanghma after two such brief meetings, I preferred to rely on what Prukayastha told me about him.
When I returned from the residence of Captain Sanghma, I had definitely come with some hopes that a way may soon be found out for our going over to Agartala via Gauhati. He contacted Mr. Jha later and told him what Captain Sanghma had told me. Mr. Jha again assured us that he was doing his best and would soon be able to get some permission for us for movement to Agartala.
We started becoming impatient again as a few days passed by and we did not hear anything from either Mr. Subramaniam or Captain Sanghma. Mr. Jha told me that Mr. Subramaniam would be coming to Tura in a few days and possibly I could catch him. Mr. Subramaniam actually came to Tura again and we did not miss the opportunity of meeting him again. This time, when I went to meet him he behaved more freely and told me that there was nothing to worry. He told me that he had made a number of enquiries about my friends at different places. Mr. Subramaniam particularly made reference to Akbar and Rakib and confirmed that as I had told him, they had taken shelter at Agartala. Mr. Subramaniam informed me that they were all fine and he had conveyed the message to them about my safety also. He told me that he had sent message down to Akbar and Rakib requesting
244
them to establish contact with my wife so that she could know my whereabouts and also know that I was safe. Mr. Subramaniam then hurriedly passed on to another topic which he had discussed earlier with me. That is about my joining his proposed organisation for an intelligence set up in the border areas. I left when Mr. Subramaniam made the proposal again and told him that I had already given out my mind to him. I told Mr. Subramaniam that I was really sorry that I was not really able to help him in any way. I joked with him by saying that that did not mean he should not also cooperate with me in getting out of Tura for establishing contact and recovering my family.
That Mr. Subramaniam actually had cooperated became clear when he came out with very important news. I was surprised to see that he had been able to hide it back for quite some time. He told me that he knew the whereabouts of my family. He informed me that he knew that my father-in-law was a Joint Secretary in the Finance Department at Dhaka. I was quite surprised to hear all these from Mr. Subramaniam who informed me that his intelligence staff had carried out an extensive survey and had been able to locate my wife at Dhaka at the residence of my father-in-law. I kept on getting more and more surprised and kept on listening to Mr. Subramaniam breathlessly. When I pointed out that my family had originally gone to Nabinagar in Brahmanbaria Subdivision, Mr. Subramaniam possibly read my mind and told me that he knew all about those also. He told me that my family stayed at Nabinagar for some time and then was evacuated from there a few days ago to Dhaka by my father-in-law. Mr. Subramaniam even mentioned the name of Bina Apa (Mrs. Naziruddin Ahmed) and informed me that she had also gone back to Dhaka with my wife. According to Mr. Subramaniam all was well with my family and there was nothing I should worry about.
When Mr. Subramaniam finished with the story, I started changing my view about the efficiency and efficacy of the Indian intelligence system. Undoubtedly, it was a great achievement for Mr. Subramaniam who rightly kept on boasting that his staff was very efficient and alert and could trace out any person anywhere. Mr. Subramaniam looked straight into my face and told me that he was waiting for my request for evacuation of my family from Dhaka to across the border if I wished so. There was nothing better which I could wish at that time. Mr. Subramaniam possibly knew this and this is why he again told me that if

245
I agree he would ask his people to get in touch with my wife at Dhaka and manage to get her out of the occupied territory. There was no reason why I should not agree to such a proposal after I had developed a pleasant admiration for the Indian Intelligence System. On Mr. Subramaniam’s query, I could simply nod my head and indicated that I would be most obliged if he helped me that way by rescuing my family from the occupied territory. Mr. Subramaniam told me that if my fatherin-law did not object to such a plan, his men would have no difficulty in managing to get my family out of Dhaka across the border. I told Mr. Subramaniam that my father-in-law would not in any way could object to such a proposal. I told him that he would be much too delighted to agree to such a plan. Mr. Subramaniam finally told me that he would in that case instruct his people accordingly.
Even though Mr. Subramaniam had come out with some solid news about my family, I still felt the necessity of going to Agartala. Mr. Subramaniam told me that it was possibly less necessary for me to go now to Agartala as I could recover my wife sitting at Tura. I, however, politely pointed out to Mr. Subramaniam that apart from recovery of my family there were pressing needs for me to go to Agartala. I told him that I would be simply wasting my time at Tura if I did not go to Agartala for having urgent and immediate consultations with my colleague and others from Bangladesh for deciding our next joint course of action. I told Mr. Subramaniam that none of us would feel at home in any part of India no matter with whatever luxury we were treated unless we could make some solid contribution towards the independence of our country. I told Mr. Subramaniam that we crossed over to India not only for safety but also for organising the struggle on a better footing from a free zone. I told him that for us, hard organised action was as much necessary or vital as our own survival. Mr. Subramaniam kept on asking a few questions in this connection but ultimately agreed that on his return to Shilong this time he would send one of his officers in two or three days for escorting us to Agartala. After all Mr. Subramaniam had done for me, I could not treat his assurance this time with any suspicion. But I, nonetheless, felt that I would have to keep on bothering him till his officer actually came for taking us out of Tura.
I would have been the happiest person today to record with gratitude the services extended to me by Mr. Subramaniam about the
246
message he carried about my family but for one fact. The fact is big enough to neutralise all his claims and boasting. When on my arrival at Agartala, later I heard the full story from my friend Akbar Ali Khan (Akbar), I simply pitied Mr. Subramaniam for his unnecessary boast about the efficacy of the Indian Intelligence System. When I heard the full story I laughed out. Akbar was taken aback and he wanted to know why I burst out into laughter.
I told Akbar in details about what Mr. Subramaniam in fact gave me a wrong story that day at Tura. What he in fact did was that he directed his staff at Agartala to get in touch with my friend Akbar. Akbar told me that one evening when they were sitting, an intelligence officer came from the town and enquired about him. Akbar soon met this gentleman who wanted to know about me and my family. Akbar told him that he did not know anything about me but knew something about my family. The intelligence office then told Akbar about my whereabouts and requested him for any information he could supply to him about my family. Akbar was told that I was quite worried at Tura and would be glad to receive some news about my family inside the occupied territory. When the person was established, Akbar and Rakib requested information about my whereabouts. Since Akbar and Rakib did not know anything about me at that time, they told the messenger that I was safe and did not know my actual address. In the meantime, the situation had started to deteriorate in the village areas of Nabinagar because of insistent Pakistan shelling and bombing. Under these circumstances when my family could not get any information about me, they chose to get back to Dhaka because at that stage Dhaka had become much safer to live in. I shall come to the full story as I heard it from my wife somewhere later in this book. For the time being, coming back to the present story, my family came back to Dhaka and kept on staying at the residence of my father-in-law. Akbar told the officer all these. He also told him that his own sister, Bina Apa (Mrs. Naziruddin) had also moved out of Nabinagar into Dhaka along with my wife. When I later asked Akbar why he gave all such news to the intelligence officer, he told me that he did not see anything bad in that man and was quite sure about his identity. He told me that he had taken great pains to give every possible detail to the intelligence officer in the hope that they would pass on the
247
message to ine. Akbar told me that he knew I would be most delighted to get such news.
This was after all what Mr. Subramaniam had done. If his intelligence system did any service, that was confined to their meeting with Akbar and getting ready-made second hand news from them. In retrospect, I still remember the boast of Subramaniam about his intelligence system. It sometimes gets difficult for me to check laughter when I remember all these. Lest Mr. Subramaniam should get hurt, I did not tell him this later when I got a chance to meet him once at Agartala Airport and then again at my office at Mymensingh after liberation. When Mr. Subramaniam visited Mymensingh after liberation I treated him with all courtesy and extended all possible help to him. I must confess that even though Mr. Subramaniam had unnecessarily boasted, he possibly did so only to rise up the prestige of his intelligence network. A South Indian by birth, Mr. Subramaniam had behaved most cooperatively otherwise and had, I must again confess, extended all help and cooperation to me during my stay at Tura. That he was really happy to see us back in our own country was evident when we met later at Mymensingh. Mr. Subramaniam in fact did not hide his feelings as he told me that he felt most delighted to see that a young man like me had returned home and had taken up the responsibilities of the DC in the biggest district of Bangladesh. During our meeting, Mr. Subramaniam fondly referred to the past events and told me that as an intelligence officer he could not possibly avoid the unpleasant behaviour, of any, he had put up in those days towards us. I replied to Mr. Subramaniam by telling him that in retrospect we enjoyed those dark days and was so glad to see an acquaintance of those days after liberation. Mr. Subramaniam jokingly pointed out that he was more than an acquaintance and I readily agreed by referring him as a friend.
The reader of the story must have become bored with the description of our sufferings at Tura. However, it is better to appreciate that in those circumstances many trifling things were very important to us and much dependant on our exit from Tura. It was in the context of extreme disparate circumstances that I met Mr. Jha one day in his Office. This was virtually an imposition on him. As usual, Mr. Jha was cordial and he wanted to talk about other things. I stopped him short and straight way asked him if he would allow us to
248
move beyond Tura. To some extent I became rude and told him that he did not have any authority whatsoever for detaining us in that manner. I even went to the extent that he could arrest us on some charges but could not keep us in virtual detention since we had not committed any crimes.
No sooner had I finished all these in choked emotional voice at the peak of its hight, I could realise I had perhaps heard the sentiments of the man, who, it appeared, was trying his best to get us out of Tura. I immediately looked at Mr. Jha’s face and in spite of his best efforts to check his reaction, the face betrayed sighs of disasters. Mr. Jha, however, recovered very quickly and kept hold of my hand and almost forcibly made me sit. Even at that time he started joking by saying that he as a police officer was simply carrying out instructions from civil officers like me. This was a man with whom you could not remain angry for a long time. Mr. Jha promised again that he would be doing something within the next few days so that we could move out to Agartola. He even referred to his talks with Mr. Subramaniam and informed me that he had instructed him to allow us to go beyond Tura at the earliest opportunity. Mr. Jha was confident that Mr. Subramaniam’s representative would be reaching Tura in a few days to take us out. I patiently listened to him but could not have much confidence. The readers would passively appreciate the desperation of a man who had crossed over to an unknown land through a wrong way and was worried much about his family. I, however, could control myself very soon, left Mr. Jha’s office and returned to the hostel.
Our exit from Tura would have possibly been delayed but for sudden appearance of Mr. Saigol, the then Relief Secretary of Meghalaya Government, on the scene. I had referred to this Mr. Saigol a number of times elsewhere in the story. Mr. Saigol was Pathan by birth and had all the frankness to discuss many things with us. Mr. Saigol’s unscheduled visit to Tura hastened our departure from Tura.
By that time possibly Prukayastha had also become quite impatient particularly with his own officers. He always held the view that officers of Meghalaya Government were not sympathetic to the Bengalees as according to him the large scale settlement of refugee. Bengalees earlier in Meghalaya District had antagonised the hilly
249
people of Meghalaya. The Hindu migrates who left Bangladesh, the then East Pakistan settled mostly in Tripura State and Meghalaya State, then a part of Indian State of Assam. Prukayastha had told me earlier a continued resistance of 12 years was the minimum requirement for purchase of land in the hilly districts. Prukayastha somehow held the opinion that the hilly people disliked the Bengalee and they were treated as 2nd class citizens. Surprisingly, the same view was held by other Bengalee persons like Mr. Rathin Das Gupta, a Professor of the local Tura Government College, who had also been extending all courteous help to us at Tura. Because of Prukayastha’s inherent dislike for the hilly people and the Meghalaya Government, he always held the suspicion that they were not serious about the Bangladesh movement and were possibly happy to see the refugees return to their homeland since it will save them from a possible settlement of such refugee again in the hilly districts. For these reasons Prukayastha had always been advocating that we should violate S.P.’s instruction and leave Tura whenever we like.
I could see much reason in Prukayastha’s arguments. But looking at the problem from another angle, I could not possibly subscribe fully to all his views. The hilly regions of Meghalaya were the exclusive abode of the tribal people who were simply innocent and illiterate. These people were backwards in all respects and this is why the Meghalaya Government were created to look after their wellbeing. The earlier migrants from Bangladesh, the then East Pakistan, settled in the hilly regions in large numbers and they yielded all economic powers and to some extent political powers. If the tribals saw any inherent danger in such a tendency they could not be blamed. The tribals had long been neglected and possibly they could not allow their lands to be enjoyed by people coming from outside while they themselves suffered economically for lack of development in their areas. The tribals could not also be blamed for having doubts regarding the Bangladesh movement as the failure of the movement would permanently settle into a large number of refugees coming from Bangladesh on their own soil. I somehow held this view and could possibly tolerate with the tribals even if they are antagonising towards Bengalee refugees. Prukayastha, however, had subsistence and he argued that the tribals looked down upon them as 2nd class citizens.
250
Prukayastha thus had been hostile to the administration and saw in it a conspiracy to thwart our movement beyond Tura. He even told us that Mr. Jha being a Behari could not be expected to be sympathetic to our cause. I did not fully agree with him but always allowed him to express his opinion about his own belief.
We would not have known about Mr. Saigol’s arrival immediately if Prukayastha had not kept close track of the whole matter. It was around 10:30 in the morning when Prukayastha virtually came running to the hostel. He had left the hostel and told us that he would be returning late. Thus, we were surprised to see him returning very early. Prukayastha then told us all about the arrival of Mr. Saigol and insisted on my meeting him. Prukayastha told me that it was absurd that a man of Mr. Saigol’s status could allow us to move beyond Tura. He offered that he would escort us to Agartala lest we should find it difficult to trace our other colleagues from Bangladesh. He suggested that I should meet Mr. Saigol immediately and virtually forced him to allow us to move beyond Tura. On Prukayastha’s insistence, we walked up and down the hilly road and reached the Local Circuit House where Mr. Saigol had been put up. Mr. Saigol was very happy to see us and invited us to sit with him. I was not in a good mood and thus in one breath started accusing the government in quite a loud voice for what I called the virtually illegal detention. Mr. Saigol could see that I was very angry and he almost held me to sit for some time. He was a very affectionate man and told me that he was ordering me as a Superior Officer not to lose my temper. He asked me to have tea with him and then we could talk about things. Then Mr. Saigol himself rang up the S.P. and asked him to let us go. Mr. Saigol wondered why the S.P. was not allowing us to go even after such a long time. I could understand that the S.P. from the other side of the telephone was trying to raise a few problems but Mr. Saigol insisted on his issuing permission for us to move beyond Tura. Mr. Saigol to the extent in saying that he could be held responsibly to anyone for allowing us to go beyond Tura.
Over the telephone, Mr. Saigol requested us to go to the S.P.’s office to collect the written permission. He told me that there would be no problem now. He informed me that he was leaving for Shilong the next morning and would be happy to take us along with him in his
251
own car. I told Mr. Saigol that I would let him know about this later. Before leaving for the S.P.’s office, I sincerely thanked Mr. Saigol for his bold initiative and he replied by remarking that, that was perhaps the least a Pathan could do for a distressed person.
This time the S.P. did not raise any further problem and issued the permission. We were very happy at his gesture and thanked him profusely. We returned to the Rest House and told Mr. Akbar about the permission. Thus we were all set now for leaving Tura. Since with Prukayastha and Ghalib we would be 4 persons, we decided to hire a taxi and go to Gauhati and not bother Mr. Saigol for his extended lift. When I again contacted Mr. Saigol over telephone, he sounded very happy and wished us the best of everything. He told me that on arrival at Agartala I could contact his brother who was there as District Magistrate. I did not know how time passed so quickly that day. We went to bed very early for the journey early the next morning. A colleague of Prukayastha had a taxi in service and he agreed to hire it to us the next morning for 250 to take us up to Gauhati, which was about 220 miles from Tura. I noticed that his colleague had all sympathy for us but was quite anxious about the fare. That was no time to look at such meanness as we were already very happy for getting the permission.
We left Tura at 6 a.m. the next morning. The journey to Gauhati was a long and arduous one. It was the 27th of May, 1971, and the weather was hot, but we were so happy that we ignored the adverse weather and kept with chapping with each other in joy and happiness. The happiness I derived at the time of leaving Tura could never be compared to the happiness I received on the 19th of December, 1971, when I landed at Dhaka Airport in an Indian helicopter from Agartala, I was twice as much happier at that time than at later on when, I visited Tura as Deputy Commissioner of Mymensingh with all formalities and protocols.
We were told that it would take about 8 hours to reach Gauhati. We, thus, broke journey almost midway at a place, now I could not remember the name of the place where we took our lunch in a local hotel. The food was almost inedible but that was the best food we could possibly have in those circumstances. There could possibly be no better time than to enjoy your food in a journey which assured us of some senses and the end of gloom.
252
However, we were back on the road on our journey to Gauhati. There were two routes to Gauhati from Tura; we had preferred to avail of the longer route through the place rather than going via the short route through the hills. We did not want to take any chances with any possible breakdown of the vehicle on the way.
When we reached Gauhati it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. We were tired and exhausted and naturally wanted to go to a lodging. Prukayastha knew some hotels and we entered a hotel and booked a room with four seats. The charge was very high -Rs. 40/- per seat. That was not the time to look at the charges and we ignored the expenses involved.
While leaving Tura S.P. Mr. Jha had repeatedly told us that we should contact a representative of Mr. Subramaniam who would be accompanying us to Agartala. After settling at the hotel, I raised this question and asked Prukayastha where we could contact this gentleman. The S.P. had boasted that Mr. Subramaniam’s representative would find us out any way and there would possibly be no need for us to contact him. We were discussing the issue; Prukayastha became quite agitated and asked us to wholly ignore this aspect. I then accompanied Prukayastha to the nearest office of the Indian Airlines and managed to get 4 tickets for our flight from Gauhati to Agartala at around 10 a.m. the next morning. The rest of the day we did not go out and stayed inside the hotel. One of Prukayastha’s friends, a local businessman dealing in sporting goods and scientific instruments who we met earlier at Tura, visited us at the hotel and spent some time with us.
Gauhati Airport was about 18 miles from the town and in our anxiety we reached the airport quite early ahead of the reporting time. I did not know how coincidences come up. I do not know how God plans surprise ahead for people. The surprise was in store for us at the Gauhati Airport, when we entered the passengers’ lounge, to my pleasant surprise, I found Mr. Samad sitting on one of the couches. Mr. Samad himself was surprised to see me. It was after a long time that both of us were meeting each other. Mr. Samad had been my teacher at the University for a short period. I had referred to my talks with him at Shilong over the telephone from Tura. We talked for quite some time and enquired about each other’s colleagues. Mr. Samad told me that he had not physical discomfort at Shilong since the
253
Indian Authority were putting them up in the best hotel available there, the Pinewood Hotel. However, he told me that his journey from Lusai Hills to Shilong was very arduous and tiring. He had to face a lot of difficulties in getting out to Shilong from Lusai Hills.
Lest I forget, let me recount here the background of Mr. Samad’s exit to Shilong through Lusai Hills. Mr. Samad had been serving as the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Hills tracts when the troubles broke out. The whole District Administration of Chittagong Hill Tracts had rebelled against the Pakistan Army. Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Hussain Toufiq Imam was himself an arduous supporter of Bangladesh Government. Later on we came to know much about him and his role during the liberation movement. Because of the crucial leadership of the O.C. the whole district administration of Chittagong Hill Tracts were on the side of the Bengalees. Materials and men were supplied from Chittagong Hill Tracts to different parts of Chittagong District for obstructing the movement of the Pakistani troops Mr. Toufiq Imam had taken pains to ensure regular supplies and supports to the liberation forces. Mr. Samad was a part of the struggle in Chittagong Hill Tracts and extended all help to the liberation forces. He even met the Indian General on the other side of the border and requested him to enter the liberated territories to round up the Mizoes who were supporting the Pakistani troops tacitly because of their own interest.
I came to know all those from Mr. Samad himself later and also from a publication of his interview with a reporter of the Indian daily, the Hindusthan Standard. I had the opportunity to read the interview while staying at Tura. The interview itself revealed the man and his role in the movement. Mr. Samad mentioned in the interview that he invited the Indian Generals to enter Bangladesh for capturing the rebel Mizoes for the interest of both India and Bangladesh. The interview contained factual discussion of his meeting with the Indian Generals. The most important lines in the interview were quoted from Mr. Samad himself at the end of the write up. When the reporter asked Mr. Samad if he were not afraid of the uncertain future, Mr. Samad replied with a quotation from Tagore’s famous song. That itself showed the man and his untoned attitude towards all eventual ties that might go for his struggle against injustice and genocide. Lots of other things were described by Mr. Samad himself with when I
254
could meet him later, Mr. Samad was of the visa that the Indian were first not quite sure about the movement or even if they were, they had not drawn up any contingency plan for execution at the field level. The experience was quite similar to that many of us had on our first setting the foot on the Indian soil. The reaction of the Indian Generals across the border in the Lusai Hills was characteristic of India attitude shown by Captain Murari Ram of the 83 BSF stationed at Baghmara, opposite to Bijoypur in Bangladesh territory in Netrokona. This could possibly be the only reaction since the Indians could not be expected to follow our events with as much enthusiasm as we had. Another thing could be assumed to have thought of the eventuality in which a few million people from Bangladesh would cross over to India in search of safety because Pakistani army attacks on its own civilian population. Later on I found out critics who insisted that the Indian knew about the whole thing and were partly instrumental in creating a deadlock in the talks between the Awami League and President Yahya Khan with a view to ensure the creation of an Independent Bangladesh out of former East Pakistan in the best interest of India. The matter is too controversial that it is difficult to give a conclusive judgment on this. But our experience did not show that the Indians had a contingency plan or a comprehensive plan. Another did it show that they had active stake in the creation of the Bangladesh. It is a matter of access to secret history and military documents that can only prove the contention of the critics. It can, nonetheless, be said that even if the Indians had a stake in Bangladesh, they did not have a comprehensive plan for execution at lower field levels. This is all together a different story and I propose to come to it somewhere in the later parts of this book.
Coming back to the original story of important meeting with Mr. Samad, both of us were overjoyed to see each other. On enquiry, Mr. Samad told me that he was booked for the next flight in an hour to Calcutta. Mr. Samad was accompanied by a District Forest Officer who was also going to Calcutta with him. Lest I forget it may be recorded here that this District Officer somehow later changed his mind and reentered Bangladesh. Mr. Samad told me that he had a lot of difficulties in arranging the exit from Shilong to Calcutta. Mr. Samad was quite insistent that I should change my plan to accompany him to Calcutta, since by doing so I would possibly be able to meet more of our
255
colleagues and important people for making a decision. He was of the view that such a meeting was essential since all of us should act in coordination for future strategies and our respective roles in the future struggle. At one point I almost yielded to him but immediately recollected that I had promised to Mr. Subramaniam and Mr. Jha that I would be going to Agartala from Calcutta. Moreover, the predominant question of Mr. Akbar and myself recovering our families had not yet been solved. Prukayastha had been listening to our conversation and he was of the view that since we were destined for Agartala that we should leave for Agartala first. Time was very short and a decision had to be taken. Considering all aspects, I decided not to accompany Mr. Samad to Calcutta and leave for Agartala as scheduled. It was with a very heavy heart we bade farewell to Mr. Samad who had to leave earlier for the flight to Calcutta.
The time being one of abnormal condition inside Bangladesh, we had to pass through district security checks before boarding the plane for Agartala. By direct flight across Bangladesh, Agartala was at an area distance of only 15 minutes. But as readers would recollect, because of the hijacking of the Indian plane Ganga and its destruction at the Lahore Airport in February, 1971, every flight over Indian and Pakistani territories had staked. Thus, we had to fly to Agartala from Gauhati by a roundabout way, fly over the territories of India. When we were flying over Kachar District the pilot was kind enough to point out that far across to the right we could see the plain lands of Bangladesh. The district was evidently Sylhet from which I hailed. I cannot describe how helpless and pitiful I felt when I could have a glimpse of my own native country and also my home district. It is not that I had not been thinking of my parents, brother and sister residing in Sylhet. It was only thinking that one could do at that time. There was no easy way to contact Sylhet and I did not know what fate that was there in store for me. I was the most worried about my only sister. I did not know whether they were alive. The only hopes that I could pinch on was that they had left Sylhet for Karimganj, the ancestral home of my maternal grandfather. Because of these thoughts and because of my inherent love for the country like any other patriotic Bengalees I felt sad pains at the glimpse of Bangladesh from the plane flying over the Indian territory of Kachar District. The situation was so
256
involving that even Mr. Akbar, who did not miss a chance of talking on slightest pretext kept silent for a long time.
It was after about one hour and 15 minutes Fokker flight of Indian Airlines we reached Agartala Airport. Agartala Airport is a small airport but the facilities are far better than those available in our airports like Jessore and Sylhet. The terminal building was far bigger and was kept very clean and tidy. In fact, I was quite impressed by the airport even at the first sight. The only problem of the airport was the landing strip which was along the bulging strip of Indian territory in these areas. Lest I forget it’s better to record here that the Agartala air field – particularly the landing strip is within the shooting range of even with an automatic machine gun from Bangladesh territory. It was one of the most vulnerable airports India could have in the borders. If one could go atop the terminal building he could see the villages across the order distinctly. The landing strip was so near to the border that it really meant technical skill for the pilot for landing the aircraft on the strip. I still remember that during the midst of the struggle, Indian Pilots’ Association once passed a resolution recommending suspension of flight to Agartala Airport on the grounds that they did not have any scot for real manoeuvres. They pointed out that because of economical reasons or slight mistakes, it might happen that they would cross the border. The pilots were persuaded not to adopt this course but it clearly showed that the air strip was the most vulnerable a country could have in the borders of a hostile country.
When we landed at Agartala Airport, it was about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon. The town was about 8 miles away from the airport. Mr. Prukayastha as our guide there was no problem in tracing out the Indian Airlines bus which would take us to the town. It took about 20 minutes for the bus to reach the town office of the Indian Airlines from where we took delivery of our little baggages – only three 14 inches suitcases. The immediate problem was one of having food and taking shelter somewhere. I could immediately guess that the best course would be to go to a hotel first and then trace out my friends, Rakib and Akbar. Prukayastha suggested a few hotels and we boarded the Rickshaw for the hotel. The first hotel we tried was full. There I met Mr. Abu Taleb, a former Secretariat Service Officer of the erstwhile Pakistan Government. When I could not get any seat in that hotel, we left for another. It was after about 9 attempts we could
257
manage four seats. In a very small hotel, the rent of which per seat should not have exceeded Taka 10.00. We could immediately feel that there was a lot of rush because of influx of refugees from Bangladesh. The hotels were full and raised their rents. However, we considered ourselves lucky to at least get some accommodations.
I must say in all frankness that I marked a completely different atmosphere in Agartala compared to Tura. Whereas in Tura you could hardly see any known faces. I could hear only sounds around Agartala. There were teeming people all around and you could feel that population wise the town was almost overflowing. The rates were plain and Rickshaws were plying. Because of hilly roads there was no Rickshaw in Tura. The only alternative to a transport was walking. It was at the hotel that we took our meals which could hardly be called a lunch. It was now time to get out and for me to look around before it became dark. As suggested by Prukayastha, Mr. Akbar and Ghalib stayed back and Prukayastha and myself left the hotel.
Luckily for us no sooner had we crossed about 2 furlongs than Prukayastha came across a friend who was an Inspector in the local Malaria Eradication Programme. They were properly introduced and left the Rickshaw. It appeared that the gentleman knew much about Bangladesh and the refugees. He claimed that he was originally from Bangladesh and was thus taking keen interest in the affairs. That he was not opposing was soon clear when he told us that he knew the address of the recently set up Bangladesh office in Agartala. He volunteered to escort us to the place on foot.
It was after walking 3 furlongs we reached a small one-storied building which had come to be known as the Bangladesh Office in Agartala.
It was in the locality of inside Agartala town. The building seemed to be full of people and immediately you could see quite some known faces. It was no problem tracing out Raquib who was in the office luckily for us. During my stay at Kishoreganj as S.D.O. I met Raquib once. We met once in his residence in Brahmanbaria where my wife and myself visited Brahmanbaria in the beginning of January and later we met in war-like circumstances on that night about which I had referred to before in the pages of this book. I do not know how people feel when they meet friends after a long time. There could be no circumstances which could be compared to the present one in
258
which was not on alien soil. We were so overwhelmed with joy as well as anxiety that none of us could speak for some time after shaking hands. Prukayastha begged for leave of us after some time and we started talking freely. Rakib informed us that they had taken shelter earlier in the local Circuit House. He informed us that there was a nice gentleman in Agartala named Mr. Priyo Das Chakravorty in whose residence they had been staying since leaving the Circuit House for obvious reasons.
I do not know how historians or critics analyse and evaluate the role of a single person in a movement, but if I were to evaluate the role of Mr. Pray Das Chakravorty for the cause of Bangladesh I would give him a very high place of honour. He was a kind gentleman who did not hesitate to let people like us stay beyond all cause in his own residence near Agartala Airport. The residence was known as Baganbari. The house was situated on a small hill and the area inside the house was very big with lots of plantations. Mr. Priyo Das Chakrovorty, allowed all of us to stay in this house while he himself was staying in a very small congested house far away from the town. I do not know what would have been our fate if this gentleman had not shown extraordinary kindness in allowing refugees like us to his most cherished residence in the area. Not only allowing us to stay, he even became upset when we sometimes spoke about paying some rent for the house. He took active interest in the cause of Bangladesh and used to support refugee rehabilitation. It was at this house that important people of today like Mr. M. R. Siddiqui, Zahur Ahmed Choudhury, Mahbubul Alam Chashi and other important M.P.s met and discussed things in confidence. There were days on which Akbar and Raquib who used to stay in a small room of the house along with Ghalib had to get up early in the morning because either Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury or Mr. M. R. Siddiqui came for urgent discussion amongst themselves or with Mr. Hussain Toufiq Imam who used to reside with us in that house. It was at this house the idea of a creation of a few zones in the liberated areas was first initiated. It was at this house, today’s army generals and other high up like Safiullah, Zia and Khaled Mosharraf met for discussing strategies. For obvious reasons there were things which could not be discussed by our army people in the presence of the Indians. It was at this house that we used to sit even into the dead of night and discuss such things which included
259
our reaction to Indian attitude to the fighting. If Mr. Priyo Das. Chakrovorty had not allowed us to stay I do not know what would have happened to such meetings. The meetings might have had taken place at other places but the very fact that this place was the most convenient one speaks highly of the man who had the broadness of mind to allow other people to stay at his own house. We never found any meanness whatsoever in Priyo Das Chakrovorty. An ardent Brahmin, he was above artificial religious superfluities and never hesitated to share meals with us knowing very well that we were Muslims and there was a religious bar in him taking our food. Not only Priyo Das Chakrovorty but all his family members inspite of their religious bar, used to visit us off and on providing us with much needed help and encouragement. It is a matter of great pride for me to have known this man, seen him suffer in his heart of hearts for the Bengalees. It is of much more pleasure to know today that his wife Mrs. Rama Chakrovorty, one of the most unassuming ladies that I had ever met is a State Minister of Tripura. Thus, in the context of history and the role of individuals, the name of Mr. Priyo Das Chakrovorty should occupy a prominent role. If we forget people like him in our historical document we will not only be doing injustice to him but also doing an injustice to our cause and our independence. More people like Priyo Das Chakrovorty are noted for the gravest hours of man particularly in the context of religious enmities in sub-continent.
The more Priyo Das Chakrovorty we had amongst us in the countries of the sub-continent, the better it would be for the countries and their people.
I had to wait at the office because Rakib had some urgent business at hand. When he became free it was about 4:30 in the afternoon. He told me that he had to do some shopping and both of us left the office soon.
I never knew that such ignorance prevailed among the citizens of India about citizens of Bangladesh. It appeared that the Indians were completely unaware of the fact that the Bangladesh, the then East Pakistan used to import most of its transports from abroad. That the Indians had never or seldom seen a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep, so evident from the fact that whereever a crowd gathered along the vehicle to have a closer look at it. There were lots of people looking curiously at the Land Cruiser. They were talking amongst themselves about the happenings in
260
Bangladesh and more about the beautiful vehicles Bangladesh had. It became so important that we had to hurry up and get out of town quickly. I witnessed the same phenomenon regarding the vehicle later also in many other places in India. India produces almost all its requirements of transport itself and thus does not import vehicles from abroad. Thus, for the Indians who were accustomed to see their Ambassadors’ cars and Mahendra and Nissan Jeeps, the sight of a Toyota Land Cruiser or a Toyota or a Mazda car was itself a new experience.
We were soon driving through the hilly road towards the residence. Raquib was driving and in about 20 minutes we reached the residence of Mr. Priyo Das Chakrovorty where Raquib and Akbar Ali Khan had been staying for quite some time with Mr. Toufiq Imam with his family. Raquib told me that after their transfer from the Circuit House, Mr. Priyo Das Chakrovorty gave them one room in his residence. When Mr. Toufiq Imam returned a few days later in their big room, a small room was opened for him. Rakib was joking that now that I have turned up, I would be needing another room and in this way the whole house will get occupied
The residence looked very beautiful with its surroundings and plantations. It looked like a Bagan Bari with the building situated in the midst of green all around. The place was a little hilly and thus different areas were at different heights. It gave a further charming and enchanting look to the house.
Akbar Ali had been sleeping and it was a great pleasure for us when we met after quite some time. His initial reaction was one of profound happiness and relief from anxiety now that I had also turned up. It soon appeared that both Rakib and Akbar Ali had important stories to tell. We decided that, that was the right moment to have a cup of tea before we could exchange our mutual experiences since we met last in that stormy night at the residence of S.D.O. Brahmanbaria on the 11th of March, 1971.
Mr. Toufiq Imam was walking on the lawns of the residence with his wife. We were soon introduced to each other. I had never seen Mr. Toufiq Imam before, though once I had a casual look at his name on the particular of the list of Additional Deputy Commissioners, Revenue, Dhaka in Dhaka collectorate. This was during my tenure of office as Assistant Commissioner, Dhaka before I went to join as S.D.O. Kishoreganj. Mr. Toufiq Imam looked like a small built man
261
with average height of a Bengalee. He was also thin. Mr. Imam was wearing glasses and after preliminary introduction he enquired about my past posting and experiences. He told me that he had heard a lot about me from Rakib and Akbar Ali. On my enquiring he supplied me with a few information related to his experience. It appeared that he was a man who understood the priority of things. It is because he cut short such conversation with the remark that we would later be sitting a number of times discussing all aspects of the liberation movement, our past experience and our future programmes. The first impression of Mr. Toufiq Imam, I had was one of calmness and sobriety. It was evident that he was a man who would not be moved by superfluities but by important events. Mr. Toufiq Imam looked very thoughtful and sober only surpassing the depth of Rakib to a great extent and Akbar Ali to a lesser extent. I started having high opinion about this man. Because he always sounded optimistic and at the very beginning made it clear that we must hold up to our non-fiction no matter what the future had in store for all of us. In those times of grave crises nothing could be more reassuring than meeting with such a man who openly emphasised that convictions were to be held up in spite of temporary sufferings and difficulties. Nothing was more reassuring at that time than the meeting with such a Civil Servant who had staked all his future knowing fully well he along with his family will have to pass through trials and tribulations in the days to come. Nothing was more reassuring at that time than to have rethinking and have reconfidence in yourself after you have seen that you were not alone in the fight against injustice but there were others who were there to struggle hard with you shoulder to shoulder. I cannot emphasise in better words the psychological boost up one used to get at that time and the boost up of moral convictions about the independence of Bangladesh when one met his own colleagues even in the most adverse circumstances.
When the tea was over, I told Rakib that I had come to Agartala with a colleague named Mr. Golam Akbar and so, along with my brother-in-law, Ghalib had been waiting in a local hotel. Raquib immediately told me that I could stay at the residence of Priyo Das Chakrovorty from now on but since the hotel had been booked for one day Ghalib and Golam Akbar could stay there for the night. He promised that he would do something in the next morning for
262
accommodating them somewhere else. Thus we soon went to the hotel and informed Mr. Akbar and Ghalib of all that had happened. I soon returned to the residence of Mr. Chakrovorty along with Rakib.
It was now the time to exchange mutual experiences. I told Raquib of all that had happened with us since our crossing over to the Indian Territory. I described in as much detail as possible on the difficulties through which we had to pass at pieces like Baghmara and Tura and in obtaining the required permission for moving out to Agartala. I did not forget to mention’ my meeting with Mr. Samad at Gauhati Airport. Rakib, Akbar Ali and sometimes Mr. Toufiq Imam listened to the story with full attention.
It was from Akbar Ali that I came to know about my family. My wife in fact had sent a written note to Mr. Rakib requesting him to confirm my presence in Agartala so that she could immediately be crossed over. This was in the middle of May. Akbar Ali told me that he expected that I had crossed over to the Indian Territory but since he did not know anything about my whereabouts and location, he could not tell my wife with certainty that I was in Agartala and she could not come. The bearer who carried the letter from Nabinagar to Agartala carried back the message from Rakib and Akbar Ali to my wife who evidently got disturbed at such news. It was my father-inlaw who took my wife away to Dhaka twice and according to the latest information as Akbar Ali had told me that she was now residing in hiding somewhere in Dhaka. It is in this context that I referred to the promise of Mr. Subramanium and the information he had supplied to me. It was only then I could come to know the whole story of Mr. Subramanium and the independent agents meeting with. Mr. Akbar Ali in this connection. I have referred to Mr. Subramanium and his conversation with me a number of times in the earlier pages of this book. In fact, the information Mr. Subramanium supplied to me was only second hand information of independent agents gathered from Akbar Ali. Akbar Ali and Rakib possibly marked my anxiety and thus assured that now that I had crossed over to Agartala, it would not be difficult for me to contact my wife for rescuing her out of the occupied territory. That was not the time for pacifism and I do not know how I felt quite reassured at their utterances.
I had referred to my last meeting with Rakib and Akbar Ali at Rakib’s residence – the residence of S.D.O. Brahmanbaria on the
263
stormy night of the 11th of March, 1971. Mr. Rakib, Mr. Akbar Ali and myself had gone to Brahmanbaria for consultations with Rakib and army leaders like Safiullah, Khaled Mosharraf and others. I have referred to this meeting elsewhere in this book before and mentioned the agonies of that night which was very dark with incessant rains. Since then I had not been in contact with Rakib or Akbar Ali. Though Akbar Ali used to stay in Habiganj quite far away, by coincidence he had turned to Brahmanbaria that night. We passed the sleepless nights at the residence of S.D.O. Brahmanbaria where we talked frankly with each other. The full accounts of these are mentioned earlier in the pages of this book.
Because of our non-communication for quite some time and because of the frequency of the events during those challenging days, it was natural that I would be interested in knowing Rakib and Akbar Ali’s story of retreat. Rakib told me that they continued to build up resistance against the Pakistan army since our last meeting. He referred to the fall of Bhairab and Ashuganj on the 15th of March when Pakistan army launched a big offensive on the river port town of Bhairab in the middle of March. The readers might recollect that the army was not alone in the offensives. They were supported by four Sabre jets of Pakistan Air Force and a few gun coats of the Navy. On the face of incessant shelling, bombing and strafing the freedom fighters under the leadership of Captain Nasim of Bengal Regiment could not stand after 3 P.M. Quite a good number of ex-EBR soldiers and freedom fighters were killed in action, and Captain Nasim and a few of his friends could escape when they were hit in different parts of the body. Bhairab, Ashuganj and Brahmanbaria were linked in the defence strategy adopted by our troops. When Bhairab and Ashuganj felt it was a question of time of fall of Bhairab as well. The Pakistan army was quite efficient and they did not lose a single minute in attacking Brahmanbaria towards the end of the day of the 15th of March and battles continued at certain places including Talshahar. The freedom fighters were soon overpowered and some of them had to retreat when others were killed in action. Rakib had told me that he could foresee the events and thus at the end when there were no other way he temporarily proceeded towards Madhabkunda. In the meantime, the resistance forces had blown up the bridges in between Methikanda and Brahmanbaria and thus for both Rakib and Akbar Ali
264
there was no other way of returning to Brahmanbaria. They kept inside Bangladesh territory for a few more days and ultimately crossed over to India via Teliapara after quite some time and it was only on the 5th of May that they were routed from there by Pakistan army.
Akbar Ali had almost a similar story to tell. In the fanning out process, the Pakistan army gradually proceeded towards Ashuganj and ultimately captured the town. Akbar Ali had Rakib by this time and both of them after analysing the situation decided to cross over to safe zones in India.
I had mentioned in earlier pages of this book that Brahmanbaria became the virtually controlled centre of the fights around the Eastern territories. I had mentioned of the shifting of bank money to Brahmanbaria from other places. The readers might recollect that I myself initiated transferring about one crore fourteen lacs of rupees from Kishoreganj National Bank to Brahmanbaria National Bank. I was mostly worried about the resources since whatever be our future course of actions, we would be needing money to continue the fight. It is in this context I enquired about the fate of the money. Rakib stopped for some time and became quite gloomy. He told me that they had not been able to shift the money across the border. He narrated how miserably his plan had failed. When Brahmanbaria continued to be bombed and strafed by Pakistani Air Force planes, Rakib and the others could immediately realise that the time had come now for shifting the money away to the safe zone. One Captain (now Major) Ainuddin of Bengal Regiment who had been acting as Liaison Officer of the Army at Brahmanbaria was entrusted with the job of shifting the money. Raquib told me that it was a very difficult situation in which it was almost difficult to trace the truck drivers in whose trucks the money was supposed to be shifted. He told me that Captain Ainuddin had not planned the details and as such when the bombing started, he was still frankly looking for the Bank Manager with the keys of the Strong Room. In the meantime, Brahmanbaria National Bank had received more than 10 crores rupees from adjoining areas and a bulk of this came from Kishoreganj Brahmanbaria National Banks. When the Strong Room of the small bank at Brahmanbaria had become full, money had been kept at another Bank. Captain Ainuddin virtually forgot that bulk of
265
the money was in the National Bank Strong Room and not in the other bank. He, thus, directed his attempts towards the other banks and managed to shift about one crore 80 lakhs across the border from the other bank. About 40 lakhs could not be traced out. There were a lot of rumours about the money but since none of us knew fully about it, it is difficult to say where it went. Captain Ainuddin’s information was this that he ignored the notes of small denomination and thus possibly about 40 lakhs was ignored. When Captain Ainuddin was questioned about his foolishness in his transferring the lesser amount from the other banks, he pleaded his ignorance about the collection of the bulk of the money in the Strong Room of National Bank of Brahmanbaria.
Lest I forget, it is better to record here that all the other money deposited with the National Bank at Brahmanbaria was captured by Pakistan army. Later when the army sent a team of accountants and auditors for checks of the Treasuries of Banks they could find out that all the money taken out from the Kishoreganj National Bank had been left behind in Brahmanbaria National Bank Strong Room. Even the number of the notes coincided. I later heard that an army Colonel of Pakistan army was making fun of the freedom fighters remarking that they were foolish in assembling money in one day without having planned earlier for its successful shifting, to across the border.
When I heard the full story from Rakib I became very gloomy and sad. It was at my initiative the money was shifted from Bhairab and Kishoreganj to Brahmanbaria. I have described elsewhere in the pages of the book how difficult it was to convince people in Kishoreganj and Bhairab for shifting the money from those places to Brahmanbaria. Naturally, when you had pinned down such hopes on resources transferred by you, you could only be frustrated at seeing that because of the foolishness of some persons responsible and their lack of foresight, your resources ultimately fell prey to the hands of your enemies. Rakib told me that perhaps this was better since he was not sure about the utilisation of the money and avoidance of cliques if people at the helm of affairs were in control of such big resources. Of course, this was nothing but condolences and since we had no better hope we could only console ourselves by thinking that whatever had happened was perhaps good for us.
266
It became quite late at night when we finished exchanging mutual experiences. In the meantime, Mr. Toufiq Imam had joined and we came to know much from him also.
Mr. Toufiq Imam was not lavish in his description. He told us that he had foreseen the onslaught of the army long before. He told me that he had gone to attend a conference in Dhaka in the first week of March. He referred to this discussion whith one of the senior army colonels in Dhaka whom he had known for quite some time. On his question as to what would be the situation if the army did not find it convenient or proper to hand over power to the Awami League, the army Colonel had told him that they had a contingency plan for such an eventuality. For Toufiq Imam it meant only one thing and that was a full crackdown on the Bengalees 98%(Ninety Eight per cent) of whom_had voted for the Awami League. Mr. Toufiq Imam did not mention the name of the persons with whom he discussed this great aspect but he told us that he discussed it with prominent Awami Leaguers suggesting to them that they better start organising for such eventuality of onslaught by the army on the population. Mr. Toufiq Imam told me that he had discussion with a few Army officers of Bengal Regiment but except for assuring that they would rise up in revolts in case of necessity, none appeared to accept his contention of a grave crisis with proper seriousness. Mr. Toufiq Imam told us that he was undaunted by such indifferent attitude of prominent Awami Leaguers and others in the armed forces and in E.B.R. He told us that on his return to Rangamati where he was posted as D.C. Chittagong Hill Tracts, he started enquiring about our own resources. He went on a secret meeting with E.B.R. personnel and others and hinted that they should remain ready for resistance in case the Pakistani army launched an attack on the population. Mr. Toufiq Imam was all pale when he referred to the 25th of March and the attack on Chittagong under the leadership of Mr. Toufiq Imam. Armed personnel and troops were supplied from different parts of Chittagong to Chittagong Hill Tracts. Other material support in the form of food and edibles went to from Chittagong to Chittagong Hill Tracts. He told us that he kept on supplying Chittagong for quite some time but because of allout attack by the Pakistani army, Navy and Air Force and because of our initial shock and recovery and also because of disorganisation amongst us, Chittagong could not be defended for long, with the fall
267
of Chittagong, the fall of Rangamati and other areas was only a question of time. It was in the last minute that Mr. Toufiq Imam had to retreat and cross over to Agartala via Hilly roads.
I had the preliminary discussion with Rakib, Akbar Ali and Mr. Imam that night. As we were quite tired we did not discuss much that night. Mr. Akbar Ali and Ghalib stayed back at the hotel for the night and Rakib promised that he would do something the next day. He was willing to bring over Ghalib to the residence of Mr. Chakravorty where all of us were staying but he wanted Mr. Akbar Ali to stay at some other place he would fix up the next day.
Accordingly, Ghalib was brought over to the residence where we were staying the next day. The local technical institute near the Airport had been turned into an accommodation centre for privileged refugees from Bangladesh like officers and others. Rakib and myself went and met the Principal and requested him for a room so that we could accommodate Mr. Akbar Ali there. Even though the Principal was hard pressed for space he agreed to spare one room ultimately on the understanding that I would be staying there. We did not spell out all to him, lest he should think that we were requesting for the room for Mr. Akbar Ali alone. Since it looked quite awkward, on my request, Ghalib agreed to stay there at the hostel with Mr. Akbar Ali for a few days to give him company.
This polytechnic Institute had given great service during those days. Many responsible high government officers used to live there. When we went around we could meet the families of Mr. Syed Ali Ahsan, at present Vice Chancellor of Jahangir Nagar University. There were quite a few Army officers with their families living there. Today’s Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Air Force Air Marshal A K Khandaker (at that time Group Captain) spent quite a number of days in that hostel. Thus, the hostel was a board for a good number of high political and civil officers taking refuge in India from Bangladesh. When the problem of accommodation had been solved, I could easily look at my financial problem. On the advice of Rakib and Akbar Ali I requested Mr. Toufiq Imam to give me two months’ advance salary. Mr. Imam was kind enough to sanction Taka 500.00 at that time.
Lest I forget, I should mention here the administration and financial regulations that were in force at that time. The Bangladesh office at Agartala used to function under the executive control of Mr.
268
Toufiq Imam whoused to be referred to as Chief Secretary by the same people. Mr. Toufiq Imam used to work under the guidance of a Council of Politicians – elected members of erstwhile Provincial and National Assemblies. The prominent members were Mr. M. R. Siddiqui from Chittagong, formerly Commerce Minister and Mr. Zahur Ahmad Choudhury, at present Labor & Social Welfare Minister of Bangladesh Government. I could soon come to know that the financial powers were with Mr. M. R. Siddiqui who had been delegated this authority on this behalf by the Government at Mujibnagar. Alternatively, Mr. Toufiq Imam also authorised to incur expenditure on different heads by the Mujibnagar Government. He, however, used to exercise these powers in consultation with Mr. M. R. Siddiqui. The policy decisions were taken by the elected representatives like Mr. M. R. Siddiqui and Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury and mostly in consultation with Mr. Toufiq Imam. Mr. Toufiq Imam used to execute all the decisions. As it appeared at that time Akbar Ali and Raquib were assisting Mr. Toufiq Imam in his functions. I shall come to the formation of the next administrative set up of zonal councils in the next pages of this book but long before the zonal councils were formed and zonal administrative officers were appointed formally, the functions of Bangladesh office at Agartala used to proceed quite smoothly on the lines as described by me above under the able guidance of Mr. Toufiq Imam acting in consultation with Mr. M. R. Siddiqui and Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury and the others. I could foresee that in the present set up, my place would be there beside Raquib and Akbar Ali in assisting Mr. Toufiq Imam. Since functional decentralisation was necessary at a later stage, we decided to divide works amongst ourselves. Raquib was given the job of administration and liaison, Akbar Ali was given publicity and I was entrusted with finances. In the absentee of Mr. Toufiq Imam and even when he was present, I used to discharge financial powers up to the expenditure of Rs. 1200.00 at a time.
During my stay in Agartala, I gained a lot of experience and met a number of people. I shall be describing the events as far as possible in their chronological order but the man I met in the first few days of my arrival at Agartala was one Mr. K. P. Dutta, a Deputy Director in the Educational Directorate of Tripura Government. I soon became very friendly with Mr. Dutta mainly because he was an active supporter of
269
Bangladesh movement and partly because he originally hailed from Sylhet. Thus, we used to pass hours together discussing various aspects in Sylhety dialects. Mr. K. P. Dutta never felt bored to welcome us even repeatedly thrice a day. We used to meet him off and on both at his office and in his residence. His residence had a special attraction for all of us craving to have a glimpse of the territory of Bangladesh which was just across the border alone. Mr. K. P. Dutta’s residence was, and I presume, still is located at the top of a big hill from where you could see Akhawra and Ashuganj. Since it was difficult to locate places across the border at day time, we used to visit Mr Dutta’s house after dusk. I do not know whether the readers would believe it, there were days on which we used to sit more than an hour on the grass atop the hill near his residence looking at the territory of Bangladesh with great sighs. From there you could see the lights at Akhawra Railway Junction and also the fading lights in the background at the Tital complex at Ashuganj. Mr. K. P. Dutta used to understand our sentiments and had never disturbed us when we used to sit for a long time on grass near his house looking with interest and hope at Bangladesh territory trying to have vicarious feelings of existence on our own soil. I must confess here that all of us used to repeat this exercise very frequently. It was an exercise which was not monotonous. It was an exercise which induced hopes and aspirations in our hearts. It was an exercise which reminded you of your passed sufferings and encouraged you to face the future with bold dedication. Mr. K. P. Dutta’s residence was thus a hilly place for all of us.
It was from Mr. K.P. Dutta that we could come to know the history of formation of the first government of Bangladesh. The readers should know that the government of Bangladesh was formed on the 10th of April, 1971. The formal ceremony took place at Mujibnagar near Meherpur on the 17th of April. Indian foreign journalists were invited on that occasion. But a few people know that the idea of formation of government developed at the residence of Mr. K. P. Dutta, who, because of his profound regard for the movement, acted as a catalytic agent helping our political elders to form the government. I came to know from Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury later only a few days ago that Mr. K. P. Dutta played the most constructed and helpful role in the formation of the government. It was here at Agartala and as far as I know in the residence of Mr. K. P. Dutta,
270
the basic decision of forming the government and the composition of government was decided. Except for Mr. A. H. M. Kamruzzaman, all other ministers via Captain Mansur Ali, Mr. Tazuddin Ahmed, Khandaker Moshaque Ahmed and Acting Vice President Syed Nazrul Islam were present at Agartala when basic decisions were taken. In the historical documents and in books that have been written on freedom of Bangladesh, we come across names of people and places but I am afraid the name of Mr. K. P. Dutta and the mention of his residence is missing from most of the accounts. Let me once again repeat that Mr. K. P. Dutta’s role was grand.Let me once again appreciate the dedication with which this gentleman started helping us when we were not forced to regular, when we were practically not an entity, when we were practically disorganised and shattered. History will not forgive us if we forget to record with our sincere appreciation of the role played by such a dedicated person like Mr. K. P. Dutta who helped us in the formative stage of our long struggle for freedom and independence.
Life at Agartala was much more eventful than that of either at Baghmara or at Tura. During our stay at Baghmara, we never had any occasion in which the Pakistani Army fought the freedom fighters or the Indians. I have mentioned elsewhere in this book about the encounter of a contingent of Pakistani Army with BSF near the border. This happened when we were staying at Tura. That was only a one-sided affair in which the Indian BSF outpost was easily overrun by the Pakistani forces. As I could come to know later, freedom fighters mostly alone and on very few occasions supported by Indian Artillery fire engaged Pakistani forces at different places in the northern border areas. That, however, happened long after our departure from Tura.
In contrast to life at Tura, life at Agartala was much more eventful. Even if one did not join in the actual fight, one could at all times have had the experience of a battle. In those days Agartala used be aroused again and again with the resounding noise of heavy artillery fire from Pakistani cannons. The famous journalist Mr. Anthony Mascaranhes had described how different contingents of Pakistani army Division No.9 stationed at Comilla used to operate in areas like Feni in the name of combing the miscreants, the term with which the freedom fighters used to be dubbed in those days by the
271
occupation army. Mr. Anthony Mascaranhes’s report was published in late July in the famous Sunday Times, London. Sitting at Agartala, we could hear the echo of the booming sounds of Pakistani artillery guns and cannons from near the border. At first, people used to take these sounds with a lot of seriousness but as time passed by, people started taking them as a way of life. It almost became a part of life to listen to such sounds of fire. For us – the patriotic Bengalees who were forced to take shelter in India, the sounds at first used to take a gloom aspect in the sense that when you heard any such sound, you could be sure that one or two villages were being massacred and destroyed by the barbarous hordes of Yahya’s army. As time passed by, the same sounds carried a different connotation for all of us since such sounds meant encounter of the Pakistani army with the freedom fighters quite deep inside the Bangladesh territory. The Pakistani army’s onslaught and attack on poor people went unchallenged in the beginning but as freedom fighters started getting organised this was not a one-sided game but a game in which we also attempted to inflict as much casualties on the other side as possible. I personally know of a few encounters near the border in which a good number of Razakars and the then EPCAF were captured by the freedom fighters. Down below one mile from the Agartala Airport, some Baluchi Armed police had gathered. Their camps were destroyed and most of the armies captured by the freedom fighters. At the Agartala hospital, which was about two miles from the town proper, I personally saw two wounded Baluches soldiers one day. It appeared that they did not have the slightest idea as to whom they were actually fighting. Since I could speak in fluent Urdu I could immediately realise that these people had been sent with the idea that they would be fighting the Indian army and their stooges, the so-called infiltrators from across the border.
Our residence was situated only about one and half miles from the borders and thus we could hear the sounds of booming guns even in the dead of night. One day one of the shells even fell very near to our residence. As time passed by we used to get elated the more we heard such sounds. In fact, in the end, the sounds were almost synonymous with our success and the growing resistance against the atrocities of the Pakistani army.
272
I must mention here one incident which should be recorded. Many readers know that in those days the bordering areas near Salda River used to be controlled by the freedom forces. Encounters used to take place on the river sometimes. It was in one of these encounters in which one of my friends, Major Nurul Islam of Bengal Regiment, whose name I have mentioned a number of times elsewhere in this book, was present when the notorious miscreant named Captain Bokhari of Pakistani Army was killed. The freedom fighters shot him dead while he was speeding over the waters of Salda River in a speed boat. The freedom fighters cut one of his ears and brought back his uniform.
I am mentioning about this Captain Bokhari for some reasons. This Captain Bokhari was a beast of a man and any human being would not hesitate to call him as such. This barbarous Captain of Pakistan Army was a terror in Comilla town itself. He went on oppressing people right and left and did not hesitate to rape Bengalee women. The killing of such a notorious beast had a special significance for the Bengalees – particularly of the Comilla area. Later I had the opportunity of meeting people who crossed over to India but were present on the day of the killing of Captain Bokhari at Comilla. They told me that when his body was flown to Comilla, hundreds of people came to see it. The Pakistani army was at a loss to understand why so many people had rushed to see the dead body of Captain Bokhari. One of the Bengalees who were gathered to see the dead body of Captain Bokhari explained to some of the army people that since Captain Bokhari were very popular, people had gathered to pay respects to him. In fact, the people had gathered to be sure that such notorious culprit had actually been killed.
The proximity to Agartala town to the borders and its inhabitation by people either speaking Bengali or of Bangladesh origin gave it many different characteristics. At Agartala the atmosphere was one of welcome an expression of identity and interest of the Indians with the freedom movement, in itself a feature different from the one you could see at either Tura or Gauhati. The Bengalees of Agartala used to take active interest in our struggle unlike many hilly people and Assamees. As a result, movement was more free and cordial and you could even see an ordinary man talking about the latest position of the struggle. Because of the proximity of the town to border, news of

273
events happening quite deep inside Bangladesh used to pour into Agartala very rapidly and sitting at Agartala, you could collect all information of interest. Every day you could meet new arrivals from Bangladesh and there were even people who started to and from movement across the border, these were mostly Bengalee citizens who used to come in for information and sabotage work and go back after a few days.
The proximity to the border had its disadvantages also. At one stage in June it became very dangerous to move about alone in Agartala town. There were many cases of Pakistani agents and sabotages entering Agartala for information and sabotage work. The Indian BSF and army caught a number of such sabotages red handed. It soon got around that a number of the agents were active in Agartala photography, prominent people of Bangladesh and collecting information about them. We were thus advised by Bangladesh office to move in groups and avoid being photographed. At one stage, it became so dangerous that our prominent leaders had to be moved in complete secrecy and in groups. We advised Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury at one stage not to move except in our transport and without informing us properly.
Coming back to the topic of tracing of our families, we kept on trying to find out the proper contact. I sent messages inside with a few reliable persons but it appeared that the messages were not reaching my in-laws in Dhaka. At one stage, we became so desperate that we decided to send a few reliable freedom fighters for kidnapping our families from inside the occupied territory.
It is in this context I should again come back to Major (now Col.) Nurul Islam. Col. Nurul Islam is now the Garrison Commander of Bangladesh Army Brigade stationed at Comilla. In those days he was staying at Agartala. Soon after Major Islam crossed the border, his wife and two children were captured by the army. Major Islam had served for a long time in Pakistan Army Intelligence called Inter-service Intelligence. The man next in command to Major Islam had assisted his wife and children. We came to know all these from the wife of Major Islam when she came to Agartala. Coming back to the story, Major Islam had become impatient for his wife much more so when he came to know that his wife and children were under detention. The army inflicted all
274
sophisticated tortures on Mrs. Islam and tried to break her will. Being a wife of an army, she, however, did not succumb to their pressure tactics and always pleaded ignorance about his whereabouts. Mrs. Islam was ultimately allowed to stay with her relatives in her residence in the old town of Dhaka. Since the army found it difficult to keep the two children under detention and since they obviously did not have any such experience with children prisoners, they ultimately left them in the custody of their relatives. The gentleman who was given the custody of the children was clearly told that if the children had gone missing, the army would take him to the custody instead and that would be very serious for him. It was by coincidence that the children at that time started living in the second floor of Government flats in the Nasheman Building near hotel Inter-Continental. Lest I forget, let me mention here that my father-in-law used to stay on the first floor of the same Nasheman Building.
It was at this stage Major Islam decided to get his wife kidnapped by two of her trustees Lts. both of whom were freedom fighters. I do not remember the names of these two persons today but I met them at the temporary residence of Major Islam at Agartala later. They told me how they had completed the operation.
A lot of abuse was hurled at our young people who put on Western dresses in their latest forms. You could hear a lot against long curly hair boys of these days. But in those days of crisis these young boys definitely did rise up to the occasion and helped the freedom movement in innumerable ways. The young men who kidnapped the wife of Major Islam and his one child were one of these urban young people.
The story of kidnapping of Mrs. Islam and the child is quite fascinating. The boys had taken the address of Mrs. Islam as far as possible. They put on lungis and dress like ordinary villagers and crossed over to Bangladesh from India. When they were near Dhaka they changed into their original dresses and looked like sophisticated urban people. These boys like many others could speak Urdu very fluently and it gave them good number of benefits in communication with inter-speeding army personnel.
When these two boys reached Dhaka they again put on their usual dress and looked very much like fashionable young men of the city.
275
They could not attempt the kidnapping without some reconnaissance since the house in the old town in which Mrs. Islam had been living was under army guard. The two boys told me how they went around that place twice or thrice to have some idea about the location and the possible escape routes in case they had to retreat from their attempt because of the army guards intervene at any time. The two boys also had a look at the 2nd floor of the Nasheman Building in which the children of Major Nurul Islam were living in the custody of one Major Islam’s relatives. They told me how the army looked on them with suspicion during their movement but since they could speak very fluent Urdu, they managed all interception by the army. The boys jokingly remarked that the army thought of them to be good for nothing young people who were most unconcerned about events around them and whose only concern seemed to be the gay western way of life they liked living by. One army major reportedly made the comment that even the onslaught and attack on the Bengalees had but changed the character and nature of such young people whom he dubbed as gay loving loafers. The boys told me that they were convinced they would carry out the operation even though they heard such remarks from an army Major in the vicinity of the house of Mrs. Islam in those days in which it was quite dangerous to roam about in the same street of Dhaka not to speak of the areas where the army was present.
The story of kidnapping is quite fascinating. With a common friend the two boys had arranged a Toyota car for giving them a lift near Daudkandi Ferry. This was natural since speed was the most important element in any such operation. On the fixed day, they kept on driving around the residence in which Mrs. Islam had been staying and when they got the chance – when the army guards went for some food around 1:00 p.m., they rushed up stairs and entered the room of Mrs. Islam. They only asked one question to Mrs. Islam and the question was about her real identity. Of course, the two boys had with them the photograph of Mrs. Islam but still they wanted to be sure. When Mrs. Islam replied in the affirmative to their question, they literally pulled her out of the house only with the cryptic comment that they had come from Major Islam to rescue her. Mrs. Islam later told me that she was first shocked, then surprised and finally became quite nervous. She could not think of such a situation in which she
276
would be literally pulled out from her virtual imprisonment by someone, let alone such freedom fighters going to rescue her from across the border. The boys were very clever as they did not lose any time. Success depended on the number of seconds and the operation had to be completed in the quickest possible time so that they could get away to a safe distance before anyone could know about the missing of Mrs. Islam. The boys told me that they kept on looking like loafers as before but did not miss a single second in rushing to the Nasheman Building in Eskaton from where they were supposed to kidnap two children of Mrs. Islam. It was only a few minutes after which they reached the Nasheman Building, the boys rushed upstairs and caught hold of one child. The other child was a little bit away and could not be picked up. When they were trying to get out with one child, the grandmother of the child resisted the move and the boys had to fire at her to dissuade her from this. They explained later that they deliberately did so since otherwise the army would not believe that the child had been kidnapped. The bullet hit the lady in one of her legs and such hitting was necessary as a proof so that the army could not say later that the custodians had deliberately handed over the child to the miscreants. The presumption of the boys was correct as it was only on this belief that the army spared the lives of the innocent custodians of the two children. Lest I forget, let me mention that from the date of that incident the army posted two armed policemen at that building for preventing any eventual kidnapping of the remaining child.
The next was reaching from Dhaka to Daudkandi. The boys reached near Daudkandi in record time and bade farewell to the car and its owner who drove it from Dhaka. They could not dare cross the Daudkandi Ferry since they would possibly be identified by the army. This is why they had already arranged a boat along river road. Soon they availed of the boat and soon started moving over the waters. Those readers who crossed borders in those times know well that the escape route to cross the border used to change depending on the movement of the army and their detection of the escape routes. In those days, the most common route was to escape by crossing the C&B road running across the fields near Madhabkunda and Kunagram in the borders of Sylhet and Comilla Districts. The boys along with Mrs. Islam and the child had to take shelter below the big
277
bridge on this road waiting for the opportune moment in which they would cross the C&B road and thus, escape to India through Kunagram area. Those who crossed the roads in these days know well that crossing was a very hazardous job. The road was across the paddy fields and was to a great extent straight. The army had already detected this escape road and thus used to patrol these roads. In less than 10 minutes, one army vehicle used to pass along this road. I later visited this area and could appreciate the difficulties since in the neighbourhood of the road there did not appear to be any shelter or plantation in which the escaping people could hide. Whatever structures were there near the roads were burnt and destroyed by the army.
Mrs. Islam, her child and the boys waited there for the whole night and on an opportune moment, the next morning, launched to cross the road escaping the notice of the army. Mrs. Islam described later how miserable she felt below the bridge when army vehicles were passing over it. Evidently this was a dangerous hide and the slightest quarry from the army would have betrayed them. They were, however, lucky to escape the notice of the army early next morning. The rest of the story was common. They crossed over to India and then went to Agartala. Later, when I heard the full story from Mrs. Islam and the two boys, I remained attending to whatever they said.
When the family of Mrs. Islam reached Agartala he became very moody and jolly, by that time we had become desperate to rescue our family. It was very kind of Major Islam to suggest that the same two boys could rescue my family if I agreed to the proposal. Since I did not have any better alternative, I agreed to this proposal and even gave an amount of Indian Rs.150.00 to Major Islam for the cost of the operation. However, this did not happen and I am coming to this story now.
I had been trying to contact my family by sending them letters. As it appeared and as I have mentioned before, the letters did not reach my family. I had learned to keep some ready-made letters in my pocket for any likely messenger who could carry it to Dhaka. The readers might burst into laughter to hear this now, but it was a fact that in those days I used to carry 3 or 10 letters in my pocket written in my own hand writing in a cryptic manner without disclosing my identity fully but at the same time making it sufficiently
278
understandable to my near and dear ones. I passed over two such letters through two messengers but it appeared that they had not reached Dhaka for reasons best known to the messengers. Sending letters through messengers was a very risky preposition partly because some messengers did not want to carry such letters and partly because if the army could identify the writer, grave danger would be there for the family. There was an added danger in the sense that you never knew which of the messengers a freedom fighter was really and which was a Pakistani agent.
I must record here that I was very lucky to meet one such reliable messenger one day. Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury and Mr. M. R. Siddiqui and other politicians used to live in a hired building in the town of Agartala in those days. We used to visit that house quite frequently. It was one day when Capt. Mansur Ali, the then Finance Minister of the Provincial Government arrived from Calcutta for consultation with leaders there. We had gone to receive him at the airport and had thus gone to the residence of Mr. Z. A. Choudhury and Mr. M. R. Siddiqui since the visiting Minister preferred to stay in that residence or at least remain there most of the time during his stay at Agartala and around the fronts. Ghalib was with me there that day. After a formal meeting and introduction, while we were waiting outside the building it was at that time that someone started calling me by name from a jeep. The gentleman looked very young and was almost of our stage. I was quite perplexed to hear my own name being uttered by someone I did not remember to have seen before. I looked vacantly at Ghalib and he also looked very perplexed. The gentleman could possibly get our reaction since he got down from the jeep and came near us. He then spoke straight to me and wanted to know whether I was not the person that he had addressed. I do not know why but possibly instantaneously affirmed that I was so. He told me then that he had carried the message from my father-in-law that they were okay at Dhaka and my wife and child were at Dhaka safe and sound. He sounded quite reliable since he referred to a few instances which a stranger would not have known. When he looked away from me and saw Ghalib he caught him by hand and asked why he failed to recognise him. Ghalib hesitated for some time but ultimately recognised him. This gentleman was the brother-in-law of Mr. Motiur Rahman, the Present Bangladesh Minister for L.G.R.D and
279
Cooperative Mr. Motiur Rahman had escaped earlier and this gentleman had now brought his wife out of the occupied territory. All these Ghalib told me whisperingly and there appeared to be no doubt about his real identity. At that time he was serving at the Information Department of the then East Pakistan Government and on my query informed me that he was just going to leave for Dhaka since he could not absent himself from office for more than a reasonable time without being suspected by the army. I exchanged words with him very hurriedly and enquired about everything that crossed my mind. Suddenly it flashed, across my mind that he would be the best person to carry a message from me to my family. As I have said before, a number of letters were ready in my pocket and I took out the best one and handed it over to him. He kept it in his pocket with the remark that he would at the proper time hide it in a suitable place on his body and carry it across the border. Since I sounded anxious all the time and since I insisted on his guarantee that the letters would reach Dhaka, he smiled and got hold of my hand and promised that he would deliver the letter to my father-in-law the next day in the office in the Secretariat. At that time this was a big assurance and there was really no word to express your thanks and gratitude to such a reliable messenger who was likely to carry your own handwritten message to your near and dear ones.
The gentlemen kept his promise and delivered the letter to my father-in-law. This only proved of the utmost sincerity of the man. When I talked to my father-in-law about this after Independence, he narrated the whole story. He was sitting in office one day when this gentleman entered his room. Those were very dangerous days during which no Bengalee official used to speak frankly or in confidence amongst one another at the Secretariat. This was because we never knew when you would be overheard and reported to the Martial Law Authorities. My father-in-law knew this gentleman. So, he was not much surprised to see him. He was, however, surprised when he started looking all around and whispered into his ears that he carried a personal letter from me. My father-in-law got the door closed and the gentleman delivered the letter to him and left his office immediately. My father-in-law later told me that he did not dare to discuss anything with him in the office and simply kept the letter in his pocket when it was handed over to him. He could, however, manage to have a look at
280
the handwriting very surreptitiously only once. The whole family read the letter when my father-in-law returned home and opened the letter after observing all precautions so that no one come to know about it including those who worked at the house.
In retrospect I could not describe how useful this delivery of the letter proved in effect. Having waited for a long time, my wife had become very impatient to leave for India where she could possibly trace me out. She had already ventured this once via Narsingdi but because of the burning of one launch along this route, her plan did not materialise since she had to return from Narsingdi without having any launch to carry passengers. This failure heightened her anxiety and obstinacy. It was difficult for my father-in-law to check my wife and ultimately on her insistence it was decided that she could cross the border through Sylhet. The plan was that she would fly to Sylhet and from there she would cross the border and first take shelter in my village home near the border and on crossing at the ancestral home of my mother. Tickets were accordingly bought. It was not easy in those days to procure such PIA tickets. But somehow, my father-in-law managed to get tickets for my wife up to Sylhet by PIA. The attempted venture was on the insistence of my wife who had not received any communication from me since our parting away at Kuliarchar when all of them boarded the launch for Nabinagar.
When my father-in-law returned home, he ensured that nobody was present when he opened the letter. He had not himself read the letter at the office and it was in one room of the house in the Nasheman Building the letter was opened and contents read out to all concerned, a number of times.
I cannot describe in words how useful and timely the delivery of the letter was since in the absence of any such communication my wife had already decided to cross over to India via Sylhet and Narsingdi. My own house was located in Sylhet town and the village home is very near the borders. My wife had, in fact, managed to buy two tickets, one for herself and one for my younger brother to Sylhet PIA. The plan was that she would first, come to my village home for where she would proceed to the other side of the border accompanied by my brother. The idea of going to Karimganj was safe since my maternal uncle’s home was just across the border in India. They would have left for Sylhet the next day if they had not received this letter.
281
Because of the receipt of the letter the plan was changed and it was decided that my wife, along with my son, would leave via Comilla towards Agartala since it was for the first time, they became certain that I had been living in hiding in Agartala.
I shuddered to think what would have happened if my wife would have left via Sylhet. Sylhet District being a traditional conservation base has extreme types of people in all spheres of life. People in Sylhet are either very rich or very poor and the large number of middle class that can be seen in other districts of Bangladesh is not so pronounced in Sylhet. Similarly, in the context of the freedom movement, the people of Sylhet were sharply divided into two groups, one actively in support of the movement and the other actively against it. There were a large number of people – a very substantial percentage of people in Sylhet who believed that the freedom movement was nothing but a conspiracy to foil the Pakistan. These people believed that this conspiracy had been hatched at the behest of India. While in many other districts a good number of Razakars and others supported the Pakistani Government activities mainly because of pecuniary benefits and for considerations of security the proportionally larger number of Razakars and other conservatives in Sylhet supported the Government mainly because of their convictions. It was not because of their loyalty to the Pakistan Government as such that they opposed the freedom movement but because of their held conviction that the undoing of Pakistan would endanger the security and freedom of the people of this area who are Muslims by faith.
If one tried to analyse the background of such a difference of attitude towards the freedom movement between the people of Sylhet and other districts, one has to go back to 1947 when the Indian subcontinent was divided into India and Pakistan. Sylhet was the only district where referendum took place to decide that if that district wanted to remain with the Indian state of Assam, to which it historically belonged to, or to join the newly created state of Pakistan. For the Muslims of Sylhet, it was a very big question and thing that all their interest was at stake. This is why the Muslims took active part in the referendum and ultimately Sylhet district joined Pakistan. However, the joining was not complete since one part of the district, the Karimganj subdivision went to the lot of India because of a certain
282
conspiracy, the evidence of which can be had from any historical analysis. It was because of this supporting cause of Pakistan so actively at the time of the partition, the people of Sylhet District generally were hostile to any change in the status quo which would undo Pakistan itself. It was because of this reason a good substantial percentage of Sylhet, particularly of older generation, actively opposed the freedom movement, not because of any pecuniary benefits but because of their faith that Pakistan was of their own creation and it was only in Pakistan that the interest of the Muslims could be ensured and protected. It was because of this that proportionately the largest number of Razakars would be registered in Sylhet District. Like the economic classification of the people of Sylhet in two extremes, the classification of people in terms of for and against the movement were also in separate distinct blocks, one consisting of mainly the younger generation actively participated to the creation of Bangladesh and the other actively against the undoing of Pakistan. It is not to say that those who opposed the freedom movement believed that everything the Pakistan Government was doing was right. Such people do not have consistent ideas about what actually the ideal situation should be but they always had a belief that their interest could be protected more if Pakistan remained united. Many of them did not approve of the actions the army was taking but in the overall context they supported the army actions because they somehow believed, which completely contrary to the facts that the Pakistani army was trying to protect the interest of Pakistan. I am not a historian and I am not passing a historical judgment on the trend that was visible in the Sylhet District. There may be argument against my analysis. The only point I want to make here is that relatively larger number of people in Sylhet were for retaining Pakistan as one state mainly because of their convictions which had, as I have tried to show, its origin in historical facts.
In the context of my wife’s crossing the border through the Sylhet District the historical fact stated by me would have had their role and I still doubt if she could cross the border safely. All my relatives in my village home were for the freedom movement and it is a historical fact that Sharopar and Shahabazpur areas along with the border were totally against the Pakistan Government. These areas remained more or less free territories even during day of the Pakistan occupation. It
283
was only once or twice the Pakistan army could establish control in those areas only to suffer defeat again and to lose these areas to the freedom fighters. If my wife could reach my village home in Shahabazpur, there was no doubt that she would have crossed the border but I am still doubtful if she could reach Shahabazpur safely since she could have been intercepted in between, on the way and possibly caught. There is a further reason for holding such a belief. People in Sylhet District speak a separate distinct dialect and if you cannot speak this language, you are known as a Bengaleehailing from some other district of Bangladesh as she does, my wife could have found it extremely difficult to explain her hidden identity. In any case she would have been suspected and traced.
It is in this context; I have led tremendous importance of the delivery of the letter by that gentleman to my father-in-law. The inherent suspicion and danger that was there in the plan of crossing the border through Sylhet was removed because of the timely receipt of that letter. It was only because of the receipt of the letter that the plan was changed and my wife decided to cross the border over to Agartala via Comilla. It is in this context that I am grateful to that gentleman who kept his word and delivered my letter to my father-inlaw. Whatever continued or implication this might have for others, but for me it was a great thing and I find no word to express my gratitude to this gentleman who did such a favour to me in those critical days when it was a rare chance to have someone in which you could place some confidence.
Coming back to the life in Agartala, I started attending the Bangladesh office regularly along with Rakib and Akbar Ali. They had known Mr. Toufiq Imam for quite some time and by this time were held in confidence by him. For me this confidence had to be created. The office was being organised and jobs specified for particular persons. The office as it stood in those days had two separate sections: one dealing with the political leaders and the others dealing with the officials and the staff. Channels of communications and carrying out of orders decided upon by the political leaders were being worked out. Mr. Toufiq Imam in fact who had been working as a member adviser of the council, basically political, which took all important decisions regarding the freedom struggle and its commitment. Rakib and Akbar Ali were helping Mr. Toufiq as his
assistants. Mr. Toufiq Imam had in fact asked Mr. Akbar Ali to draw up an operation plan for running the office in accordance with our requirements for the work and provide any logistic support to the freedom fighters. The operations plan had to have a separate comprehensive element regarding the taking care of the refugees who were crossing the border and taking shelter in the Tripura state in large numbers. The Government of Tripura were in fact taking care of them. Our office had its own role in suggesting different ways and pinpointing the elements whose presence were considered not beneficial to the movement. The operation plan, again, had to have a provision for scrutinising the incoming youth for providing them necessary training and weapons for the fight. After a few days’ of hard work, Akbar Ali produced a beautiful operational plan and it emphasised on decentralisation of functions. Mr. Toufiq Imam was made to see the reason and ultimately it was decided that work would be divided as follows:
(a) Mr. Toufiq Imam will remain in overall charge of administration and finance and he would maintain liaison with the political leadership for getting their approval on different suggestions and for getting direct instructions from them. Mr. Toufiq Imam was also designated to main liaison with the national govt. announced in Mujibnagar on the 17th of April, 1971. He was also one of the three members, the other members being Mr. M. R. Siddiqui and other one who decided the withdrawal of money and expenditures in big amounts.
(b) It was decided that Rakib would remain in charge of administration and this will involve liaison with political leadership, day to day administration, liaison with Bangladesh army and similar work.
(c) It was decided that Akbar Ali would mainly devote his time to organisational plan. His other duty was to arrange wide publicity and suggest improvement in the methods of publicity carrying out by the government.
(d) It was decided that I would remain in charge of finance and there would be limits up to which I was authorised to sanction in the presence of Mr. Toufiq Imam, and in his absence, I would be the person to deal with all cases of financial sanctions.
285
It was in the context of the new reorganisation, the Secretariat in Agartala started functioning in full swing from the middle of June 1971. It could hardly be a full-fledged office since all of the facilities were not present. In fact, sometimes it used to be difficult for us to have a chair where we could sit for work. We did not have the necessary stationery and staff. Another difficulty was that things were more or less disorganised and anyone who crossed the border used to approach this office for help and instruction. The result was that the office used to remain crowded for most of the time. In fact, Raquib once joked that no secrecy could be maintained in the office and merely by having a look at the place one could pinpoint that it was an office dealing with Bengali people. It was, however, a matter of great pleasure that in spite of these difficulties, shortages and hostile environment, the office went on functioning.
As I have mentioned, Mr. Toufiq Imam was the executive head of the Government machinery functioning at Agartala. Even from the beginning, before the development of the concept of zonal councils for 11 zones around Bangladesh, to which I shall come back to later in this book, the Agartala Office was the office to work and it actually did work as the headquarters for the eastern zone. Mr. Toufiq Imam used to be called loosely by people Chief secretary of the government though in the beginning his official designation was Zonal Administrator.
Coming back to the story of the arrival of my wife and child at Agartala, I had become quite impatient even after the delivery of my letter to that gentleman. I did not know whether this letter would reach my father-in-law at Dhaka. In the meantime, I had talked to Major Nurul Islam who told me all about how his wife was recovered from the occupied territory by two gallant freedom fighters. I had mentioned about these incidents earlier in the pages of this book. I used to meet Major Islam quite regularly for his advice in this regard and it was on his advice I even advanced him Tk 150 for incidental charges that would be necessary for such an operation. Major Islam had already made contacts with the boys and two boys volunteered to rescue my wife out of Dhaka almost in the same manner that Major Islam’s wife had been taken out.
It was in this gloomy circumstance that one day at night my wife reached Agartala along with my son. It was on the 11th of June, 1971.
286
This day will always be remembered by me since it solved my long agony for reunion with my family.
It had almost become dark. Rakib, Akbar Ali and I had been sitting in the room and had been gossiping about things. We had already a number of meetings with quite a few persons including some political leaders. In those days that house in which we used to live along with Mr. Toufiq Imam along with his family used to be visited by people like Mr. R. A. Siddiqui, Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury, Major Safiullah, Major Khaled Mosharraf, Major Zahur Rahman and many others. There were many days in which we used to get up from sleep by a knock on the door. The visitor most of the time used to be either Mr. Priyo Das Chakravorty, the owner of the house or Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury or Mr. M. R. Siddiqui or Mr. Mahbubul Alam Chashi. In fact that house had almost become a common meeting place for all categories of people who were attempting things and trying to make out plans for a drawn, long and sustained struggle against the occupation army. The same event took place on June 11 and as we had been talking, we had already become quite exhausted.
It was in these circumstances after dusk at about 8 p.m., we are surprised to see a face entered the house who we had never dreamed of even in our imagination. It was good old friend Anwarul Haque who is more known as Miloo. Miloo used to live in F. H. Hall of Dhaka University. He was quite well known, almost a friend of Raquib as hall mate and of Akbar Ali as students at the university. All three of us almost jumped from our beds (we had only one or two chairs in the room and thus had to sit most of the time on the bed). Miloo was one of the last persons we thought of receiving that night, we could not believe our eyes and could not speak for one or two minutes, Miloo was and still is a very jolly person and he remarked that there was nothing surprising in his appearance as he thought it was due to turn up before us at that time. He particularly looked at me and remarked that he was following me even those times upto Agartala.
There is a story behind Miloo’s oblique reference at me. Miloo and I had been close friends in the university. We had taken our Honours Examination together. I used to live in S.M. Hall while Miloo used to live in F.H. Hall. We are very close friends. I used to
287
pass a good number of nights in F. H. Hall. So much so that almost all the residents of F. H. Hall used to know me. Even the bearers at the Canteen and the Mess knew me by face and name. There was a reason for my association with F. H. Hall apart from that of the company of Miloo. This was because my good friends Syed Tarak Ali, Rakib, Akmal and others used to live in that Hall. After the Honours Examination for a number of reasons I decided and ultimately left for Lahore for doing M. A. from the University of the Punjab. Miloo started writing to me that he did not feel at home at Dhaka University anymore and wanted to go to Lahore. He ultimately did go at my initiative which virtually compelled Mr. S. M. Akhtar, the then Head of the Department of Economics of the University of Punjab. There used to be a joke about all these and common friends used to say that Miloo used to follow me where ever I went. This is the reason why Miloo made an oblique reference to me just on his arrival at the house at Agartala.
When we were interrogating Miloo, it was he who claimed that there were more surprises for us. There were actually surprises for me at least as soon after Miloo entered the room I could see my wife entering the room with my son held in her hand. It all became very clear to me now. Miloo had taken the trouble of accompanying my wife up to Agartala. It was quite a bit of surprise for me privately since in those days Miloo was not quite thick with us – particularly my wife- because of a few misunderstandings. I wondered how he could be in the group with my wife. When my wife had entered, the people who were presented at that meeting they stood up from their position and gave a very enthusiastic look towards my family with full of curiosity and someone from somewhere of the meeting had announced that “the meeting has been postponed till today”. In that circumstance here was a gentleman who was with his auto-glass, to see him my wife asked me about him that “who is this gentleman?” I replied “He is Major Ziaur Rahman.” I was so overwhelmed with joy to see my wife and son that I could not speak for a few minutes. It was a solace and contentment of a unique kind that rippled there with me when I held my son in my arms. I was now a figure in a historical drama in which a broken family had been united. It was one of the few marvellous episodes of the great epics called liberation struggle for Bangladesh. I had seen a lot of indigenous and foreign movies
288
which depicted such reunion of families before, during or after a war or a civil disturbance. I had read a good number of books of such episodes in different languages. I had always thought and thought about such reunions just after I had gone through a book or seen in a movie depicting such reunions. I had never thought before that such a thing would happen in my life. I was struck with anxiety and feverish agony when it actually happened. When it became clear to me on arrival in India at Baghmara on the 29th of April 1971, that I had already committed the greatest blunder by getting separated with my wife and it would be a difficult reunion of my family, the anxiety and agony that struck me first at Baghmara had continued to grow in dimension assuming different natures which I had never felt before. Such a thing – that this separation of a family that in fact taken place this day- had passed and I had become impatient. I never thought that reunion would be so soon as it took place that night of June 11, 1971, at that beloved house of Mr. Priyo Das Chakravorty at Agartala.
It is even said that when feelings are strong, words are few. It was demonstrated once again during that night and for more than an hour we could not talk much. Mr. Toufiq Imam and his wife had never seen my wife and son. When Mrs. Imam came to know that something had happened in the other room, she was surprised to see my wife who was introduced to her by Rakib. She joked that now I would stop being restless. Mr. Toufiq Imam was also soon there in that room and they started talking about how my wife managed to cross over to Agartala. She narrated the story in a very brief manner and we soon started taking our food.
Till then I had been living in the room where Rakib and Akbar Ali used to live. This is used to refer as the singles room. Mr. Toufiq Imam’s son name Jamie, otherwise a very sober and soft natured boy, sometimes quite daring in his attitude, used to make a lot of jokes about this room. When his father wanted him to study a bit, he used to refer to all three of us and used to comment that nothing worthwhile could be done by studying as according to his views, all three of us, after having been even CSP’s had been rotting in that room. He used to call all of us uncle and used to coin a different joke each day about the room in which all three of us used to stay. In retrospect such jokes appear very dear to me as it used to make eachof us otherwise dull
289
living a little pleasant in those gloomy days in the most adverse circumstances.
After the arrival of my wife and son it was no time to shift to another room in the house. There were three more rooms still left out, we decided to occupy the fourth room next to the room of Mr. Toufiq Imam. There was also another joke regarding such occupation. Rakib used to tell always that Mr. Priyo Das Chakravorty would ultimately end up with all rooms handed over to people like us from Bangladesh. This was like colonisation. It all started with Rakib and Akbar Ali. They had come to know Mr. Priyo Das Chakravorty who had offered them a room in that house. When Mr. Toufiq Imam arrived with his family, he was offered one more room and now Rakib joked that when Mr. Chakravorty would come he would see that one more of his room had been occupied. In fact, this kept on happening as with the arrival of Mr. Toufiq Imam’s brother-in-law later, one more room was almost forcibly occupied by us. I can only praise the generous attitude of Mr. Priyo Das Chakravorty since he never did mind for such occupation. The house was otherwise very good except for the problem that it had only one bath room.
As any normal human being would have done, it was impossible for me and my wife to have any sleep that night of the 11th of June, 1971. We kept silent for quite some time and started talking of things which had happened. My wife described how lonely and terrible she felt because of our separation. I could appreciate her feeling as I felt almost the same way. She had all the more reason to be anxious since she was inside the occupied territory and the slightest provocation from any quarter would have rendered her captive in the hands of the army. We thanked God number of times that such a calamity did not befall us. I still shudder to think what would have happened if the army had the clue or the time to trace out my family. In retrospect the separation for more than a month does not appear to be so harsh today, but just before the arrival of my family, it meant a lot to me.
On my query, my wife started telling me the whole story of how she felt and what she kept on doing throughout the long period of absence. I had seen them off at Kuliarchar on the morning of the 4th of April, Sunday and their destination were Nabinagar, the village home of Bina Apa and Akbar Ali Khan (both were brother and sister). They reached Nabinagar in about two and a half hours of time after
290
departure from Kuliarchár. As I have mentioned in the earlier pages of this book, we allowed other people to board the launch since a big launch with only a few passengers almost all of whom were ladies and children would immediately attract the attention of Pakistani army or their agents. It was because in those days Pakistani gun-boats had already started patrolling a few riverine routes particularly with the intention to create panic in the minds of the people. As good luck would have it, the launch in which my family and others were travelling was not intercepted by any one and they reached Nabinagar safe and sound.
My wife told me how bored and anxious she had been feeling at Nabinagar. When they arrived at Nabinagar, the small town had yet not been the target of the Pakistani army. The Pakistani army was, however, fanning out in all directions and it was only after ten days of their stay at Nabinagar, Pakistani jets appeared in the sky and started strafing the area. The house of Mr. Khan (Maternal uncle to my wife), father of Bina Apa, where my family was living along with others, was very near to the Mosque at Nabinagar. So near was the strafing that two persons were killed in the Mosque one day in the evening. My wife and others staying at the residence of Mr. Khan became very panicky at that and they decided to shift to some other interior village. There was a village called Kanikara, about two miles from Nabinagar by river. It was in a dark night when my family and the others boarded a small boat for the journey. My wife shivered a number of times while she described this arduous journey in a dark night alone in a riverine mute. She had her special problem as my son was only about 8 months old at that time. However, by God’s grace they reached Kanikara safe and started living there temporarily.
In the mean time my wife started moving heaven and earth for establishing some sort of contact with me. She told me that she was convinced that had crossed over to India and had possibly been living at Agartala. She had somehow come to know that Raquib and Akbar Ali were at Agartala. This is why she sent the message to them at Agartala. I had referred to this incident in the earlier pages of this book while making reference to the Indian intelligence some time as was portrayed to me through Mr. Subramaniam. She told me that she became lonelier and more anxious when the message returned from
291
Agartala with the news that I was not there. In the meantime, they had again moved to Nabinagar.
At the beginning of army occupation and the unleashing of atrocities, big and small town first became the targets of attack and this became the most unsafe for the Bengalee. But as the resistance was gradually growing in the interrior at Thana Headquarters and unions, the Pakistani army started fanning out to any direction for combing up operations. Details of such operations have been vividly described in the book “Rape of Bangladesh”, by Anthony Mascaranhas, earlier in his first sensational article titled “Genocide” which appeared in the famous Sunday Times of London. In that article in his book, Mr. Mascarenhas gave practical experience of how the missions of burning and looting were undertaken by the Pakistani army in the interior of Comilla and Noakhali districts. Anyway, as Pakistani army started fanning out into the villages, it became very unsafe for Bengalees to stay in village and people started moving into town again in search of safety and shelter.
It was at this time my family along with Bina Apa and the others had to decide that a place like Nabinagar, well connected by riverine route like Brahmanbaria or Bhairab or Narsingdi was no longer safe. They decided to move out of Nabinagar and they could only think of going back to Dhaka. Mr. Naziruddin had, by that time, been stripped off all his rowers as executive of head of the then State Bank of Pakistan Regional office in Dhaka. He, however, had personally been safe still then and managed to get my family, Bina Apa and the others out of Narsingdi by a special Micro-bus which he had sent to Narsingdi. My wife and the others were rescued from Nabinagar in a guarded launch and then proceeded to the journey back to Dhaka.
While describing the journey from Nabinagar to Narsingdi, my wife described in details how the army had put up check posts at regular distances. Fortunately for them, the driver of the vehicle, a former State Bank of Pakistan staff was a non-Bengalee and this is why they were fortunate in not being too much interrogated by the army. I could feel how miserably my wife and the others had felt when they were crossing army convoy and army vehicles on the road from Narsingdi to Tarabo, the other side river opposite Demra. Any single suspicion or mistake or any provocation from any quarter would have made them captive by the army who were moving all
292
around. In my opinion, it is far better to know that you are sure to die then to have a constant feeling of insecurity all the time. It was with this feeling of constant fear and insecurity my family and the others managed to reach Dhaka just after dusk on the 29th of May, the very day I along with Mr. Golam Akbar had landed at Agartala airport from Gouhati.
Lest I forget, I must quote my wife feared a very special instant that it still vivid in her and my memory. While her feelings were and still are of practical amusement, I could and still can only vicariously share her feelings. This was on the launch which was taking my family and the others from Nabinagar to Narsingdi. A launch along this route had been hijacked before by freedom fighters and burnt. Incidentally, my own younger brother was in that hijacked launch. This is just to mention any reference. The launch was very guarded and my wife and the others were sitting silently in the upper-class compartment in the first storey. The weather was very adverse but on the instance of the passengers, all of whom were Bengalees and thus, – anxious to get to their respective destination before dusk, the launch driver ultimately had to start. It was raining and the whole atmosphere was not keeping with the gloomy days through which Bangladesh was passing at that time.
It was after some time the launch started, my wife noticed that a lady was minutely observing her, wanted a pretext to talk to my wife. She, thus, started showing affection to my son and on this pretext started talking to my wife. My wife who had been feeling very lonely and insecure (she had all the reason to feel so, since her husband had already been declared a miscreant and rebel) became very conscious of her existence and talked to the lady in the dearest possible expression. They talked about a number of things and at one stage the lady remarked that she had a teacher in the Home Economics College, Dhaka who very much resembled my wife. When my wife heard the name of the teacher, she started shivering within herself. The name was no other than her own. She knew any witness shown by her would betray her identity. With the greatest of courage, she could gather, she kept on looking normal and replied that there could be similar faces while strongly denying that she had not heard of this name before since she was the wife of a businessman who was in Chittagong. My wife had to give this identity since she thought this can be the only possible
293
way to avoid the question. The lady, however, kept on looking at her and while they all got down from the launch at Narsingdi, the lady looked back for the last time and got hold of the hand of my wife and insisted that she was her teacher, my wife knew that this was the last chance and she had to be courageous and must look normal. This way she gathered all the courage she could gather at that time and denied with all the force in her expression that the lady must have mistaken her for someone she had known.
In retrospect, my wife still nourishes the memory of that day of the 10th of May, Monday, when she met one of her students in the most adverse circumstance anyone could conceive of in the world. She had read stories like that and when she described these incidents to me that night in Agartala and again a few more times after independence. I kept on deriving the same vicarious feeling of sharing her anguishes as well as happiness he derived on the launch on the 10th day of May, 1971. My wife kept on talking about this incident even after independence and on my instance wrote a write-up on these in the daily Dainika Bangla some time in August, 1972. She finished this story with the hopes that the student would pardon her if she did not disclose her identity that day. She could not afford to do so. If amongst my readers that lady is reading this book let us assure her that circumstances have changed today and there is no fear in this land. Both my wife and myself would be too glad to receive the lady if she agrees to turn up for meeting us. In those days my wife was the “wife of a miscreant and rebel” and I was the rebel, times have changed and there is no need for us now to hide our identity. The visit of the lady would bring back to us, in altogether different perspectives, the agonies but in retrospect the sweet memory of that fateful day of the 10th of May, 1971.
Though towns had become relatively sever compared to the interior villages, for my family, Dhaka was as much unsafe as was Nabinagar. The only advantage in Dhaka was that my wife could be staying with my parents-in-law and could get their counsel in the most difficult situation. Of course, Dhaka had become relatively stabilised by that time and the army had been looking up only selected targets:
My wife could not stay with safety in Dhaka either. As soon as she reached the residence of my father-in-law at Dhaka he was told
294
that Dhaka had also recently become very unsafe for selected people like her whose husband or near relatives had defected. My in-laws had reason for anxiety since one or two days before one of the houses of one of the relatives had been searched thoroughly by the army. The army was in search of Mrs. R. I. Choudhury, an official of the police intricate, had been serving in the Pakistan Deputy High Commission in Calcutta as First Secretary. It is a matter of historical record that the whole Calcutta mission defected in favour of Bangladesh on the 18th of April, 1971. Since then the army had been looking for the wives of other near relatives of the diplomats and others who had defected at Calcutta in April. It was in this context the house of my wife’s relatives was searched since the army was bent of capturing Mrs. R. I. Choudhury. She could not, however, be traced since she had already left for Agartala via Nabinagar.
Before forgot I remember that 26th April on Monday 1971 thus on her very arrival in Dhaka my wife went panicky again. Immediately the family members sat together to decide the next course of action. It was decided that since it had been at night, nothing could be done until dawn the next day. It was decided that my wife would be leaving for Nabinagar again the next day since her stay at Dhaka was the most undesirable. My wife thus had to leave for Nabinagar again the next day. She stayed at Nabinagar for another one or two weeks or so and then again came back to Dhaka; my wife described how difficult it was to stay in Dhaka with a small baby. Sometimes when visitors would come, the baby had to be taken to bathroom so that her identity remained undisclosed. The situation was all the more difficult since one daughter of Major Islam had been kidnapped from the 2nd floor of the same building – the Nasheman Building in which my father-inlaw had been staying at that time. Coupled with this was the problem with the Major of the Engineering Core of the Pakistan army who was staying in the ground floor. This Major was a stupid man and was more Pakistani than the Pakistanis themselves. He used to boast of the actions of the Pakistan army and evidently it was very dangerous for anyone, not to speak of my wife, to live in a place very near his own. This Major was arrested by the freedom fighters just after liberation from the same flat but I am told he has been released now on general amnesty.
295
Anyway, with all the anxiety and anguish, my family kept on living at Nasheman while keeping on pursuing the alternative for crossing over to India as soon as possible. Since my whereabouts were not known exactly to anyone, a careful decision had to be made about the date and the route of departure.
People like my wife who lived in anxiety in the occupied territory in those days know how difficult it was for them to hide in the residence of relatives. It was the most adverse circumstance one could think of and sometimes even or your near relations were trying to avoid harbouring people like you. My wife described in details how she felt when one relative or another just made pretext to avoid keeping her in their house. Those who offered her accommodation at that time were our real friends and people like them would always be remembered with gratitude whatever walks of life they hail from. What good it was to have relatives if they wanted to avoid you in your days of existence? I am still grateful and shall ever remain grateful to all those who offered my wife accommodation during those trying days. Two persons in particular, one of them was Mr. Nurul Matin Khan, an officer of the erstwhile State Bank of Pakistan who used to live very near the Assembly House in Tejgaon area. He was himself possibly a suspect and used to live in the most dangerous area one could think of. But this gentleman had the biggness of heart to offer my wife accommodation even at that time when all other relatives had tactfully avoided the problem on some flimsy and substantial pretext. The other gentleman (I can not remember his name at this moment) who did so was my wife’s one onece teacher. He used to live in Shahjahanpur with his wife and children. This gentleman also came forward to offer my wife safety when she was desperately looking for such a hiding place.
Living in such hiding places would have become necessary had my wife not become too impatient to cross to India for meeting me. She knew that the most suspicious place for the army for tracing her would be the residence of my father-in-law, who had already been under surveillance by the army. One of my brothers-in-law had crossed over to India with me and this had made the position of my father-in-law most precarious in the eyes of the army. Fortunately, because of their other accusations the army could not devote much time to this business. Otherwise all the members of my in-laws
296
including my wife would have been arrested by the army. My father-in-law told my wife how he escaped the attention of the army only miraculously. It was one day when he was sitting, in the Governor’s house in a Conference with General Tikka that this question of family members or government servants arose. Tikka insisted on knowing where the family members of top Government servants were living. He started from one corner and started interrogating each Secretary about this. My father-in-law had already started uttering Surahs since he could not give any reasonable explanation of the my absence but more particularly about his own son. Fortunately for him, Tikka could not come to him as the telephone rang when it was just his turn to speak. Tikka, otherwise a very sober looking man, got disturbed when he got the telephone message. The message was presumably relating to the destruction of Titas Gas Complex and other installations by the freedom fighters at and around Brahmanbaria and Ashuganj, Tikka virtually became restless when he got this telephone call and since this had to be attended to immediately, he dismissed the meeting. This is how my father-in-law was miraculously saved from the wrath of Tikka, who would have any way spotted the weakness of my father-in-law. Many people have tried to depict Tikka in many forms. Contrary to popular belief, Tikka was not hot headed at all. He was very cool and sober in his behaviour and took all destructive decisions in a cold blooded fashion. Those who have studied the psychology of war criminals and others knew that such criminals who take destructive action such as killing, looting and arresting in the most cold blooded fashion are the most difficult people to deal with. Those who lose temper and get hot-headed during such planning leave scope of omissions here and there. But cold blooded as he was regarding both his methods and goals, Tikka had no human elements left in him, and he could plan genocide or destruction in the minute details possible.
Coming back to the crossing over to border by my wife the prospect became clearer when the family received my letter from Agartala. I have mentioned a few pages before that my wife had already got tickets for crossing over to India via Sylhet. The plan was changed and it was decided that she would not leave via Nabinagar and cross over to Agartala.
297
That the journey from Dhaka to Narsingdi would be the most dangerous was known to everybody since the army had installed check posts at many places. The most difficult problem of transport was not, however, there since as the Finance Director of the then East Pakistan Shipping Corporation, my father-in-law had a 24 hour transport, a Toyota Car, at his disposal. When everything was set my family left for Narsingdi for availing to the launch to Nabinagar. When she reached Narsingdi, to her gloom, she found that launches were not plying because of another hijacking of a launch by the freedom fighters. She had no other alternative but to return to Dhaka again. She was fortunate enough that she was not intercepted by the army on the way.
This was far beyond the patience of my wife and she decided to cross over to Agartala via Comilla. She had in fact become the most desperate and when one becomes desperate, he or she was capable of attempting anything cherished as a goal by him or her. The possibility of worth trying since in the meantime, my wife had been visited by my friend Anwarul Huq alias Miloo who was himself thinking of crossing over to Agartala to see things for himself. Miloo was planning such a trip and he offered my wife companionship in the journey. Another friend of my brother-in-law named Hared also offered to accompany her up to Agartala, it was 9th June, Wednesday, 1971.
It was in this circumstance my wife left with my son for Comilla along with my friend and the other boy. They were intercepted a number of times on the way but successfully managed to get out since Miloo could speak quite good Urdu and he had relatives, both his own and of his in-laws at Comilla. At Daudkandi when they were crossing the river some personnel of the Pakistan army even started fondling with my son and one of them offered him a Taka calling him a baby. In these days of genocidewhen army was killing all around indiscriminately, this could be hardly thought of. But it only proved that humanity has not been absent from the minds of all the army personnel who were occupied in the most foolish fight against the civilian population in the occupied territory in Bangladesh. Anyway, my wife along with others managed to get to Comilla where they had to wait for the night for planning the most difficult and particularly arduous journey i.e. from Comilla to Shonamura across the border. My father-in-law
298
instructed Miloo that he should call him from Comilla in à code language once they could reach safely. The code language was that “money has been received”. Miloo made it a point to ring my fatherin-law from Comilla and they thanked God time and again for his benevolence during this journey.
My wife described in vivid details how helpless she felt at the resistance of one of Miloo’s sister who had been living in Comilla. I had myself visited that house a number of times before. Things had to be planned very carefully and it was decided that my wife would lead for the most arduous part of the journey the next day early in the morning.
Those who crossed the borders in those days along these and similar routes knew that you had to hire a rickshaw (a popular transport) which is a trustworthy one, who would help you in such a journey. There also had to be one or two escorts who knew the area very well and could face any interrogation if the party were intercepted by the army. These escorts were from local villages and they offered the most sincere humane services one could afford of them. It was while they accepted money in return but the services they offered were the most sincere and genuine. That so many people were able to cross the border later during occupation period was made possible only because of the presence of such people who acted as guides during the most arduous journey near the borders; Miloo’s brother-in-law knew some of these people and accordingly contacts were made for three Rickshaws and one such escort.
The next morning, they left as planned but could not proceed far.
In the battle with freedom fighters, quite a few army personnel had been killed already in or around those areas. The army was thus fanning out for retaliation. It was quite a bad day to start with and the party had to return in the afternoon since any over enthusiasm would betray their identity to the army. Thus, they were forced to pass another night at Comilla.
My wife left for the journey again the next morning in spite of requests from others not to do so since the army had carried out a combing operation in this area. She was, however, lucky that she was not spotted by anyone though quite a few army convoys and jeeps crossed her on the roads. It was with great difficulty they managed to reach the stream which separated India and Bangladesh in the border.
299
Sometimes they had to go on Rickshaw and sometimes they had to walk. They were lucky that the army were busy otherwise in combing operations and they could reach the other side of the border safely without attracting the attention of the army, when they reached the other side, it had become almost 5 in the afternoon.
That my wife took the journey in spite of the warnings by the people were partly because of her own desperate attitude and partly because she thought that just after a combing operation the area would be relatively safe and passersby would not attract the attention of the army. It generally so happened that after an accident the next journey was the safest one. Similarly, in this case since the army had just carried out a combing operation in the area they did not pay much attention to the area when my wife was trying to cross the border.
In the beginning of the liberation struggle, those who crossed the border knew that they did not have to face any formalities on arriving in India. It was because the Indian Government had not by that time adopted a uniform policy regarding registration of such evacuees. As a result, the form of registration if at all existed was different in different places. When we crossed over to Baghmara we found that the Meghalaya authorities were registering people coming from Bangladesh. We did not have to face any such problems since we were privileged people. As time kept on passing, the Indian government had already decided to register the evacuees in a uniformed manner in all the states via Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura bordering Bangladesh.
When my wife reached the other side of the border, Sonamura, she saw that registration was going on in the local police station, because of the combing operation of the army, the rush of the evacuees through that route that day was not much. In fact, no lady had crossed the border that day. As a result, my wife did not have to wait long and soon they were registered.
It was in this context my wife refered and a number of times later, to the officer-in-charge of the police station of Sonamura. While my friend was introducing my wife, to the Officer-incharge, he stood up in respect with the comment that he himself hailed from Kishoreganj Subdivision of Mymensingh district originally. He soon became very friendly and requested my wife to take rest in his residence for some time so that my baby who had not taken milk for a long time could take some milk at least. The
300
O.C. was very kind and his wife was equally generous. Both he and his wife showed extreme courtesy to my wife and others and even entertained them. My son was virtually forced to take the milk offered by the officer of the police, the name of whom I do not remember today. My family and the others took rest in the residence of the O.C. and in the meantime a Taxi was hired for taking them up to Agartala. The rest of the journey was eventless and they reached Agartala when it had already become dark. On their way they could hear sounds of fire all around, as the freedom, fighters kept the Pakistani army engaged in and around the areas of Agartala.
Much of my mental anxiety had gone when we all were reunited. We would carry out our duties now with greater devotion to the cause. We kept on living at the residence of Mr. Priyo Das Chakravorty which was about 7 miles from the towns. The only other gentleman we used to visit those days was Mr. K. P. Dutta about whom I have mentioned before. My wife myself and others used to go to his house and spend time there sitting atop of the hill wishfully looking down the plains of Bangladesh which could very easily be seen from there. The scene was particularly impressive at night when you could see lights at Akhawara Railway station and in and around, Titas Gas Complex at Ashuganj. How we wish we could be inside. The glimpse of Bangladesh in those days of trial used to provide us with courage and hope.
On the military front we had lost almost all places to Pakistani army by that time. Major Khaled Mosharraf who had been defending the areas around Parasuram, Chagalnaiya and Bibirbazar could not stay there for the third time when two brigades of Pakistani army launched a full-fledged attack on them supported by heavy cannon fire. Major Khaled Mosharraf and his troop had repulsed two attacks of the Pakistani army successfully but they could not defend themselves for the third time. The situation became so precarious in the third battle that Major Khaled Mosharraf with his staunch supporters was almost being encircled by the Pakistani army. These were two interventions of the Indian BSF that they got out into India with great difficulty. The Indian BSF and the army had not bought that time taken active part in this struggle. The fire support provided by the Indian artillery in case
301
of Major Khaled Mosharraf was possibly the first of its kind extended by India for saving the lives of Major Khaled Mosharraf and others who were going to be trapped by Pakistani army inside Bangladesh territory. On other front around the area we had already lost most of the places around Salda river adjoining tea gardens on the Indian side of Tripura. The troops of Major Safiullah had been defending the areas but they could not sit long in the face of heavy artillery attacks by Pakistani army. At that time our troopsi controlled only a few pockets near Mukundapur inside Bangladesh territory. Major Safiullah’s troops were continuing the fights and quite a few places kept on changing hands. Major Safiullah was then staying very near to the borders with all his troops.
It was in this context Mr. H. T. Imam and others decided to visit Major Safiullah in the borders. After getting a green signal from him we left by the jeep for the destination. We could proceed only 17 miles when we had to leave the jeep and start walking. We met Mr. Safiullah that day along with other officers like Major Muin, Captain Matin, Captain Nasim, Lt. Murshed, and Lt. Ibrahim. We were very happy to see that Major Safiullah had chosen the right place for his headquarters since it was wellprotected by the hills on almost all sides. We found regular sentry duty in and around the place. We saw that Capt. Nasim and Major Murshed were preparing to leave for an operation. Major Safiullah told us that they were going to Mukundapur for an operation. Looking in retrospect, the original struggle for freedom started with open confrontation by our troops and freedom fighters with the Pakistani army at different places including Dhaka. That was a suicidal course which we should have avoided at all cost. Equipped as they were with the most modern, latest weapons our troops and freedom fighters with little arms and ammunitions were no match for the Pakistani army. Thus, our policy should have been to take them on unaware in guerrilla warfare. Of course, this is not to say that the policy of open confrontation was necessarily one of our own choices. This partly had to be at the dictate of circumstances in which the war was thrust on us. Because of initial attack by the Pakistan army and the disorganisation amongst us there could
302
possibly be no way out to fight the army openly where ever there was a chance to do so. . We had, however, by that time learned the mistakes. Second chase of the liberation struggle had already sat in of the freedom fighters in control of scanty areas mostly along the border and along inaccessible areas deep inside Bangladesh like areas inside riverine Rangpur, Faridpur, Barisal, Patuakhali etc. This was time now for guerrilla warfare in which our freedom fighters and troops followed a policy of hit and run we had by that time been able to set up some intelligent source among local villagers and others who used to supply us information regarding movements of the army. The freedom fighters used to take positions secretly along the route and used to attack the enemy when they were within shooting range.
Major Safiullah informed us that they had been successfull in these tactics. By that time, a few such operations had been carried out. We were told that Captain Nasim and Lt. Murshed were going on for an operation as a trap had air already been laid near Mukundapur for taking on a section of the Pakistani army. Later on, we came to know that this operation was partly successful and about 5 or 6 Pakistani troops were killed by the freedom fighters.
In the beginning phase of disorganisation amongst political, official and military circles, the fight started at different places. Gradually it felt necessary to bring all fighting forces under a central command. It was in this context the then Prime Minister Mr. Tazuddin Ahmed and the then C-in-C of the freedom fighters Col. M. A. G. Usmani convened a meeting of all army commanders who were fighting actively on the fronts. As a result of a high-level meeting, the decision was taken to divide the fighting areas into 12 zones. It was at a later stage these zones were named, Major Safiullah’s troops came to be known as s-force. Incidentally the zone was in keeping with the political zones of administration we had planned and established. All these were done successfully and I am mentioning these decisions at a time only to keep track of the events.
One important incident of that time was my meeting with Capt. Haider about the father of whom I have described earlier in the pages of this book. Capt. Haider was inside the Comilla
303
Cantonment when all the trouble started. He was taken a captive and the Pakistan army where possibly deciding to kill him. Captain Haider later told me that the army could not possibly spare him as he was trained Commando. It was because of good luck Captain Haider managed to escape out of the Cantonment and in the process received a bullet in his right hand at the elbow. Captain Haider used to meet me regularly in Agartala and requested me for sending boys from Kishoreganj or town to him. In those days a lot of intelligence surveillance had to be done inside the occupied territory and these could only be done by boys who knew the area well. I used to refer all such boys to Captain Haider and used to be provided with very responsible jobs by him. Incidentally, Captain Haider was working under the command of Major Khaled Mosharraf.
Because of the continuation of the fighting at different places inside and along the border, quite a few freedom fighters used to get killed or wounded. Time had now come for the establishment of a sentry hospital for looking after the injured personnels. With great efforts, we were able to establish two such hospitals, one near Udoypur in Tippers district and another near Melaghar in the same district. The services provided by these two hospitals would long be remembered in the history of our freedom struggle. It was one of our duties to visit those hospitals and provide encouragement and support to the injured freedom fighters. The establishment of the hospitals was possible because of the voluntary association or our evacuee doctors and medical students and many girls from responsible families who volunteered to act as nurses in those hospitals. These hospitals provided facilities, however scanty these could be to the injured freedom fighters most of whom could not expect better than such treatment in those days.
The most important single event of that period was the development of the concept of youth training program undertaken by the government in the Eastern zone. Thousands of young men were leaving Bangladesh and entering India. These young men were desperate and were very sincere for fighting the Pakistani army at different places; the young men including people from the villages as well as from urban elite groups. I have seen with my own eyes how our boys, living in the best of comfort and luxuries
304
in the Dhaka city eagerly flocked at the Bangladesh office for enlisting themselves for fight against the Pakistani army. In the beginning, these boys could be attached to different sectors and army officers for rush and raid training for taking part in active battles. Major Safiullah once mentioned to us about two brothers who did excellent work in operation only after one week of training which they learned practically in the field by remaining by the side of the troops who were actually fighting. That was the time when the numbers were small and they could be managed this way. It was no longer the same small numbers but thousands of young men craving for arms and ammunitions for fighting the enemy where ever they could be provided. Naturally, that had to be given a serious thought and a plan worked out for effective training of those boys so that they could be inducted into the job as semiregulars.
It was in this context, the concept of youth camps was discussed by us. The leading part in this respect was taken by Mr. M. R. Siddiqui, Mr. Zahur Ahmed Choudhury, Mr. H. T. Imam and Mr. Mahbub Chashi. Of course, the military commanders like Major Safiullah, Major Ziaur Rahman, Major Khaled Mosharraf and Major Nurul Islam were associated in the project. Negotiations had to go on with Indian authorities for providing us with minimum training facilities and arms and ammunitions. There was then the question of motivation of these boys and their accommodation and food. All this involved huge expenditure which had to be made from different sources. All these points were taken into account and high-level discussions continued for evolving a plan according to which there would be provisions for all willing young men to get trained for eventual operations and fighting against the Pakistani army. The name of the Indian gentleman who gave strong support to the proposal is Dr. Triguna Sen, onece Minister of Education in the Central Government of India. During the formulation of the plan, Dr. Sen gave all support and was instrumental in the negotiations of Bangladesh authorities with India authority.
Ultimately, we were able to work out such a plan. It was decided that initially the willing boys would be placed in a youth camp where they would undergo motivational and initial training.

305
Political instructors and initial trainers were employed for the purpose and a large number of such youth camps were established. The next stage for the youth was to enter the youths’ training camps where they receive better training with better arms and ammunitions. They were then ready for practical operations and were attached to different existing centres.
Looking in retrospect, the youth camp organisation provided the best particulars to the young people of Bangladesh to get trained for fighting against the enemies. Without these camps sites would not have been possible to train up so large number of people for deploying them against the enemy with regular troops and others who already knew how to fight, many commendable operations were carried out by cadets passing out from these camps and their performance was in no way inferior to the performances shown by regular troops during actual operations. It is difficult to name battles or place in which such trained people took part. The number still runs into thousands. The youth camp organisation provided the framework under which the willing youth energy of Bangladesh was generally into constructive purposes. This is not to say that we were able to do everything. Because of limitation of finance (though subsidised to a great extent by the Indian government), other resources, shortage of an accommodation facilities, the training did not go as quickly as we would have liked it to go. In those days it was a common sight to see young boys queuing up in lines for enlistment but many of the young boys we could not provide with any training at all; many of them had to wait for two or even three months for getting a chance to enter either a youth camp or the youth training camp.
One integral part of any freedom struggle is the publicity campaign. This problem has two phases. Publicity is necessary for boosting up the morale of the evacuees and others fighting directly against all odds and also for the people inside the occupied territory. The publicity policy adopted by the Bangladesh Government kept in view these two distinct requirements. In spite of all the difficulties that we were facing, we managed to arrange some form of publicity campaign both for the occupied territory and for the free zones – both for the people who were dying a number of times inside and others who were suffering in physical
306
security. By the middle of June, a distinct policy had already been taken for launching the vast publicity movement both national and international and the policy had taken a concrete shape by the government functioning centrally at Mujibnagar. The Bangladesh Government was prudent enough to have recognised that all available means of campaign had to be tipped. Thus, we kept a few leaflets, reproduction of my articles on the war written by national and international writers, publicity through organising meetings in liberated zones and through press.
It was in this context the possibility of a radio station had also been exploded. I shall do injustice to the efforts made by the government for propagating the cause of Bangladesh if I do not mention the efforts undertaken in these various fields. Talking about the radio first, everybody is aware that the Chittagong radio station had started working as the Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra from the very beginning of the movement, with the fall of Chittagong this Radio station had to be physically shifted and during those days since the transmitter was atop a truck, the transmission was very low and it was very difficult to tune to Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra With the fall of more places like Rangamati and others at Hill Tracts it became almost impossible to operate a Radio station inside the Bangladesh territory. Incidentally, the reported allegation by the Pakistan Radio that the so called, as they called it, Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra was situated on a launch on the Hoogli river in West Bengal was not correct. Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra was never situated there.
Publicity through the radio is the most effective means of reaching the population of the occupied territory whose morale had to be boosted up. In the meantime, Radio Pakistan had been constantly endeavouring to show that everything was normal inside the occupied territory and people had returned to their normal evocations. Apart from the need to boost the morale of the people both inside and outside, there was the supreme necessity of countering the baseless propaganda carried out by Radio Pakistan. It was in this context the importance of having a Radio Station, a rejuvenated Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra, was being exploded by the leadership. As I have mentioned, it was very difficult to have a permanent such station inside the occupied territory or even inside
307
the pockets of liberated zones we could defend with all our forces. Thus, such a radio station essentially had to be located somewhere near the borders in a make shift arrangement so that these could be shifted from one place to another as per needs. Such a radio station did operate from near the border near Agartala for about a month though it was only a very weak frequency (1-K. W) station.
It is in this context I must mention the visit of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Nandini Satpathy, Indian Minister of State for Information to Broadcasting to Agartala. In those days the question of recognition of Bangladesh was a very prominent issue. The Indian population had been persistently demanding such recognition from the government. I distinctly remember that when Mrs. Indira Gandhi came, she invited all of us to meet her at one place in Agartala. The meeting was quite brief. Mrs. Indira Gandhi spoke for a few minutes and explained the position of the Indian Government vis-a-vis of the struggle. I distinctly remember myself and Akbar Ali was sitting by her side. Since Mrs. Gandhi wanted to have our reaction in brief, it was Akbar Ali who wanted to know about recognition from Mrs. Gandhi. Akbar Ali’s question was when Indian Government was going to recognise Bangladesh, Mrs. Gandhi had been sitting almost casually and when Akbar Ali put this question, she straightened up bit and gave him a long look. She posed a counter question to Akbar Ali asking him what he would gain by such recognition. Akbar Ali was not to be daunted and explained how such recognition will boost up the morale of the evacuees and other Bengalees apart from giving a stamp of regularity to the provisional government of Bangladesh. Mrs. Gandhi again had a long look at Akbar Ali and this time started addressing him as a young man. She looked into distance and closed her eyes and commented that the world was very harsh and any decision to be taken would have to be made after analysing the pros and cons. I still remember what she said that day. She addressed Akbar Ali and said, “Young man, this world is very harsh. You can get away by doing everything if you do not admit that you have done it”. She went on to explain that by according recognition India would simply expose itself. Then she will become exposed to the whole world and here may be forces which will take it as a pretext for going out openly for the atrocities
308
committed by Pakinstanis in Bangladesh. Mrs. Gandhi asserted that the stamp of legality given by Indian recognition will not carry much value if India would not be in a position to supply the freedom fighters with arms and ammunitions. She admitted that temporarily the movement will get a boosting up as a result of such recognition but in the long run this may weaken the cause of Bangladesh in spite of helping it. She also elaborated on various legal and technical difficulties which prevented India from according a formal recognition to the government of Bangladesh. Mrs. Gandhi held a view that India could help the freedom fighters better with arms and ammunitions without formal announcing it through recognition wholly, in fact, they had already granted such recognition by allowing the Pakistan Deputy High Commission, which had defected in favour of Bangladesh, to function in a fullfledged manner on the soils of India. She opened her eyes again and finished her statement by saying there is a right time for the right decisions. I can assure you that the recognition will be accorded as soon as the time is ripe for such recognition. Incidentally, this was completely in keeping with the public stand of Mrs. Gandhi to the Indian people whom she always consoled by saying that the Indian government was all out for the Bangladesh cause but recognition could be given only when time was ripe.
An off-shoot of the meeting with Mrs. Gandhi and Mrs. Nandini Satpathy was the progress made by our leadership regarding procurement of a radio transmitter to act as Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra Everybody is aware that from the late June a full-fledged Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra started functioning. This provided inspiration to people both inside the occupied territory and outside, either in the liberated area or Indian soil. This was possible because of the kind attitude taken by Mrs. Gandhi who was herself in-charge of information and broadcasting and Mrs. Nandini Satpathy who was Indian Minister of State for this portfolio.
I do not know the whole story of the procurement of the transmitter. As far as I know the transmitter was a Medium Wave 50 Kilometer instrument. The transmitter had possibly been donated to the Government of India by the United States of America for publicity propaganda against the People’s Republic of

309
China after the 1962 Sino-Indian Border clashes. For the best reasons known to the Indian authority, this transmitter had remained unused and the use of this could be allowed to the Bangladesh authorities. It was with this transmitter Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra functioned throughout the whole period of occupation of the most of the country by the Pakistan army and the station functioned even after 2/3 days of the victory day on the 16th of December, 1971.
Though it is not in chronological order, here to mention about the function of this Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra with this transmitter, I think I should better record here lest I should forget in the later pages of this book. When the freedom fighters started using the Chittagong radio station transmitter for broadcasting, they used it directly and the broadcasts were all live broadcasts. For those who lived inside the occupied territory and in remote areas it may be a news to learn that no live broadcast was carried out from Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra which functioned with higher transmission hired from India, The Central Radio Station in fact was not the transmitting centre but a small two-storied building possibly No. 24 in the Baliganj area of Calcutta. In those days of war, it was impossible to have organised live broadcasts from the transmitting centre because of the inherent risk attached to such a venture. This is why we prudently decided to have all transmissions from tape recordings. It was in the two-storied building of Baliganj everybody used to meet for recording the proposed broadcast, the speeches, the songs, the announcements and all. The whole program in fact was taped and in the evening the tape used to be sent to the destination for the transmission over Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra Fortunately for us, because of careful handling all broadcast appeared to be live and there were a very few people who suspected that the broadcast would be taped. After independence, when I told these to some of my friends, they were quite surprised. They told me that they had thought that people were in front of the microphone when the broadcast was made. In fact, this was no so, and the whole program everyday used to be in tapes are used to reach the transmitting station in time for broadcast at usual hours.
310
Another publicity of tremendous value was from the visit of the 4-Member British M. P. Delegation to the occupied territory. The atrocities of the Pakistan army had got so much of publicity in the world press that the British Government had decided to send a mission for finding the facts. I do not distinctly remember the composition of the mission but this mission of the Members of the British Parliament did a wonderful job in that they exposed the claim of normalcy made by Pakistan inside the occupied territory. We had been following the visit with great interest. One day we came to know the Mission Members would be reaching Agartala from Dhaka. In those days Pakistani and Indian Planes did not overfly (they do not overfly even now) each other’s territories. But this was not the case with the special planes in which the Members of the British Parliament were travelling with great reluctance the Pakistan government had to allow the overflying by the British M. P.s When they were going to Calcutta via Agartala, arrangements were made so that we could meet this delegation. It was done at the behest of ourselves and the government of Tripura who rightly thought that we could express ourselves to such a neutral team. Possibly the British Members of the delegation had already become too convinced of the atrocities that they did not meet us that day at the Agartala airport. We waited for a long time at Agartala only to be told later that the British Delegation had flown out of Bangladesh direct to Calcutta. My assessment that the British Delegation had already got convinced is based on public reactions they showed after their visit to the occupied territories continuing with the propaganda and publicity campaign by the Government we tried to reproduce almost all important write-up in International paper for dispatching them, to the occupied territory to the selected persons. Sometimes these used to be sent by special messengers and sometimes with the Mukti Bahini boys who were going inside for any operation. It all depended on the amount of time we used to have at our disposal and sometimes the reproductions used to be in cyclostyled and sometimes typed. It was possibly on the 11th of June that the famous article of Anthony Mascaranhas was reproduced in the “Amrita Bazar Patrika”. This write up was the first authoritative version of what actually had been going on inside the occupied territory. Anthony
311
Mascaranhas was a Guyanese Christian by descent. He was one of the staff members of the Daily Morning News in Karachi and was also a reporter of Sunday Times of London. Anthony Mascaranhas had travelled inside the occupied territory just after the crackdown and he had reported the killing of Beharies in Brahmanbaria by Bengalee rebels and others. This had established Anthony Mascaranhas as a Pro-Pakistani writer who appeared to be in favour of the ideas propagated by the Pakistani authority in those days. In fact, Anthony Mascaranhas had no reason to be in favour of the Bengalees but the policy of genocide undertaken by the army authorities made an impression on his mind that as a journalist he could not but report what was actually going on.
The write-up titled “Genocide” by Anthony Mascaranhas itself contained a forwarding note in which the writer described how he managed to escape out of Pakistan for publishing the story. Anthony Mascaranhas managed to get his wife and children out of Pakistan and turned up in London with them. He then turned at the office of the Sunday Times and handed over to them the story. He made the condition that they should not publish it before he would get out again out of Pakistan for his own security. This he did with great caution and the story was then published.
Anthony Mascaranhas was on the team of the journalists selected by the army for going around army establishments in a guided tour. His write-up contained factual statements regarding army operations and conclusive establishment that the army was following a cold-blooded policy of wiping out all those elements he considered a threat to what they called the integrity of Pakistan. Anthony Mascaranhas described this in the most vivid details. The policy statement was made to him along with other journalist when he was along with others met Major General Raza, G.O.C. of 9th Division Pakistan army stationed in Comilla. Major General Raza reportedly said and I quote according to Anthony Mascarenhas, “Gentlemen, you must not have the slightest doubt that the army is in the operation in an inconsistent manner. The army knows its job well. The army cannot keep on appearing on the scene each time. There is a threat to the internal order and threat to the integrity of Pakistan. The army wants to accomplish its job this time and for this they will not mind killing two million people if necessary and
312
subjugate East Pakistan for 30 years”. Anthony Mascaranhas described how he felt after he heard the statement from one of the senior most army officer stationed in the than East Pakistan.
When we received the copy of the write-up by Anthony Mascaranhas, we made out a good number of copies of it and sent them inside the occupied territory to high Bengalee officials and others we considered necessary. The relevant portions of the report were also quoted reportedly in the broadcast of the Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra. On our return to independent Bangladesh after the 16h of December, we came to know from many people that these reports used to reach their destination and used to get circulated amongst Bengalees though precautions were taken in every possible way. Even the hawkers inside the occupied territory used to carry reports and other reports favourably to the Bengalees appearing in the American weeklies like, Time Magazine and Newsweek. A very high Bengalee official who lived throughout nine months occupation inside the occupied territory told is that these reports were of immense value and used to give them a correct picture apart from the broadcast by Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra and BBC which they used to listen to with great caution and secrecy.
It is in this line with the publicity campaign that the weekly newspaper Joy Bangla was started with the blessings of the Govt. of Bangladesh. This paper used to be edited in those days by Mr. A. Mannan, who is now Minister for Health and family Planning of the Bangladesh Government. There was a lot of demand for the copies of this papers’ print and at no stage we were in a position to supply the required number of copies. The Joy Bangla used to carry not only reports on the War of Liberation but also factual reports on the war by established newspapers and weeklies throughout the world. The efforts of Joy Bangla were to boost the morale of the people of the occupied territory and removed despair and pessimism from the minds of those who had crossed over to India evacuees. The Joy Bangla used to have a number of reporters and column writers. The paper had a liaison office in Calcutta and its office used to be in the Park Circus area. There was no doubt that the paper, Joy Bangla, made its contribution and after independence we could hear from people that they used to receive
313
copies of this publication though very infrequently. This was, of course, so for obvious reasons.
Because of the problem of communication and distribution, the Bangladesh authorities in the eastern zone had been thinking in terms of an alternative to Joy Bangla in the eastern zone. It was at that time Mr. A. Gaffar Choudhury, a Senior Journalist of this paper and at present editor of the Jonopod appeared in Agartala. Mr. A. Gaffar Choudhury was on the editorial staff of the Daily Purbodesh. He could not escape from the occupied territory in the beginning and managed to cross over to Tripura only after a few days. Mr. A. Gaffar Choudhury has written vivid details about those nine months and a good part of this story was serialised in the daily Dainik Bangla after Independence under the title Niruddista Noy Mash”. In that write-up Choudhury described in vivid details the atrocities of Pakistan army inside Dhaka city and all that followed after crackdown of the Pakistan army in Bangladesh on March 25, 1971.
When Mr. Abdul Gaffar Choudhury was in Agartala, we met him and got a good amount of information from him regarding the conditions inside Dhaka. Mr. Abdul Gaffar Choudhury described in details how the Pakistan army news authorities were regulating all news and editorials. As an editorial staff of the daily Purbadesh, he described how he used to meet the army representative who used to dictate the editorials and maps census on different news items. The man in charge of such restriction and dictation in the beginning was Major Salek of the army. A. Gaffar Choudhury gave a good account of what his convictions were. Major Salek was in fact the de-facto boss of all newspapers of the then East Pakistan in those days. No news coverage or editorial could be published in any newspaper without the approval of Major Salek. A. Gaffar Choudhury described how Major Salek used to operate. He even used to visit the newspaper offices and sat in the observer house for some time. Mr. Choudhury had a number of meetings with Salek in the observer house where he could come to know this man personally. According to Mr. Choudhury, Major Salek was a well read man but he had his own convictions and knew his job very well. Mr. A. Gaffar Choudhury told us how Major Salek used to tune to Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra in the presence of editorial
314
staff and others in the observer house. In those days when the Bengalees were afraid of publicly listening to the broadcasts of Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra, Major Salek used to tune to the station and he used to listen to many of his broadcasts at a top volume, Mr. Choudhury told us jokingly that tuning to Sadhin Bangla Beter Kendra by Major Salek did away with the necessity of their listening to the station secretly.
When Mr. A. Gaffar Choudhury turned up in Agartala, Mr. H. T. Imam, who happened to be his college friend, suggested that now we could open a news cell in the Eastern Zone and could publish a newsletter regularly for consumption of our troops in the beginning and for others including people inside the occupied territory later. It was in this connection a number of meetings took place in which the decision for publishing a newsletter was taken. Another person who was associated with such a venture in those days was Mr. Abul Bashar Mridha, journalist of the daily Ittefaq and at present editor of the Daily Samaj. Both Akbar Ali and myself had literary bias and Mr. H. T. Imam thought that all of us together will constitute a good group under the leadership of the professional journalist Mr. Choudhury and would be able to bring out a newsletter.
We did in fact start bringing out this newsletter for a few days. But this could not continue for a long time since many people started questioning the integrity of Mr. A. Gaffar Choudhury. Mr. A. Gaffar Choudhury was a free language journalist who had criticised the Awami League and even its leader Mr. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a number of times before in the Daily Purbedash. Mr. Choudhury wanted to defend such write ups on the plea that he was a paid employee and those were written in different circumstances and in a completely different context. All told, however, the attitude of Awami League Leadership towards Abdul Gaffar Choudhury remained one of suspicion and thus, a directorial board was being thought of over the cell we had created. It was proposed that Sheikh Faziul Haque Moni would be the chief of the cell so that he could give the policy decisions on behalf of the political leadership. There are many other events which ultimately led to the exit of Mr. A. Gaffar Choudhury to Calcutta and ultimately to his joining the Joy Bangla and as a result the
315
newsletters published from the Eastern Zone got a serious setback and it was discontinued after a few days.
Till that time, we had been carrying on the activities of the Govt. on behalf of the central government functioning from Mujibnagar. It was imperative that the Chief Executive functioning in the Eastern Zone, Mr. H. T. Imam, knew the exact man of the Government and the activities we were supposed to carry out for the cause of the struggle. It was in this context Mr. H. T. Imam visited Mujibnagar and met the Central Leaders. He had a number of meetings with all the ministers and the Acting President. These meetings were very useful in the sense that this provided him with new information and new courses of action he was supposed to take on behalf of the government. When Mr. H. T. Imam came back from Mujibnagar, all of us sat with him one day and discussed the issue in all its details. Contrary to our expectation, we came to know that the Mujibnagar Government had not yet by that time been completely organized and the decisions that were taken were more or less adhoc decisions. He was associated as with the movement from the very beginning Mr. H. T. Imam had the privilege to have seen different events from a very close angle. He was in the system so that the struggle could go on without interruption and without suffering from the lack of a predetermined policy on all fronts. Mr. H. T. Imam told us that he made the suggestions to the political leadership during his stay at Mujibnagar and even showed them the blueprint of administration that had been worked out by Mr. Akbar Ali Khan a few days ago. Mr. H.T. Imam told us that he could possibly make a mark on Mr. Tazuddin, the then Prime Minister of the Government and would like him to understand the necessity for a coordinated effort. Mr. H. T. Imam found Mr. Tazuddin himself cooperative and sincere in his efforts and he even promised that all actions would be taken for streamlining the administration and the fighting forces so that the administration could support the freedom fighters by all means including necessary publicity.
One of the most important meetings Mr. Imam had was with Mr. Hussain Ali, the then officer of the Bangladesh Mission in Calcutta. As I have described in earlier pages of this book, Mr. Hussain Ali along with all his Bengalee staff, totalling about 65 in
316
number, defected in favour of Bangladesh on the 15th of April, 1971. Mr. H. T. Imam told us that Mr. Hussain Ali had been working around the clock trying to make liaison with the Government of India and other governments for effectively portraying the view point of Bangladesh in the struggle. Mr. Hussain Ali’s office, or the Bangladesh Mission as it was called in those days, the former Pakistan Deputy High Commission at Calcutta was situated at 9, Circus Avenue in Calcutta (incidentally it is the office of the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh even now in Calcutta). After defection, Mr. Husain Ali’s office turned out to be the most important place where foreigners could go publicly for seeking interviews with Bangladesh leadership and for collecting relevant information on our struggle. Mr. Hussain Ali was the busiest person in those days and he used to receive hundreds of visitors in those days. With the passing of time the Bangladesh Mission Office turned out to be the liaison office of the government with the outside world and Mr. Hussain Ali continued to be the most crucial link in the struggle between the leadership of Bangladesh and the outside world. Mr. Hussain Toufiq Imam told us that Mr. Hussain Ali’s office had in fact been converted into a full-fledged war liaison office and it had even accommodated an external publicity section. This external publicity section used to do work relating to publicity abroad. The section had a merger staff well versed in international politics with the necessary background. It was from this external publicity cell that all important publicity materials meant for consumption abroad were published and distributed. Among the important publications was the booklet covering the heinous activity of PIA carrying in two divisions of Pakistan army by air from West to the East Pakistan. Mr. H. T. Imam told us that the publicity section had been organised and functioning quite satisfactorily around the clock.
During the continuation of the liberation struggle, the Indian Press always used to play a very important role in focusing attention on the events that were taking place inside the occupied territory. Most of the massacres unleashed by the Pakistan army were reported in the different newspapers of India in great details. This is not to say that always these reports were based on facts. In
317
fact, a glance over the reports that appeared in the Indian press just after the start of the hostility would give this idea that the Indian press were possibly playing it too much. Some of the Indian newspapers even carried the report of death of Tikka Khan which was completely baseless. There were even reports of the arrest of General Mitha in some sections of the Indian press.
I happened to go through the relevant newspapers on my arrival at Tura. The S.P. Mr. Jha had already realised that he had to do something to keep us busy for most of the day. He had talks with me about newspapers, literature etc. while we were stranded at Baghmara. He had already come to know that I had a literature bias and would like to go through the newspapers at least for curiosity, if not for other reasons. Mr. Jha did an excellent job by providing us with the back issues of many Indian newspapers and foreign journals like American Newsweek or Time. It was by going through these old issues of the Indian newspapers, that I came to know a lot about things that were happening in other parts of Bangladesh of which I knew that much I could get through the police wireless sitting at Kishoreganj.
I continued this practice of going through Indian newspapers even at Agartala. While staying at Tura, it had already struck me that the Indian press was possibly not giving all the correct stories. In fact, they kept on this tradition for the next month also. Thus, the tune of the stories in Agartala in June was as much the same as I had perceived sitting at Tura in early May, 1971. Most of the stories were so exaggerated that we found it difficult to believe all those. In fact, in those days the Indian press had started so much exaggeration that they were fast losing incredibility. The credibility gap had become so wide that even the Indians had started taking all stories with a grain of salt. It was possibly at a later stage that the authorities of the Indian press could understand their mistake and started correcting themselves. I do not know whether this was done under any instructions but spontaneously. But the fact remains that the Indian press towards the middle of August or late September started giving more or less correct stories. This trend was maintained for some more time till the end of November when again the Indian Press started indulging in hyperbolic exertions. This was because by that time the freedom
318
fighters had gained some control over many territories and in some places the Pakistani army had already come in confrontation with the Indian army and BSF. Their hyperbolic exertion continued throughout the war that finally broke out on December 3, 1971 between India and Bangladesh on one side and Pakistan at another.
I, as a person would not have had to command very seriously on the role of the Indian press but for one reason. I became the target of wild journalism once during my stay at Agartala. I am going to write this story here.
It had been drizzling since morning that day in the last week of June possibly if I remember correctly. It was about 8:30 a.m. when we were planning to go to the office, Mr. Priya Das Chakraborty turned up at the residence. Even though it was a Sunday we were planning to go to office for some very urgent work. The arrival of Mr. Priya Das Chakraborty was not at all surprising to us at that time. Mr. Chakraborty owned the house we were living in and he used to come to the office any time without any formality. This time, however, he was accompanied by a guest whom he wanted to introduce to us.
Soon we came to know that the guest who was accompanying Mr. Chakraborty was a journalist from Calcutta. He wanted to know about many things from us. All of us had always carefully avoided journalists since we did not believe in any unnecessary publicity nor we wanted any story to be published on our existence in Agartala. But because the journalist was accompanied by Mr. Chakraborty, we would have possibly not even talk to him. Mr. H.T. Imam became alert and started making only guarded remarks when the journalist started asking him one or two questions about happenings inside Bangladesh. Our reaction did not evade Mr. Priyo Das Chakraborty or the journalist. Mr. Chakraborty remarked that the journalist was in favour of the Bangladesh movement and he assured us that this gentleman would not publish anything which may cause harm to the movement or our existence in Agartala. It was possibly on the assurance of Mr. Priyo Das Chakraborty that we started talking to the journalist a little informally. My wife and I used to live in one room in that house and we took the journalist to our room when he wanted to see it. On seeing the condition of the room and our make shift
319
arrangements, the journalist expressed his sympathy for us and commented that possibly we were facing difficulties which we had not faced before. He wanted to know from my wife how we had been living in Bangladesh. My wife gave a vivid description of our living at Kishoreganj and she ultimately finished the story by saying that we were, nonetheless, unhappy even in that state of our existence. The journalist then turned on to me and wanted to know a few things about administrative structure inside the East Pakistan. I frankly told him how it was and also on his query, pointed out the privileges that were given to the officers of the Government in the then East Pakistan. The journalist listened to me with attention and again sympathised that we had to bear up with the temporary difficulties finally commenting that the good days would again come. I took his last remark with some suspicion and told him that we are not at all unhappy to be in the state or existence even though we would be so glad to go back home even if we were to leave a worse life.
The journalist’s sympathies appeared to be so genuine that my wife became tempted to entertain him with a cup of tea, the only thing that we can possibly offer at that time. In fact, he was treated with all hospitality any evacuee like us could offer in the state of our existence.
The journalist then went around the different rooms of the house and again talked to Mr. H.T. Imam, Akbar Ali and Rakib. Somehow or other, from the very beginning, Rakib did not like the idea of his appearance at the house and he kept on maintaining as much silence as possible. At the end of the talks, the gentleman requested us to pose for a photograph which Mr. H.T. Imam remarked that we were in hiding and it was not proper that our photograph should come up in any of the newspapers and magazines. Even then the journalist insisted but Mr. H.T. Imam remained strong on his point and did not allow us to be photographed by this gentleman.
Lest I should forget, I must mention here how we were portrayed in the magazines of which this journalist was a reporter. Such a small incident would have gone completely unnoticed if I were not to receive a letter from Rakib later when I went to Calcutta. Rakib sent me a letter in which he vividly described how
320
this journalist had portrayed us in the journal. He even sent a copy of the relevant issue which showed that this gentleman had completely misrepresented us in his paper. He had mentioned all imaginary utterances which he attributed to us giving the impression that we were sorry that we were living in different situations. He unnecessarily quoted my wife in the frame up story and gave such dialogue such a tone that my wife appeared to have lamented for being in difficult situation in Agartala. In his story, I was dubbed as an autocratic bureaucrat than as one who had love for his country. He gave imaginary dialogues in the cooked-up story and portrayed me in a completely different context than he had interviewed us even against our wishes. This was all after he had expressed his sympathies earlier with us time and again.
I have read many stories in many newspapers or journals that such stories were exaggerations in a wrong context. I had read many such stories which bore the mark of vengeance against some person deliberately. But I have never been subjected to such stories. I could never imagine that innocent looking journalist who talked to us at Agartala would cook up unnecessary and biased stories for indirectly maligning us amongst people. I still do not understand why this gentleman became so pernicious and passed such uncharitable remarks about us even though we were by no stretch of imagination his enemies. He was, in fact, not behaving as a journalist when he was misrepresenting facts and cooking up stories which never happened. He was being completely unfaithful to his profession for no important reason. Later, during my stay in Calcutta, I tried to locate this journalist just for asking him a single question. I just wanted to ask him what harm we had done to him so that he was induced to write such cooked-up stories about us. I, however, did never meet him in spite of my best efforts.
The events that I have described in this book are mostly first person events in which either I was involved personally or one very close associate approached to writing the events that took place during the war of liberation with background information. It is not possible for one to be present in all the happenings or have firsthand knowledge of all the important events that took place · during the long nine months.
321
It is in the context of the experience of either close associates or friends that I described her in details how things went on in Khulna and Pabna during the early days of the struggle.
Moqbul had never seen Col. Shams so serious in his life. Both of them were sitting in the billiard room of Khulna club. Col. Shams looked at Moqbul for some time and repeatedly asserted that he should not go to Dhaka during that time.
It was around the 3rd week of March, 1971 before the crack down on the 26th of that month. Because of his frequent visits to the Khulna club, Col. Shams, the Commanding Officer of the Battalion posted at Khulna were known to all members of the club and others in the town. Moqbul had gone to Khulna on a vacation trip and had been staying with one of his friends. He had also come to know Col. Shams who soon became a very good friend. The friendship went to such an extent that one-night Col. Shams did not hesitate to take a lone of about Taka 1500/- from Moqbul. It was possibly the 20th or 21st March 1971. When on the 24th of March, Moqbul met Col. Shams in the club, he returned the money and when they were talking together, Col. Shams came to know that Moqbul had planned to leave for Dhaka in a day or two.
Col. Shams had possibly taken a fascination for Moqbul. This is why he repeatedly asked him not to go to Dhaka at that time but to go to his village home or in other place. He even hinted that if necessary, Moqbul could stay with him for some time. Moqbul could not see the reason and asked Col. Shams what would happen and why he was insisting that he should not proceed to Dhaka. Moqbul tried to explain it that way that even if the talks between the army and the Awami League failed, possibly there would be more rigorous martial law and nothing more than that. Moqbul wondered why an innocent person like him who did not indulge in politics should be afraid of anything. Col. Shams listened to him patiently and then got hold of his hand and suddenly said “the martial law is there but you Bengalees have not seen what martial law means”. He even hinted that there could be serious trouble and thus, Moqbul should not go to Dhaka. Moqbul today does not remember what else Col. Shams told him that day but he still remembers that Col. Shams really expressed a great lot of anxiety about Moqbul’s going to Dhaka.
322
Anyway, even after listening to Col. Shams, Moqbul left for Dhaka the next day early in the morning. He reached Pabna in the Toyota Car which he had been driving and took shelter in one of the hotels. The next morning, he had his breakfast and left in the same Car for the Nagarbari Ferry. There was nothing unusual in the morning of 26th March till they were very close to the Ferry. Then they could realise that there was no traffic on the road and they were the only people who were driving that early morning of 26th March, 1971.
Moqbul had not proceeded quite far when his car was interrupted by a group of army people. One of the Jawans came forward and harshly asked them where they were going. Moqbul could not give the answer before the driver of the car was struck in the hand and he could see that the hand had fractured. Moqbul was given a blow by one of the Jawans and he fell flat on the road. Suddenly he recollected that Col. Shams had given some indication of the serious things to come. The blow from the Jawans was not that serious but Moqbul pretended to have been hurt very seriously. He somehow sat down on the road and then shouted that he was a friend of Col. Shams and there was no reason why he should be beaten like that. When the name of Col. Shams was uttered, the army Jawans looked at each other for some time and they came close to Moqbul. They asked him how he knew; then Moqbul gave some background of his acquaintance with Colonel Shams and told the Jawans that he was personally known to him. They could verify facts from Col. Shams himself who was at that moment in Khulna town.
When Moqbul had finished his nervous story, the Jawans got hold of him and took him to one of their junior officers along with the driver. The junior officers interrogated Moqbul for quite some time and when he possibly got satisfied that Moqbul really was a friend of Col. Shams he gave some instructions to the Jawans. Moqbul had thought that he along with the driver could be released soon. But to his utter surprise, under the instructions of the office, who was either a 2nd Lieutenant or Captain, his hands were fastened at the back and he along with many others were put in a truck for being taken to some unknown destination. It did not appear that the officer had misunderstood him. Neither did it
323
appear that he had told any lie whatsoever. Moqbul was in a fix to understand why he was being taken to some unknown place along with a few others who had by that time been brought to that officer in almost similar conditions. Moqbul wanted to ask one or two questions but the officer shouted at him and asked him to remain silent if he loved his own life.
There was nothing that Moqbul could do at that time but to resign himself to fate. Soon the truck started rambling down the road towards the unknown destination. It was after a drive of about an hour that they were taken to a small building inside Pabna town. During the journey, Moqbul could sense that danger was fast ahead, since he did not find any one on the road in the outskirt of town or in the town itself.
When the truck reached the destination, all of them were forcibly brought down from the truck and herded into a very small room, something like a Hall room, with their hands fastened back as before. They were made to room in that room and the Jawans left soon.
Soon Moqbul could understand that he along with others had been taken to some form of a concentration camp. In the meantime, the army Jawans had brought many other people from town including the owner of the hotel in which Moqbul had taken shelter the night before. Moqbul, in fact, remembered then that he had heard a few shouts during the night but he thought this was possibly nothing serious. He could not apprehend that something serious had happened, since he was served breakfast as usual in the early morning. The bearer of the hotel also could not say if anything at all had happened.
Moqbul had always lived in luxury and never known many hardships. Soon he could realise that he was in the midst of about three to four hundred people who had been herded into that room of the army. In fact, he even could understand that ladies had been kept in one of the other rooms. Moqbul found it difficult to sit in the room since most of the people had by that time realised that danger was ahead. Some of them, in fact, were trembling. The army sentry on duty started behaving very rudely and did not supply them with any food. They were, however, given some water after repeated pleading. There were no arrangements for toilet and

324
sanitation and soon the room became a very staunchly area where it became difficult to wait any longer. But since Moqbul and the others could not think of doing anything else, they kept on waiting there for an unknown future. Sometimes the sentry on duty peeped into the room, had a look and went out. The relatively older people had become so scared that many of them had been crying and weeping.
It was in such circumstances they passed the night at that concentration camp. The next morning, an army officer came and entered the room. He asked the Jawans to make a seizure list of all the articles with the people inside the room and confiscate those articles. Moqbul’s wrist watch, gold ring and the purse containing some about 5000 takas were taken away. The people there could hardly do anything and they all obliquely listened to whatever the army asked them to do.
It was possibly at midday that the same army officer returned with one Kabuliwala to the concentration camp: One Jawan started reading out some names and the Kabuliwala started identifying if those were the real persons. All these people whose names were announced by the Jawans were taken out of the room. They did not know what was in store for them but each of them started crying loudly when they were being taken out. The Jawans did not allow this and started beating mercilessly and threatened them not to make any noise.
Mogbul and few others were left behind and they did not know what was going home to happen to them or the persons who had been taken out after the roll call. After some time, Moqbul could hear the brush fire of stun gun from very near. One of the elderly people who had been left behind with Moqbul sobbed out and remarked that the army had possibly shot all those who had been taken out from the camp.
It was almost in a stupor and dizziness that Moqbul and the others passed another night at that concentration camp. The next morning, they were all fastened to two long ropes and taken out of the camp. The Jawans were accompanied by an officer. The officers went around the two lines and told them that he would not hesitate to kill all of them if he could suspect that they were miscreants. It was almost with a perverted sadistic smile he asked
325
them to kneel down and start hopping like a frog on the road. With their hands fastened behind their back and the hands attached to the long rope it was one of the most difficult exercises one could do. There was, however, no escape and Moqbul had to do accordingly along with the others. Even then when someone could not do it properly, the Jawans came forward with the stick and started beating him mercilessly on this or that pretext.
It was after about half an hour of such sadistic exercises that the Army Captain asked the Jawans to sit all from on the road. They were then taken to a nearby place where the Captain started talking to them in a loud voice. He told them that the Bengalees were going to see real Martial Law this time and the Army would be killing any one they would think a miscreant or antinationalgovernment or anti-national activities. Each one of them would have to inform the army of any miscreants if he came to know of any such person.
The speech continued for some time with threats aimed at the audience. In the meantime, it had become almost dark. Moqbul and the others were then taken to some place outside and down and asked to disperse. Moqbul does not remember to have run so fast in his life as he did that night. When they were asked to leave, each one of them started running right and left without looking what else was happening. Moqbul remembers to have run about half a mile until he could feel that he was a little free. It was completely dark that night and there was possibly nothing that he could see. He, however, hit some bodies, both dead and alive when he was running halter and scatter and ultimately reached a village house. A lot many people had assembled there in the darkness of night and Moqbul joined them. It was only through whispers and flashes that he could understand that the place where he was lying down out of hunger, fatigue and exertion that many others understand who was next to him. It was possibly not the time to think in which situation you were and what was in store for you the next day.
The night passed like that. The hundreds of frightened men, women and children hurdled together around different small village houses. Moqbul later felt very hungry and somehow managed to get near to one of small houses where the inmates were kind enough to give him some food. He had not slept for long two
326
days and soon he fell fast asleep. When he got up, it was night again and he heard that the people had started talking slowly, he gathered from their conversation that the army had possibly withdrawn as no army people were to be seen around as it was reported. Someone came rushing to that area and spread the rumour that the freedom fighters have defeated the army and have taken control of the town. Soon the whispers completing to rushed to towns in group to find out what actually had happened in the meantime.
Moqbul today remembers that before releasing him the army returned his wretched watch, gold ring and the money and did not keep anything back. It was quite surprising for those days since such things were never returned. It was possibly because the early occurrence of this nature that such thing were returned. The army Jawans possibly had no other alternative but to do it; soon they had made a seizure list in front of an officer.
When shouts and counter-shouts of Joy Bangla and other patriotic slogans could be heard at a distance, Moqbul along with others started running towards the town. They were soon in the urban areas and found that most of the people had come out on the streets shouting slogans. There was evidently a spirit of joy amongst the people. It was soon found out that the freedom fighters had defeated the army and had taken control of the town. During this process all the army Jawans had been killed and Moqbul could see their dead bodies lying here and there in and around the town. The bodies were badly mutilated and he could not identify any of those bodies.
It was possibly through chances that one of the army Jawans had escaped the wrath of the people. The people soon traced him out and started chasing. The Jawans had a stun gun in his hand and he threatened that he would fire back if the chasing was not stopped immediately. He turned back at the people and begged them to spare his life on the plea that he had seen enough of it and was not interested at all in living in East Pakistan. He told me that he had not killed anyone and just wanted to get away to Dhaka and from where he would go back home. The mob was in a fury and they did not pay any attention to whatever he said. As a mark of his sincerity the Jawan threw away the stun gun and asked for
327
mercy from the people. The mobs did not allow him to live and killed him on the spot as soon as he became unarmed. Moqbul in retrospect today feels very sorry for this Jawan but possibly that was the only rational thing for a mob to do in those circumstances.
The agonies were soon over and Moqbul and the others were literally free to go wherever they liked. Moqbul tried to trace his driver with great pains but he was nowhere to be seen in the big melee. Fortunately, Moqbul had a spare set of the keys of the car and he immediately rushed to the place where he had left the car two days back compelled by the instructions of the army. He could see the car. It was intact and was lying there without any damage done to it. Moqbul started driving himself and came back to Pabna town. He could no longer take risk with the car and left it with one of his known persons in the town.
Moqbul today does not remember the details of the arduous journey he had to take for reaching Dhaka. He boarded a launch and managed to come up to Munshiganj and this fellow had already fled to Mushiganj. Moqbul remained in his house for one day and then made plans for going out of the country in course of next few days. After all that he had seen and suffered Moqbul could not feel safe inside the occupied territory and decided to leave for Agartala via the border area in Comilla. His friend agreed to accompany him and both of them worked out a detailed plan for execution in the next few days to come.
Before finally leaving the country, Moqbul decided to get in touch with his friends and relations in Dhaka. He had a rented house in Lalbagh area and his first aim to reach that place to find out what actually had happened inside Dhaka during the time they had been captives of the Pakistani army in Pabna. Moqbul could cross the Buriganga river and come up to old Shakharipatty. By that time, it had become all clear to him that it would be very difficult to proceed further. Dead bodies were lying here and there and it was stenching very heavily. Moqbul could see corpses all around and could not gather more courage proceeding further. He obtained the idea of going up to Lalbagh or other areas in the new town and decided to go back to Munshiganj. 1. The journey back to Munshiganj was eventless. Moqbul and his friend then started for the border in Comilla district. Soon they
328
reached the borders and took shelter in one of the houses in the border areas. A peculiar strange incident happened there. The night when they were sleeping, they were surrounded by some people in the dark and arrested. The owner of the house appeared to be frightened but still made some arguments with those who came to arrest Moqbul and his friend
Moqbul’s hands were again fastened and eyes covered with a piece of cloth. He was forced to walk at gun point for quite a long distance when he was taken to a small building, as it appeared to him. His eyes were all the time covered during this journey. He could, however, understand that his friend was also being taken away with him by those people. Those people did not appear to be the Pakistan army but they were speaking all the time in Urdu.
After one day of confinement, one night, Moqbul was taken to one of the persons inside that house. That man appeared to be the leader of the gang and he threatened him that he would kill him unless he gave out his identity. Moqbul had really been frightened as he was not sure who those people were. Nonetheless he gathered enough courage and gave his identity in full saying that he was an M. A. from Dhaka University without any job at that time. He told them that he was on his way to India and narrated to them in details the story of his confinement and torture by the army. He, however, had to dilute the story to a great extent keeping reservations here and there since the interrogator was asking questions in chased Urdu. Moqbul did not know what impression was created on the minds of his captors as he was again thrown into the room with his hands tied and eyes covered.
In the meantime, they had already started interrogating his friend. Hearing Urdu, this fellow had got almost nervous and he started giving wrong identity for both Moqbul and himself. Moqbul later came to know that the other fellow was doing this because he thought disclosure of proper identity might indulge them in further troubles. The interrogators were, thus, very confused and they again called Moqbul and threatened him that they would kill immediately if he did not actually give his identity. Moqbul repeatedly told him that he had already given out whatever was true and there was nothing wrong in his statement. The leader of the gang then pointed out the discrepancies in his statement and
329
that of his friend’s and wanted to know which statement was true. Moqbul could understand that his friend had told lies for some reason and tried to explain it to the leader. He first sounded completely unconvinced and it appeared that both his friends and he was going to be shot very soon.
It was at this stage Moqbul gathered sufficient courage and told the leader that he did not mind being killed by them but wanted to assert once again that the identity given by him was nothing but correct. He told him that he could kill him any time he liked. The leader became a little more confused and it was at that point he started speaking to Moqbul in Bengali. Immediately, the idea of being held up by Mukti Bahini people struck Moqbul and he started asserting more of his real identity. There was, however, no concrete result as they were again thrown into the room and asked to wait.
When the night came again, the leader along with his gang men turned up and took Moqbul and his friend out of the house. Their eyes were again covered and they were taken to some unknown place. It was at the stage that the cover from the eyes were removed and Moqbul could find out that he was very near the place from where he had been taken a captive. The leader of the gang came to Moqbul and begged apology from him and set him free. He was asked to proceed to his destinations without any fear. When Moqbul insisted on knowing their identity they simply left
Moqbul was free once again. He approached the house where he had been taken shelter. It was quite late at night for asking for shelter from someone. But Moqbul still preferred to go to that very old house and knocked at the door. The owner of the house had possibly recognised Moqbul’s voice but was afraid to open the doors. It was after long pleadings that the door was opened and Moqbul could take shelter in that house. While the gang took him captive, Moqbul’s money bag was fallen on the floor of that house. He, immediately, wanted to find out if that was still there. To his utter surprises, he found the money bag which was lying exactly in the same position where it had fallen. The owner of the house being moved after a long time offered Moqbul and his friends food and both of them soon fell asleep.
330
The rest of the journey did not have anything more than the usual routine elements. It was with great difficulty Moqbul and his friends tracked their way to the borders and crossed it. They were soon on the soil of India and felt free once again.
331
Global Support for Bangladesh Liberation War
After the crackdown of Pakistan army on the 26th of March, 1971, the freedom fighters and others who were in the fore-front of the liberation struggle had to take shelter in India. This was merely for geographical proximity. India provided accommodation to all these elements that were considered anti-state by the army regime in Bangladesh. It was through Indian training and help that ultimately a big offensive could be launched on the Pakistan army for their final collapse leading to the Independence. Though from state to state, the Indian attitude towards the struggle varied there was fundamental unity amongst the varieties in the sense that majority of the Indians were generally in favour of Independence of Bangladesh. Because of the geographical proximity of Bangladesh to India and because of Bangladesh is surrounded on all sides except the south of India, the Indian attitude towards the liberation struggle played the most important single role in the freedom movement of this country. It is because of these geographical and historical considerations, there is need to analyse the gradual development of Indian attitude toward the liberation struggle and the role of India in such struggle vis-à-vis his own political, social and military advantages.
The first point to start this discussion is to concentrate on the initial reaction of India towards the liberation movement. As soon as the army crackdown occurred in Bangladesh, the Indian Press including the Indian Radio, started giving prominence to all such news in most of the occasions in the most exaggerated form. Sometimes even so much exaggeration was done that there was no basis of such exaggeration that ever took place in Bangladesh. Simply resistance incidents were highlighted and grown out of proportion in the Indian press in the beginning. This trend continued for quite some time ultimately assumed such a serious dimension that the ferocity of
332
Indian statements and propaganda could hardly be checked or taken for granted. This went so far that the Indian people themselves started doubting their own reports published in their newspapers. The realisation dawned on the Indians when they found that one strategic place after another was failing to the Pakistani troops and refugees in large numbers were crossing the border into the neighbouring states of India. Had the resistance movement has played too much the Indian press and radio created; this would have been the case. This bare fact proved to the Indian initially and then to the entire world that the Indian reports were in most cases not factual and were highly exaggerated. This initially Indian reaction to the freedom struggle was taken as the spontaneous support of the Indian people to the liberation struggle of Bangladesh. We shall be coming to this point of the development of the attitude of the Indian people in general and different factions in particular in the context of the gradual development of event throughout the period. What we went to discuss first in this context is the general allegation by the Pakistani that the Indian press and the Indian people were aware of such developments and had themselves planned this for the disintegration of Pakistan.
The thesis of Indian interest for the disintegration of Pakistan has its origin in the historical fact that led to the partition of the subcontinent India and Pakistan as early as 1947. It is a matter of regret that the Indian people first did not reconcile to the creation of Pakistan and expected that the new state would soon crumble again leading to the unification of both the states of the sub-continent. As Pakistan kept on increasing its defence and strength, the myth of Pakistan breaks down gradually diminished and the Indians came to know in their heart of hearts that Pakistan had been established for good that there was no change of its disintegrated in the near future. The Pakistan allegation from Islamabad all through the years since 1947 has been on this line, which has seemed historical truths behind the allegations. The Pakistanis-here we mean the people of what used to be call West Pakistan had always held that the Indians had never taken Pakistan without reservation and had always anticipated or even planned its total fall and break down. To what extent this attitude was shared by the Bangalees in the Eastern Wing of the then Pakistan is a subject of scrutiny and may be even controversy. In the initial period of the establishment of Pakistan,
333
because of overwhelming religious sentiments and the age long subjugation of the Muslims by the Hindus the general feeling in the then East Pakistan amongst the Bangalees was also that India did not have good wishes for other parts of Pakistan and always wished her bad. As economic and other political factors developed after the partition in 1974, India remained as much an enemy of Pakistan as before with the chance that it was considered more inimical by the West Pakistanis than the East Pakistanis who were mostly Bangalees. By that time the general people in the then East Pakistan had come to doubt whether all the allegations made by West Pakistanis against India were really genuine and if so to what extent. Because of the mutual distrust of Bangalees and the West Pakistanis and because of the letters economic and political exploitation of the former, as time passed, West Pakistanis were considered as much inimical to the Bangalees as the Indians. Even the Indians were not considered as much inimical as the West Pakistanis after the language movement in 1952. Gradually the antiIndian sentiment kept on increasing in West Pakistan and started slowly decreasing in the East Pakistan amongst the Bangalees. The Bangalees had by then understood that the elite leadership of the then Pakistan wanted to keep this anti-Indian feeling uppermost if necessary by religious propaganda for the sake of keeping the nation united in the first place and for raising this anti-Indian boggy to cover up their own failures for the general development for the country as whole and of the then East Pakistan in particular. Because of the geographical proximity of the then East Pakistan to India, it was in the interest of East Pakistan to adjust its relations with India to some extent so that certain mutual benefits like shelling of river waters and trade could be reaped by both India and East Pakistan. Thus the general attitudes of the Bangalees towards the Indians was not that of positive hatred as was the attitude of the West Pakistanis towards the Indians. This is not to say that the Indians were considered friends by the Bangalees of the then East Pakistan. What the Bangalees thought was that even if the Indians were not friendly towards Pakistan as a whole, there were not deliberately played up too much. This by the time the freedom struggle broke out, most of the Bangalees in that then East Pakistan had come to look upon India just as unfriendly neighbour whereas
334
people in the then West Pakistan had all along been considering India as Pakistan’s enemy No. 1.
We have tried to explain the difference of attitude of two parts of Pakistan towards India so far as anti-Indian sentiment was concerned. There were added reasons for the West Pakistanis to feel bitter about India. The origins for such bitterness could be traced to the sharing of waters of the Indus and distributaries and the Kasmir problems which were mainly that of West Pakistan. As times passed by, these problems remained more or less the same for the West Pakistanis while the Bangalees started to suspect what they were going to get as benefit out of remaining hostile to India because of these problems the solutions of which would have meant no practical benefits for the people of this region. There were East Pakistani politicians at that time who sometimes rightly pointed out that these problems were being kept alive and played up too much by West Pakistanis deliberately in order to build up more defiance installations in West Pakistan and allocated more events for building of Dams in West Pakistan only to deprive the than East Pakistan of its due share in the garb of anti-Indian sentiments expressed through manifestation of these problems. There were historical reasons for which such apathy would have countered by genuine manifestation of real interest in the economic and political developed for in region. The only way such apathy would have countered by genuine manifestation of real interest in the economic and political development of East Pakistan by the ruling clique in Pakistan who happened to be throughout the years from West Pakistan. The Bangalees somehow felt that his genuine attitude was completely lacking. Thus while the Bangalees shared the common sentiments of the West Pakistanis in the beginning regarding all their problems-particularly their outstanding problems against India-the West Pakistanis were not proportionately cared for the betterment of East Pakistan to the same extent. This is why the problems faced by the West Pakistan were gradually being looked with suspicion by the Bangalees. This suspicion gradually grew to the extent that the Bangalees found that until they could capture political and economic power themselves, there would be no halt to widening disparity in the political and economic fields between the two wings of Pakistan. The Bangalees genuine felt that the West Pakistanis were not
335
sympathising with them and were trying to hoodwink the real issues of development of East Pakistan by all the time covering up such legitimate demand on this or that plea including raising anti-Indian sentiment and slogans off and on. This suspicion culminated in the total distrust of West Pakistanis by the Bangalees. It was further found that in the matter of disparity between East and West Pakistan, the West Pakistanis were all alike and held almost the same views irrespective of their other difference and irrespective of their pretended concerns for the development of this wing of Pakistan. The Pakistani rulers could eliminate such pessimism and frustration in the Eastern wing if they could be bold enough to show practically that they were as much concerned for the development of East Pakistan as they were concerned for the development of West Pakistan. Unfortunately, this did not happened and Governments in Pakistan kept on changing but all governments were for the West Pakistanis and by the West Pakistanis in real sense of the term.
Coming back to the old hypothesis of Pakistan’s allegation against India regarding its non-reconciliation, the Pakistanis had all along held that India was trying hard to do positive harm to Pakistan. Gradually this allegation took other forms and the Pakistani rulers started accusing India of trying to interfere in the domestic affairs of the then East Pakistan. It was revealed once or twice that India was trying to dismember Pakistan by encouraging secessionist elements in East Pakistan to rise in open revolt against the West Pakistanis. After the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, the Pakistan government published for the first time the news that they had uncovered a plot by India for the dismemberment of Pakistan by encouraging East Pakistan to secede from West Pakistan. The Agartala conspiracy case was cited as another example which was shown by Pakistan as an attempt by the Indians to encourage secession of East Pakistan. We shall be coming to the merits of these allegations later in this chapter but the recording of these facts are necessary to show how Pakistan had all along been showing concerned at what they had claimed as Indian encouragement to the secession of the then East Pakistan. When the army crackdown on the people of Bangladesh, the Bangalees declared Independence and finally Bangladesh was established. Bangladesh was former East Pakistan and thus the evaluation of
336
Indian attitude towards the Bangalees and the Bangalees toward the Indians in the context of overall Pakistani allegation against India and particularly against what they called the Indian encouragement for the secession of East Pakistan is of crucial significance. No one has as yet boldly analysed this aspect of Pakistani attitude towards this problem of secession of East Pakistan and the attributed role of India in encouraging such secession. The history of the liberation movement of Bangladesh would be incomplete without such evaluation in which the Pakistanis gradually alienated Bangalees by trying to picture legitimate demands as attempts for secession and by attributing all such attempts for securing legitimate rights as India inspire acts. This is why this evaluation of the Pakistani attitude toward East Pakistan secession and the role of India in it is of paramount importance for any historical investigation of the factors that ultimately let the emergence of Bangladesh.
At this stage we may now analyses the interests India would have gained by encouraging the dismemberment of Pakistan in which the Eastern part of Pakistan broke away from the federation to form a new nation. We must judge these Indian interests in the historical perspective and time sequence to find out whether the Indians really had some interests in the dismemberment of Pakistan and if so what actually these interest were. It is also necessary to examine whether the Indian interest for dismemberment of Pakistan were more professionist than the actual urges of the Bangalees to have their own affairs under their own control.
Looking at from historical perspectives, the Indian sub-continent was partitioned into India and Pakistan in 1947 on the basis of the theory that the Muslims and the Hindus of the sub-continent form two separate races and nations. Pakistan came into being on the basis of this thesis which was never accepted by the ruling congress party of India. The Congress always held that only religion could not be the basis of the nationhood although the Muslim League emphasised that it was not religion alone but a completely different code of life that separated the Hindu and the Muslims and thus they formed two separate nations. The Muslim League asserted that even though the Muslims and Hindus had lived for hundreds of years in the subcontinent, the two nations have never intermixed to that extent to form one single nation. The very hostility of India towards the
337
creation of Pakistan should be found on this and thus India did not take Pakistan without some reservations when the sub-continent was partitioned into India and Pakistan.
Thus in this historical perspective Pakistan and India were bound to remain separate in outlook and philosophy. The two nations could live together amicably and peacefully if there were no provocations from other side for creating tensions here and there. The first tension arose when India and Pakistan wanted to graph Kashmir and get it included in their own jurisdiction. In spite of the fact that the majority of the people of Kashmir were Muslims, India successfully annexed most part of the state and thus included it within Indian Union. But the problems of Kashmir thus became the bone of contention between the new nations and in change for peaceful settlement and living faded into the background. The hostility that existed just at the creation of India and Pakistan thus gradually grew leading to a complete distrust of each nation by the other. India and Pakistan, as it appeared, were bound to remain inimical to each other so long as the outstanding problems could not be solved between them. There was no indication that the problems would be solved and thus in all probability the relations between India and Pakistan were bound to remain antagonistic to each other.
Because of Indian initial hostility, the new leadership in Pakistan after the emergence of the country started looking for friends in different directions. From the point of foreign policy, while India started befriending more and more Soviets and their allies, Pakistan started to remain with the American block. In the time sequence, thus the foreign policy of the two countries started diverging poles apart thereby increasing global interest in the sub-continent. It went to such an extent that Pakistan almost became a friend of the Americans and posed as a threat to many countries which were not favourable to the American interest in this region. Thus, though initially China and Pakistan became friends thereby alienating India more and more and making India more and more pro-Soviet bloc. The foreign policy components of the two nations thus again prolonged the differences between the two countries and any chance of mutual reconciliation was not to be seen even in the background.
In this historical perspective and time sequence, we must now publish what actually the Indian interests were in the emergence of
338
Bangladesh as a separate nation. Because of an unfriendly neighbour to the north i.e. China and after the conflict with the Chinese in 1962, India had to start spending a huge amount for maintaining her defence. There was no chances of Indian reconciliation with the Chinese in the global context. Apart from the Chinese, the other threat to India was Pakistan on both sides of its territory to the East and the West. India had to deploy much arms for maintaining the security of its borders with both East and West Pakistan. Thus in a situation in which the eastern part of Pakistan would be separate would always have been in favour of Indian interest to the extent that defence spending will be cut to that extent, and thus it could be diverted to development expenditure. India could also be free from worries in the eastern front and could concentrate on her defences against China to the north and West Pakistan, the truncated Pakistan to the West. Thus it was always in India’s interest to see that Pakistan shall remain united and there emerged a friendly neighbour to the East to suit India’s requirements for withdrawal of huge defence spending along the eastern borders. When the army crackdown on the innocent people in Bangladesh in 1971, the Indians found that it was to their advantage to support the Bangalees for their independence. If the Bangalees could successfully fight out the Pakistanis a separate Bangladesh would emerge in the erstwhile East Pakistan. It was taken for granted that the breaking apart of Pakistan would beneficial to India for reasons mentioned above. What the Indian leadership had to ensure was that the state that emerged in the eastern part of Pakistan to their East remained in the overall context friendly to them from the viewpoints of defence and foreign policy. Thus apart from humanitarian considerations because of the genocide by the Pakistan army in the then East Pakistan, India had a vital stake in supporting the liberation movement of the Bangaleses so that they could ultimately succeed and set up a separate state of Bangladesh in the earlier East Pakistan. Emergence of Bangladesh was in the interest of India and thus India supported the movement from the very beginning.
Against this background of Indian interest in the emergence of Bangladesh, we must judge some negative factors which could be of value to India in not according support to the Bangladesh struggle.
339
India is a big country with a number of races with distinct cultures, languages and other elements. There are already so many centrifugal forces in India which are being successfully contained till now by the Indian leadership. Encouragement of secession of a part of a country would encourage such elements in India and would be against India’s interest. This is why the Indians had to support Bangladesh with a great caution limiting it to that extent that their actions did not provoke and encourage the centrifugal forces in India interested in split India into a number of countries. On the one side from humanitarian and military point of view Bangladesh was in India’s interest; on the other such interest had to be separated with such caution that the already decedent forces inside the country did not get proportionately and encourage for splitting of the country into different regions.
Regionalism in Pakistan was thus in Indian interest but such regionalism was not in her interests in her own country. This is why the Indians always treaded with caution while dealing with the Bangladesh cause.
Apart from their necessity for keeping international order, India had to take into account the unfriendly world that was favourable to Pakistan generally. Thus, even when the genocide had already been started in East Pakistan, there were friends of Pakistan in the world who considered all these as internal affairs of Pakistan. The big powers were not interested in disturbing the statistic in the region. The small powers were not interested in encouraging centrifugal forces. Muslim nations were under the impression that nationalist’s up-rising in Bangladesh was nothing but an Indian plot to support East Pakistan from West Pakistan. This is why all the Muslim nation did not support the concept of Bangladesh in the beginning and held dogmatically that the activities that were being done in the Eastern part of Pakistan were in the greater interest of the Muslims and Pakistan and were purely Pakistan’s internal affairs. While extending support to the Bangladesh movement, India had to take into account of such external factors so that she did not come to be spotted separately in the world. The Indian leadership could foresee such a situation and thus treaded very carefully while extending their support to the Bangladesh cause when the army crackdown on the innocent people in Bangladesh in March, 1971.
340
Thus from the historical point of view and from other external factors India’s interest lay in supporting the emergence of Bangladesh though such support necessarily would have to be given in a cautious manner. There is another factor that has not been taken into account while looking at a cautious attitude of India towards the movement in the beginning. It is a matter of record that the Indians did not supply the Mukti Bahini with adequate arms and ammunitions in the beginning for combatting Pakistani troops. The Indian explanation, in this regard was that the fundamental action of the Mukti Bahani was nothing but guerrilla actions in which no serious arms were involved. The Indians held that the best way for the Mukti Bahini was to contact and continue guerrilla actions inside the occupied territory. This was in keeping with Indian supply of limited small arms to the Mukti Bahini. This was more or less the official explanation when the Bangladesh leadership insisted on more arms from Indian for starting large scale operations.
To what extent the Indian explanation of supply of limited quantities of arms to Mukti Banhini is tenable is all together a different story. We have mentioned the external factors that were against India which possibly would have prevented her from extending all different support to the Mukti Bahini. We have also mentioned that India could not go to a great extent in so far as her security internally was concerned. India could not encourage her own destined forces to follow the Bengali path as such actions would mean detriment to India’s interest. In the context of these factors, the Indian official explanation of supply of limited number of arms to the Mukti Bahini appears to be reasonable. There could, however, be a different explanation for the India attitude in the beginning.
The supply or limited arms to the Mukti Bahini by the Indians could be explained from other points of view. First the Indians did not want to go in a big way in the struggle. Second, they did not think that the Mukti Bahini were capable of handling big arms successfully against the Pakistan army. Third, India always had the fear that supply of big arms or arms in adequate quantities would provoke international action and ultimately would stop her from extending any support to the Bangladesh liberation struggle. On the face of these, Indian course of action was naturally to supply limited number of
341
small arms to the Mukti Bahini in the beginning when the Mukti Bahini were not fully organised.
Even after taking into account all these factors mentioned above, some explanations still remain pending regarding the Indian supply of very limited quantities of small arms to the Mukti Bahini boys. It is a matter of record and experience that when the Mukti Bahini boys went for operation inside occupied territory against the Pakistan army, they were not given adequate arms and ammunitions. The Indians tried to fit in this attitude in their general explanation as mentioned above. But a critic may point out that even in a guerrilla action the guerrillas should be equipped with adequate quantities of small arms, particular ammunitions. What factor was there which induced India to supply only 10 or 15 rounds of ammunitions which were given to the boys for trapping Pakistani troops in surprise attacks. Why it is that the Indians did not give sufficient ammunitions when they were convinced that even guerrilla action called for such ammunitions?
The only explanation that appears plausible is that the Indians were as much interested into deaths of Pakistani soldiers as they were interested in what they tried to clarify as “the sacrifices” by the Muki Bahini boys. In order to lay the foundation much stronger and in order to raise the hatred of Bangalees towards the Pakistanis, the Indians deliberately wanted that a good number of Mukti Bahini boys should die in action. The clever Indian leadership could foresee from the very beginning that unless a lot of blood spilt, the Bangalees would not be more and more hostile towards the Pakistanis and there could remain some changes of a settlement between the Bangalees and the Pakistanis. Thus the basic thesis is that it was in the interest of India to ensure that Pakistanis and Bangalees were killed in as many numbers as possible so as to make their relation permanentely hostile. The emergency of a friendly neighbour to the East (friendly as defined by the Indian leadership) meant a weak neighbour, which would emerge after being drained off all its energies and resources. It is our presumption that if the Pakistanis had suddenly agreed to leave Bangladesh and give a leadership to the Bangalees, the Indians would have been perplexed for one main reason. This reason was that in the case Bangladesh would have emerged with all past achievements and existing resources and energies. Such a Bangladesh would not have been that
342
weak. The Indians would have thought twice to support the cause of Bengalis because in that case they could not be sure that the Bengalis would remain perpetually inimical to the Pakistanis and there would not be sufficient destructions in Bangladesh itself so as to make her dependent on external sources, in the geographical context India. Thus it was in India’s interest to see that enough of destructions took place in Bangladesh emerged as sovereign nation, its economic back bone would be crumbled making it more and more dependent on India. Such an emergent Bangladesh with the records of so many of its freedom fighters and others killed in action would remain always hostile to Pakistan. What was clarified as sacrifices from Bengali point of view was nothing but inevitable destruction and deaths that were necessary in the total context of things for India. India was interested in such a Bangladesh which would not be strong enough to pose as a threat to India in time. India was interested in a Bangladesh which, because of her destruction and deaths would remain grateful to India and dependent on her for a long time to come. The mutual suspicion of the Hindus and Muslims could not be eroded for hundreds of years in the subcontinent. The Indian leadership which was Hindu leadership could not trust the Muslims-the Bangalees in a situation in which they would remain strong. Thus ultimately it was in the Indian interest to see that both Pakistani and the Bengalis bled so much that both of them become weak in the process.
Thus we come to the general hypothesis that even if all the opportunities were there for capture of power in Bangladesh and handling over the same to the Bengali leadership India would not have done so far the interest of we have mentioned above. India was interested not only in a weak Bangladesh but also in a weak Pakistan. Emergence of Bangladesh could be almost subservient to India. This is why the Indians did nothing when Pakistan kept on moving more and more troops and resources from West Pakistan to East Pakistan for putting Bangalee nationalists. India wanted that such resources should be moved from West to East Pakistan and destroyed so that not only a weak Bangladesh emerged after the process but also Pakistan got weakened, still further after the conflict. This would mean Pakistanis would not dare to launch an attack against the Indians for a long time to come. This would mean that the Indians
343
would have to spent less and less for the defence in the Eastern front and less for defence in the Western front as well.
We can now examine another hypothesis that India being interested in the disintegration of Pakistan had already known that army crackdown would occur in the then East Pakistan. There are many people who still believe that the Indians were aware of the moves of the Pakistani leaders and were tacitly encouraging such moves for the disintegration of Pakistan. These circles assert that the Indians had been keeping track of the developments and they were certain that power would not be handed over the elected representatives in East Pakistan. Thus ultimately the East Pakistanis-the Bengalis would rise in revolt against the West Pakistanis thereby ultimately resulting in the secession of East Pakistan from the federation.
Natural corollary of such a hypothesis is that the Awami League party of East Pakistan has some implicit understanding with the leaders in India. These allegations were levelled against the Awami League even earlier when the six-points were propounded. The allegations became well spread throughout the then East Pakistan when the Ayub Government started the Agartala Conspiracy case. This case showed that the East Pakistanis were bound to show that some form of understanding existed between the leadership in the then East Pakistan and that in India. Though ultimately the case was withdrawn under heavy public pressure in 1969 the common messes in West Pakistan were always told by the press in West Pakistan that the Awami League leadership had some form of understanding with the ruling circles in India.
Sufficient evidence is not at hand to assert position that the Awami League had some form of understanding with the leaders it can be ascertained that the Awami League as a party did not have any understanding with the leadership in India. In fact the question of such understanding did not arise at all since the Awami League did not in the beginning press for the Independence of Eastern wing. Because of geographical distance between the two wings of Pakistan the Awami League leadership had seen and felt that the only form in which Pakistan could survive was establishment of a loose federation between the two wings of the country. This loose federation was provided for in the 6-point plan. If the West Pakistan
344
leadership had accepted the 6-point Programme with some minor amendments acceptable to Awami League Pakistan would still have been here. Thus from available facts it appears that the Awami League as a party had not reason whatsoever to have any relationship with the Indian leadership for making the secession of the then East Pakistan a success. Top leaders of the Awami League however, conceded that they had some correspondence, though secret with the leadership in India but that was completely on informal and personal basis and had nothing to do with the ultimate war of liberation of Bangladesh.
From the developments that took place after the army crackdown in Bangladesh, it also appeared that the Awami League possibly did not have any understanding with the Indian leadership as a whole. Had it been so, there was no reason why the Indians took so much time to react to the issues. From my personal experience, I am satisfied that most of the Indians did not know what had actually been going on till the army crackdown in March, 1971. In fact the Indian leadership were not themselves convinced that there would be a crackdown like that occurred in Bangladesh in March 1971. Critics may point out that this argument in favour of general ignorance of our assertions in the earlier pages of this chapter that India was not only interested in a weak Pakistan but also in a weak Bangladesh. They may point out that even if the Indians had known that the crackdown was going to come and Bangalees were going to be massacred, they took it in the light of their own interests that ultimately a conflict would weaken both Pakistan and Bangladesh apart from the fact that Pakistan would be completely disintegrated. There are many loopholes in such arguments and it is very difficult to substantiate their arguments with available facts and evidence. Those who will oppose such arguments may point out that had India been aware of such an ultimate possibility, India would have taken advantage of this much earlier. Those who support these ideas may contend that India did not take these advantages deliberately since she knew ultimately the nationalists urges of the Bangalees would lead to the separation of the then East Pakistan from the federation of Pakistan. We do not have sufficient facts and figures at our disposal to take the side or the others. But as it appears from experiences of so many, the Indians possibly did not know of the concert shape of things that were going
345
o come in the months ahead in December 1970 when the Awami League won the general election.
The same thing the reaction of Indians to the liberation struggle of Bangladesh can be looked at from another related point of view. India is a vast democratic country in which major decisions are taken by the democratically elected Government and by the executive office of the Prime Minister of India. In any major decision in which India would have been involved with Bangladesh, the whole nation was to be carried through. How did the Indian nation as a whole react to the liberation struggle in Bangladesh? Did parts of India or all sections of the Indian people react in the same manner to the liberation struggle? These are very vital issues which we must examine before we can assert one point of view or the other.
As experience has shown, during the early periods of the liberation struggle, the attitude of the Indian people in neighbouring West Bengal and Tripura was the most favourable to the struggle in Bangladesh. Historically the Bengali speaking people of West Bengal and Tripura had felt some kind of identity with the Bengalis in the then East Pakistan. Apart from a few other factors, the common language was a source of inspiration to the Bengalis in the West Bengal and Tripura. This is why the reaction from the Indians living in those two states was one of spontaneity mixed with genuine feelings of the saving Bengalis inside the occupied territory. Apart from this the two states were the direct hit because of the broke of the struggle since most of the evacuees had started taking shelter in these two Indian states. Apart from these two states, the other adjoining areas of Meghalaya and Assam were not that sympathy towards Bengalis. In fact the tribal people of Meghalaya were against the entry of any refugee into their territories. I have tried to explain the reasons for such negative reaction in the earlier pages of this book dealing with my transit at Baghmara and Tura. Because of years of exploitation and gradual encouragement on the lands of the hilly people, they had always suspected that the refugees who were coming would never go back thereby occupying many of their own privileges and enjoying many of their opportunities. Because of these reasons, people in Meghalaya and Assam expecting the Bengali-speaking people did not receive the refugees with such enthusiasm. There could be a question of the reaction from the other parts of India and other
346
sections of Indian people. Because of language difference and difference cultures, the Urdu or Hindi speaking people in oiher states of India and the Punjabi speaking people in Hariana and East Panjab could not appreciate the significance of the liberation struggle in Bangladesh. In fact, when the Indian Cabinet had been debating the issue of how much to go in favour of Bangladesh the Indian Ministers belonging to the Western region even including Sardar Swaran Singh the Indian foreign Minister advised restraint and caution in the whole matter. These Ministers representing the Indian section or the people in other states were not quite appreciative with its struggle in Bangladesh and were not sure whether Indian support to such a cause would bring them proportionate benefits. It was Mrs. Indira Gandhi who alone championed the cause of Bangladesh in the secret cabinet meetings and tried to win over the non-formists views expressed by some of her very important cabinet colleagues.
Apart from these aspects there was a question of sectarian support because of Bangladesh. At the beginning the Indian Muslims were completely hostile to the struggle in Bangladesh. In fact they had not been following the developments with scrutiny and seriousness and the result was that they apprehended that this was possibly an outside provoked insurgence in Bangladesh for the disintegration of Pakistan. It must be said in all fairness here that in spite of India’s being secular and her constitutional guarantee of equal citizenship the Indian Muslims had never believed that India really wanted the good of Pakistan or really treated the Muslims as 1st class citizens of her country. Arguments may be put forward to show that the Indian government had been gradually doing everything possible for generating confidence in Muslims in India. This may be a different story but the fact remains that the Indian Muslims had not identify themselves with the rest of Indian and thus could not accept without any doubt the Indian assertion that the struggle in Bangladesh was a real spontaneous struggle by the Bangalees against the barbarous army of Pakistan from the then West Pakistan.
These are some of the reasons why the initial reaction of almost all the Indian Muslims had been looking upon Pakistan as a source of balance. Their argument was that if Pakistan remained strong, there was more security for them inside India. Many of the Indian Muslims had been looking upon Pakistan as the retreat areas where they could

347
escape should anything untoward happen in Indian endangering their lives. Naturally the Indian Muslims could not take any move for the disintegration of Pakistan as one favourable to them or as one which would not lessen their security in India. Most of the Indian Muslims were also not aware of the correct implications of this struggle and most of them did not even know that the struggle was not initiated by the Bangalees but was thrust on them by the military leadership in Pakistan. This is why the Indian Muslims now in the liberation struggle of Bangladesh a moved engineered by hostile elements for the disintegration of Pakistan. Thus they could not be a party to such moves and opposed the Indian support in general to the liberation struggle in Bangladesh.
The reaction of Indian Muslims living in the border areas of Bangladesh in West Bengal and Assam was much more hostile. In fact many of the Muslims in Assam had declared during the census that they were Assamese speaking even when they were not. This was to keep balance between the Assamese speaking people and nonAssames speaking people. Man of such Muslims had migrated long before from areas which then constituted the then East Pakistan. For their very own security they had to side with the Assamese speaking people for showing in census that in Assam the Assamese speaking people were in majority. Many of such Muslims have been evacuated from India and pushed into the then East Pakistan. These Muslims had all along been looking upon East Pakistan as their retreat areas. They could not possibly welcome any move or any support which would break the federation of Pakistan and would weaken Pakistan. This is why their reaction was very hostile in the beginning when they were partly concerned about their own security and partly concerned about the ultimate disintegration of Pakistan.
On our taking shelter in India this aspect of hostility from Indian Muslims attracted our attention. While we found that the Bangalees speaking Hindus had all along been supporting us the Muslim in private in fact disapproved our actions. I myself had near relations in the Indian state of Assam. When I had a chance to meet many of them, they in fact rebuked us and even accused us that we are falling apart to the Hindus in India. Their effort the conditions of the Muslims in India at that time and to those in the sub-continent before the partition in 1947, they were of the view that by indulging in any
348
activity for separation of Pakistan, where not only burning our own bodies but also ruining all prospects of security to the Indian Muslims. Whatever may be the arguments against the maltreatment of the Indian Muslims in India the fact remained that the Indian Muslims had never thought themselves to be identical with the Hindus. They had never reconciled to the idea that their interest can be served even if Bangladesh merged and even if they remained as Indian citizens. It would be a Muslim’s study if one could look into political, economic and sociological aspects that led to these people on the part of the Indian Muslims. It could be a very interesting study to find out the reasons why the Indian Muslims. Even after the hearing of the atrocious genocide in the then East Pakistan, held the view that the security of the Muslims in Pakistan and particularly in India lay in a strong united Pakistan.
We have tried explain in this chapter that apart from the spontaneous reaction of the Bangalees and their struggle for establishing of sovereign state of Bangladesh, India the big neighbour had her own interest in the struggle and could foresee from the very beginning that the establishment of friendly republic to the east. In the former East Pakistan was in her interest not only from the view point of her interest in the region but also in general the interest of global strategy. We have examined in this chapter the interest of India vis-avis the interest of Bangladesh from military point of view keeping our attention concentrated on the region alone. In our analysis we have not explained the global benefits India would gain if and independent Bangladesh was a established. It is now necessary to examine this aspect in the context of geographical location of India and Bangladesh and the reaction of immediate neighbours to the liberation struggle in the erstwhile East Pakistan.
We have already emphasise that India could foresee from the very beginning that the establishment of Independent Bangladesh would bring her gains tremendously. Apart from a cut down in defence expenditure in the eastern part of India, such emergence of a free nation to the east of India and obviously friendly to India would be too India’s interest. We have tried to emphasis in our analysis that India wanted the analysis of a free Bangladesh but did not want it accept in the form contemplated by her. India’s enemy no one in foreign affairs was Pakistan and thus dismemberment of Pakistan had
349
to be in such a way that at the end of the struggle both Pakistan and the emerging Bangladesh should be weaken to the maximum so that Pakistan could never pose as a threat to India’s security and so that Bangladesh became so weak that it had to depend on India for a long time to come. This is why we have explained that India didn’t want the independence of Bangladesh over night in which case Bangladesh would have emerge such stronger than what it emerges on the 16th December, 1971. India could not take a chance with such a Bangladesh which would not be weak enough to depend on her completely. This is why it is on India’s interest to see that during the struggle its personnel and resources were trained to the maximum so that both Pakistan and Bangladesh got exhausted in the struggle. Only this hypothesis can explain India’s cautious role in so far as supply of small arms was concerned.
. We can now have a look at geographical position of India vis-avis her relations with her immediate neighbours as well as the super powers. It is also necessary to examine India’s plans in this regard. India is the biggest country in Asia after China. Naturally the Indian leadership wanted that India should emerge as the strongest nation in the region so as true control political, military and social spheres in the region proportionate to her size and population. India could not achieve this for a long time because of the hostility of the Chinese, to the north and because of some form of balance of power between India and Pakistan in the region. We are going to the Chinese episode in the later part of this chapter. Here we can speak of the balance of power between Pakistan and India.
India had never reconciled to the creation of Pakistan and had thus always opposed any move which would strengthen the Pakistani nation. From the very beginning when Pakistan started growing stronger and stronger after emergence in 1947 India did everything possible on an International front to ensure that Pakistan din’t get sufficient supplies of resources including military hardware to pose as a threat to India. In the beginning of her existence from 1947, India successfully played her cards and secured maximum resistance from the out side world irrespective of the Eastern and Western block. The Americans and their allies helped India to get stronger and stronger on the understanding that India would be a bull work against Chinese Communist expansion from the north.
350
Gradually the Soviet Union also started getting interested in India after the Cino-Soviet conflict had taken a decisive role and Soviet Union wanted India to side with her in a confrontation against China. Thus India played her cards very carefully and obtained maximum resources from both the blocks for her own economic and military developments.
As against this, Pakistan had to also rely on foreign assistance possibly much more than India. The Pakistan Government from the very beginning started siding with the allies and received and responsible help from all of them. The situation took a new turn when the Americans realised that in the interest of their global strategy it was necessary for them to strengthen Pakistan as much as possible vis-a-vis India because they suspected that India could not be taken for granted in any eventual conflict with the Soviet or the Chinese. It was an American interest to see that no power emerged absolute power in the region so as to threaten the interests of other similar nations opposed to ideology in the region. As suspicion between Indian the U.S. grew, the US Government started arming Pakistan more and more thereby making it stronger vis-a-vis India. By that time a rapprochement had already taken place between the US and China. As a result even Pakistan’s good relations with the Chinese where in keeping with American interest. It was a success of Pakistan’s diplomacy that Pakistan started receiving more and more American aid at the same time when she had started normalising all her relations with the Chinese. The Chinese had naturally taken a liking for Pakistan because both the states where oppose to any idea of India dominance in the region. Thus Pakistan stated receiving aid from both western countries and China and started marching as a treat to India. India by no means liked such diplomatic success of Pakistan and were always looking for opportunities thwarting such success for her own advantages.
Thus because of the global interests of Chinese, the Americans and the Soviets, a position of balance of power emerged between Pakistan and India even though Pakistan was only one fifth size of India both geographically and population wise. The Chinese were contented with such a situation even if they knew that the Pakistanis were not communists. The Americans were happy even if they knew that the Pakistanis were not anti-Chinese. The Soviets were however

351
less happy but were more or less satisfied with the existing statuesque.
It was in this context of global strategy, the hostility started in the then East Pakistan which ultimately led to the declaration of independence on March 26, 1971. Because of obvious reasons and potential gains from the dismemberment of Pakistan, India immediately started supporting the cause for liberation of the Bengalis. The Americans, who had been upholding the statuesque that had been prevailing in the region, could not immediately support the liberation struggle. This was because the American interest did not dictate that Pakistan should be broken apart and thus the balance of power between Pakistan and India be disturbed as such a time when the American interests had started consolidating in the region in spite of their continuing opposition to the Chinese and the Soviets. The Soviet Government would have started the idea of the liberation of Bangladesh at that time but for their lack of knowledge of the whole situation, the Soviets were always cautious in their international manuvours and thus wanted to be apprised of the complete situation before they could take a decision on this vital issue. They were not sure that the break of Pakistan would be in their interest. They could be so only if India and the emerging leadership of Bangladesh had given an explicit understanding that the coming events would be is favour of the Soviets. Soviet Union would have been positively in favour of Bangladesh had the Bangladesh Leadership indicated their willingness to track a pre-soviet line popularly earlier. The Chinese on the other hand did not like the liberation struggle mainly because this would have let to the dismemberment of Pakistan and emergence of a state friendly to India. After the 1962 Indo-Chinese conflict, the Chinese Indian relationship had been at their last ebb at the time when the army transits started in the then East Pakistan. The Chinese had placed a lot in the Pakistan union and it was in their interest that Pakistan remained one and posed a threat to India. It was through the good offices of the Pakistani leadership that China had chances to contact the Americans. As much the break up of Pakistan at that time considered from their own global interest. This is why the initial Chinese reaction was very strong against all such moves because the Chinese thought the Indians were involved also in the struggle and the Indians would like to side with such a leadership in emerging
352
Bangladesh. There was no channel by which the Chinese could contact the Bengali leadership to ascertain what actually their correct stand was in so far as relations with Chinese to show then that the liberation struggle could proceed independent of Indian initiative and so some extent direction. The Chinese could easily understand that the emerging Bangladesh would be in favour of India and thus against the Chinese for quite sometime, even for a long period, during which the Indian influence on the emerging nation would be so great that no Chinese interest would be served as a result of emergence of such a country.
The Chinese leadership had another reason for not siding with the Bangladesh struggle initially. The Chinese would be moved for their ultimate in the region or interest at large. The leadership of the movement being in the hands of rightist Awami League at most centrist Awami Leage, the Chinese found that their support so such a country led by such element would not be in their interest. By that time the Bangladesh struggle had attracted the attention and tacit support of the Eastern block through the efforts of India. Chinese being totally a versed and opposed to the concept of revisionism, as they alleged the Russians practiced, could not support such a regime which had already been supported by the Eastern block. It was in the global interest of china to see that the struggle in Bangladesh got protracted. The Chinese had good friendship with Pakistan and did not want to risk this friendship by supporting the liberation struggle of its erstwhile eastern wing. They had much more reasons to do so since the struggle in their view was nothing but a centrist struggle aimed at establishing any bourgeoisie regime in the erstwhile eastern wing of Pakistan. The Chinese had foreseen that because of geographical position of the then East Pakistan, it would always be under the influence of the Indians and ultimately the Russians. Russia and India being China’s enemies, both form political and ideological points of view, the Chinese did not feel at all interested in extending its support to the erstwhile eastern wing of Pakistan. The Chinese ideas no longer be able to keep Bangladesh within its grip, Bangladesh would automatically become liberated. But if liberation comes through such prolonged struggle, there was every chances that the leadership would gradually pass into the hands of
353
the leftist elements friendly to the Chinese. They are interested in such a struggle in which they would not have to unnecessarily antagonised Pakistan but at the same time would get the benefits after the liberation of the country. From ideological point of view, it was the same thing for the Chinese to see that Pakistani soldiers were killed as much as Bengalis were massacred. Destruction of a centrist party like the Awami League did not mean any loss to China and hence the Chinese did not feel at all induced to support the liberation struggle of Bangladesh led by Awami League.
Apart from China the other small powers in the region had their own reasons for not supporting the cause of Bangladesh openly. To the north of periods, though a good number of Nepalese were killed because of army actions Nepal had been in the grip of India politically and economically for a long time. Because of being land-locked, the foreign trade of Nepal was being carried through Indian ports. In the beginning of its existence, Nepalese used to receive a lot of foreign aid and other resources from India. Thus Nepalese had naturally dependent on India which she could not possibly break all on a sudden.
As against this Nepal had her own interest for preserving her own freedom and separate course of actions. Nepal’s late king Mahendra could foresee that the geographical location of Nepal was such that Nepalese could not preserve its sovereignty unless it maintained equally good relations with China which was its big neighbours to the north. It was with the urge of getting somewhat out of the Indian orbit of influence, that the Nepalese gradually normalising their relations with China without completely antagonising India. Nepal’as late king Mahendra could easily understand that to be a country internationally important, Nepal needed to have good relations not only with Chine but also with Pakistan. It is because of this reason that the Nepalese had started cultivating good relations with the Pakistanis for quite sometime. Historically the Chinese and the Pakistanis having been friendly to each other it was easy for Nepalese and it was in her interests to have good relations with China and the Pakistan which were mutually friendly to each other. Because of these reasons, the late king Mahendra of Nepal never allowed the Nepal’s politics to drift in such a way that the Nepal could openly come out in support of the Bengalis with whom their sympathies lay.
354
It was in this context, a Bangladesh delegation visited Nepal in May 1971. The delegation was led by Mr. Abdul Malek Ukil, at present the speaker of the Bangladesh parliament, consisted of two other members. Because of internal support form some factions of the Nepal, the visit was made possible. The Bangladesh delegation was received in Nepal with a great deal of cordiality. The then Crown Prince end the present king of Nepal Birendra could foresee the importance of the emergence of Bangladesh vis-à-vis the existence and the geographical location of Nepal. There were other personalities like the ex-prime minister Mr. Koiraila who were in favour of the movement, king Mahendra knew all these and he allowed the Bangladesh delegation to preach cause in Nepal but within the constraints that they did not do or say something which could jeopardise Nepal’s good relations with Pakistan. King Mahendra was quite liberal and allowed the delegation to preach their cause even in a press conference. The foreign Ministry officials of Nepal could be contacted and briefed on the developments that had been taking place in the then East Pakistan. The Nepal masses in general were in support of Bangladesh and they wanted secession of immediate hostilities in the country. This is why then East Pakistan Assistance Committee was formed in Nepal. The fact that this could not be called Bangladesh Assistance Committee was because of the insistence of the Nepal’s king that such an action would be against the interest of Pakistan and would unnecessarily jeopardise Nepal’s good relation with Pakistan. Thus to conclude even though sympathetic actions were taken in Nepal itself in support of the Bengalis and even though the Bangali delegation was allowed liberal activities inside Nepal, the Nepalese king ensured that Nepal did not come out openly in support of the freedom struggle in Bangladesh whose aim was nothing short of the establishment of a sovereign state of Bangladesh in the erstwhile eastern wing of Pakistan.
Apart from Nepal, the other two small states in the region were Bhutan and Sikkim. Sikkim was an Indian protectorate and did not have anything to do with their struggle since its views could be no different than that of the Indians. Similarly, was the position of Bhutan whose defence and foreign policy was controlled by India. India’s influence of Bhutan is so great that Bhutan cannot survive
355
without India’s assistance and support. It is on record that after India, Bhutan was the only country that recognised Bangladesh in quick succession in December, 1971.
Coming to the other countries in the region, the whole of South East Asia was in general not openly in support of the freedom movement in Bangladesh. Each country had its own peculiar reasons for not being so. Taking for example Burma, the Burma government had been maintaining very good relations with the Chinese and the Pakistan. Burma could not afford to do anything which would jeopardise her relations with China and Pakistan. It was because of this reason that initially when our evacuees crossed into Burma, they were given a very cold reception and, in most cases, put in detention. It was through Burma that good amount of resources of Bangladesh, which it should have got as a share from Pakistan, went back to Pakistan. We can cite the example of the Fokker Friendship planes that were in Bangladesh but were taken out by Pakistan through Burma when the struggle had reached a decisive stage in December, 1971.
After Burma was Thailand. Thailand had been following a proAmerican policy for a long time and was beset with her own problems. The Thai Government did not want to do anything which would jeopardise her relations with the Americans or the Pakistanis. Since the Americans were not in favour of any break up of Pakistan, the Thai Government could not be expected to side with secessionist elements in the erstwhile eastern wing of Pakistan. Thus the re-action of the Thai government within the whole period of the struggle was one of observation and neutrality. Thai government did not do anything which could be interpreted as in support of the liberation struggle.
The middle-east as a whole was opposed to the concept of creation of a separate state of Bangladesh in the eastern part of the then Pakistan. This opposition was partly because of the ignorance of the issues at stock, partly because of the peculiar interests of the states in the region and partly because of the general people that it was not in the interests of Muslims to encourage the disintegration of a Muslim state. In fact Pakistan had been the biggest Muslim state only next to Indonesia. Only two countries in the world had the prefixes of “Islamic Republic” before their names. These were Pakistan and Mouritania. We
356
can now examine how the states in the middle-east reacted to the freedom struggle and why they reacted against such moves for the creation of a separate sovereign state of Bangladesh.
Taking the case of Iran as the first example, Iran and Turkey had been the best of Pakistan’s allies for good number of years. In fact the RCD (Regional Coperetion for Development) was set up amongst these three countries in the region. The Iran had been all along been symphonic to the Pakistanis and had expressed their solidarity with Pakistan during the earlier conflicts of Pakistan with India in 1947 and 1965. The liberation struggle of Bangladesh was interpreted to the Iranians as nothing but an Indian-Hatched conspiracy for the dismemberment of Pakistan. The shah of Iran had been a personal friend of Pakistan President Aga Mohammad Yahya Khan, whose decedents came from Iran itself. The Shah did not like that Pakistan should break up and there should be a jilting of the balance of power between Pakistan and India. Because of these reasons, the Shah was all through opposed to the concept of Bangladesh. The Iranian press, radio and television subscribed to the views of the Shah and gave different interpretations to all the developments that have been taking place in the then East Pakistan. The Iranian press upheld Pakistan’s view point that what had been happening in the then East Pakistan was nothing but Pakistan’s internal affairs. The press had been telling people that the uprising in Bangladesh was nothing but attempts by India to secede East Pakistan from Pakistani federation. Iranian public was all through told that the army action in East Pakistan was for maintaining law and order in chaotic situation. The Iranian upheld the Pakistan’s point of view that the actions that were taken in the then East Pakistan were nothing but police actions for bringing back law and order in a turn province of East Pakistan. This is why the general reaction of Iranians all through was one of hostility towards the creation of a separate state of Bangladesh in the Eastern region of Pakistan.
From foreign policy point of view, Iran’s stand was perfectly justifiable. Iran had been enjoying the best relations with Pakistan and had been following a pro-American policy for a long time. Since the break up of Pakistan was not considered in the interest of all the nations in the region by the Americans, Iran could not be expected to be openly in favour of a struggle which was not supported by any super power,
357
particularly the Americans and the Soviets. Even though it can be said that the Soviets in general were sympathetic to the Bengali cause, none of their actions showed this in the beginning. It is difficult to say what would have been Iran’s reaction to the struggle either the Soviets or the Americans had come openly in favour of the struggle in Bangladesh. Iran maintained good relations with the countries in the middle-east all of whom were opposed to creation of a separate state in the eastern wing of Pakistan. Thus from the foreign policy point of view Iran’s lack of support for the freedom struggle in Bangladesh was completely justifiable from her own interest.
The other countries in the region, apart from Iran, also did not supportive liberation struggle in Bangladesh for as much the same reason as Iran. The middle-eastern countries in general were hostile to the concept of the disintegration of Pakistan. Among these countries, Saudi Arabia in fact vehemently opposed any activities that would result in the break up of Pakistan ultimately. It may be mentioned here that because of religious sentiments and success of Pakistan’s foreign policy, Soudi Arabia had come to rely on Pakistan as one of its staunches allies. Soudi Arabia had in fact supported Pakistan during the Indo-Pak conflict in 1965 and had even promised to provide military and economic assistance. The other countries in the region also followed the same path and they considered the activities in the then East Pakistan as completely internal affairs of Pakistan. They did not want to be a party to the activities which could lead to the disintegration of Pakistan. Many of these countries were more or less ignorant about the actual developments but some of these countries adopted such and attitudes even after knowing the facts. Their arguments were that Pakistan government had to resort to such sort of police and military actions in order to restore law and order in the erstwhile East Pakistan which have been according to them suffering chaos for quite some time.
One may at this stage very much question why a non-aligned country like Egypt did not go out against the genocide in Bangladesh. One may point out that the attitude taken by countries like Iran, Soudi Arabia and Turkey was understandable but there was no reason why non-aligned countries like Egypt with strong ties of friendship with India refused to publicly condemn the atrocities of the Pakistan army in the eastern wing of the then Pakistan. Egypt had been for a long
358
time a good friend of India and had been supporting India in most of the international gatherings and meets. The foreign policy of Egypt, India and Yugoslavia followed a pattern which was consistent with their declaration of adherence to non-aligned and natural philosophy Thus from historical point of view, there was reason to believe that Egypt would stand in support of India and would condemn the activities carried by the Pakistan army in the eastern part of the erstwhile country. However, facts as they stood show that Egypt did not come out openly for the liberation struggle. This is not to say that Egypt was not in the know of things and considered the problems as Pakistan’s own internal ones. In fact Egypt knew the actual developments but refrained from interfering in any manner even diplomatically, in the matter. It shows at once the success of Pakistan’s foreign policy and the witness of Indian diplomatic efforts. In spite of Egypts being friendly with India for a long time, the Indian government had failed to convince Egypt of the gravity of the situation when hostility broke out in the then East Pakistan Egypt did not want to enter into controversy and care fully avoided taking any move which could be interpreted as pro-Bangladesh and pro-Indian to the detriment of Pakistan. In fact Egypt wanted a cessation of hostilities in Bangladesh but wanted such things to happen in the context of Pakistan as such and in the context of a separate Bangladesh. Possibly religious sentiment had played their part and had prevented Egypt from what they believed to be a party in favour of the disintegration of a Muslim country.
The only country that allowed Bangladesh some form of external publicity in the region was Lebanon. The Lebanon was all through followed a middle policy in foreign affairs in the past. The Lebanese authorities could see through the developments and appeared to be tolerant enough to allow Bangladesh goes to be represented from their own soil. This development took place when the then political advisory to the provincial government, Mr. Abdus Samad Azad visited Lebanon in the middle of July, 1971. Mr. Samad was returning from the world peace council meeting in Budapest, Hungary where Bangladesh had been allowed to participate informally. On his arrival in by Beirut Mr. Samad met different leaders including the leader of the opposition Mr. Raschid Karams who gave him a very sympathetic hearing. Through intensive diplomatic manoeuvres Mr. Samad was
359
able to convince the Lebanese authorities that propagation of Bangladesh cause from their soil would be in the interest of peace and freedom and could not be interpreted as interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country. It was through the diplomatic efforts and efforts of progressive Lebanese politicians like Mr. Raschid Karams that the government of Lebanon ultimately agreed to allow a Bangladesh representative to set up a publicity office in Beirut and continue working there. It will be incorrect to say that the publicity office set up in Beirut did really contribute much to the freedom struggle from publicity point of view, but the fact that such a publicity office was started and continued to show the determination of the Bangladesh authorities to continue propagating their cause in spite of publicity to the control by Pakistan through their diplomatic mission in the region.
It is worthwhile to analysis how big powers reacted to the liberation struggle in Bangladesh. Pakistan had been enjoying very good relations with almost all these powers. Starting with Britain the relationship between the government of Pakistan and Britain was very cordial. The Pakistan population living in Britain consisted of more than 100,000 Bengalies. When the hostilities broke out in the then East Pakistan and news of genocides started reaching the immigrant Bengalies in the U.K., they reacted violently and started working against Pakistan and for Bangladesh. The gentlemen who spearheaded this campaign against Pakistan and for Bangladesh, was Mr. Justice Abu Sayeed Choudhury, who had been in England for some time before the hostility started in then East Pakistan. The Efforts of the Bengalies gradually took such a violent turn that the British Government allowed the Bengalies to work openly against Pakistan from their territory. Bangladesh offices were set up and Action Committees were formed in various parts of the U.k. The activities of the Action Committees were to the detriment of Pakistan. Naturally the Pakistan Government took up the issue with the British Government. The British Government, instead of stopping such activities explained that they could not do so since British has been a democracy for a long time. The spirit of tolerance and freedom of speech that was granted to the Bengalies by the British would always bee remembered with gratitude by the Bengalies. It was a very difficult situation for the British where the Government still wanted
360
Pakistan to continue as such without any disintegration, but at the same time they wanted that the voice of protest and resentment be allowed to be heard. Officially the British did not communicate with the Bangladesh leaders after the crack down but unofficially they provided all facilities for such leaders to continue what they thought best and what they thought was in the best interest of Bangladesh.
It would be incorrect if we do not at the stage try to analyse the gradual change that occurred in the attitude of the British Government.
During the early face of the liberation struggle, the British Government wanted to remain aloof from the controversial points. Gradually as Pakistan went on increasing its atrocities in the eastern wing and as more and more Bengalies started crossing the borders into India, the British Government’s attitude started becoming more and more flexible. Towards the end of the struggle, the British Government no longer recognised that what had happening in the then East Pakistan was Pakistan’s internal affairs. The British Government did not recognise that the problem could be solved military by inflicting more and more military actions on the then eastern wing of Pakistan. Towards the end of this struggle, the British Government started calling for a peaceful settlement on the basis of the right of self-determination of the Bengalis. The British Government held the view that the problem that had emerged and grown could not be solved, unless the Pakistan authorities show reason and started negotiating at the conference table. It was of fundamental changes in the attitude of the British Government which emphasised on the right of self-determination of the people of Bangladesh. They could correctly see that no liable solution could be found unless the people of the then East Pakistan were a consenting party to the solution. The activities of British Government had already annoyed the Pakistan Government and towards the end of the struggle , the Pakistan press , radio and television started dubbing the British attitude as one of the hostility and as one of interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan.
There were naturally reasons for the British to take a rationals view of the whole thing. Great Britain has been the cradle of democracy and the British had learnt to respect democratic principles and idles. The main essence of the democratic value is that power belongs to the people and the rule should be by the majority. In case
361
of Bangladesh, this was the case where the Awami League had won the majority of the seats in the assembly. It was for them to form the Government and rule the country according to the set democratic procedure. What Yahya Khan did in fact was to make collusion with the minority group, that is the Peoples Party of Pakistan and declared that except Awami League there were other factors which needed to be counted in the context of Pakistan. Mr. Bhutto had completely confused the issue by asserting a number of times that there were three parties to the transfer of power in Pakistan, the Awami League, the Peoples Party and finally the Army. Awami League’s right reply to the above assertion was that there was only one party to the transfer of power and that was the people of Pakistan. Since the people of Pakistan had through fair elections given the majority to the Awami League, it was the privilege of the Awami League to form the Government and rule the country. The British Government had been following this development with great interest and had in fact supported the democratic principles. The reason that they did not go out openly for Bangladesh in the beginning was that they did not go to interfere in the internal affairs of Pakistan. By tradition, no country in the world wants that another sister country should be broken up into parts. It was thus inevitable that the British could not support the concept of an independent Bangladesh without trying all sources for a negotiated settlement in which the elected representatives of the people would be allowed to form the Government and rule the country.
Coming to the attitude of the Soviet Union, their attitude was first one of neutrality towards the issue. But it is on record that the Soviet President Podgorny had expressed his anxiety as early as on 30th March, 1971. In his message to President Yahya Khan of the then Pakistan, Mr. Podgorny had expressed anxiety over the start of the troubles in the then East Pakistan, particularly over the fate of the majority leader Sheikh Muzibur Rahman. The Soviets were basically in favour of a negotiated settlement in which the elected representatives would form the Government. But in the beginning of the struggle the Soviet Government did not come out with any settlement condemning the atrocities committed by the army in the then East Pakistan. The attitude of the Soviet Government gradually hardened as they ultimately got convinced that the Pakistanis were
362
most unwilling to see reason and go to the Conference Table for a negotiated settlement. Thus when Mr. Abdus Samad Azad, Political Adviser to the then Government of Bangladesh visited Moscow on his ‘way back from Budapest after attending the world peace council meeting, he was allowed meeting with different Soviet leaders in an informal manner. The representatives of the Soviet Government did not receive Mr. Samad at the Airport but he was given to understand that the Soviets were not unwilling allow him to propagate his views amongst unofficial Soviet circles.
As the struggle grew in dimension and complexity the Soviet gradually started shifting their attitude one of neutrality to that of positive support towards the end of this struggle in OctoberNovember, 1971. The Soviet Government then, like the British Government started to assert that the only solution to the then East Pakistan problem could be a political settlement in which the right of self-determination of the people of the then East Pakistan would have to be recognised. The leaders of the Bangladesh movement towards the end of this struggle were allowed to meet Soviet embassy officials in Calcutta again in an informal manner.
It is a matter of record that Bangladesh came into existence ultimately because of the application of Soviet vetoing the Security Council meetings. India had a great role to play in this context and the Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi had widely to emphasis on the world that India also had some stake in the issue because 10 million refugees had taken shelter in India. India had been advocating a political settlement for a longtime and had been trying to persuade all powers, including big powers that ultimately India might have to intervene since she could not continue indefinitely with the burden of 10 million on her economy. It was the Soviet who supported this Indian stand and ultimately entered into a 20 years friendship back with India. The Friendship treaty was essential at that time since India needed to have support of a big power if she decided to take again other unilateral or in-cooperation with the Bangladesh freedom fighters. The atrocities of the Pakistan army had gradually convinced even some of the allies of Pakistan that Pakistan had been refusing to take a straight course and had been unnecessarily protecting the main issue by continuing the policy of terror in the then East Pakistan. It was to the order of the
363
Indian leadership, backed by that of the Soviet Union that at the end of November, most of the countries in the world, including some of Pakistan’s friends had become completely fed up with the activities of Pakistan. It was at this moment that India finally formed the Joint Command with the Mukti Bahini and when Pakistan attacked India the Joint Command declared war on them and ultimately Bangladesh was established. The formation of the Joint Command and the world wide publicity in favour of Bangladesh and to some extent India could not have been possible if the Soviet had remained neutral like before towards the end of this struggle. The Soviet Union did not enter into the struggle directly but always provided moral support the freedom fighters when they had been convinced that there could be only one solution to the then East Pakistan problem that is emergence of Bangladesh as a separate foreign nation. That India could take solid decision to resist Pakistan and defeat Pakistan on their own soil in co-operation with the freedom fighters could be possible because of Soviets support to India and the ultimate drawing up of Soviet-India friendship treaty in September, 1971. Thus the Soviet Union played a crucial role in the development external event and helped India both moral and by diplomatic support in her offensive against Pakistan towards the end of liberation struggle.
The role of the Soviet Union can be explained more in details if one refers to the Security Council meetings when the conflict started between the Mukti Bahini and the Indians on the one hand and Pakistan on the other in December, 1971. It was the Pakistan’s advantage and to the success of her diplomatic efforts that even at that state of affairs, there were countries who opposed Indian moves and pressed for a cease fire in the Sub-continent. The U.S. even served his Seventh Fleet into the Indian Ocean and situation become very critical. The Security Council passed the resolution calling upon both India and Pakistan to stop hostility and cease fire. It was Soviet Union which vetoed this resolution and as a result cease fire did not come. If the Soviet Union had not put its veto, the cease fire would have come and as situation will show, it would have always been to the advantage of Pakistan. The Pakistanis desperately needed time to make manuvours and such manuvours could be made only if cease fire could be imposed on India. The intervention of the Soviet Union at the right time , the culmination
364
of a long process of dialogue and understanding saved the situation and the allied forces of Bangladesh and India could emerge on into the then occupied East Pakistan for ultimate victory for the Pakistani forces.
It must be said to the success of the diplomatic efforts of Pakistan that they were able to take the issue of cease fire to the General Assembly where more than 105 members endorsed the Security Council call for cease fire. It was because of Soviet Union’s insistence that the issue was again referred back to the Security Council where the Soviet Union applied the 2nd veto in favour of India and against cease fire. The application of Soviet’s veto finally showed that the Soviets and the Indians had already agreed that the Bangladesh issue should be solved once for all. Infant it was the culmination of the Soviet’s stand that the problem of the then East Pakistan could be solved only on the basis of consent of the people of the then East Pakistan. This consent was represented through the decision of the Provisional Government which composed of selected representatives and which drew all its legal powers from the Assembly of such representatives. It is thus incorrect to say that the Soviet support was only to India. The support was as much to Bangladesh as to India since Bangladesh and India had formed the Joint Command and since India had by than already recognised Bangladesh as a separate sovereign nation.
Another aspect of the Soviet support to the Bangladesh cause was through her influence on the eastern European countries. It was G.D.R. (The German Democratic Republic) which from the very beginning openly expressed a support in favour of Bangladesh. The provisional Government of Bangladesh during the continuation of the struggle did not have any formal contact with almost all the countries of the world. It must be said to the credit of Soviet Union and G.D.R. that the G.D.R. authorities maintained some form of liaison with the provisional Bangladesh Government. When the than political adviser to the Government of Bangladesh. Mr. Abdus Samad Azad, visited G.D.R. on his way back from attending the world Peace Council meeting at Budapest he was formally received by the foreign minister of G.D.R. at the Airport. In fact G.D.R. was the only country which formally received the Bangladesh representative and allowed him official status during his stay in East Berlin.
365
Apart from G.D.R. the other eastern European countries also in principle supported the cause of Bangladesh. Though their initial reaction was not that strong in favour of Bangladesh for many unknown reasons , ultimately they sided with the Soviet stand with the then East Pakistan Problem could be solved only by taking into account the aspirations of the people of the erstwhile eastern wing of Pakistan. Towards the end of this struggle the East European countries also realised that Bangladesh is going to be a reality with in a short time, and they thus followed the Soviet stand and supported India in her diplomatic offensive against Pakistan and in favour of Bangladesh. The help and sympathy that the Bengalis receive from the Soviet Union and the East European Countries helped them in continuing their help and sympathy that the Bengalis receive from the Soviet Union and the East European countries helped them in continuing their fight for liberation from Pakistan.
My initial work after leaving Kishoreganj was help with formulating resistance initially from Meghalaya where I had lodged and thereafter from Agartala. I joined the provisional Government of Bangladesh in 24th July 1971. On being directed by the Mujibnagar Government in exile, Culcatta I joined the Government as Deputty Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, on August 08, 1971.
In that capacity, I was in charge of issuing passport. I was in MujibNagar till 21st December, 1971. During my stay at Mujibnagar Ms. Aurundhati Gosh who was the under secretary of the Indian Government, was my colleague.
Meanwhile Bangladesh had been liberated on December 16, 1971.
366
This was the scene of Mujibnagar on the 16th December, 1971, the day the Pakistani army accepted the most nominal defeat of history to the Joint command of Bangladesh and Indian forces at Dhaka. That was the day when long yarnings had come true. That was the day everybody felt he was the free citizen of a free country.
The higher and improvised three-storied Liaison office building of the Bangladesh Secretariat hummed with activities. Everybody seemed to be busy and it appeared as if years of gloom and unhappiness had disappeared bringing in a new era of hopes and aspirations. There was a hectic movement all around.
The Liaison office of Bangladesh Secretariat observed strict punctuality regarding attendance and all employees had to attend office from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., normally and in most cases were far beyond the office hours. The scene of 16th December was completely different. Circumstances had changed and it was possibly time for crying out one’s feelings which one had suppressed so long in the expectation that this cherished day would come soon to all.
When I reached the Bangladesh Secretariat at Mujibnagar on 16th December, I found all officers and other staff were present but nobody appeared to be in the working mood. I found Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Toufiq Imam, Finance Secretary, Mr. K.A. Zaman, Secretary, General Administration, Mr. Nurul Quader Khan and others sitting in a room and talking their hearts out. It was about 8
367
a.m. in the morning. The topic of discussion was the surrender of the Pakistani army at Dhaka later that day in the afternoon. All present appeared to be concerned about fate of Dhaka since all of us had their near and dear ones living away at Dhaka, the heart of Bangladesh. The joy was intermingled with an unlikely fear that the Pakistani army could ultimately deviate from their decision to surrender, though reports had indicated that the surrender was the likely event which was going to take place. I joined the meeting and sat with them. The ever jolly and ever exciting Kamal Siddiqui, when acting as the Private Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmad rushed to the office to confirm that the Pakistani army were going to surrender to the joint command of India and Bangladesh. Mr. Imam got very busy soon and frantically tried to locate Defense Secretary Mr. Samad and Director of Youth Camps, Wing Commander Mirza. They were the most needed persons as they were to be sent to Dhaka on behalf of the Bangladesh Government in a short time along with Lt. General Aurora.
The surrender was the most expected event. Ever since the break of open hostility and air attacks on Indian positions in the Western sector on the 3rd of December, 1971, it had become clear that the war was going to be an impressing one in both Western and Eastern fronts. The skirmishes and stray battles that had been going on for about a month in the Eastern front between the Pakistani army and the revitalized Mukti Bahini equipped with sophisticated weapons like morters and tanks soon turned into a full-fledged war involving India and Bangladesh in one side and Pakistan on the other. It was on 3rd December when some of us were sitting with Minister Mr. A.H. M. Kamruzzaman when we first got the report over phone of the Pakistani air attack on Indian position, in the Western front. Since then the pace of the war increased tremendously. It became a part of our duty at that time to keep listening to the radio to get as much news as possible. Around 12th December it was clear that the Joint command of India and Bangladesh forces had reached Bhairab on the bank of river Meghna and it was a question of a few hours for the final capture of Dhaka. The ultimatum given by General Maniskshaw had been on the air for quite some time and foreign radios indicated that surrender was eminent. We must confess we had been quite perplexed because of the movement of the 7th Fleet
368
into the Bay of Bengal. Defense Secretary, Mr. A. Samad was however confident that the surrender would take place.
The long-awaited day had ultimately come. All of us remained in the office anxiously awaiting the news of the final surrender. My friend Akbar seemed very confident as Deputy Secretary; Ministry of Defense had opined that the surrender would take place. The younger group including us kept on raising intermittent slogans and ever jubilant Kamal Siddiqui kept singing patriotic Bengali songs. We jumped up from seats when anybody came in and rushed to him to enquire about the lasts news. It was a unique scene all over. Everybody was trying to console others. It is in this circumstance that we got our posting orders – we were posted to different districts of Bangladesh. I do not remember today who came in last around 3 p.m. to inform us that surrender instrument had been signed.
The scene that followed can hardly be described. It was a universal day for all. Everybody was in tears. Everybody was sobbing. Up and down these tears of the building you could hear loud talks and frequent shouts of patriotic slogans. There were cries of freedom. There were tears of joy and happiness. There were huggings of mutual consolation. It hardly looked like an office and more like a place of reunion and discovery.
It was time to get home quickly – the shanty home where we had been living in large numbers for long nine months. The same scene was repeated at home. Some one rushed later from some Refugee Centre and informed that the evacuees had gone wild at the news of the final surrender. We all felt restless and most of us rushed to the Bangladesh mission.
The Bangladesh mission witnessed a mass of humanity that day. High Commissioner Mr. Husain Ali could hardly be traced in the crowd of Indian and foreign journalists and photographers. When we reached there we saw known and unknown faces all around. All were happy and gay. Some were even discussing their plans to return to Dhaka immediately ignoring the acute problem of transport. A few friends decided to start for Jessore where, they were confident; our friend Waliul Islam could arrange transport for them up to Dhaka. Bangladesh mission was a scene of hectic activity that day. It was a historic day and the crowd around only surpassed the crowd that gathered there on the 6th of December when India recognised Bangladesh.
369
It was the happiest day in the life of all of us. It was the most memorable day. For long nine months we had lived away from the country and near and dear ones. For long that truth shall prevail and the country shall be independent. In retrospect all sufferings appeared light and evidently the nightmare was over. We were no more unwanted people; we were no more away from our homes; we were the free citizens of a free country.
Later when I landed at Dhaka airport on the 21st December, I was told by all that they had witnessed historic air battles over the city of Dhaka; they had experienced historic moments and evident. How I wish I could share those experiences too. But the experiences we had at Mujibnagar that day could also be hard to match. It was a unique experience for someone who happened to be away physically at the time of the liberation of the country. It was the experience of someone who had suffered for long nine months for a just cause. The spirit of Mujibnagar on 16th December 1971 was that of the ultimate victory of truth over falsehood after a long period of sacrifice and trials. The spirit was that all materialization of expectations and aspirations that had long been cherished in heart of hearts. It was the experience of protesting people who were driven out from their own surroundings and near and dear ones, simply because they disapproved all the heinous actions. It was in fact the most unique experience anybody could ever have in his life. I
The most memorable day of 16th December has come again. The most memorable day for 75 million people of Bangladesh is back again. How I feel the spirit of Mujibnagar as experienced on the last 16th December, 1971 was repeated in the history of the Bangalees to remind them of the sacrifices of the millions of the unknown deads, to bring home to them the supreme necessity of living together in the spirit of mutual help and goodwill, to guide them further on the path of freedom and development and to re-encourage them in their resolve to build up this country as the land of gold.
To transform our beloved country Bangladesh into Sonar Bangla (The Land of Gold) as dreamt by the Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I was appointed as Deputy Commissioner, Mymensingh, and the largest District in Bangladesh on 23 December 1971.
370
Author’s Note
This book is about the 1971 liberation war as I saw it. This is not a complete portrayal of those fateful nine months of 1971; neither is this a collection of only selected snapshots. It is a partial narrative focusing on the events, characters, places and emotions that came my way during those long months.
In writing a book of this nature, one can take one of several approaches, or a combination of them. One could first record all important events, with or without explanation. This will evidently be pure history. Second, one could write from one’s own perspective, recording and interpreting events and feelings, without drawing on other sources. Third, one could provide a chronological account by drawing on all sources. Finally, one could write a chronological account of personal experiences, supplemented with necessary missing information from other sources.
In this book, I haven’t tried to write history, although what I say in the here may have a historical perspective and value. I have mainly followed the second approach in writing this book narrating my story, as I saw and experienced it. The interpretation of all that had happened in this moving human story is my own, as I felt at that time and as I feel now. I very frankly admit that I was very emotional in writing this book, and my emotions are reflected in what I say in the book!
This book grew out of my scribbled diary notes I kept during those days. I developed those notes further in late 1972 when I was working in Dhaka as a Deputy Secretary to the Government. I regret today that I didn’t keep better notes. How could I? That was not the congenial time for it. Besides, I hadn’t ever dreamt that Iwould write such a book in future!
371
Twentyfour years is a reasonably good time to look back at what had happened. During those years in the past, a good number of books were published on Bangladesh’s 1971 struggle for independence. I have read some of them, but haven’t taken them into account. What I write here is my own.
Self-expression is a natural urge with all living beings. I’m no exception. Thus, although I was thinking of writing my story in the seventies, special events provoked me into writing this book. This was either 1989 or 1990, March 26, Bangladesh’s Independence Day. I was watching a Dhaka television programme. It was very disturbing to me to see that Bangladesh’s war of independence was being portrayed basically as a military endeavour! It was a total war in which millions participated: general public, students, farmers, traders, officials, political leaders, and members of various armed services. Several published books on our war of liberation focused sometimes on this issue, and focused right and strong. I thought my story would be a reenforcement!
I stand by everything I have written in this book; nothing is untrue or exaggerated here. I haven’t tried to glorify or belittle any person or event. I have simply stated what I really observed.
I would feel rewarded if my story appeals to any reader, old or young. Like several millions in Bangladesh and elsewhere, I only wish to look forward to the future with hope, as my nine year old daughter and poet Samina Choudhury does in her poem,
“Hope”:
Filling today’s sadness far away
Cling to your hopes from yesterday
Dream a little tale of joy
Think of gems, queens, and toys
The sun will shine tomorrow
If tonight the clouds do hide
From my eyes
The sun will be my guide
Live, love and laugh forever
372
Feel your soul up with pleasure
Smile and be merry
Happy and caring
Your hope is your life’s treasure.

Khashruzzaman Choudhury
9131 round Oak Drive, Batton Rouge,
Louisiana-70817, U.S.A.
March 26, 1995
373
Haider A. Khan’s Obvervation
This book is an extraordinary document of local and national struggles during our liberation war in 1971 by a courageous and wise freedom fighter, Professor Dr. Khasruzzaman Choudhury. Prof. Choudhury left the prestige and security of a highlevel administrator in the Pakistani government, responding to the call of a higher duty in service of our people in a desperate situation. He was always Khasru Bhai to me and his close friends. Therefore, I will refer to him as Khasru Bhai with love and respect throughout this brief essay which, needless to say, can hardly do justice to his exemplary life.
In reading the manuscript and editing it for publication at the request of his dedicated and talented lifelong partner Mrs. Tahmina Zaman, I went back many years remembering my meetings with him and his family when I was a graduate student at Cornell and he was finishing his Ph.D. at Syracuse University after already living a very eventful life. I also recall my first reaction when I heard that Khasru Bhai had passed away on Feb. 4, 2013, Monday at his home in Louisiana. It was a reaction of utter disbelief. That such a lively and engaged person who exuded vitality every time I saw him could simply not be any more seemed unbelievable.
I remember when he moved from north (Syracue, Newyork) to south (Batonrouge, Louisiana) with his family and we would meet during conferences. I met him in Texas, California, New Orleans, New York, Denver and many other cities over the years.
I was already aware of his great contributions as a freedom fighter even before I had met him. I was also impressed by his wit and his scholarship. But above all, I remember Khasru Bhai as a warm, sympathetic soul who was never bitter in spite of many reversals. We both were disappointed to see the dreams we shared about the future

374
of our beloved country being shattered; but he was always both realistic and hopeful. I learned this Gramscian “pessimism of intellect, but optimism of will” lesson from Khasru Bhai concretely.
I was also thrilled to learn about the literary side of Khasru Bhai. He was a regular writer in the Weekly Bangla journal in New York and many other periodicals. He was an expert writer in both English and Bangla and has left many books to his credit. Many of his short stories, poems and essays including satires have been published in both Bangladesh and abroad. His column “Whatever you say, say it after you understand it, whatever you really understand, you should not say it”, explored through bittersweet humor the absurdities of life and politics. These were collected in books later.
His knowledge of many languages, wide experience and the ability to express deep feeling and thoughts with the lightest touch stand out in our literature. He is widely known abroad for his witty essays; among his important literary works are the short story collections with wife and co-writer Tahmina Zaman: “In the lonely crowd and other stories abroad” and also the edited volumes with her, “Stories from Abroad” and “Stories of migration from abroad”. He has also written many other books such as “Rhymes for the Adults”, “Is the story only a story?”, “The Liberation Struggle of 1971”, “People I have seen” etc. Khasru Bhai was truly a renaissance man. He was passionate about life and serving other people.
Now the reader is holding an extraordinary set of memoirs recollected shortly after our victory in 1971. It is extraordinary both in terms of details regarding places, people and events but also in terms of his taking precious time out of his own time at home and not out of the schedule of a busy administrator to prepare the foundations of a key document. He did this by taking his own personal and family time to dictate these pages to his personal assistant(s) in the evenings for which he paid out of his own pocket. It is first and foremost a labor of love by him and his family who supported our cause and his patriotic efforts selflessly. It is also an important document for the students of our liberation war and the future generations.
375
As an editor, I have been cautious and respectful to Khasru Bhai who, as I described him truthfully earlier, was a brilliant writer and raconteur. However, his assistants were not his intellectual equals. He never had a chance to review and rewrite because cruel fate snatched him from us quite unexpectedly. Hence some editing of the manuscript left by those who took the dictations became necessary. I have taken care to make minimal corrections. As far as historical facts are concerned, I could check many of these from the research I had to do for many years in writing my own subaltern history of 1971 in the US and Bangladesh – Muktijuddher Dinguli: Probashe Alor Gaan. Since Khasruzzaman Choudhury’s book is an important historical memoir, I have not altered any of the facts as he had narrated them. It is up to the historians of the present and future generations to use, verify and comment upon the factual aspects. But I can state with full confidence that Khasru Bhai was a first rate intellectual of amazing courage and integrity. His whole life is a testament to these rarest and noblest of human qualities. The reader will find proof of this in every page of this book.
I miss Khasru Bhai personally as an individual friend and mentor, but our nation has lost a great fighter for human freedom and dignity and a writer of great sensitivity and talent. I hope many future generations will be inspired by his life and his works including the present book. Editing and getting the book ready for publication has been a labor of love for me. I am thankful to his family, especially Lucy Bhabi (Tahmina Zaman) and wish the best for all of them.
Haider A. Khan
John Evans Distinguished University Professor of International Economics, JKSIS, University of Denver Former Senior Economic Adviser, UNCTAD, Geneva and Chief International Adviser, Arab Trade and Human Development, UNDP Cairo
376
Acknowledgement
My sincere thanks to Dr. Akbar Ali Khan, Syed Badrul Haque, Ziauddin Choudhury, Dr. Haider Ali Khan, Mustasim Ali, Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, Lt. Col. (Retd) Quazi Sajjed Ali Zahir (Bir Protik), Dr. Tahsina Haque, Murtaza Azam-Ul-Alam, Sayeed Choudhury, Dr. Malini Datta, Dr. Samina Karim (Choudhury), Syed Saiful Haque, Teresa Moore, Iqbal Abdur Rahim Quazi, Ikram Abdur Rahim Quazi, Farhana Rahman, Mehtab Hossain, Khodeza Akter, Mitia Osman, Abdur Rouf and Mahadi Hasan for their kind help and co-operation in bringing out the book.
I owe my thanks to Osman Gani for publishing this book “The Turbulant 1971: My Diary” authored by my late husband Dr. Khashruzzaman Choudhury.
Tahmina Zaman
tzaman999@yahoo.com
February. 2020
377
About The Author
Khashruzzaman Choudhury (1943- 2013) was born in Beanibazar, Sylhet, Bangladesh on 13th February. His father’s name is Mosharraf Ali Choudhury and his mother’s name is Mariamunnesa Khatun. After completion of his study, he joined the elite Civil service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1967. He was first appointed as Assistant Commissioner of Kohat (then West Pakistan) in 1967-68. Later he was posted as Assistant Commissioner in Dhaka in 1969-70. In 1970-71, he was the Sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Kishoreganj (then a subdivision), he openly revolted against the marauding Pakistan Army. He actively participated in the liberation war and held the subdivisional town as long as possible. Then he shifted to join the Mujibnagar Government in exile in Mujibnagar. During this period (up to 16th December 1971), he worked as Deputy Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs for the Mujibnagar Government in exile. After liberation war was over, he was the first Deputy Commissioner of Mymensing District (1971-72), the largest district of Bangladesh. He served as deputy Secretary in the ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation (1972-74) and the ministry of Education (1974-77). He resigned from the Government job in 1983.
Khashruzzaman Choudhury stood second in Matriculation examination (now SSC) in the then East Pakistan School Textbook Board in 1960. He obtained his Honours degree in Economics from Dhaka University in 1965 securing the first position, and Masters’ degree in Economics from Punjab University in Lahore, also clinching the first position. He did his MPA from Kennedy School of Government Harvard University in 1978 and obtained his Ph.D. degree from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, New York in 1987. After that, he served in
378
Syracuse University in two stints (1982-85, 1989-91), before shifting his base to Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
In consideration of his invaluable contribution towards the liberation war, the Government of Bangladesh declared the highest civilians award “Shadhinata Padak” posthumously to Dr. Khashruzzaman Choudhury and delivered the prestigious award on the eve of the 43rd Independence Day on 25 March 2014 in Dhaka.
Khashruzzaman Choudhury was an economist and a versatile writer. He wrote many numbers of books on prose, poetry, short stories, satire, economics, etc. In addition, he presented many original papers in many conferences/seminars held in many countries. All these achievements and qualities, friendliness and ready-to-help attitude towards all are some diverse qualities of Khashruzzaman Choudhury. His writings portray him as a person of human qualities which made him a genuinely good human being.
Khashruzzaman Choudhury married Tahmina Zaman, who was a Professor in the College of Home Economics at Dhaka, Bangladesh, and later a consultant to the UN Development Programme. Their son, Sayeed Choudhury manages Artificial Intelligence Partnerships at Facebook in Menlo Park, California, USA, and their daughter, Samina Karim (Choudhury) is a Professor of Strategy at Northeastern University’s School of Business, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He died on 4th February 2013 at his residence in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
379