The New Nation - Internet Edition

M.T. Hussain

There is no end in Bangladesh in the last 36 years of claims and counter claims on some important historical issues that continued to remain as yet satisfactorily resolved much less reaching at any unanimity. The declaration or not of Independence by one or the other for the country in 1971 from Pakistan remains such a matter of acrimony. The issue took somewhat evil shape when the matter went out of common vocabulary into the children's textbooks. The school children ask teachers and parents rather awkwardly as to why changes take place from time to time in textbooks. Answers do not come to be unanimous but vary raising confusion still further. But why could not we arrive at some unanimity in rather a long period of over three decades that has gone by? And now we are told by responsible quarter in the government that one was the 'architect' and the other and 'announcer' of Independence of Bangladesh! Sheikh Mujib was the 'architect' and Major Zia was the 'announcer'.

We know that announcer of any programme or act is important but not any of real actor. On the contrary, architect is conceiver, planner and detailer of particular project. In the case of Independence of Bangladesh the role the Sheikh played though well known at popular level remains as yet in some mystery as well. The role played by Major Zia in March 1971, was nothing of any mystery but a straight forward one just like a courageous and patriotic soldier that he did on the 26th March in making the announcement of Independence of Bangladesh taking total risk of life and death that was nothing unusual though for a trained soldier in the real situation when there was no clear direction to the agitating masses on the streets much less unilaterally declaring the Independence that many wished to hear from the elected leader the Sheikh, but did not hear anything even on the 25th late hours but of his detention at midnight. I recall clearly these matters as I stayed not only in Dhaka city but also as a conscious college teacher taking interest for the country as a patriot and also felt concerned then for critical nature of politics of the country. For the same interest I attended the Sheikh's 7th March Ramna Race Course meeting to listen from the horse's mouth if he would declare Independence of the country as the rumour had been. Nothing such we heard from him except some confusing rhetoric with all high sound and fury but signifying nothing in substance that however followed parleys in Dhaka with the President Yahya Khan and Zulfi Bhutto of the Pakistan People's Party keeping people in real dark but in all certainty and deep suspense until the 25th night. What we knew further was that the leader instructed his late night close followers like Dr. Kamal and Tajuddin to continue agitation and enforce the Hartal one day after on the 27th March.

The federal army, however, surprised many of us. Myself returned to my residence at on the 25th March about 11:15 at night on myself-driven new car Fiat 600D from farm Gate FPIDF: (East Pakistan Institute of Diploma Engineers) office then located at 11 Holy Cross College Road to 421-22 Tejgaon Industrial Area, when having had my late supper fell asleep but awake at about 01 after midnight having heard heavy sound and flashes of light over flying the roof of my fourth floor residence. I then got my five kids (eldest one 10 and the youngest one year old lie down on the floor and so did we along with 3 other college going young members (one brother, one brother- in -law and a sister -in- law). The firing sound soon ended here but sounds continued to come in from other areas. I had nothing of any news except kept on guessing. There was some announcement heard in mike about imposition of curfew. The next clay I had only news from a neighbour that the army had detained the Sheikh. Rumours and confusion were abound for a few days, curfew relaxed on the 27th for three hours when 1 took a Hindu colleague on his request to the Kawran Bazar for buying some provision, particularly, for him. The next day so far as 1 could recall, 1 had to take a family to Shitlakhya Ferry Ghat on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway for the family to take a motor launch to their rural home some where up at Kapasia thana locality. A few days after, 1 tried to give a lift to my 3td brother, then a Dhaka College student and a Student League activist, out of the city to Kashempur Agricultural farm where my second brother was posted as the Assistant Director, but the army posted outside the main road off Tejgaon Airport, did not allow me to proceed ahead and returned me to my residence through Farm gate and Tejgaon No. 1 Railway Crossing at Tejgaon Industrial Ara.

These were some of my experience on the night of the 25th March and soon after the 25th March 1971 when I heard nothing of Declaration of Independence by the Sheikh except that some rumour of an announcement made in Chittagong by one Major Zia of the East Bengal Regiment. In mid April another news we got about formation of a government in exile in Calcutta with some Awami League Leaders, MNA's and M.P.s of East Pakistan. However, though the federal Army reestablished control all over East Pakistan by mid May, sporadic violence occurred here and there until November when real war started on the 3rd December.

I stayed still in the same government residence until 10th December when on serious persuasion of my immediate next brother staying at Kashempur, I took all my family members then with me in my own self-driven car to Kashempur in midst of bombing by Indian jets except the one who had already crossed over to India and the other one left for rural home. Within six days of my leaving Dhaka, I realised that the war ended through surrender of the Pakistan Eastern Command in Dhaka on the 16th December. I joined my job in the Ramna Head Quartr possible on the 27th December and soon had to go to my place of posting at Barisal where from I had been on long earned leave.

There was no effective government until the Sheikuh took over on his return to Dhaka on the 10th January 1972. But the issue of declaratin/announcement of Independence remained in confusion Zia's declaration on the 27th and amendment made on the following day though had no credence but that sparked fire for resistance of many was given no credit whatsoever by the Sheikh's government, and instead gave the whole credit to the Sheikh through a Bengal leaflet distributed widely that claimed that the Sheikh passed on instruction for declaring Independence to an Awami Leaguer in Chittagong just before he suffendered to the Pakistan Army at about mid night on the 25th March. The subject mather of the leaflet was blasted by all intelligent persons, because, he left no such intimation to any one either to Tajuddin or to Dr. Kamal Hossain even though they stayed with him until the last hours, but amazingly sent the measage to a tittle known person nearly 200 miles away from Dhaka. Even so, the baseless matter continued as documented fact in party vocabularies and in textbooks until about late 1975.

The fall of the Sheikh and taking over the administration by Zia by the end of 1975 made things changed in vocabulary and in textbooks, that is, Zia got acknowledgement for his declaration. Independence after about five years.

There were credible personal evidence and documents in the matter. The most glaring matter was that Zia as a leading sector commander of 1971 war fought gallantly in the war front whereas the Sheikh not only escaped all risks of war but enjoyed carefree life in West Pakistan while his family members (wife and two daughters) received full protection of the Federal Army of Pakistan in Dhaka.

That the Sheikh did not declare the Independence of the country from Pakistan has many proves. First, that there are many instances of his distasrte for being labeled as a 'secessionist'. Instead, he was all out to share power of federal Pakistan as the Prime Minister with President Yahya Khan, keeping relation with the General long before the fale of Ayub Khan in late March 1969 just as Sarder Mujhammad Chaudhury records, 'Rani (Yahya's lover and an Indian citizen) also revealed Yahya's collusion with Mujib even before the General had taken over. She was with Yahya one night when Mujib suddenly entred the room. Surprisd and somewhat frightened she went to another room.

Mujib who was in Islamabad for the Round Table Conference remained with Yahya for over an hour (Sarder Muhammad Chaudhury, The Ultimate Crime : Eye Witness to Power Games, P. 98, Lahore, 1999)'. That he did never wish to dismember Pakistan can also be found in Brohi's testament as briefly published in the London Fortnightly, The Impact International, dated 28th September to 8th October, 1987 issue, P. 19 that reads, 'Mujibur Rahman was being tried on the charge that he had been working for the secession of East Pakistan and according to Brohi, he had absolutely denied the accusation. Brohi also personally believed that this was true defence plea. For all his faults, it was Mr. Brohi's view that Muiibur Rahmnan did not want to break Pakistan.

Later on when India attacked East Pakistan, again according to Brohi, Mujibur Rahman offered to appear on the TV and appeal to the people of East Pakistan to defend Pakistan against Indian attack He passed on the offer to the martial law administrator Gen Yahya Khan. Apparently the offer was ignored.' Professor and historian Stanley Wolpert, in his Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan (OUP, 1993), recorded from Mujib's tape recorded conversation with Bhutto made between 27th December 1971 to 8th January 1972 in Islamabad, 'I told you it will be confederation' (P.175 that he also signaled in his 10th January 1972 public meeting speech made as the victorious leader at the then Rana Race Course that I attentively listened to from the radio right then. Why should at all be any thing to give word much less talk about 'Confederation', if he had made Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) on the 25th March 1971) ? It is further recorded in authentic historical documents that Mujib in his post 1971 life for about three and a half years never showed any interest for the 'exile government' capital of Mujibnagar, much less made any visit there but instead rebuked Tajuddin, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for dismembering Pakistan as had the late Professor Dr. Aftab Ahmad been the witness to the rebuke on the 10th January 1972 at the Tejgaon Airport Tarmac. One could add more to these proofs, but it is useless to elongate the list further.

Thus it should be concluded that the Sheikh had neither planned to dismember Pakistan, nor he declared independence of Bangladesh, and hence in no way he could be anything of the architect of Bangladesh. However, history itself will remove all such controversies on its own when it will set all reords upright. The position of Zia being a straight forward army officer, however, remained crystal clear as the real announcer of Independence of Bangladesh with all authenticity and fully credible fact of history beyond any shadow of doubt.