715 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড war, NAP is very much on the scene. 1 met a prominent leader of the party and ordinary members who are fighting in Dinajpur. It should be remembered that long before Mujibur. Bhasani had giving the call for Independent Bangladesh. NAP claims that although the electorate voted for Mujibur Rahman, they were taken a step ahead from the demand for autonomy to the demand for full independence by NAP. The rallies they held during the negotiations exerted pressure on Mujibur and prevented a compromise, NAP leaders claim. But NAP admits that it was also caught unawares by the Pakistan army. It should share with the Awami League the blame for keeping the masses unprepared for a war. Co-ordination NAP has decided to set up a co-ordination committee of other left forces and keep in touch with Mujib's Government-in-exile and prepare for a long-drawn war. It describes the present struggle as a national liberation war and seeks to draw all the classes into it. Instead of depending on conventional warfare like the Awami League, NAP is preparing for guerilla war. The NAP leader whom I met was tin; only political leader from East Bengal to tell me pointblank: "We do not expect any help from you. It is our war and we will fight it. For heaven's sake, ask your political parties to keep away from our politics." NAP. it appears, has succeeded in getting cooperation from three Noxalite groups of East Bengal. The Toaha group, which heads the official Communist Party of East Pakistan(Marxist-Leninist) is still out of the co-ordination committee. The CP (ML) in East Bengal is thinking on different lines, although it is participating in the liberation war. It describes the war as a "false nationalistic war in collaboration with imperialists." The definition is probably directed against the Awami League leadership. The party emphasizes class struggle-annihilation of landlords and shardening of the conflict between the jotdars and the rural poor. It seeks to expose Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League leadership. In this connexion. NAP differs from the CP (ML). While NAP feels that the main contradiction is between the Bengalis as a nation and the invading Pakistan army, the CP- (ML) stresses the contradiction between the feudal structure in the villages and the toiling masses. They feel that with the desertion of the rural poor by the Awami leaders, it would be easier for them to expose the Awami League and politically educate the peasantry. According to the CP (ML), the fight against the Pakistan army and the local feudal landlords would continue simultaneously. They hope that the peasants who are fleeing villages today will return tomorrow and take up arms, snatch them if necessary, to defend themselves. Political power will be set up in these centers of armed Struggle. It is difficult to predict at this stage what exactly would be the course of future events in Bangladesh, or which party would be in the leadership. But it is clear that parties of the petit bourgeoisies will gradually lose their hold and give way to other forces, depending on the initiative of the more militant groups. With the onset of the monsoons, there might be some lull on the battlefronts. During this period, NAP and other forces might try to coordinate their activities and set up resistance groups and prepare for guerilla warfare. In
