“It was not the Awami League which broke off the talks. The Awami league had not conceived of a war, not to talk of preparing for it.
“Now that a war has been thrust upon us, we shall continue to fight till the Pakistanis are removed from our holy land.
“Those nations which preach and practice democratic principles and value should try to protect the democratic forces now facing annihilation at the hands of the occupation army in Bangladesh. They really are great who stand by the oppressed and the suffering.”
MARTYRS EXTOLLED
The Home Minister has also announced that the Bangladesh Government has decided to take up the responsibility of the families of those who were killed, seriously injured and disabled in their fight for the liberation of their motherland.
According to a Swadhin Bangla Bctar Kendra broadcast, Mr. Kamaruzzaman has issued a circular to this effect and paid rich tributes to the martyrs and extolled the heroic deeds of the Mukti Fouj.
The circular, released from the Ministry yesterday, said that those brave soldiers and officers, who had shown such exemplary bravery, would be perpetual source of inspiration to the future generations of the Bangla Government.
The broadcast said the government appreciated these heroic fights and would take steps to rehabilitate all the disabled and invalid soldiers and the families of the martyrs.
BENGALIS SACKED
Another broadcast disclosed that the West Pakistani military regime has started systematic elimination of Bengalis from government service and autonomous organizations in the “occupied areas of Bangladesh.”
A broadcast said that out of 1,800 employees of the Pakistan International Airlines, 1,100 employees-all Bengalis-had been screened out.
The broadcast said that 600 Bengali employees of another undertaking had already been served with notice of dismissal. Those who were paid salaries for the month of April, did not receive their pay for March when the non-cooperation movement was launched by the Awami League.
The army authorities appointed a screening committee in order to carry out systematic elimination of all Bengalis from the government offices in the Pakistan occupied areas of Bangladesh, the broadcast added.
