বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ পঞ্চদশ খন্ড
After a while we found the launch pulling into the river bank across the river but a long way from Brahmanbaria. Here some students approached us and asked us to accompany them off the launch. Since at that stage both Anis and myself were not anxious to reveal our identitics least Pakistani Intelligence operatives had been moving in these crowds, we were hesitant to so expose ourselves but eventually went ashore. Here we found ourselves in an unanticipated situation because some of the people there seemed to be uncertain about Our identity. Apprehending that this situation might get out of hand, Mustafa Monwar, with some presence of mind asked if there were any students of Dhaka University in the vicinity and if there were that they should be sent for immediately as they would be sure to establish the identity of their teachers.
Anis and myself asked that we be taken before the local leader of the Sangram Parishad so that we could reveal our identity in confidence rather than in the Middle of a big mob. At that stage a pcon of Oxford University Press. Dhaka who had recognized me from my visits there spoke up so that the crowd was willing to give us a hearing. We were then taken into the local school by the head of the Sangram Prishad who was an Awami Leaguer and some others. There we sought to reveal our identity but still had no way of confirming that we were whom we claimed to be. Some of the people recognized my name but it took longer discourse for them finally to be convinced that we were the people we claimed to be. At that stage it was decided that we should go out and address the crowd now that our credentials had been established. As we went out we came across Muqtada, who had seen the direct student of Anis and myself in the Economics Department of Dhaka University and his cousin Mofakkher, a student of the History Department, They lived in the next village and when Mostafa Monwar's message to search out some Dhaka University students had finally reached them they ran all of several miles to get to us in order to proclaim our identity.
Once our bonafides had been established we became instant celebrities in the area. We moved to the house of the local Awami league leader. At that stage a rumour began to circulate in the village that large numbers of people from the area began descending on the place where we were staying. This rumor was eventually dispelled but any hope of retaining our anonymity had vanished and it was felt that we should move on.
We were told by the local leaders that he village masses had been in a state of alert to apprehend Pakistani saboteurs and paratroopers. The local population had armed themselves with whatever weapons came to hand and were in a state of high vigilance. This again, albeit at our own expense, was reassuring first hand evidence that the village masses of Bangladesh had in these last four weeks been sufficiently mobilized to willingly participate in the aimed struggle against the Pakistan army. Under local leadership, they had mobilized themselves all over the country.
From this area Muqtada and Mofakkher took us to their village to the home of Mofakkher's brother Prof. Noman, now Principal of Dhaka College. There it was decided that we should head for Brahmanbaria and should travel late at night by river as there was some apprehension the Pakistan army may be patrolling the rivers. We set out for Brahmanbaria by 'nauka' in the early hours of 30th March accompanied by Muqtada. mofakkher and his older brother mohaddes who was in Radio Pakistan. We bid
