eventually accepted but it took some time for the proposal to take off. When I returned to Europe after a month at base, the brunt of the work was left to Prof. Hossain. When Prof. Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury finally surfaced, he was designated as Chairman of the Board. The board finally secured some office space and research assistance and towards the end of the war had begun work on some policy papers for the Cabinet.
Whilst at base I had occasion to meet up again with Major Khaled Mosharraf who had by now been commissioned into the army of Bangladesh and was a Sector Commander. IIc gave me his account of the Battle of Belonia; for this he had as witness, a British Television journalist, Vanya Kewley who had been advised by me carlier in London to meet Khaled if she wanted to see some action. During this visit I met for the first time with Major Ziaur Rahman, who was another of the Sector Commanders. Zia was then a much more withdrawn personality than Khaled. From Zia I heard his account of the battle for Chittagong and his analysis of the present war. I also met with General Osmany the C-in-C of the Mukti Bahini and with Group Captain Khondkar, who was Deputy Chief of Staff.
All those whom I met with from the Mukti Bahini spoke of the impressive mobilization of youths who were streaming in to join the resistance. The Majors told me of the way in which the guerilla war was being organized. They were all unanimous in their complaints that inadequacy in the quantity and sophistication of arms was the only constraint in the buildup of the resistance, from what I learnt later it was only in August that the policy decision was taken by the Indian government to step up the flow of weapons to the Mukti Bahini and to improve their fire power.
Having made my reports to the Bangladesh cabinet and presented my proposal for a Planning Board to them I returned to the task of mobilising opinion in Europe and the U. S. for stopping aid to Pakistan. This time, when I set out I was equipped with official credentials by the cabinet who designated me as 'Envoie Extraordinaire in Charge of Economic Affairs'.
I returned to London in August to find that the campaign by the local Bengalis was in high tide. A mammoth rally had been organized by them in Trafalgar Square. Press support was strong, spokesman from all parties were vocal in Parliament against aid to Pakistan and the Tory government was compelled to confirm their refusal to pledge new aid.
I had been invited to address a meeting convened by the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London. This provided a rather prestigious audience. I could not return in time to meet this commitment so that my wife Salma, who had by now reached U. K. with my sons, spoke in my place along with the Labor M.P. Arthur Bottomed who had just returned from a visit to Pakistan as head of British Parliamentary delegation sent out to report on the situation. Salma gave a moving account of the situation and along with Bottomley's first hand report, the occasion proved a most effective forum for the Bangladesh cause. I subsequently was invited by Chatham House to address them in October.
From U. K. I moved back to Washington. Around September the entire Bengali contingent in the embassies at Washington and to the UN finally declared their allegiance
