466 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ পঞ্চম খন্ড going through the minimal paraphernalia of a trial by military Court. Nobody expected a more civilized behavior from these morbid fascists. They have more than established by now that they are not only totally devoid of those human values that constitute the line of demarcation between animals and human beings but are too drunk with arrogance to recognize even their own impending doom. Now that they have totally failed to deceive the world about the crimes they have committed against humanity in Bangladesh they have given up pretending altogether. Their naked designs-so obnoxious to civilized sensibilities-are now being publicized through its publicity media. That they are making the civilized world shudder in disgust matters little to them. Fairplay and magnanimity are words unknown to the dictionary of cowards. It would be only foolish to expect any civilized treatment of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from such confirmed cowards as Yahya and his conspiring Generals. The Sheikh, if he wanted, could have escaped in time. But being a brave democrat and a man with supreme faith in civilized codes of behavior considered the idea distasteful. But he was clever enough not to put all the eggs in the same basket and had ordered his party men to seek shelter outside the domain of the Pakistani Army in case they go berserk. The Army came, surrounded his house and opened fire around the midnight of March 25. Sheikh a man of great moral power, came out on the balcony and asked the Army Officer to arrest him and stop that shooting nonsense. This gesture was regarded by that towering coward Tikka Khan as a great victory. Tikka Khan who is totally devoid of almost all the human characteristics would have loved to put his prize captive to death had it not been for Yahya-who wanted to play around with the gallant leader of 75 million Bengalees a little longer. He did not trust trigger-happy Tikka. Sheikh was soon transferred to a military prison in West Pakistan. As the massacre continued in Bangladesh Sheikh was being coerced to sign a so-called "agreement" that meant a virtual political sell-out of the people of Bangladesh. Naturally, alcohol and power drunk Yahya did not know the stuff Sheikh was made of. Despite menacing threats coupled with physical torture Sheikh successfully resisted the nefarious move and held on to the trust reposed in him by 75 million freedom-hungry people of Bangladesh. Consequently came the threat of his trial by military court. The way some of world's biggest powers are appeasing the Pakistani fascists, it is not unlikely that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will be murdered and the world will have the memory of yet another great patriot like Patrice Lumumba on its conscience. And the murderers will not end there. Sheikh's family now living under house arrest in Dacca's Dhanmondi Residential area may not be spared either. One might wonder about the role that the U. N. might play in this regard. Lumumba died under its very nose in the hands of Katanga fascists led by Moise Tshombe. But the U. N. did play a role there. It's the then Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold gave his life trying to find a solution. U Thant before he retires could at least impress upon the members of the Security Council about the grave threat to international peace that is hiding in any possible murder of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Indications are there that the U. N. is stirring up about Bangladesh-particularly after Yahya's lunatic threat of war against India. But there are influential coteries within U. N. who might like to avoid the real
