468 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ পঞ্চম খন্ড During the 25 days that followed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib's call for peaceful, non-violent non-cooperation movement not single case of non-Bengali death was reported from any place in Bangladesh. Only some West Pakistanis who were escaping from Dacca with substantial wealth in cash and gold were intercepted by student volunteers Although the army provoked them by opening fire, killing and wounding them, there has not been a single case of West Pakistani death either. Finding the atmosphere rather tense Bangabandhu himself had ordered the students to withdraw. Unfortunately, a section of short sighted refugee non-Bengalees in Bangladesh always joined hands with the West Pakistani clique against the political and economic interests of the Bangladesh. It was indeed this section that collaborated fully with Yahya's murderers since they were let loose on March 25. The Army first trained and armed them. Then they backed them with full military protection to start anti-Bengali riots in Dacca, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Khulna, Rangpur, Syedpur, Ishurdi and many other places. Hundreds of unarmed innocent Bengalis were massacred and their houses and properties looted. Even women and children were not spared. The ghastly massacre was reminiscent of the communal madness that we had the misfortune to witness 20/25 years ago. Yet the Bengalees displayed supreme tolerance. Despite great emotion-Mukti Bahini commander protected the Urdu-speaking population in the liberated areas. Unfortunately, a section of the same people later collaborated with the Pakistani army when the Mukti Bahini made tactical withdrawals and contributed to Bengali massacre. So far I have been referring to a section of non-Bengalees. This I did only to emphasize that there exists another section of Urdu-speaking population in Bangladesh who had faith in Sheikh Mujib's promise that they, too, would be treated equally with Bengalees. This helped them to identify themselves with the people of a land where they intend to settle permanently. Despite temptations held out by the colonial Pak army whose prime aim is to use one section of the population against another-a trick that they learnt from their past masters-they have refrained from antinational acts. A section of Indian Muslims still seem to nurse a nostalgic affection for Pakistan-a state for which we all had sacrificed so much in the forties with the hope that it would find a better economic and political lot for the Moslem India. But, almost in no time, the great expectation had turned sour. A vicious coterie captured power and systematically and ruthlessly exploited people for their own ends. Suddenly the people of Bangladesh realized that the mere fact of having the same religion with these exploiters was not helping at all-in fact it was proving a great handicap. Because any opposition to the exploitation was being attacked by the coterie in the name of Islam and so-called integrity-When people refused to be duped, hoodwinked, or suppressed under such pretexts, they came out in strength to massacre them in cold blood. How could anyone in his senses side with such a viciously anti-people force. Even those who are collaborating with them do not realize that they are only being used. Pakistani junta, in its effort to hide its real nature, is trying its best to present the issue
- 1S
