474 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ পঞ্চম খন্ড ১৫ জুলাই, ১৯৭১ WORLD PRESS WORRIED ABOUT SHEIKH : HONOUR FOR TIKKA! Now the daily Telegraph of London has joined Radio Bangladesh in expressing doubts about the whereabouts and fate of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In an editorial published in its issue of August 14, the paper asked-"Is Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Dead?" Like we did on several occasions during last few days the leader-writer of the daily also points out the fact that since Sheikh's voluntary arrest on the night of March 25 nothing has been heard of him except for some statements by Yahya Khan that Sheikh would be punished and that he would be tried secretly on charges that carry death penalty. The Pakistani army had said last Monday that his trial would start next day. "Has he," asks the editorial, "in fact already been executed?" It also asks—"Is General Yahya able to do anything to show that such inevitable suspicions are unfounded?" The paper has further suggested that to put world suspicions at rest Yahya should arrange for Sheikh's nonPakistani lawyers to have access to him. But such an effort has already been made without success. What roused international suspicion is the fact that Sheikh was suddenly put on this dubious trial only at a day's notice. The announcement was followed by another report, again through army source, that Sheikh has refused to accept the validity of the court and has. thus, refused to have a defense counsel. This could be the only piece of clever propaganda in the entire handling of the Bangladesh tragedy. Anybody who knows Sheikh would be convinced of Sheikh's alleged stand. But the point is it suits the purpose of the military junta so well. If Sheikh has already been murdered-this fiction would come very handy for deceiving the world. In that event-the next move of the killer junta would be to declare that Sheikh has been found guilty and that he was sentenced to death. It might be tempted to play around with the execution pan of the sadistic farce a little longer. Nevertheless, after some time, the news of Yahya's refusal to grant the reprieve and consequent execution of the leader would be made public with suitable timing and language. Earlier Yahya had taken the British press for a ride when he remarked to a correspondent during an interview that Sheikh may not be executed by firing squad-he may die, what he called, 'a natural death in prison'. Of course, he did not say what really is meant by "natural death" in hangman's vocabulary. Anyway, the news helped to control speculations about Sheikh's whereabouts until the Daily Telegraph came out with its serious doubts yesterday. There are, of course, reports of people finding an under construction prison as a possible venue for the trial. One foreign correspondent reports that he has seen the prison well guarded by army personnel. There is nothing more concrete than what could be made out by putting these presumptions, assumptions, rumors, and stray incidents together to suggest that Sheikh might still be alive and the ludicrous farce of his trial is
