to the detriment of East Pakistan's economy David Holden, of Sunday Times of London, has rightly said: “The perennial Pakistan battle over Kashmir held no emotion over them (Bengalis) yet it consumed the states revenues in military expenditure of which Bengal contributed the lion's share.” Commenting on Kashmir the Guardian said recently: “Pakistan alleges that India holds the Pakistani loving Kashmiris in check by steely repression. It is most ludicrous of cases now, as the junta of Islamabad openly exercises just such repressions on 75 million bonafide Pakistanis. The United Nations will surely collapse in bitter laughter if Kashmir comes up again. The issue is as dead as the students of Dacca University.”
The arbitrary postponement of National Assembly by Yahya Khan brought protests and processions all over Bengal 011 1st March, which the military decided to control by force. Nearly 2000 innocent democratic loving sons of Bengal lost their lives; despite this bloody massacre the Awami League refrained from declaring independence. Instead they carried on non-violent non-cooperation. It was first time in the history of the world when at the call of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman-the leader of the political party which was outside the government-the whole governmental administration of East Pakistan defied the Central Government and transferred its allegiance to him. It was such a complete non- cooperation that even the movements led by Mahatma Gandhi never achieved this degree of unity, solidarity and spirit of dedication among the people. At this time it was a proven fact that he never wanted to secede from Pakistan, “his preparedness for negotiation and commitment to the unity of Pakistan was demonstrated by his continuation of talks for the next two weeks despite the well-advertised influx of West Pakistan troops.”
What President Yahya was doing was to reinforce his army in East Pakistan and was never negotiating with Mujib in good faith. During the talks, he said publicly 011 several occasions that he was satisfied; he went back to Islamabad on 25th March and called Sheikh Mujib, the future Prime Minister of Pakistan, a traitor. He outlawed his party and unleashed reign of terror on the night of Thursday 25th March 1971 which has not been seen since the Turkish massacre of Armenian Christian and I litler's extermination of Jewish people.
On March 25 Bangladesh shrieked with horror. Blood flowed through the streets like a flood flowing after a torrential rain. Men, women and children ran in panic. Their screams echoed in the sky. Their cries then silenced by the rattle of automatic weapons and salvoes of guns. Thousand upon thousand were killed. Human bodies lay and rotted on the road under the fierce tropical sun. The world read the news of the massacre and saw it on the television screen-thanks to the indomitable courage of a few brave journalists who escaped the net of the Pakistan Army. Did the world feel shocked? Did it feel dismayed? Whatever their reaction was, it will never be known to the innumerable victims in Bangladesh. Horrified eye witnesses described in gory detail the savage killings and atrocities committed by the West Pakistani military machine. Newspapers in East Pakistan were completely gagged-if their offices were not already blown to pieces by cannonade. Foreign journalists were harassed, searched, subjected to indignities and eventually expelled. A British woman asked a Pakistani officer, “Why did you have to kill the children?” The officer answered back “As orphans they will grow up to hate West Pakistan”. The West Pakistani Army was making sure that the truth did not reach the outside world.
