mass killings and large scale migrations. Surely, the uprooted victims of Pakistani terror are not chattels to be disposed of in exchange for money. It is their birth right to return home in honor and dignity, and return they shall in not too distant a future.
And what is the object of President Nixon's sending a fact finding mission to the sub- continent at this time? What is it he wants to know that his country's diplomats and legislators do not already know too well? The administration he heads failed to express any horror for the blackest crime of his time, namely, the planned extermination of a million Bengalis or for the brutal uprooting of nearly ten million human beings from their homes. Whatever the U. S. Government wishes to achieve through this move, it will not make any difference to our determination to free our country and to create the kind of society we want.
The event we have been preparing for through blood and tears is positively nearer, but we must reckon with the sacrifices, deaths, and hardships that are yet to be gone through. Since freedom is an inexhaustible concept and is yet conditioned by what we do with it in war and peace, we must, as we renew our vow to destroy the enemy completely, also renew our pledge to build a society worthy of the martyr's blood. The young men who are fighting in the cities and villages of Bangladesh to end foreign occupation are also fighting to end privilege and injustice. The present struggle will thus be completed only by our achieving the secular-democratic-socialist order promised by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The vision that impels Bangladesh to-day is that of a society where political, economic and cultural life will be organized on the basis of the equality of all citizens, who will join in a common adventure to develop and fulfil themselves in freedom.
The Bangabandhu, the leader of the Bengalis, is still a captive of the Pakistani generals. We are convinced that the military junta will see reason and free him only when the exit routes of the occupation army are cut. This is what we are now able to do and intend to do. We shall take on the enemy on land, sea and air and force upon General Yahya Khan the moment of truth he has been waiting for.
I call upon the people of Bangladesh to turn this phase of the liberation war into a decisive one. All officials, razakars, members of the police and others who have been compelled to serve the invader against their conscience must take the first opportunity to revolt. I ask all willing collaborators for the last time to reform and desist from their acts of betrayal against the country. We promise the unrepentant collaborator and his alien master the same fate: death with ignominy.
Thousands of our guerrillas at the moment surround the enemy and menace his existence. All citizens of Bangladesh must join their strength to that of the Mukti Bahini and stay poised to deliver the occupation regime a mortal blow with their united might when the call is given for a final assault on the invader.
I salute the heroic dead, the heroic freedom fighters, and the heroic people of Bangladesh who have brought the freedom struggle to its present level of success.
