পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (তৃতীয় খণ্ড).pdf/৯০৬

874 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ তৃতীয় পত্র Similarly the gold price had been Rs. 135/140 per tola in Karachi as against Rs. 160/165 at Dacca (Bangladesh) during the period mentioned above. In the official caders, the approximate number of employees engaged by Pakistan Government before March, 1971 is shown below: TABLE 'A' Officer: West Pakistan : Bangladesh Class I 3,769 811 Class II 4.885 884 (Gazetted) Class II 5,551 1,184 (Non-Gazetted) Class III 1,37,975 13,724 This is in brief the account of the injustices that were inflicted upon the people of Bangladesh by the vested interests of West Pakistan for last 23 years. Politically also we were utterly subjugated and the democratic people of Bangladesh hated to remain so. In 1940 when an attempt was made to impose Urdu as the only State Language of the country, Bengalis resisted and the struggle for democratic rights started. In 1954 a general election in Bangladesh was held for the first time after independence and the United Front under the leadership of Awami League dislodged the ruling Muslim League, part of the same coteries of today, by securing 97 seats. In 1956 the first Constitution of Pakistan incorporated Bengali as one of the two state languages. A general election all over Pakistan that was supposed to have been held simultaneously was later on scheduled for the beginning of 1959, but before that could happen, in October 1958 military Generals led by Ayub Khan overthrew the democratic Government and established a dictatorship. The Constitution was abrogated and the National Assembly was dissolved. The civil and military bureaucracy connived and conspired and in 1962 Ayub introduced a political system by which they could only perpetuate their political authority and at the same time continue with the exploitation of the men and resources of Bangladesh. From October 1968 to March 1969 democratic forces gathered strength through an unprecedented mass upsurge and having found difficulty in managing the affairs of the country Ayub released Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from military custody and on his invitation a Round Table Conference was held at Rawalpindi in February–March 1969 with leaders of all political parties. At the end of the conference Ayub in his concluding speech although ignored the demand of Bangladesh but conceded to the demand of a federal parliamentary system and an immediate election on the basis of adult franchise. But again, the same hidden and vicious vested interests emerged and on March 25, 1969 instead of fulfilling his promise made at the Round Table Conference, Ayub abdicated and handed over the power to Yahya Khan, Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Armed Forces.