369 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড floating in the river other times we could smell but not pick them out from amongst the water hyacinths that are moving down as the water picks up
- * * * * * We passed villages that were in flames. This went on for miles. The jungle is so dense that you cannot see beyond the foreshore but in the sky all over on both sides we could see smoke in the sky occasionally a search light would pick out the naked figures of persons who were fleeing along the riverbanks They carried their few meager belongings on their head.
Later while I was sitting on the top-level of the boat a crew member a sidled up to me and told me that this burning had been going on for the last two weeks, every night...... Even in this area, unaffected by the cyclone (of November, 1970) there will be perhaps only 10 per cent of the normal crop-so many people had to flee or have been murdered...... We reached Koona? At the next morning-here the activity is a fraction of what it used to be... In this area, conditions are closer to sheer chaos this is because the Koona area is next to the border and the influence of large number of even for those who would like to return to work it is practically impossible. There is much looting and burning going on because there is no law and order.............. 10 to 20 people are knifed there every day in broad daylight. A man and his son were knifed while I was there .............................................. When the army arrives the Muslim league informs on the Awami league and the Hindus. The army comes to wipe out the Awami league and Hindus.... In the villages of...... the government employees do not go to their offices for fear of being killed; their army is too busy killing Hindus................ I traveled to Jessore........... a road that I have traveled many times before.......... I know it well, I know the activity and I know the village....................................... with......... comparison with before it is deserted. Villages on both sides of the road have been burnt. We cannot see where the villages were ................looking at the palm trees you can see where the palm fronds are all scorched and the trunks are blackened.............. Some villages remarkably have been spared and they have a few people listlessly watching you as you go by................ Usually when the mills are working it is belching black smoke; we saw only one mil with Smoke coming Out............. there are many brickyards along the way; ever)' one was deserted. As before, there was practically no activity in the field............ the only signs of farming were the cattle out grazing. When you board a plane (at Jessore) it is interesting............. your baggage is unpacked, searched piece by piece; you are given a complete physical search............ they found my pocket knife and took it away from me.................. when you board the plane you find two armed guards.
