পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৫৩৭

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড
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 Knowing that some Philadelphians were already concerned about Pakistan, we joined a local group called the Friends of East Bengal and became its Direct Action Committee. We were completely ignorant of port operations, but library research and telephone calls soon gave us a picture of the key sources of shipping information. In time we had a complete “intelligence apparatus,” involving a nun who kept watch on newspaper reports of ship arrivals, sympathetic workers at the Longshorement's and Bay Pilots' Associations, and, when necessary, spotters, with binoculars along shipping lanes. (The veil of secrecy which suddenly closed over both governmental and private sources of information on the movements of Pakistani ships is another story, too long to recount here.)

 On July 8 we heard that the Padma had attempted to pick up spare parts for jet fighters in Montreal. The Montreal Star (June 28-30) reported that the shippers claimed only cobalt and foodstuffs were to be loaded, but, when demonstrators insisted that the cargo be inspected, forty-six crates of Sabrejet spare parts were discovered. The Canadian government suspended the shipper's license arid the Padma headed for Baltimore, minus the jet parts Thus the project, “The Pursuit of the Padma,” which led to a night in Baltimore's jail and a sentence of thirty days probation on charges of “disorderly conduct” and “unlawfully casting loose setting adrift or placing an object, to wit: a canoe, by obstructing navigation of the S.5. Padma.”

 Our discouragement at not being able to prevent docking of the Padma was more than counterbalanced by the elation we felt at the excellent nation-wide coverage of the blockade on television, radio, and in the press. When the House Foreign Affairs Committee reported out a bill cutting off aid to Greece and Pakistan, a Congressional source and a well-known New York Times reporter told us that our Baltimore action was a major factor influencing the Committee to take this unprecedented action.

 The need to work closely with the longshoremen was underscored by the Baltimore union's decision to load the ship, in spite of our appeals to the contrary. We therefore put together a team of two Bengalis and two Americans and rushed to the International Longshoremen's Association convention at Miaami’s DiLido hotel. There we explained our position to members of the ILA and, after meetings with top leaders and a speech on the convention floor, received a commitment that the ILA would not load military equipment bound for Pakistan.

 Our most significant contact, it turned out, was Richard Askew, president of Philadelphia's ILA Local 1291. He expressed immediate sympathy for the Bengalis and stated his conviction that a small group was trying to suppress the majority. As a black leader, he understood the plight of downtrodden people who are victimized for simply trying to express their democratic rights. Whereas the International ILA promised not to load military materiel for Pakistan, Askew indicated that his Local might not load economic aid as well, in the belief that any support for the dictatorship would only increase the amount of suffering in East Bengal.

 While the Small team worked in Miami, the rest of the Direct Action Committee urged groups in other port cities to encourage blockades there, and also began marches and picketing at the offices of the Philadelphia agents for Pakistani ships.