পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৭১৩

685 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড We in Malaysia are perturbed and disturbed at the manner the United States has been behaving. Though the people of the United States on many occasions during the last few months have expressed support to the people of Bangladesh, the Nixon Administration has been playing a very cunning role and this exposes beyond any doubt all talk of the right of self-determination in the United States. So long as it suits its purpose it is prepared to come forward. Here the basic issue is humanism. This butchery and massacre of the people and this horrible situation need to be condemned and we people from Malaysia will stand with the people of Bangladesh in their just and fair struggle to live as a free people. Mr. Soorian Malaysia We in the Democratic Action Party Malaysia are a little surprised that our Government leaders think that the Bangladesh affair is still an internal problem of Pakistan. Bangladesh, having declared independence, is no longer a part of Pakistan. Bangladesh complies with all international norms and conditions in the set-up of its independence. It has all the requirements of sovereignty that a country requires for such a start. It has well defined boundaries and commands absolute loyalty of its population. It has its own national flag and national government over all branches of civil administration. It has linguistic and racial homogeneity. In the recent election, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the Awami League won 167 of 169 seats for the Constituent Assembly-which is about 99%. The birth of Bangladesh was formally aptised at Mujibnagar in Fast Bengal on 17th April 1971 by the nation-nouveaux's acting President Sayed Nazrul Islam. History was made with the unfurling of the Bangladesh flag to the accompaniment of Tagore's "Amar Sonar Bangla". The acting President pointed out that the function was designed to show to all and sundry that the provisional Government did not exist on paper. This ritual was attended by officials of the Government, including members of the National Assembly, T.V. cameramen and foreign correspondents and over 10,000 freedom fighters, Article 20(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that the "will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of Government; this will shall be expressed with periodic and genuine elections and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent voting procedure". But unfortunately the will of the people, which should be the basis of the Government, was not respected. Instead, military might was unleashed to crush the aspirations of the people, but what Yahya Khan and Co overlooked is the fact that although you may kill some people you cannot kill the will of self-assertion and self- respect. Exterminating the dissenters does not solve the problem. For every Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that is imprisoned there are 10 others to take his place and fight the cause just the same.