পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (দ্বাদশ খণ্ড).pdf/২১৩

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বাংরাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ দ্বাদশ খণ্ড
১৮৭

turn. During the period of foreign rule, something of this type happened. It gave strength to the people and they raised their heads.

 The British rulers suppressed our culture and asked us to learn the English language. Today you should not oppose the study of English because this language has served as a vehicle for new ideas and inspired our struggle for freedom. We learnt English, and those who went abroad brought with them a concept of what freedom was and showed how we could achieve it. They learnt how we could unite and bring about a revolution in our own land. Earlier, our people did not think on these lines. but thoughts and ideas that came to us from Britain inspired us and strengthened us in our resolve to fight the British rule.

 I will narrate to you an incident which I now recall. When I was at school in England and was preparing for degree at the University of Oxford the principal of the school told a visitor that he had asked me at our first meeting why I had left my home and parents and come to country where the ways of having were entirely different. The principal told the visitor that my reply was that I had come to England to know the people more closely so that I could be better prepared to fight them. It is the English language which gave us the concept of freedom. This, however is an old story.

 Our freedom is again in peril. There has been an aggression not only on our territory but also on our thinking and high ideals- our ideal of secularism, our independent thinking about international affairs and our determination to stick to our opinions. All this has come under attack.

 There are nations which cannot tolerate that India should take independent decisions. They dictate to other nations to behave in a particular manner and they are obeyed. We welcome their friendship and say that we shall be grateful for all help received. If however, there are strings attached to this friendship, or the help that is offered, or if it affects our freedom and our ability to take independent decisions, we spurn their offers of help. We shall stand on our own legs. It seems they have not been able to understand that we shall stick to what we say and that we are determined to implement our independent decisions.

 There is a lot of criticism of India abroad. At the United Nations a large number of countries voted against us. They say that war is a very bad thing and that only when it is stopped some settlement would be reached. We waited for a settlement for over eight months. I met some people and told them all about this situation.

 Once we were asked in a foreign country how much time we could allow for a settlement. Our Ambassador said. “Just a few weeks”. They then said that a settlement was possible if we could wait for a few month. Our Ambassador said that the situation would take a critical turn in just a week. Several weeks passed and event months but they did nothing. It was stated by some people abroad that I did not abide by my earlier statement, or that I did not war them against the possibility of a war. I did not know at all that there would be a war. But I had very clearly stated that it was getting difficult to prevent a war although we shall try our best to do so. If however, the situation went beyond limit, it might not be possible to avert a war.