পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ষষ্ঠ খণ্ড).pdf/৬৭৬

640 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ষষ্ঠ খণ্ড RALLY IN NEW YORK New York June 12, 1971. Under the joint sponsorship of Bangladesh League of America, Bangladesh Friendship Association and Joint Committee of Indian organizations, a mass rally in support for the cause of Bangladesh was held in New York on June 12, 1971. An estimated 1,000 people from different walks of life and from different regions of the country attended the rally. The speaker in the rally were Mr. Joyprakash Narayan. Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, Mr. William Ryan, Dr. Plastrik, Mrs. Anne Taylor, Dr. Alamgir and Mr. A. Pulley. The meeting was chaired by octogenarian freedom fighter Mr. P. C. Mukherjee. Joyprakash Narayan, the Sarvoday leader from India pointed out in his address that the people of East Bengal did not want to severe their ties from the Union of Pakistan until the time when it was virtually forced upon them by the military Government of Pakistan. Mr. Narayan maintained that the independence of Bangladesh is inevitable since it is the life and death question of each and every Bengali in that region. He appealed to the leaders of the world in general and the free world in particular to exercise their good-offices in bringing lasting peace in the area immediately, in accordance with the wishes of the people. He attributed greater responsibilities to the Big power for restoring lasting peace in Bangladesh and he warned the leaders of the Big Powers that they would be held responsible for the miseries of Bengalis, if they fail to rise up to the needs and aspirations of teeming millions of Bengalis. Dr. Iqbal Ahmad, a scholar from West Pakistan deeply condemned the acts of brutalities unleashed by the military Government of Yahya Khan. He termed the military Govt. of Pakistan as an extreme fascist Government. Dr. Ahmed extended his full support to the right of self-determination of the Bengalis. Mr. William Ryan, US Congressman while addressing the rally urged the United States Government to withhold all types of aids for the Government of Pakistan till the rights of Bengal are restored. He assured his all out supports to the realization of the rights of self-determination of the Bengalis. Dr. Plastrik, Professor of the New York University also called for suspension of US aids to the Government of Pakistan till lasting peace is restored in East Bengal. He cautioned that the resumption of any US aid to the Government of Pakistan prior to the restoration of the rights of self determination of the Bengalis, win make USA as a party to the suppression of the inalienable fundamental rights of the 75 million Bengalis. Mrs. Anne Taylor, the free-lance journalist, who earlier went on hunger strike in Washington for the cause of Bangladesh, apprised the audience with her eye-witness accounts of acts of brutalities committed by the West Pakistani armies against the unarmed civilians in East Bengal and finally, she appealed to the right thinking people in the USA to help realize the rights of self determination of the Bengalis Earlier, Dr. Alamgir, from Bangladesh League of America made a fervent appeal to the people of the USA to exert influence upon their Government to stop any aid to the Government of Pakistan till the independence of Bangladesh is fully guaranteed and the last soldier from West Pakistan is removed from the soil of Bangladesh.