পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ষষ্ঠ খণ্ড).pdf/৭৪৫

709 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ষষ্ঠ খণ্ড শিরোনাম ংবাদপত্র তারিখ The Story of Padma Sphulinga 1 August, 1971 Quebec : No. 2 THE STORY OF PADMA By Sarwar Alam Padma, a mighty flowing river in Bengal is a silent witness to the history of oppression and revolution which is not new to the Bengali peasantry. Its namesake, a Pakistani ship has recently collaborated with the U. S. imperialists in an effort to suppress the liberation struggle in Bangladesh. "A freighter flying the flag of Pakistan sailed from New York for Karachi last night with a cargo of United States military equipment for Pakistan in an apparent violation of the Nixon administration's ban on the shipment." (Ted Szulc, Montreal Star, June 22, 1971.) On June 30, the ship arrived in Montreal. That day, on it's front page, the Montreal Star declared "Protesters to greet arms ship". The Bangladesh Association of Quebec hastily arranged a protest rally and March. It contacted the local press and expressed grave concern about possible Canadian arms shipment to Pakistan. Although the Canadian foreign minister, Michel sharp had declared in the press "Padma is of no concern to Canada", they seemed far from convinced. Meanwhile, Robert L. Stanfield, the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons was requested to raise the issue in the Parliament. Michel Chartrand, the CNTU leader, the American deserters, the Palestine Liberation organization, the Vietnamese Patriotic group, Comite Moratoire du Vietnam, Women's Liberation organization and many local Canadians joined the rally. It strongly condemned the U. S. policy of arms shipment to Pakistan and it's overall imperialistic policy. By the evening of the same day, the local press discovered "Canadian-made Sabre Jet parts are going to Pakistan aboard Padma". Heath Macquarrie M. P. raised the question of arms shipment to Pakistan. Finally the arms shipment was embargoed. Our rally was directed against the U. S. Imperialist policy which has no sympathy for the struggling people of the world or the strong anti-imperialist feeling of the progressive Americans. The participation of the various groups, especially the Vietnamese and Palestinians symbolizes the fact that Vietnam, Palestine and Bengal, all are the same struggle in different fronts. The solidarity they have shown with us is surely a solidarity shown to their own struggling people. The local press fought against the Canadian arms shipment because they know a military involvement in Pakistan would help the military-industrial complex and would cost the tax-payers more dollars. The American people are well aware of the cost of the Vietnam war; they have paid too much in taxes to keep the