বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (দ্বিতীয় খণ্ড)/১৯
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| ১৯৬২ সনের শাসনতন্ত্র ঘোষণার পর পূর্ব পাকিস্তানে সম্ভাব্য ছাত্র রাজনীতি ও আন্দোলন মোকাবেলার পরামর্শঃ স্বরাষ্ট্র দপ্তরের প্রতিবেদন |
সরকারী | ১৪ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ১৯৬২ |
GOVERNMENT OF EAST PAKISTAN
HOME (POLL.) DEPARTMENT
Section 1.
D. O. No. 163-Poll/S(I), dated the 14th February 1962.
My DEAR SULEAIN
The recent demonstrations by students in Dacca have given ample indication of what is likely to be attempted with the announcement of the Constitution. It is essential that the situation as it is likely to develop, is foreseen and adequate steps taken to ensure that law and order is effectively maintained.
2. Adherents of some of the banned political parties particularly the Communists and other extremist elements are apparently bent on creating a serious law and order situation so that they could reap personal benefit and serve the interest of their party out of the confusion that would arise. Even without any idea of its form and contents. the Communists and this section of the Awami leaguers have been giving out that the Constitution is completely unacceptable and should be thrown out. It, appears that their modus operandi would be to work through rousing the passion of the students, instigate the student to take out processions. insult the president by burning or destroying his photographs, provoke the authoritics to an extent which would necessitate use of force and then exploit the use of force by the authorities to build up wider support. They are also believed to have decided to carry on a vile campaign against members of the Basic Democracies and force them to resign.
3. So far as the incidents at Dacca are concerned the people in general were completely indifferent. The processions that were taken out in Dacca, were participated in by a section of the students only and by gouda elements who hoped to profit from looting and arson. Actions have already been initiated to ensure that the ring-leaders of the disturbance at Dacca are detained and whenever possible under Martial law.
4. As usually happens such incidents are taken advantage of by subversive elements to circulate fantastic rumours with a view to alienate the sympathy of the people for the administration as well as to create despondency and panic. The commendable patience and cool-headedness displayed by the Police and the Army authorities in dealing with the situation in Dacca have earned widespread praise for them from even amongst the extremist sections. To counteract this, rumours have been set afloat to say that large number of students were killed by the Police and kept in the Medical College Mortuary and later on secretly disposed of Rumours also have been set afloat to foster a feeling that there are sharp differences of opinion among those in authority as to the line of action to be taken so as to create confusion and encourage others to perpetrate illegal acts.
5. In order to win the support of the people in general and particularly of the student community the point that is being stressed by the agitators is disparity in the economic development of the two wings of Pakistan. It is quite easy to confuse people on this issue as in fact disparity does exist. But the fact that the previous regimes during the period prior to Martial Law had failed not only to do anything to increase the tempo of development in East Pakistan but had no clear-cut policy as to how the disparity with regard to the development of the two wings could in course of time, be overcome, is either ignored or glossed over. A disparity that has arisen over a period of 11 years cannot be overcome overnight. It has to take time. The point that is important is that the economic development in East Pakistan during the last three years compared to the 11 years prior to October Revolution is many times more than what was achieved during the previous 11 years. The present Government have acted as a matter of policy to remove disparity in the economic development of the two wings. Your attention is invited to the broadcast talk of the President on the economic development in East Pakistan. Copies of this broadcast talk have been printed in thousands and are being distributed both in Bengali and in English so that people are aware as to what has been done during the last three years in the field of economic development of the province and of the definite policy that is being pursued by the Government with a view to bringing East Pakistan on the same level of development as West Pakistan in course of time.
6. Factual statements of the happenings in Dacca and elsewhere were published in the Press covering all incidents. I am also enclosing a brief statement showing the genesis of these incidents and its course so that coupled with the factual statements published in the papers you may have the fullest picture of the situation and place you in a position to counteract any false rumours that might be spread.
7. There is one aspect which is of vital importance to East Pakistan and about which all East Pakistanis must be acutely conscious. One of the reasons why East Pakistan lagged behind in development was the fear on the part of investors of riots and disorders in the province organized by extreme parochial or communist elements. The Adamjee riots of 1954 definitely made investment very shy in East Pakistan. Those willing to invest were either too anxious to take away the money invested as quickly as possible or refrain completely from investing in East Pakistan. It was with very great difficulty that during the last three years a climate has been created which is conducive to attracting large scale investors. East Pakistan cannot be developed by East Pakistani entrepreneurs alone. If we want East Pakistan to develop we must make sure that people both from West Pakistan and from foreign countries who have money and technical know-how do come here and invest. The incident in Dacca is bound to have repercussions on them and make them pause. If some more incidents like this take place the economic development in this province will suffer an irreparable setback. Those who invest money are overcautious and unless they are certain of stable administration and political climate they are not likely to invest their money in an area where troubles are likely to occur.
A section of the Awami League and the NAP had, in the past, good hold on the students and utilized them extensively for political agitation. Some of those ho had worked as leaders amongst students in those days had continued to maintain contact with the students and others have even continued to be student by taking admission in the Law College and having their names on the rolls for years together without bothering to sit for any examination as it has been their intention to continue to be students for political purposes. In the last elections to the various hall unions in the University, however, these professional students found very little support. They had, however, been carrying on a campaign amongst the students to the effect that East Pakistan has been economically hard hit and that injustice has been done to East Pakistan on this score. They were preparing on the basis of such propaganda to build up an agitation on the 21st of February and then maintain that agitation for carrying on demonstrations against the forthcoming Constitution. The arrest of Mr. Suhrawardy precipitated their plans of action and forced them to show their hands immediately. The vast majority of the students was completely unconcerned about the arrest of Mr. Suhrawardy and as a matter of fact opposed the strike sponsored by these Ex-Awami leaguers. As usually happens in such cases it is the extremist elements. however small they are in number, that win the day. Even then the strike in the Dacca University was a partial success. The vast majority of the students out of desire to avoid trouble did not attend their classes. They were planning to observe an indefinite strike where a chance opportunity presented itself to them when Mr. Manzoor Qader went to address the students of History Department on an invitation which was extended to him some months back. The rowdy elements made it impossible for Mr. Manzoor Qader to speak and even damaged the car of the Vice-Chancellor who is very high esteem by the students. The University was closed for the Ramzan along with all other educational institutions. The agitators felt that the ground was slipping under their feet and took the desperate step of organizing the students to violate the law by taking out processions in protest against the Ramzan holidays. This brought them into inevitable dash with the Police as they tried to force their way towards the Secretariat in a procession. The number of students participating in this was small (300). They were, however, later joined by a large number of outside elements. The incidents following from this have been fully reported in the press from day to day. The vast of the students felt unhappy at these developments and did not participate in these. It is, however, certain that amongst those who returned home were a number of those who actively participated in rowdyism and might have been instructed to organize strikes etc. by students in their respective areas. The activities of the agitators need careful watch. Preventive measures should be taken as considered appropriate.