The Daily
Morning News
17 MAY 1971
News headlines and details from the Daily Morning News.
News Headlines:
Other Headlines:
- Governor visits cyclone-
hit areas . No one will be allowed to die of hunger, says Tikka Khan. - Al-
Jamiat criticises Indian leaders.
The Dacca Sadar south sub-
A press release of the committee said : The Public in general of this elaka are simple
but they were exploited and misled by the so-
The people have now realised what is what India's definite motive and declared aim
to destroy our homeland by interfering in our internal affairs are severely condemned
by the people of this area, who never thought that the so-
They offered their heart-
A 53-
Fifty-
In a joint statement, they expressed surprise at a statement issued by ICUE, expressing anxiety at what it chose to describe as massacre of scholars at Dacca.
"Some of us were very intrigued to find ourselves listed as among those shot and killed", they said, adding that many of them had already appeared on the Dacca Television to prove the contrary.
Text
Following is the test of the statement:
We have read with surprise a statement issued in New York by a body called the International
Committee on University Emergency, expressing anxiety at what it chooses to describe
as "massacre of scholars at Dacca." We, the university professors and college teachers,
writers, journalists and artistes of East Pakistan deeply appreciate the concern
voiced by ICUE academicians for our security , well-
Some of us were very intrigued to find ourselves listed as among those "shot and
killed", It was very embarrassing for us to make a formal statement declaring ourselves
as not dead. Accordingly, we availed ourselves of an opportunity which came our way
in the normal curse of our professional work to appear on Dacca Television to re-
The misunderstanding may have arisen from the fact that on account of the disturbances in Dacca and other places; most of us went away to our villages in the first week of March. The specification of time is important. This was the period when there was a massive defiance of the legally established government in full swing. The elections having been won on the mandate of provincial autonomy, the extremists were now busy escalating the plea for autonomy into a demand for unilateral declaration of independence, and anyone unwilling to betray the electorate's confidence was getting the third degree.
This period also saw the colossal abuse of academic facilities for party political ends. For instance, Jagannath Hall of the Dacca University campus was not a place where the students pursued their studies or played their games; it was a secret arsenal of such military equipment as machineguns and mortars, and the training ground of Bangla Desh Mukti fauj".
Fascist Terrorism
It was to escape this suffocating atmosphere of fascist terrorism and partisan intolerance that most of us took shelter in our villages and did not return to the towns until after the Pakistan Army had frustrated the armed bid for breakup of Pakistan and restored law and order over the province.
Some of our colleagues, however, instead of returning home, appear to have gone across the border to Calcutta University which according to the Indian daily, "The Amorita Bear partica" of April 25, plans to absorb 15 of them in its staff and has approached the Government of India for a lagre financial grant to take away more teachers from the Universities in East Pakistan.
We have our own grievances against the establishment in Pakistan— we are unhappy at our failure to get what we think is our due share in the economic and political life of the country, and we have given expression to this discontent of ours by voting for a large measure of autonomy for East Pakistan within the framework of a single state.
But, we were shocked to find the AL extremists escalating this simple and legitimate demand into an unilateral declaration of Independence. We never bargained for this and hence, our profound grief and dismay at what has happened. It was to escape the domination and exploitation of the Bengali Hindu, particularly the Calcutta Marwari, that we, the Muslims of Bengal, first decided in 1905 during the British Raj to set up a separate province of our own in East Bengal and again in 1947 we took a conscious decision through popular vote, to join hands with our Muslim brethren in other provinces to form the state of Pakistan. We have no reason to regret that decision.
Right to Rule
As the majority province of Pakistan we have the right to rule the whole of Pakistan.
And this was well within our graps when the extremists in their inordinate ambition
overreached themselves and jeopardised the very nationhood. The first ever general
elections in the country had been held by president Yahya, who, had during discussions
on mechaincs for transfer of power, actually hailed the AL as the majority party.
What has happened since is an anti-
But, we have every reason to be optimistic about the future. We are set on restoration of fullfledged democracy, and the present regime has reiterated its resolve to have democratic processes going as soon as the circumstances permit. Under the circumstances, while we appreciate the concern expressed about our wellbeing by our fellow academicians elsewhere in the world, we resent and deplore any interference in our internal affairs.
Signatories
Following are the signatories to the statement: Dr. Sajjad Hossain, Principal Ibrahim
Khan, Dr. Mr. Fakhruzzaman, Dr. Kazi Deen Mohammad, Mr. Nurul Momen, Mr. Zulfiqar
Ali, Mr. Ahsan Habib, Khan Ataur Rahman, Miss Shahnaz Begum, Mr. Askhar Ibne Shaikh,
Mrs. Farida Yasmeen, Mr. Abdul Alim Abdullah Yousuf Imam, Mr. A.H. Chowdhury, Dr.
Mohar Ali, Mr. Munir Chowdhury, Dr. Ashraf Siddique, Khondaker Farruk Ahmed, Mr.
S.A. Hadi, Mrs. Neena Hamid, Mr. M.A, Hamid, Mrs. Laila Anjumand Banu, Mr. Shamsul
Huda Chowdhury, Mr. Bedaruddin Ahmed, Mrs Sabina Yasmin, Mrs. Fardousi Rahman, Mr.
Mustafa Zaman Abbasi, Mr. Sardar Zainuddin, Syed Mutaza Ali, Poet Talim Hassain,
Mr. Shahid Ali, Poet Abdus Sattar, Mr. Faruk Shyar, Poet Farruk Ahmed, Editor Abdus
Salam, Editor S.G. M. Badruddin; Editor Abul Kalam Shamsuddin, Mr. Fateh Lohani,
Mr. Hemayet Hossain, Mr. B. Rahman, Mr. Mobzulul Hossain, Mr. Akbaruddin, Mr. Akbar
Hossain, Mr. A.F.M. Abdul Haq, Principal, H.Q. Adamuddin, Mr. Ali Mansur, Qazi Afazuddin,
Mr. Sanaullah Noori, Mr. Shamsul Huq, Sardar Fazlul Karim, Mr. Badiuz-
Profile of Bengal