Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque and Shamim Noor :
In April, exiled Awami League leaders with Tajuddin as Prime Minister formed a government-in-exile in Mujibnagar. It organized liberation forces into resistance against occupation as war cabinet. The East Pakistan Rifles, a paramilitary force, defected to the rebellion. A guerrilla troop of civilians, the liberation army, was formed with veteran army officers employed in several sectors as sector commanders. A six-member war cabinet was thus formed on 13 April, 1971 with Bangabandhu as President, Syed Nazrul Islam as Vice-President and Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed as Prime Minister. It was formed at the moment when the Pakistani occupation forces launched an all-out offensive in the strongholds of liberation forces. The government on 14 April, 1971 appealed to the democratic countries to take note of the formation of the government in exile and recognize it and establish diplomatic ties. Tajuddin called for arms aids inviting the diplomatic and political observers to ‘see for themselves the realities in his free country’.
The historic moment at last came when the government at Mujibnagar was formally constituted in a ceremonial function on April 17, 1971 amid ‘thunderous cheers from a 10,000 strong crowed which included contingents of the EPR, Ansars and Mujahids.’ ‘The Democratic Republic of Bangladesh was proclaimed at Mujibnagar on April 17, 1971 as a formally constituted state to be run by a presidential form of government.’
Structurally, the government in exile based on legitimacy was presidential. In practice it turned into the cabinet form with Tajuddin playing a second fiddle to none in determining the forward course of action. He became the main functionary in the war cabinet because of his position as the General Secretary of Awami League. He showed an extraordinary organizational dexterity doing all the needful that he deemed worth doing to lead liberation war to an ultimate victory. He enthused all patriotic forces to join liberation war against the Pakistani occupation army and its quislings as a pilot in journey to freedom. He was institutionally in a position to shape the roadmap to liberation as a helmsperson in the provisional government at Mujibnagar. He turned out to be a host in himself steering the country through fire and water directing the combatant forces all with his mastermind.
The formation of Mujibnagar government led to the reinforcement of liberation war. No sooner had the government been formed as government in exile than the external responses began to mushroom. With this government liberation war had a leg to stand upon with legal footing.
There seems to be various manifestations of external response : helping the AL leaders to form war cabinet, pressuring Pak government to stop genocide, negotiation efforts, mediation role, and releasing official statement expressing condemnation to army action, organizing rallies by international political personalities to support Mukti joddha, constructing refugee camps to give shelter to refugees, exchanging views with Mujubnagar delegates and sending communications through letters, staging cultural shows and mobilizing funds. The international humanitarian and human rights and civil societies organizations led by many a philanthropists, parliamentarians and legal experts came forward to conduct campaign for wholehearted co-operation to the revolutionary government. There was heavy influx of refugees taking position at different camps. The delegates from various countries extended humanitarian helps to the evacuees.
Admittedly international response to our liberation war was a potent source of strength to the legitimate government in exile. As soon as the Mujibnagar government took over to organize liberation forces and mobilize opinion across the world with the flurry of diplomacy international response was spontaneous and heartening. Veteran political leaders including senators, MPs and incumbents came up with meaningful initiatives to organize advocacy moves against terrible acts perpetrated by the Pak. occupation army expressing wholehearted sympathy for the freedom loving Bengalis and liberation forces. They could well understand sorrows and tribulations of the refugees escaping, hungry and sick across the Indian border. Despite Junta’ frantic attempt to prevent foreign observers, journalists and legislators news of most terrible spectacle on earth with full details of atrocities and rapine were not unknown
Indian stand in our liberation war a potent source of strength to the legitimate government in exile. As soon as the Mujibnagar government took over to organize liberation forces and mobilize opinion across the world with the flurry of diplomacy international response was spontaneous and heartening. Veteran political leaders including senators, MPs and incumbents came up with meaningful initiatives to organize advocacy moves against terrible acts perpetrated by the Pak. occupation army expressing wholehearted sympathy for the freedom loving Bengalis and liberation forces. They could well understand sorrows and tribulations of the refugees escaping, hungry and sick across the Indian border. Despite Junta’s frantic attempt to prevent foreign observers, journalists and legislators news of most terrible spectacle on earth with full details of atrocities and rapine were not unknown. Active role of the government of India and Soviet Union was admittedly great and focused on our liberation war. USA was reportedly to be straddling the fence in the unprecedented Junta-made catastrophe drawing worldwide criticism with Indo-USA relations plunging to the lowest ebb. Nixon-Kissinger administration did not necessarily reflect the views of the American people on tragedy of Bangladesh.
Indian response to the tragedy of Bangladesh with humanitarian helps deserve special mention. Official and non-official organizations and cultural think tanks in India did what best could be done to organize actions against continuing atrocities and help out the battered Bangalees taking refuge in India. There happened to be continuous flow of refugees. With her support and encouragement liberation forces were beginning to strike back. She was making every effort to take care of the piteous refugees. The influx was so staggering that new miseries could well be anticipated. The government of India was making all-out efforts to address the ‘bitter sorrow of refugees’ giving them food and inoculating them against diseases even with its scarce resources. Indian Minster of external affairs visited USSR and other countries with diplomatic mission explaining that heavy burden was placed on Indian government due to panic-stricken refugees who took shelter in India. Equally worth-mentioning was the role of Soviet Union, the only big power that wholeheartedly supported India in its sincere effort to combat tragedy in Bangladesh with military solution as the last resort. It was the power that tackled evil design of Nixon-Kissinger government using its veto power at the right moment. In fact India, USSR, Nepal, Bhutan, Cuba and a host of East European countries gave enthusiastic response to our liberation war. By midsummer, the Indian leadership, in the absence of a political solution to the East Pakistan crisis, had fashioned a strategy designed to assist the establishment of the independent nation of Bangladesh. As part of this strategy, in August 1971, India signed a twenty-year Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation with the Soviet Union. One of the treaty’s clauses implied that each nation was expected to come to the assistance of the other in the event of a threat to national security such as that occurring in the 1965 war with Pakistan. Simultaneously, India organized, trained, and provided sanctuary to the Mukti Bahini (meaning Liberation Force in Bengali)
(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque, Professor of Public Administration, Chittagong University, Shamim Noor, Lecturer, Public Administration, Chittagong University)
