This is in response to various articles published on the subject in your daily. I had made up my mind never to speak about the debacle in former East Pakistan even though I lived as a child In East Pakistan and became a POW (prisoner of war) there as a result of this grave incidence. I was acting at the time as Staff Operations Officer at Eastern Air Command Dacca. My intention is not to comment on the operation, I would, rather, like to quote an incident that happened to me in the fall of 1970.
I was detailed to take an exam, then known as “Q” exam to qualify for the coveted Staff College of the Air Force. The important paper of the exam used to be the Current Affairs. The paper had only one topic, if I recall correctly, and that was to give opinion on the then prevalent situation in East Pakistan and what could be the ultimate outcome if the situation was not handled correctly.
My family and I having had a very long association with undivided Bengal, I mentioned in the paper that Bengali nation was highly political and they do not tolerate rulers for long. I had drawn the attention of the popular governments formed by Molvi Fazlul Haque, Khawja Nazimuddin and Sheed Saharwardi and how they came to their ends. We all knew that Fazlul Haque was called “Sher-e-Bangla” yet, he was brought down when people felt betrayed; the fate of all other has been no different. I had mentioned the arrival of East Pakistan MNAs at Chaklala Airport after the Basic Democracy Election staged by Field Marshall Ayub Khan and that how each one, when asked to identify their association, said that they were one and fully behind Mr. Abdul Qadir and the reporters should talk to him about what cause the MNAs supported but after the first session of the Assembly, there were as many voices as many MNAs from the then East Pakistan. I had also mentioned that we must not lose the sight of Maulana Bhashani who was also in contest though, at times almost run over by the popularity of Sheikh Mujeeb and would create problem for him no matter how Sheikh acted.
At the end, I had concluded that if the regime did not realise the gravity of the situation and avoided to give the power to Sheikh, the country would be divided and if Mujeeb was given the power; within a few weeks the Awami League would crack at the fault lines of many known leadership within the party and without. Not necessarily, all would be pro-Pakistan but the division would cripple the party.
I was reprimanded by the Commandant Staff College for calling the legitimate government of Pakistan as a “Regime”. I was also reminded that I did not comprehend the situation in the least and that Bengal of 1940s was quite different to the East Pakistan, giving power to known separatist would be disaster. It is not a Practice of the College to write to failing students but my use of word “Regime” and the discussion on population Parity of that time besides, mentioning the earlier conspiracy against East Pakistan in shape of former West Pakistan needed to be looked into as I had just reached East Pakistan and if not admonished, could be a source of demoralization to others.
M VIQAR
Lahore
