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In My View

Ted Kennedy: A friend Bangladesh will forever remember

Published : Friday, 4 November, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 469
Syed Badiuzzaman
Syed Badiuzzaman

Syed Badiuzzaman

American foreign policy is based on two major principles -morality and national interest. But it is not always easy to maintain both at the same time. Morality and national interest do come into clash from time to time and the U.S. government sometimes faces difficulty in pursuing a morally correct and nationally important external strategy.

During the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, the Nixon Administration advised by the White House national security adviser Henry Kissinger charted out its South Asia policy abandoning the principle of morality altogether. Millions of defenseless people of what was then East Pakistan were slaughtered by West Pakistani soldiers. Yet, the U.S. government did nothing to protect them due to Cold War geopolitics.

The Nixon Administration rather stood by the military dictator General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan of Pakistan and allowed the killing of innocent men, women and children of East Pakistan to continue. In doing so, it also abandoned America's traditional support for a democratically elected party -- to the utter surprise of many people around the world -- which is currently running the government of what is now Bangladesh.

What prompted the U.S. administration during that critical time of 70 million Bengalis of East Pakistan who were by and large quite pro-American to support rather dictatorship instead of democracy? Even after receiving a scathing report on the slaughter of Bengalis by West Pakistani soldiers from American diplomat Archer Blood who was then posted in East Pakistan, Nixon turned a blind eye to the unfolding human tragedy in South Asia.

Archer Blood, the last American consul general in East Pakistan sent a strongly worded cable titled "selective genocide" to Washington narrating the atrocities committed against the Bengalis. "Our government has failed to denounce the suppression of democracy. Our government has failed to denounce atrocities. Our government has evidenced what many will consider moral bankruptcy." He wrote in his cable which is now described as "The Blood Telegram."

Yet, the Nixon Administration chose not to pay any heed to the furious message from a desperate diplomat with a jolting subject line. At the insistence of his national security adviser Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon rather dubbed Blood's message just "propaganda." Kissinger succeeded in convincing Nixon to believe that there was a rebellion among some American officials at the U.S. mission in East Pakistan against his administration's South Asia policy in 1971.

Why did Nixon believe such a conspiracy without showing any compassion at all to a suffering humanity? Why he acted the way he did even though genocide or "selective genocide" as Archer Blood called it went on in East Pakistan? It was the Cold War geopolitics. During the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, India signed a treaty with what was then Soviet Union for peace, friendship and strategic cooperation. So, Pakistan became America's natural ally to counter Indo-Soviet influence in South Asia.

Another major reason for the Nixon Administration to tilt toward Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh was to use Pakistan's leverage for opening communication with the regime of Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. The chief architect of the whole plan was Henry Kissinger who had developed a cordial relationship with Pakistan's military dictator Yahya Khan. Accordingly, with help from Pakistan, Kissinger made a secret trip to Beijing in July 1971 and Nixon went to China for a week-long visit from February 21 in 1972.

One man who boldly stood up to President Richard Nixon's South Asia policy in 1971 was Senator Edward M. Kennedy. The Massachusetts democrat publicly criticized the atrocities of the West Pakistani army against the Bengalis of East  Pakistan describing them as "genocide." He slammed the secret trial of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman calling it "an outrage to every concept of international law." He also denounced Nixon Administration's policy of continuously providing arms to Pakistan.

Addressing a session at the U.S. Senate, Late Ted Kennedy, the younger brother of the 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy, also urged the United Nations to take all possible steps to bring an end to the Bangladesh crisis. "Let us stop all sorts of military assistance to Pakistan until the war in East Pakistan comes to an end," he said and urged the U.S. government to immediately respond to the appeal of the Indian government for assistance for refugees from Bangladesh. Kennedy had a moral obligation to refugees as he was the chair of the Senate subcommittee on refugees.

So, he travelled to India in early August, 1971 and visited various Bangladeshi refugee camps to see for himself their actual conditions and assess the entire situation arising out of a pre-planned and sudden war imposed by the Pakistani military dictator on unarmed and innocent Bengalis. Over 10 million people from East Pakistan fled to neighboring India. Kennedy took a difficult tour of several camps sheltering Bangladeshi refugees near Calcutta in India's West Bengal state. He heard harrowing tales from refugees and got a clear idea about the range of atrocities perpetrated by Pakistani occupation forces on Bengalis.

Kennedy had a personality of not keeping hard truth within just himself. He was courageous enough to call a spade a spade. So, at a crowded news conference in New Delhi on August 16, 1971 at the end of his week-long visit to India, when he was asked if Pakistani soldiers were committing genocide in East Pakistan, he directly said "yes" without even taking a pause. At that press conference, he admitted that the Nixon Administration's policy of continuously providing arms to Pakistan was damaging U.S. relations with India and pledged to do everything in his power to stop U.S. military and economic assistance to Pakistan.  

Even though Senator Kennedy couldn't succeed in reversing Nixon-Kissinger South Asia policy in 1971, he became the most powerful global voice for Bangladesh's  fight for freedom. A Congressional campaign led by Ted Kennedy forced the Nixon Administration to suspend military aid to Pakistan. However, there were reports that the U.S. government was still providing military supplies to Pakistan in violation of the new restrictions. By presenting an accurate picture of the atrocities of Pakistani army in East Pakistan after his return to the U.S., Kennedy was instrumental in turning the support of American people toward Bangladesh.

As a result, most Americans were in favor of Bangladeshi people's fight for their freedom. Only the Nixon Administration had a tilt toward Pakistan for the Cold War geopolitics and Richard Nixon's desire for normalizing relations with China. Right since the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, Senator Kennedy always maintained a close connection with the people and government of Bangladesh. When he visited Bangladesh in February 1972, he received a hero's welcome in Dhaka. Ted Kennedy is admired by Bangladeshis who will forever remember him for his role during the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

Senator Edward Kennedy's contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh is a part of the history of this nation. The people will always remember him with gratitude. Currently, his son Ted Kennedy, Jr. and his family are visiting Bangladesh. It is an honor and privilege of the Bangladesh government to host the Kennedys. In recognition of what his father has done for Bangladesh, the government should grant honorary citizenship of Bangladesh to Ted Kennedy, Jr.
The writer is a Toronto-based
journalist who also writes for the Toronto Sun as a guest columnist









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