Monday | 7 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
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Monday | 7 October 2024 | Epaper

A Personal Chronicle

Our struggle, our independence

Published : Saturday, 23 December, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 468
Khurshid Alam

(Continuation from previous week)
 

Sheikh Mujib's 7th March speech at Ramna was another jolt to our Bengali conscience even though we were separated from the scene by several thousand miles -- it heightened our spirit of freedom.
The killing of dockworkers in Chittagong Port in March 1971 by Pakistan army personnel drove us to our first serious action. I got in touch with my friends in the students' union and wrote up a leaflet in Turkish denouncing the army action and the government. This was distributed by the union to all student dormitories on March 11 evening. The same evening some Pakistani students took it to show the Pakistani embassy officials and it was subsequently forwarded to Pakistan Foreign Office in Islamabad.
Early dawn of 12th March 1971, the Turkish armed forces in full military gear and armored personnel carriers and tanks, and assisted by armed Jandarma (par-military force) and Police, surrounded all the six dormitory blocks to accost armed student activists and a heavy firefight broke out.
The first casualty was an army Lieutenant, and after a lull in the fight, three students were killed and quite a few students and army/police personnel were injured.  Late afternoon all the students from the six blocks were herded together in the open stadium in chilly winter weather and many students were picked up randomly and taken by the army and police personnel in army trucks, among them a few Pakistanis but fortunately no Bengalis possibly as we were all diminutive in size!
They were subsequently tortured and jailed. The rest of the students were stockpiled and sent to the gymnasium building where we lived and slept for two days and nights before again being either hauled into army trucks or "freed" from captivity. Fortunately again no Bengali student was taken into custody.
Soon after the episode of distributing my leaflet, a senior Bengali police officer, Mr. Khushro was posted at CENTO as Security Officer and also basically to keep tab on the Bengali students and sympathizers and ensure security of the embassy staff.
On 26th March 1971 evening, we heard Major Ziaur Rahman's independence announcement, and so did some Pakistanis. This electrified us but the atmosphere among the Pakistanis, both students and embassy officials, was grim to say the least. 
Following up on this, I contacted some of my Turkish friends and Sharafat Ali Shikder, a graduate student at Ankara University, and through them got in touch with a few journalists from the popular newspapers and arranged a secret press conference in Otel Side, a small run-down hotel in the Cankaya area for 28th March 1971morning. To keep this under wrap I had informed of this to only a few more Bengali students primarily from METU.
I had also called an impromptu meeting at one of the Bengali diplomat's (Mr Mustafa Jamal, Third Secretary) house in the evening of 27th March 1971. Since we didn't have any phone in our apartment, Ahsanul Habib, Zahid Hossain and myself separately went to the homes of all the Bengali diplomats serving in the Pakistan Embassy at the time to request them to come to the meeting.
Mr SASF Kabir, the senior-most diplomat who was attached to CENTO in Ankara, along with two other Bengali diplomats, namely Mr Quamrul Huda, Commercial Attache and Mr Afsarul Quader, Third Secretary came to the meeting. Mr Wafa, Press Attache and Mr Shaukat Ali were no-shows. Also present were Dr Ehsanulah, (then Civil Surgeon of Chandpur or Comilla.) and his wife who coincidentally happened to be visiting Mr. Jamal's family on that evening.
The meeting was an interesting eye-opener. It revealed the "understandable" contrasting attitudes between the "personal interests" first for the diplomats versus the "do something good" wanton zeal of the students. "Understandable" because they did not want to forsake their cushy jobs and cushy life to venture into some unknown beyond.
On the other hand, with adrenaline pumping, the students (Ahsanul Habib, Zahid Hossain and myself) came to the meeting full of enthusiasm, all ready to plan something spectacular together.  However, the diplomats seemed to be "cold" (maybe that is called diplomacy, eh!). 
After some small talk when I enquired of them what they had in mind and what would they like to do, they all looked at each other seemingly baffled and nervous at our query. After a discernible pause, and having no plausible answer they became rather aggressive in their attitude. They asked us what can they do and counter-punched/counter-attacked us by asking what were we going to do. 
We spontaneously replied that we would do anything to further the cause, the fight for independence and asked them for their plan and guidance, if any. We also reminded them that they being diplomats they had diplomatic immunity but as for ourselves we were only students and had no such safeguards. Even then, we were ready to do anything to show our commitment, and again asked them what they were going to do. 
We suggested that they defect in favor of Bangladesh and promised that we would help them in their flight.  They rejected this idea outright and got so flustered that one of them became foul-mouthed. Then they countered by asking us what would we do. In response I told them categorically that if they wanted we could arrange to have the Pakistan Embassy bombed citing the very recent bombing episode of the Iranian Embassy in Ankara by Iranian and Turkish students.
The diplomats were flabbergasted at our seemingly "outrageous" but sincere response, but they did not commit to any actions on their part -- they just remained nonchalant.  The downturn to the meeting was that the next day the Pakistan Embassy was alerted of the students' bomb threat by one of the participants at the meeting. When I went to the Pakistan Embassy a day or two later to reconnoiter the area, I discovered that armed Turkish policemen/army were patrolling the area.
The day after the meeting, we held our secret press conference. At the outset, we requested the journalists not to take our photographs and to keep us anonymous. We briefed the press about the backdrop of the Bangladesh independence announcement. Sharafat Ali Shikderwho was also fluent in Turkish, assisted me in briefing the journalists. Habib, Tahseen, Zahid, Shafiq bhai (and maybe one or two more, I cannot remember who) were also present.  After responding to various queries from the press, we concluded by pledging our whole-hearted and full allegiance to Bangladesh and its Liberation Movement. 
(To be continued)

The writer completed BSc in Chemical Engineering and Post-Graduate Diploma in Fuel & Energy Engineering from the University of Leeds, and worked for Petrobangla. He later obtained a Master of Engineering degree in Natural Gas Engineering from Texas A&M University-Kingsville, USA, where he was also elected the Vice President of the University Students' Association. Now he lives in Atlanta.







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