1. When Partition took place IB, the political intel deptt of the Raj fell almost totally to India because it's HQ was at New Delhi. Bengal's subsidiary HQ was at Calcutta. India not only energized these offices but also kept the networks intact. Somehow IB of the Raj was dominated by Hindu officers and operatives in this part. ( One of the agitating students killed in 1952 was an Indian national, though Muslim. He is buried in his village across the border. People don't like to talk about this, but at times eye brows have been raised.) On the heels of Partition IB India made the first known contact for a dissolution of Pakistan through the DHC Office Dhaka. This was then located adjacent to the present day Ittefaq office. Ittefaq's "Declaration" had been made in the name of Motahar Husain of Barisal. Motahar was the man Indian IB contacted. Pak Intel discovered this and Motahar was arrested. However, eventually nothing happened to him and he kept his high profile presence in the media till he died about 10 years back.
2. From the Indian side the career of Deb Mukharjee, a diplomat who started as a 3rd Secy at Dhaka and ended as Hi Com to BD, is relevant to Agaratala Conspiracy, 1971 War and even the current Indo-BD relations.
3. To my knowledge and considered understanding this Conspiracy was the first goof-up by ISI and its chief Akbar. I say my knowledge because I have known some of the players involved. The main conspirators were dismissed bureaucrats charged under EBDO/303. Among them Ruhul Quddus, later to become Principal Secy, was a hard core. But their effort was really limited to drawing room talks. IB India was able to introduce some low level people, and they were the hardcore. Among them was Steward Mujib of PIA. Not much of research has been done on him and he escaped all attention till he died. Same with another man, Beg and the navy sailor Sulatn.
4.Yes, Lieut Comdr Moazzem was also a hard core. But the other army officers were not directly involved in the project still in the thinking stage. Col Shawkat, Ord was posted in Karachi where he got involved through Moazzem. He involved Capt Alim Bhuyan, another Ord officer, who became an approver. Other prominent officers were Nuruzzaman the only infantry officer who later became JRB chief,was really an abettor; Col Alam and Col Khurshid were doctors; Huda was an ASC officer who was back in service after 1971, transferred to infantry, got promoted to Col and appointed bde comdr when he was killed.
5. Whatever Hasina or Shawkat now say, Sheikh was not involved in this. During his lifetime he never once mentioned this. If true then then why would he miss out on this "achievement"? Btw, Sheikh also never said that he had declared BD's independence. Yes, others did and he did not refute. Both Shawkat and Hasina have huge political mileage to gain. And this would cross out any misgivings about Sheikh not participating in the war. Shawakat is marginalized in BAL having refused to join the party after it was revived. He had continued to stay with Razzaq's BAKSAL which had annoyed Hasina.
6. Notably when the rag tag group of conspirators went to Agartala, Stweard Mujib took the leadership.He was the one who had jotted down the future course of the new state and signed the famous Secret Pact. India has always taken this document as the starting point of all Indo-BD relations thereafter, 1971 inclusive.
7. Having said all that I must state that it is quite probable that the hardcore conspirators and their IB India handlers had assumed that once E Bengal became volatile Sheikh would be catapulted into leadership. Being a man with wide contacts in the society it is not impossible that he had known something was cooking. But there is no record or evidence to suggest that he mad any effort to contact them or to conspire with them. Except some of the bureaucrats whom he would have met in professional life, Sheikh had not met any of the other arrested earlier.
8. In defense of Akbar and the newly formed ISI I must say that they were under great pressure from Ayub to size up Sheikh. Here was a mistake that W Pak dominated administration was to repeat in 1971. A political issue is best solved politically. Involving the military or state agencies often result in messy consequences.
