By Mohammad Zainal Abedin
What language, Pinak Ranjan Chokrabartee, the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh, who has already been branded by some analysts as Indian Governor in Bangladesh, for his naked and direct dictation to Bangladesh, should use condemning Indian plunder in Bangladesh in 1971? He said Bangladesh could not get its independence so early lest India militarily involved itself in our war of liberation. Through its participation in our war of liberation India, in the truest sense of the term, as if, restarted the Maratha cavalry attacks of 18th century Bengal. India now repeats the same in Bangladesh. It only changed the version and technique of plundering Bangladesh. Maratha cavalry attacked Bengal in broad daylight and looted, but modern Indian bandits loot Bangladesh under the cover of friendship.
Pinak claimed that without Indian military involvement Bangladesh liberation war could be prolonged. I fully agreed with his comment. But Indian policies and activities over the last 37 years uncovered the truth that India militarily involved in our war of liberation not for our sake, but entirely for the sake of India?s hegemonic and economic interest. The events and incidents that occurred since 1972 prove that it could be better for Bangladesh if we could liberate our country ourselves. India did not allow us to be liberated without Indian assistance.
Indians do not have any legal and moral rights to claim that it liberated Bangladesh. When we were on the verge of victory and liberated about 99 per cent portion of Bangladesh, except some pockets of urban areas, India declared war against Pakistan. When we, the freedom fighters, made the defeat of the Pakistan forces inevitable, India, for a number of ulterior reasons, directly involved in this war under the disguise of so-called allied forces. India earlier fought twice with Pakistan, but suffered shameful defeat.
In 1971 India though claimed its victory over Pakistan in Bangladesh, its forces could not capture even a district in West Pakistan, rather hundreds of thousands of Indian soldiers were captured by Pakistani troops and many Indian soldiers surrendered to Pakistan. So the so-called victory of Indian army in Bangladesh against Pakistan was possible due to the Bangladeshis in general and the freedom fighters in particular. Pinak directly admitted that the freedom fighter could liberate the country, however, later on. Yes, we the freedom fighters desired so. We never wanted India’s direct military involvement in our war of liberation.
Our leaders failed to foresee the ultimate outcome of Indian friendship would be so sour, bitter and suicidal. If they could anticipate in
what treacherous way India, in the name of friendship, would behave with us they would prefer to die, rather agreeing to take India’s military assistance. It is now known to all that India compelled the then revolutionary government of Bangladesh, exiled in India, to sign in an uneven agreement that paved the way for India to invade Bangladesh under the cover of allied forces. Our fake friends now through their overt and covert designs and hegemonic policies dream to make us their slaves. We are going to lose our independence to India.
During Pakistan period we could raise slogans against Pakistani exploitation and we could demand to stop such exploitation. Now India not only exploits us more nakedly, but also ruins our country applying many-fold designs. Our leaders could not imagine that after the dismemberment of Pakistan, India would pose to become our master under the cover of friendship and conspire to annex our country to India.
If we were allowed to liberate our country ourselves, India would not get the chance to loot our country after 16th December that included machineries and accessories of jute mills, textile mills, sugar mills, steel mills and their raw materials stored in the godowns, food, banks, markets, schools, colleges, universities, even residential houses and offices, even toilet materials of worth Tk. 90,000 crores. On the other hand, India misappropriated cash money and relief materials like food, baby food, clothes, blankets, medicines, etc., that were donated by several international agencies and groups for the Bangladeshi refugees sheltered in India in 1971. India took away all the arms and ammunitions, equipment and military-related materials to India which, were later distributed among the three branches of Indian armed forces. Poor India boomed within years with the money that the Indian army looted after 16th December. India arrested all the 93,000 soldiers of Pakistan to India and used them as tool to release the Indian soldiers arrested in Pakistan in 1971.
Besides, India compelled Pakistan to sign uneven treaty in exchange of releasing Pakistani troops from Indian jails. It is difficult to calculate how many billions of dollars India looted from Bangladesh through monopoly business since 1972. Through the independence war of Bangladesh India was immensely benefited economically, militarily, strategically, and internationally. So India involved in our war of liberation was for Indian interest, not for us.
India now keeps Bangladesh economically poor and shaky and politically disunited and disturbed. India undertook many criminal policies in order to make Bangladesh initially a subservient country and finally a part of India. It is never possible to present statistics and the extent of property worth of how many billions dollars were damaged by India’s overt and covert subversive activities in Bangladesh. None has the actual records how many billions of dollars Bangladesh lost in its agriculture, fishery, communication, industry, health and housing sectors due to India?s blockade of water during the dry season and flooding it during the rainy season. It is equally difficult to enumerate how much amount of money Bangladesh lost over the years due to Indian sabotage and subversive activities. All these might not be possible, if we did not take Indian help in 1971. Pinak Ranjan or
Jacob or all other Indians should remain grateful to us as it was our liberation war that paved way for India to emerge economically solvent, militarily strong and regionally and strategically powerful.
http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=220162
