Yasmeen Aftab Ali
My Op-Ed December 17, 2013) Asoka Raina an Indian author of “Inside RAW-The Story of India’s Secret Service’ pgs 48-50 state, “The Bangladesh Operation possibly began a year before actual operation was underway Even when the world got a whiff of it in the shape of Mukti Bahini, many remained unaware of RAW’s involvement. By then Phase 1 of the operation was already complete. Phase II saw the Indian forces poised for the independence of Bangladesh. In order to present a clear synopsis of the events that bought RAW into the Bangladesh Ops, one must review the intelligence activities that started soon after the formation in 1968. But by then the Indian operatives had already been in contact with the ‘pro-Mujib’ faction. A meeting convened in Agartala during 1962-3 between the IB Foreign Desk operatives and the Mujib faction, gave some clear indications of what was to follow.†The atrocities inflicted upon the Biharis by Mukti Bahini often in the name of Pakistan Army is a matter of record. Ian Jack, a Scottish journalist, writing in The Guardian states, “An Urdu-Speaking friend of mine, Dr Jawaid Ahsan, said that he had personally witnessed the killing of scores of Biharis by the Bengali vigilantes in the early days of the civil war…..†He has further stated, “Bengali junta mill workers in Khulna slaughtered large numbers- probably thousands –of their fellow Urdu speaking workers on 28th March 1971. After liberation, “Bengali mill workers repeated their original atrocity of the previous year and sent thousands more non-Bengalis into the rivers.†Speaking a discussion in Dacca to mark the historic March 7 speech, the day in 1971 when Sheikh Mujib called on the Bengali nation to prepare for the secession struggle from Pakistan, she recalled referring to sedition charges against ‘Bangabandhu’ and 34 others, “It was there that Bangabandhu, at a meeting made plans for liberations, including when the war would start, when our freedom fighters would be trained and where refugees would take shelter.†Today, we look back on this sad part of the history conveniently ignoring one important leaf of history. That of the resettlement of the 250,000 odd Pakistanis stranded in camps since the country broke in two. One must pay tribute to renowned poet Jamiluddin Aali who had stood strong and helped in resettling those who migrated to Pakistan after this tragedy. This is an issue not being recognised as an issue. Neither by the successive governments of Pakistan nor by the so-called liberals willing to hold millions of Afghans to their bosoms, who have come here under clear agreement to return to their homeland, yet ignores the plight of those rejected by both nations.