Mon 21 Jan 2008
Say no to bosta pocha controversy and check the history yourself
Posted by Asif under Liberation WarGen Matin missing out on column space generating controversy starts out an old bostapocha debate.
‘I said it earlier that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the architect of Bangladesh, but former president Ziaur Rahman declared its independence…. There is no doubt about it,’ Matin said, answering reporters at the home ministry
But guess what? You won’t have to take his or any BAL-BNP leaders’ word for it. Thanks to the power of documentation, check out the history by yourself brought to you by Mash and Jalal at your finger tips. Mash and Jalal via blog have done what millions of Bangladeshis could not do all these years.
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 am
Perhaps there is a bright side to this bosta pocha controversy. Perhaps this is an indication that politics is about to return.
Think about it this way. Once politics returns, some will find this Mujib-Zia food fight exciting and have a screaming competition. We’ll let them have their fun and write / discuss policy matters, or ideas about Bangladesh, or socio-cultural trends. Hopefully we won’t be having dialogue of the deaf about the good CTG and the golden opportunity provided by 1/11.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:45 am
The research is thorough but not without contradictions. Just playing devil’s advocate here:
From MASH’S postings:
["Major Zia, Provisional Commander-in-Chief of the Bangladesh Liberation Army, hereby proclaims, on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the independence of Bangladesh.
I also declare, we have already framed a sovereign, legal Government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which pledges to function as per law and the constitution. The new democratic Government is committed to a policy of non-alignment in international relations. It will seek friendship with all nations and strive for international peace. I appeal to all Government to mobilige public opinion in their respective countries against the brutal genocide in Bangladesh.
The Government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is sovereign legal Government of Bangladesh and is entitled to recognition from all democratic nations of the world."
The date for this speech is given in the Dalil Potro as March 27, 1971. The speech is sourced in the Dalil Potro to The Statesman published from New Delhi on March 27, 1971. However the March 27, 1971 Statesman published from New Delhi does not contain this speech.
The first reports of Major Zia’s speech cited in the Dalil Potro appeared in the Indian newspapers on March 31, 1971. According to Indian reports the speech was broadcast from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro on the morning of March 30, 1971.]
Also, from MASH’s posting:
[The Statesman (New Delhi), India, March 28, 1971
Secessionist forces offer stiff resistance
In another broadcast the radio claimed that freedom-loving people of Baluchistan, the North West Frontier Province and Pakhtoonistan had declared independence, following the example of Bangla Desh.
The person who spoke on the radio was identified as "Major Jia, Chief of the Liberation Army of Bangla Desh".]
[The Times of India (Bombay), India, March 28, 1971
Tikka Khan is shot, Mujib promises victory in day or two
Agartala, March 27
Major Zia Khan, chief of the Bangla Desh liberation army, declared over the free Bangla Radio tonight that Bangla Desh would be rid of the Pakistani military administration in two or three days.
The West Punjabi soldiers "will be annihilated" if they did not surrender, he said.]
Obviously, Major Zia was on the radio on the 27th and the 28th. Wonder why he chose to read the declaration on the 30th? Any ideas?
I believe it to be true that MA Hannan read the independence declaration on the 26th on behalf of Sheikh Mujib. But any historical perspectives on how the note written by Sheikh Mujib on the morning of 26th got to Chittagong and Calcutta the same day in 1971?
The foreign newspaper was not all that clear about what was going on here. And that is clear from all the newspaper excerpts from MASH’s blog. I have immense respect for Sheikh Mujib. His was our leader in independence. This is what I believe from everything I read from my childhood till now:
“MA Hannan declared independence on the 26th on behalf of Sheikh Mujib. Major Zia declared independence on the 27th - also on behalf of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. But it was Zia’s declaration that inspired the people of Bangladesh a lot(doesn’t really matter whether it was on the 27th or 30th). And he should be given due credit for that.”
Label me.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:06 am
Comment #2 is a blow to the enormous effort undertaken by Mash (along with MR Jalal), that was initiated to straighten out a little piece of our liberation history once and for all, and not intented to begin a food fight between the followers of the two great leaders in Bd’s history. Amazingly enough, with monumental evidence staring at the face, people would still chose to believe what they had “read from childhood”.
The problem with the notion of “what I have read all my life” is that our liberation history has not been documented properly. It has been a collective failure of the authority and the historians, and a result of the ploy concocted by certain greedy politicians to unnecessarily glorify certain personalities.
Young major Zia was a brave soldier and fought courageously in 1971. He initiated many developmental projects during his time for Bd. But he never delivered a speech in march 1971 that started with “Ami major Zia bolchhi…” as his pasty members made people to believe since late 70’s. In fact he delivered the speech in English, and on March 30. March 30 was the first time he was brought to Kalurghat by someone called Belal.
Also there is no evidence that Zia’s speech made much impact internationally as claimed by some people. In the domestic front, the mainstream public did not know about his delivery till he came to power, people began to hear that he was the first person to delivery the declaration of independence from Kalurghat. If anybody heard him on the radio on March 30, it was reassuring news that provisional Bd army is fighting for the people, but the declaration itself was already old news.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:55 am
This comment is to clarify major Zia’s arrival to Kalurghat and speaking on air and delivering declaration note from Mujib – all based on the published documents:
On the 27th, he declared himself head of the liberation army.
On the 28th, he declared himself provisional head of government.
On the 30th, he joined many others before him and delivered the “declaration of independence” speech
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:14 am
Shahed at #2, in the post I presented the available foreign reports without much comment and without reaching conclusions beyond what was in the reports. However, I did not see the contradictions in the reporting that you mention at the top of your comment. Can you please elaborate and I’ll try to address them.
The post is a very long one and contains about 60 foreign news reports. The citations you have quoted above from my post however may confuse the reader because they lack context. For example, even though it is not clear in the excerpt you provided in the comment, the first part of the quote is not from any news reports, but from the Bangladesh government Dalil Patro (from 1982). The Dalil Patro incorrectly states that its source is The Statesman (New Delhi) from March 27, 1971. As I mentioned in the post, no such article appeared in the Statesman on that date.
You asked:
As I said above, I stayed away from speculating on motivations in the post and just presented the available evidence. However, I am willing to venture an educated guess here as to why Zia read the declaration on March 30th (as quoted in the Indian newspapers on March 31st).
On March 28, 1971 Zia announced over the radio that he was assuming the powers of the provisional head of the Liberation Army. A number of directives were announced in his name. The foreign press reported on March 29, 1971 that Bangladesh had formed a provisional government and Zia had become the temporary head of the provisional government. There was much speculation in the foreign press as to why the government was not headed by Sheikh Mujib, but instead by a hitherto unknown “Major Zia Khan”. You have to remember that the first time the world had heard of Major Zia was on March 29th, 1971. His earlier broadcast on March 27th was not widely reported on, even within India. To this point, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro was trying to keep up the fiction that Sheikh Mujib was free and directing the liberation struggle, while Radio Pakistan was reporting that he had been arrested. The March 28th speech raised questions as to the whereabouts of Mujib. The press was asking why, if Mujib was free, wasnt he leading the government. Of course no “provisional government” existed at this point, but Kalurghat was fighting the Pakistani propaganda machine with very effective counter-propaganda.
The March 30 speech by Zia, according to my educated guess, attempted to correct the confusion created by the March 28th speech that was reported around the world on March 29th. On the March 30 speech, Zia made it clear that he was declaring independence “on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman” and that they had “formed a sovereign legal government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”. Unfortunately this speech was not reported on beyond India. So it did not get much attention in the outside world.
As for the declaration of independence, it was already all over the foreign press on the March 27th newspapers. The press had picked up both Sheikh Mujib’s statement about the attack on the EPR lines and the subsequent broadcasts from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro on the evening of March 26th. As I stated in the post, the first declaration in English came from Ashikul Islam (according to Bangladesh Observer from 1972), not MA Hannan. Another came from Abul Kashem Sandwip in Bengali.
Subsequently, between March 26th and March 30th, a number of people (I believe it was about 9 people) read out the declaration of independence. None was considered particularly newsworthy in the foreign press since the original ones on March 26th had already reached every corner of the world.
Major Zia was the senior most military officer there. Other officer, such as Shamsher Mobin Choudhury, also did yoemen’s work in giving Bangladeshis a voice in those critical early days. Others, such as Captain Bhuiyan (now retired Major General), were said to be organizing the resistance. The radio announced that people should organize under Captain Bhuyian and Captain Nasir’s command, at Lal Dighi Maidan in Chittagong. All of this had tremendous impact on morale and told the world Bengalis were fighting back.
Hearing Major Zia speak also meant that other Bengalis and Bengali soldiers knew that at least some of the East Bengal Regiment had mutinied and joined the liberation struggle. Others had risen up in Jessore and elsewhere, but hearing it over the radio showed that these were not isolated events. After the speeches from Kalurghat many others would rise up.
The foreign news reports I posted provide a calendar onto which the rest of the narrative can be mapped. The post was not meant to be a complete history of those crucial days, but was intended to put some hard dates into the record that has so far eluded our official history. I hope, however, the post provides some historical markers onto which those who lived those days can fill in the blanks.
Our history is a proud one, and filled with heroic moments and great sacrifice. We have done a great disservice to our history by playing ping pong with it. A whole generation has grown up with doctored text books to suit the fancy of the powers of the day. 1971 made many ordinary men and women great; in the midst of so much tragedy, it was our finest hour. We need not embellish our history to be proud of our heroes and heroines - that is my hope.
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:16 am
Zafa,
Here is the deal:
Sheikh Mujib was a leader of much bigger stature than Major Zia and it is ridiculous to compare them. Zia was a childhood hero of mine but I realized when I grew up that his approach to politics and his administration has made irrepairable damages to Bangladeshi politics. But to label Major Zia as ‘just another major or soldier’ during our liberation war is ill motivated.
I will not argue with you about ‘what I read from childhood (I actually meant everything including this blog)’, I will argue with you with data from the same source.
You claim: Zia’s speech was on the 30th of March.
But Reuters reports on the 28th of March: (from MASH’s Blog)
“New Delhi, March 28 (Reuter)
Another radio message, monitored in Calcutta, reported that a provisional Bangla Desh (Bengali Nation) government had been set up in the East.
[The broadcast said Major Zia Khan had been named temporary head of a provisional government of Bangla Desh "under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," according to the Associated Press.
[Clandestine broadcasts have identified Major Zia as the head of the "Liberation Army" of the Awami League.]”
Not only Reuters, many of the references in MASH’s blog reports news on Zia on the 28th or 29th. So Zia must’ve been at Kalughat at or before the 28th. Please carefully read all the articles that MASH put up.
You say: He was a brave soldier and fought courageously…I agree. But may be he contributed a little more than that in the early parts. In fact, I am giving this major more credit for his intelligence then before after reading MASH’s blog, considering it happened after only two days of army crackdown when people were trying to get a clue of what happened.
1. He delivered it in English so that it reaches foreign countries.
2. He rightfully mentions SK Mujib as the leader, so the nation can unite under Mujib’s leadership.
3. He sought support from other nations and material support for freedom fighters.
4. Through him world new that the west did not quell a rebellion, but there is a war of independence going on instead.
5. I don’t know how much impact he made in foreign countries, but he sure did make the news all around the world - be it as the spokesperson of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
We want to straighten up our history that was ‘twisted’, but we need to be careful that we don’t ‘counter twist’ it.
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:21 am
Additionally,
Quoting Zafa,
“March 30, it was reassuring news that provisional Bd army is fighting for the people, but the declaration itself was already old news.”
On March 30, 1971, the news that provisional BD army is fighting for the people would not only reassure me, but would also inspire me immensely. As I am sure it did inspire many Bangladeshis.
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:31 am
Mash,
Thanks for responding to my comments at the correct manner. I do not care about the dates and would gladly accept your impartial thoughts on that since you’ve done the most research.
I only have problem when people try to use the dates to say that Major Zia was ‘just another major or soldier’.
You said in # 5:
“Hearing Major Zia speak also meant that other Bengalis and Bengali soldiers knew that at least some of the East Bengal Regiment had mutinied and joined the liberation struggle. Others had risen up in Jessore and elsewhere, but hearing it over the radio showed that these were not isolated events. After the speeches from Kalurghat many others would rise up.”
This is exactly what I meant to say that Major Zia’s role in the first week of the war was significant; in fighting west pakistani propagandas and organizing people. I have never claimed anywhere that he was the first person that declared independence but that his speeches mattered and he should be duly credited for that.
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Shahed#
you presented the whole thing in complete wrong manner.
“I do not care about the dates and would gladly accept your impartial thoughts on that since you’ve done the most research.”
Ans: Nice that you have accepted but can you please explain ,” I don’t care about the dates”.
First I will beg advance pardon to you if I misread you. But As you know Date is a very important factor of the history of any nation. Many Thanks to Mash and Jalal Bhai for excellent research and It is the right time to give the due to every one.
Now your reply to Zafa
“But to label Major Zia as ‘just another major or soldier’ during our liberation war is ill motivate.”
First of all Major Zia was a freedom fighter. But He never comes before National 4 leaders . His name should be uttered as other Sector commanders of our freedom fight. This is the history.Here If you want to deny the truth , I have nothing to say here.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Zia was the only person available at that time when all other leaders were in hiding and freedom loving people needed leadership. The best leader rises at the occasion. It is understandable. Most of the AL leaders were waiting to hear from only leader (Bongobondo) who was in Pakistani custody; Zia did not need to wait for anyone.
There is no wander that Zia has a permanent place in the heart of the people, may be unparallel to no one. (Psst. you wouldn’t hear it in the media.)
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
J To I,
When I say, ” I don’t care about the dates”, I meant that it doesn’t matter whether Zia said it on the 27th or the 30th have little significance if we recognize the important of his speech(es) from ‘Swadhin Bangla Betar’.
He was not the first one, there were probably a few more before Zia’s declaration. But his speech(es) were important and significant because they were the ones of authority and leadership (as provisional head of the govt. on behalf of SK mujib). In addition to inspiring and organizing people, it clarified a lot of issues:
a. We have a goal: Independence
b. One leader: Sheikh Mujib
c. One option : to fight
Sometimes one single act of bravery and intelligence can have historical significance. His action deserves a special place, even if it is tiny, in our history books. So, I disagree when people say that his name should only be uttered as a freedom fighter and a sector commander. He deserves a special mention beside that.
I don’t want to start any Mujib-Zia fight here and so will not respond to any comparisons between them or argument that relates to that.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:30 am
Guys, the following link is the essential
reading for debaters on Sheik vs. Zia’s role in the Declaration of Independence.
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=157482
Thanks
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:34 am
To snub at and belittle Zia’s declaration there were and are so many meanest attempts by blind Awami agents.
Guys, you perhaps all heard of the names of some political leaders and elites of chittagong involved with the declaration of our independece like Abdul Hannan, Zohur Choudhury, Mr MR Mollick, or radio artists or news casters like Belal Beg, and some military individuals like the-then captain Rafiqul Islam or Captain Subid Ali Bhuiyan etc. Also we sometimes see some mention of Safiullah from Joydevpur and maybe some other names from some more places.
But folks, did ever hear the name of Morshed Chacha who is the 1st and genuine declarer of independence?
According to Hasina as she were in her husband’s house[Mr. Wajed's house] in the fateful night of 25th March, 1971, she didn’t hear her father’s declaration. But she later on emphatically said, in the very same night one Sheik Mujib’s buttler named Morshed chacha ran to her house puffing and huffing and gave the news of her father’s arrest and the news of declaration of independence by late Sheik. And on the very same night he had started annoucing the “Independence of Bangladesh for Sheik Mujib through bamaboo or tin-made chonga. Infact, late Morshed chacha, the buttler has the real credit for declaration of independence before anyone else like Hannan or Zia.
So why shouldn’t we try to tell the truth more aloud as Hasina alleged Morshed Chacha had heard Sheik Mujib’s declaration and immediately after sheik’s arrest Morshed Chacha started publicity with his full force of his voice by Basher or Tiner chonga. Joy Morshed Chacha, declarer of Independen; credit goes to him!!!
Thanks.
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:09 am
Boy I’m SO looking forward to the next 37 years of rehashing this debate! I didn’t have nearly enough during the last 37. Did I mention “Burning Issue of the Day”?
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:05 pm
the phrase ‘eating someone else’s already digested meal comes to mind’
January 24th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Zub (#14),
The subject matter is not a “theory” to be debated with points and counter points. It’s about sorting out facts from fiction. Certainly not about stealing anybody’s thunder.
It is no secret that certain portion of our glorious liberation history that is also a history of genocide had been purposefully misrepresented in our history texts and other records by some dissolute people in their ill attempt to please certain quarters.
There is no evidence that the subject of this thread had been debated for 37 years. In fact, the generation that grew up after liberation war (which I belong to) did not raise questions because they believed everything they read.
The episode that took place in the last few days of March 1971 in Kalurghat is just a tiny fraction of the enormous thrust that was inflicted on millions of innocent Bangladeshis. Astoundingly the people in charge of the record keeping (Dalil Potro) did not feel obligated to collect and preserve the facts to the best of their ability. For example there should not have been any ambiguity on the locations of the mass murder sites (bodhyo-bhumi) all over the country.
If we don’t start putting the facts together without any prejudice, then the opportunists and the genocide deniers like Sarmila Bose will take advantage, and continue with their attempt of denying the atrocities of 1971. The research on the Kalurghat episode was part of a much bigger effort to preserve the facts of 1971 genocide so that there will be no room for misinformation for the future generation and the world will recognize the 1971 war as genocide. I as a Bangladeshi am forever in debt to Mash and everybody involved in this effort.
January 24th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Zubaer#
“Boy I’m SO looking forward to the next 37 years of rehashing this debate! I didn’t have nearly enough during the last 37. Did I mention “Burning Issue of the Day”?”
Ans:For the sake of correct history, at least I don’t have any problem to wait till 74 years . I know i will not be alive that time. But way the history has been written
even some days back I would not be surprised if Golam Azam would be presented at freedom fighter after 75 years. To prevent such thing this so called debate is important.
other wise the personal opinion of lots of blogger will be treated as history for the future generation.
Any way That’s all
January 24th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Ugh, Sarmila Bose. You’re right, ZaFa. It’s vital that we have people like Mash to put together the facts so that the Sarmila Bose’s of the world can’t go around pretending to be human, I mean, pretending to be academics.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:03 am
As Tanoy says, he’s happy to wait 74 years for the truth. Good for him. But I rather doubt this debate will matter by then. Because what Mujib wanted or Zia wanted for Bangladesh (or even what Sarmila Bose said about us) will have become entirely academic in 2045. Given current economic and social realities, it appears rather unlikely that Bangladesh will remain a cohesive or even viable nation-state at that point. Not least because we were always so good at getting our priorities straight.
30 lokkho shohid’er rokto brithai jabey tokhon. No matter. Most people in this thread have already voted with their feet. Shows where the smart money is going at any rate. Raging parlour debates are all the more fun when conducted from an environment of total safety and security.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:32 am
This is simply disgusting that while countries like Bhutan, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gabon, and North Korea are defeating the Japanese and French in e-governance (http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2007-08/07-011.html), we are engaging ourselves in ‘bosta pocha’ controversies such as who declared independence in 1971!!!
January 25th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Re. Post 20, why do work on historical accuracy and e-governance have to be mutually exclusive? Surely we have enough qualified people to be able to engage in both? I think the point in this thread is more about not rewriting history rather than the narrower scope of who declared independence. And Zub, perhaps the debate would gain legitimacy if we travelled to a less safe and secure environment every time we wanted to make a point, but that’s a bit of a logistical nightmare and not really the main issue anyway.
P.S. Most things are more fun when conducted from an environment of total safety and security.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:29 am
To All
Relax and listen to this song (the link is given below) with at least one shot of drambury (light up on top of your drink and then swallow it in one go). If you are enough confident to drive, then after taking two shots of drambury go for a long drive with your sporty and do not forget to play the song. Trust me this sublime love story song and your slight intoxicated mind will take you to the heaven. Whenever I get time in my busy abroad life I try it and feel better. I’m going to do it in 10 minutes time again. Here is the song link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZYir9L8Jg&feature=related
P. S. Admin, despite it is off topic I hope you will let my message through as I beleive always serious discussion is not very healthy in our abroad life.