Md Akmal
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3.1. Mujib's Fact-finding Bodies:
As we have seen, according to the PTI news of 7 January 1972, the Bangladesh Government intended to establish the casualty figure. Despite his public utterances claiming that the Pakistan Army had killed three million people and raped three hundred thousand women, Mujib himself was fully aware of the fact that the figures he was made to quote had simply been plucked from the air and had no factual basis. Indeed, not only the post-16 December expanded Government of Bangladesh was on record committing themselves to conduct a survey for establishing the casualty figure, Mujib himself set up, not one but two separate bodies to find the fact of how many were killed.
3.2. Mujib Asked MCAs for Information on 'Genocide'
On 16 January 1972 newspapers in Bangladesh carried news saying that Sheikh Mujib had ordered his party workers and Members of the Constituent Assembly to collect detailed information on the Pakistan Army's 'genocide' in Bangladesh and to file them with the Awami League Office within two weeks. This is how the daily Bangladesh Observer, a stable mate of the Purbadesh, reported Mujib's move:
"Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Saturday asked the Awami League workers and MCAs to collect detailed reports on genocide, arson and looting committed by the Pakistani Army in Bangladesh and to submit these data to the Awami League Office within 15 days." [1]
It was not clear whether the instruction he had issued was an official one from the Government, or simply an informal move on his part as the Awami League chief. His next move in this respect seemed to suggest that it was an unofficial drive to mobilize the Awami League party machine for gathering 'on-the-ground' information. Whether formal or not, given the fact that in those euphoric days his words were heeded to as if they were 'edicts from the sovereign', the force of his instruction could not be underestimated. That it was more than a general drive to gather information could also be seen from the fact that a specific MCA from each district was particularly asked to lead and co-ordinate the data gathering efforts.[2]
3.3. Mujibs Inquiry Committee
Within 14 days of the first move, Sheikh Mujib formally instituted a 12-member Inquiry Committee. On 29 January 1972 the Government decision and the membership of the committee was announced through a gazette notice.
Abdur Rahim, Deputy Inspector General of Police, was appointed the chairman of the Inquiry Committee and the members included:
Prof. Khurshed Alam, MCA (Comilla);
Mr Mahmud Hussain Khan, MCA (Bogra);
Mr Abdul Hafiz, MCA (Jessore);
Mr Mohiuddin Ahmed, member National Awami Party (NAP);
Mr Jalaluddin Miah, former Superintendent of Police;
Mr Muhammed Ali, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture;
Mr T. Hussain, Superintending Engineer,
Mr Muhiuddin, Director of Public Instructions;
Dr Mubarrak Hussain, Deputy Director, Health,
Wing Com. K.M. Islam, Bangladesh Air Force; and
Mr M.A. Hye, Deputy Secretary, Establishment Division, Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Gazette notification said that the responsibility of the Inquiry Committee would be to establish the exact extent of the loss in life and property suffered by the people of the country due to the operation of the Pakistan Army and their Collaborators. Where possible the Committee would also identify the culprits by name. Hope was also expressed that the public would fully co-operate with the Committee by supplying them with information. The Inquiry Committee was asked to submit their report to the Government by 30 April 1972.[3].
3.4. Mujibs Rape Victims Became Bengali Heroines:
Clearly up to this point Mujib was nor indolent on war victims; he was decisively moving to find out their precise numbers and arrange help for them. He was not alone in this as Sheikh Abdul Aziz's announcement of 7 January 1972 showed that the Government intended to establish a casualty figure. As a matter of fact, even before the newly appointed Communication Minister's discloser, Qamruzzaman, the Home Minister of the four-member provisional Government of Bangladesh, had announced from Calcutta on 'Swadhin Bangla Betar' on 22 December 1971 that his Government had decided to describe every rape 'victim' as a heroine of Bangladesh's freedom struggle. The next day this news was flashed in all Bangladesh newspapers, including the Purbadesh edited by Ehtesham Haider Choudhury. [4]
The Government of Bangladesh opened up a number of Centre for the Bengali Heroines at Dhaka and other places. The Dhaka centre, housed at a large complex in the affluent Eskaton area, was headed by one Jahangir Haider, a relation of Mujib. This and other Centre for the Bengali Heroines were given maximum publicity and once or twice news with photographs of Government sponsored marriages of a few such 'heroines' with 'patriotic and liberated Bengali nationalists' was published in the Dhaka newspapers. Among foreign visitors of the time, Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary General of the UN and his wife were also taken round to meet the 'heroines' housed in the Dhaka centre.
3.5. Mujib Instituted Compensation Scheme:
In January 1972 Mujib also announced a compensation scheme for the families of those who had been killed at the hands of the Pakistan Army and their collaborators. Under the scheme, every victim's family was promised TK 2,000 as compensation. [5] A media campaign was started to encourage victim's families to apply for the compensation.
3.6. Punishment for War Crime:
Alongside all these concrete actions, the Collaborators Ordinance was proclaimed to punish those who had supported the Pakistan Army and had worked to preserve the unity of Pakistan. Thousands of Pakistani patriots, who were lucky enough to escape the indiscriminate killing' of the early days, were rounded up and placed under detention in jails crowded many times over their capacity limits.[6]
Apart from the systematic drive to penalize the huge number of patriotic Muslims and Buddhists who had refused to be beguiled by the Awami League/Indian machination, the Mujib Government also vouched for its determination to try and punish the members of the Pakistani Army for their alleged 'War Crime', Mujib presented it as a matter of personal honour and unequivocally promised that nothing would stop him from punishing the 'Pakistani War Criminals', [7]
3.7. Mujib Dearly Wanted Proof:Clearly Mujib and his Government were not just slavish growlers intent on only slapping verbal accusations, they were determined vindictive who dearly wanted all manner of proof of 'Pakistani Crime', In this they showed motivation and made all conceivable moves to encourage, even entice, people in helping them with proof. The proof wanted was not water-tight evidence, only a nominal claim of sufferance, 'The Father of the Nation, Friend of Bengal, President of the Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman' - as he was then respectfully mentioned in all official and unofficial references - had no reason for being disobliged by his idolizing 'liberated children', especially when they had a compensation of Tk 2,000 and other rewards awaiting for them. Yet, in the end Mujib and his Government preferred to keep studied silence over the outcome of their fact findings as if these have never been attempted. What happened then with the MCAs' report which was set in motion on 15 January 1972? What became of the report of the 12-member Inquiry Committee which was formed on 29 January 1972 and was asked to report on or before 30 April 1972?
As we have seen, according to the PTI news of 7 January 1972, the Bangladesh Government intended to establish the casualty figure. Despite his public utterances claiming that the Pakistan Army had killed three million people and raped three hundred thousand women, Mujib himself was fully aware of the fact that the figures he was made to quote had simply been plucked from the air and had no factual basis. Indeed, not only the post-16 December expanded Government of Bangladesh was on record committing themselves to conduct a survey for establishing the casualty figure, Mujib himself set up, not one but two separate bodies to find the fact of how many were killed.
3.2. Mujib Asked MCAs for Information on 'Genocide'
On 16 January 1972 newspapers in Bangladesh carried news saying that Sheikh Mujib had ordered his party workers and Members of the Constituent Assembly to collect detailed information on the Pakistan Army's 'genocide' in Bangladesh and to file them with the Awami League Office within two weeks. This is how the daily Bangladesh Observer, a stable mate of the Purbadesh, reported Mujib's move:
"Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Saturday asked the Awami League workers and MCAs to collect detailed reports on genocide, arson and looting committed by the Pakistani Army in Bangladesh and to submit these data to the Awami League Office within 15 days." [1]
It was not clear whether the instruction he had issued was an official one from the Government, or simply an informal move on his part as the Awami League chief. His next move in this respect seemed to suggest that it was an unofficial drive to mobilize the Awami League party machine for gathering 'on-the-ground' information. Whether formal or not, given the fact that in those euphoric days his words were heeded to as if they were 'edicts from the sovereign', the force of his instruction could not be underestimated. That it was more than a general drive to gather information could also be seen from the fact that a specific MCA from each district was particularly asked to lead and co-ordinate the data gathering efforts.[2]
3.3. Mujibs Inquiry Committee
Within 14 days of the first move, Sheikh Mujib formally instituted a 12-member Inquiry Committee. On 29 January 1972 the Government decision and the membership of the committee was announced through a gazette notice.
Abdur Rahim, Deputy Inspector General of Police, was appointed the chairman of the Inquiry Committee and the members included:
Prof. Khurshed Alam, MCA (Comilla);
Mr Mahmud Hussain Khan, MCA (Bogra);
Mr Abdul Hafiz, MCA (Jessore);
Mr Mohiuddin Ahmed, member National Awami Party (NAP);
Mr Jalaluddin Miah, former Superintendent of Police;
Mr Muhammed Ali, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture;
Mr T. Hussain, Superintending Engineer,
Mr Muhiuddin, Director of Public Instructions;
Dr Mubarrak Hussain, Deputy Director, Health,
Wing Com. K.M. Islam, Bangladesh Air Force; and
Mr M.A. Hye, Deputy Secretary, Establishment Division, Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Gazette notification said that the responsibility of the Inquiry Committee would be to establish the exact extent of the loss in life and property suffered by the people of the country due to the operation of the Pakistan Army and their Collaborators. Where possible the Committee would also identify the culprits by name. Hope was also expressed that the public would fully co-operate with the Committee by supplying them with information. The Inquiry Committee was asked to submit their report to the Government by 30 April 1972.[3].
3.4. Mujibs Rape Victims Became Bengali Heroines:
Clearly up to this point Mujib was nor indolent on war victims; he was decisively moving to find out their precise numbers and arrange help for them. He was not alone in this as Sheikh Abdul Aziz's announcement of 7 January 1972 showed that the Government intended to establish a casualty figure. As a matter of fact, even before the newly appointed Communication Minister's discloser, Qamruzzaman, the Home Minister of the four-member provisional Government of Bangladesh, had announced from Calcutta on 'Swadhin Bangla Betar' on 22 December 1971 that his Government had decided to describe every rape 'victim' as a heroine of Bangladesh's freedom struggle. The next day this news was flashed in all Bangladesh newspapers, including the Purbadesh edited by Ehtesham Haider Choudhury. [4]
The Government of Bangladesh opened up a number of Centre for the Bengali Heroines at Dhaka and other places. The Dhaka centre, housed at a large complex in the affluent Eskaton area, was headed by one Jahangir Haider, a relation of Mujib. This and other Centre for the Bengali Heroines were given maximum publicity and once or twice news with photographs of Government sponsored marriages of a few such 'heroines' with 'patriotic and liberated Bengali nationalists' was published in the Dhaka newspapers. Among foreign visitors of the time, Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary General of the UN and his wife were also taken round to meet the 'heroines' housed in the Dhaka centre.
3.5. Mujib Instituted Compensation Scheme:
In January 1972 Mujib also announced a compensation scheme for the families of those who had been killed at the hands of the Pakistan Army and their collaborators. Under the scheme, every victim's family was promised TK 2,000 as compensation. [5] A media campaign was started to encourage victim's families to apply for the compensation.
3.6. Punishment for War Crime:
Alongside all these concrete actions, the Collaborators Ordinance was proclaimed to punish those who had supported the Pakistan Army and had worked to preserve the unity of Pakistan. Thousands of Pakistani patriots, who were lucky enough to escape the indiscriminate killing' of the early days, were rounded up and placed under detention in jails crowded many times over their capacity limits.[6]
Apart from the systematic drive to penalize the huge number of patriotic Muslims and Buddhists who had refused to be beguiled by the Awami League/Indian machination, the Mujib Government also vouched for its determination to try and punish the members of the Pakistani Army for their alleged 'War Crime', Mujib presented it as a matter of personal honour and unequivocally promised that nothing would stop him from punishing the 'Pakistani War Criminals', [7]
3.7. Mujib Dearly Wanted Proof:Clearly Mujib and his Government were not just slavish growlers intent on only slapping verbal accusations, they were determined vindictive who dearly wanted all manner of proof of 'Pakistani Crime', In this they showed motivation and made all conceivable moves to encourage, even entice, people in helping them with proof. The proof wanted was not water-tight evidence, only a nominal claim of sufferance, 'The Father of the Nation, Friend of Bengal, President of the Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman' - as he was then respectfully mentioned in all official and unofficial references - had no reason for being disobliged by his idolizing 'liberated children', especially when they had a compensation of Tk 2,000 and other rewards awaiting for them. Yet, in the end Mujib and his Government preferred to keep studied silence over the outcome of their fact findings as if these have never been attempted. What happened then with the MCAs' report which was set in motion on 15 January 1972? What became of the report of the 12-member Inquiry Committee which was formed on 29 January 1972 and was asked to report on or before 30 April 1972?
