‘Bangladesh will always remain with Soviet people’

MARCH 2, 1972

MUJIB-BREZHNEV TALKS

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev hold a discussion on the question of further developing and consolidating relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. The two leaders also discuss some international issues of mutual interest. Brezhnev greets the 'outstanding leader and the head of the government of the newly-independent state' and hopes that under his leadership the new republic would grow from strength to strength. 

Bangabandhu expresses his sincere gratitude for the tremendous support given by the Soviet Union to the people of Bangladesh in their struggle for freedom and independence. 

Bangabandhu visits the Lenin Museum in Red Square and lays a wreath bearing the inscription "to the immortal Lenin from the Prime Minister of Bangladesh."

Addressing a vast gathering at Moscow University in Bangla, Bangabandhu says that we believe in neutral and non-aligned foreign policy aimed at the establishment of world peace. We believe in co-existence as the Soviet Union does, he adds. 

Bangabandhu further says, "Never can we forget the help given by the Soviet Union in the hour of our nation at peril."

The Soviet Union and Bangladesh today sign a 38-million Ruble agreement to aid the ongoing projects in Bangladesh. The four ongoing projects in Bangladesh that will come under this agreement are Ghorashal Thermal Plant, electric manufacturing plant at Chittagong, radio transmitters and oil and gas exploration. 

FIRST EXPORT CONSIGNMENT

A large quantity of carpet backing cloth and frozen shrimp are loaded today on ships for export. This is the first export consignment from the Chittagong Port after the liberation of Bangladesh. 

EXODUS FROM RURAL AREAS FOR JOBS

Of late there has been a tremendous exodus from the rural areas to Dhaka. Two reasons have mainly contributed to this exodus: firstly, inadequate job opportunities in the rural areas and secondly, people believe that if they can register their names with the employment exchange programme of the government they would be assured of a job. Since independence, about 1,75,000 job-seeking people have registered their names with this programme. Of those, 95 percent are seeking jobs in mills, factories and other places where they could be employed as labourers. All of them are unskilled workers. 

FOODGRAIN HOARDERS WARNED

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Phani Bhushan Majumdar warns against the hoarding of foodgrain. He informs that the food position up to December is 18 lakh tonnes and the government is making arrangements to fill up the gap from local production and import from abroad. The government is distributing 2 lakh tonnes of foodgrain as relief and modified ration each month, he adds. 

SOURCES: March 3, 1972 issues of Dainik Bangla, The Daily Ittefaq, Azad, Morning News, The Bangladesh Observer and Purbodesh.