‘Stop strikes, gheraos’

MARCH 31, 1972

BANGABANDHU VISITS KHULNA

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman calls upon the people to do away with strikes and gheraos and invest their energies into rebuilding the country. He asks them to maintain discipline and increase production in industries and in fields.

Addressing a mammoth public meeting at the Circuit House in Khulna, Bangabandhu says that with the nationalisation of industries, banks and insurance companies, a great responsibility falls upon the people who are now the sole owners of these organisations.

Bangabandhu warns that a section of political elements is indulging in creating some sort of misunderstanding among the people over the friendship treaty that was concluded between Bangladesh and India during Indira Gandhi's recent visit to Bangladesh. "I know their activities but I also know how to stop them," he says.

In reference to Bhutto's recent comment that Pakistani troops killed only 50,000 people in Bangladesh, Bangabandhu asks, "Will Mr Bhutto exonerate us if we kill 50,000 of his men in West Pakistan in the manner his countrymen did in Bangladesh?" He regrets that instead of feeling ashamed of what his countrymen did, Bhutto is now going all out to defend the criminals.

JIHAD AGAINST 'LOOTPAT SAMITY'

Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani calls upon the people to extend full cooperation to the government in controlling antisocial activity in the country. Addressing a public meeting in Chittagong he assures Bangabandhu that NAP, as an opposition party, is not interested in getting to power but only helping him to remove corruption from society. He warns that if necessary he will wage a jihad against the 'lootpat samity'.

Bhashani further says that in the absence of law and order and security of people's life and property, neither can the government stay nor can freedom be preserved.

$4M FRENCH AID FOR BANGLADESH

French veteran parliamentarian Raymond Offroy at a press conference in Dhaka today says that the French government has decided to give Bangladesh a gift of four million dollars for its rehabilitation programme. Besides, he says, a convoy of 100 trucks, barges and other means of transportation will be provided to Bangladesh to overcome its communication difficulties. A high-powered French economic and technical delegation will soon visit the country to assess the needs and requirements of Bangladesh in its rehabilitation and reconstruction programme, he adds.

The French politician and diplomat calls Bangabandhu the "De Gaulle" of Bangladesh and says that the people of the new nation is lucky to have a leader like him.

SOURCES: April 1, 1972 issues of Ittefaq, The Bangladesh Observer, Azad, Morning News, Dainik Bangla and Purbodesh.