<i>An old friend lost</i>

This 1971 file photo shows the then US Senator Edward Kennedy visiting refugee camps in Kolkata, India. Over one crore Bangladeshis took refuge in India during the Liberation War.Photo: AFP

The then US senator Edward M Kennedy took a bold stance against the genocide committed by Pakistan during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 despite the US government's opposition to Bangladesh's struggle for independence.
The Pakistan military administration under General Yahya Khan tried to suppress information regarding the genocide in Bangladesh after its launching on the night of March 25, 1971.
But Edward Kennedy, like a number of foreign journalists, exposed to the world communities the brutality of the Pakistani occupation forces after his visit to the refugee camps in India in August 1971.
"Sen Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) charged today that Pakistan had committed genocide in East Pakistan and called for a complete cutoff of American military and economic aid to Pakistan until the strife in the eastern part of the country ends," the Washington Post reported on August 17, 1971 about the senator's visit.
Also known as Ted Kennedy, the Democrat senator has been considered a true friend of Bangladesh since 1971, extending his support towards the country whenever needed. He also became a big critic of the role of the then US government led by Republican president Richard Nixon.
The Washington Post report headlined "Kennedy Charges Genocide In Pakistan, Urges Aid Cutoff" said, "Kennedy also criticised the secret trial of Sheikh Mujibur which is currently under way, saying the only crime he was guilty of was to win an election. The sheikh's [sic] election victory preceded the takeover of East Pakistan by the West Pakistani army.
"The senator said the secret aspect of the trial 'is an outrage to every concept of international law'," said the report dated August 16, 1971.
Kennedy also criticised the US policy of supplying arms to Pakistan and appearing to side with Pakistan as "injurious to Indo-American relations", the report added.
Millions of Bangladeshis had to leave the soil during the country's Liberation War and take shelter in West Bengal of India as refugees.
Edward Kennedy visited the refugee camps as the chairman of the Senate subcommittee on refugee affairs. The report said, "...he would recommend an aid cutoff until there is a 'political solution' that would include the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the banned Awami League."
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested by the Pakistani military on the night of March 25, 1971 and was released from a Pakistani prison on January 8, 1972 following Bangladesh's victory in the nine-month long Liberation War.
When Kennedy addressed the media exposing the genocide, British newspaper the Daily Telegraph observed it, saying, "It is understood that the Senator...intends to make a major political issue out of the continuing American support for President Yahya Khan's Government.
"In his tour of refugee camps, he was visibly shaken both by camp conditions and the extent of injury and sickness among the refugees," said the Telegraph.
"He has been angered by President Nixon's decision to deny him access to official documents such as diplomatic cables relating to the Pakistan situation while he has been staying at the American Embassy in New Delhi," it added.
On August 17, 1971, the New York Times in its report titled "Kennedy, in India, Terms Pakistani Drive Genocide" said, "Mr Kennedy--who spent most of his time here visiting the squalid border camps that hold East Pakistani refugees, seven million of whom are said to have fled--said President Nixon's policy 'baffles me--and after seeing the results in terms of human misery, I think it's an even greater disaster'."
It is evident in the New York Times report that Kennedy had planned to visit "both East and West Pakistan and had obtained a Pakistani visa", but the Pakistan government cancelled his visit after watching his stand against the genocide.
After his visit to the refugee camps, Kennedy continued raising his voice against the genocide of Pakistan and strongly criticised the then US stand in favour of Pakistan administration. He continued his multifarious campaign for Bangladesh, even delivering speeches in the US congress.
In his congressional speech in May 1971, Kennedy said, "Whatever the politics involved in this region, I firmly believe that one of the human tragedies of modern times may be in the process of being created."
On June 29, 1971, The New York Times also reported that Kennedy issued a statement claiming that a hearing before his subcommittee had indicated that the US policy on military assistance to Pakistan was "misleading and contradictory".
With reference to Kennedy's disclosure of the contents of confidential messages from US diplomats in Pakistan, a report published on August 2, 1971 in the Newsweek under the headline "Bengal: The murder of a people" said, "Kennedy's clear implication was that Nixon Administration was seeking to cover up the magnitude of the Bengali tragedy."
Another report headlined "Bangladesh: Out of war, a nation is born" in the Time Magazine on December 20, 1971 elucidates Kennedy's strong stand in support of the independence of Bangladesh.
Under the sub-head "The US: A policy in a shambles" the report said, "Senator Edward Kennedy declared that the administration had turned a deaf ear for eight months to 'the brutal and systematic repression of East Bengal by the Pakistani army', and now was condemning 'the response of India toward an increasingly desperate situation on its eastern borders'."
A compassionate Kennedy was also found in the concluding two paragraphs of his statement after his visit to the refugee camps in India. H Leslie Kirkley compiled the statement under the title "The testimony of 60 on the crisis in Bengal".
"The tragedy of East Bengal is not only a tragedy for Pakistan. It is not only a tragedy for India. It is a tragedy for the entire world community, and it is the responsibility of that community to act together to ease the crisis.
"Simply humanity demands that America and the United Nations must accept the truth that this heavy burden should be borne by the entire international community, and not by India alone," Kennedy said in the statement.
In 1972, Edward Kennedy visited the newly born Bangladesh. He planted a banyan tree at the famous "Bottola" on Dhaka University campus.