‘The fate of Sheikh Mujib’

August 12, 1971

TIMES CONDEMNS BANGABANDHU'S TRIAL

The Times (London), in an editorial titled 'The Fate of Sheikh Mujib', wrote today that the decision to try Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in secret was lamentable.

"The manner of it is shameful, and where justice is secret there is a strong assumption that it is in fact unjust," it added

"The charge of 'waging war against Pakistan'," continued the Times editorial, "is on the face of it absurd, an inflation in words of a retrospective judgment arrived at by the military leaders whose disastrous policy was put into effect when Sheikh Mujib was arrested. The opportunities for defence that should be freely available even to a man who is tried in secret have at least in part been denied, judging from the letter we published yesterday from his lawyers in London. In view of the Pakistan Army's record in East Pakistan since the end of March it is difficult to have any confidence that this secret trial by a military court will abide by acceptable rules of law."

The Times feared that if Bangabandhu was removed from the scene his place would be taken by extreme leaders and the hopes of negotiations would be dashed.

The editorial called upon all to make the strongest pleas that Bangabandhu be spared.

APPEALS FOR BANGABANDHU

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmed made an impassioned appeal to the big powers to save Bangabandhu's life. At an interview he said the entire South-East Asia faces a serious crisis if anything untoward happens to Bangabandhu.

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, known as Lion of Kashmir, joined the chorus of appeals to save Bangabandhu's life. He sent a telegram to Pakistan President Yahya Khan today asking the latter to withdraw prosecution of Bangabandhu and enter into fruitful negotiations with him to identify a political settlement.

Sheikh Abdullah, who had broken his long silence over the development in Bangladesh, said in his telegram: "The unfortunate developments in East Pakistan constitute basically a human and not a law and order problem. A broad-minded liberal policy is therefore called for to bring about a lasting solution."

Meanwhile, a UN spokesman raised the possibility today that the UN Secretary General U Thant was using his good offices to intercede with the Pakistan government on behalf of Bangabandhu. "Whatever the secretary general is doing on this question is being done privately," the spokesman said.

The Rev Dr Eugene Carson Blake, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said today that the secret military trial of Bangabandhu "may invite wider conflict". In an appeal to Yahya, Dr Blake also said such a trial was "likely to increase animosity, suspicion and human suffering".

INDO-SOVIET PACT CRITICISED

Atal Behari Vajpayee, leader of the right‐wing Jana Sangha party, today accused his country and the Soviet Union of stabbing Bangladesh. He charged at a rally that there was no mention of Bangladesh in a Soviet‐Indian communiqué issued yesterday.

"On the contrary, it discussed the interests of the entire people of Pakistan," Vaipayee declared. "This is a stab in the back of Bangladesh and amounts to support for the indivisibility of Pakistan."

Shamsuddoza Sajen is a journalist and researcher. He can be contacted at [email protected]