MUJIB CONDEMNS FIRING
Statement on March 19, 1971 at
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, President of Awami League,
strongly condemned tonight the firing on the unarmed people, at Joydevpur
earlier in the day.
Talking to newsmen, he said: " If they think they
can suppress people's struggle by bullet and force, they simply live in a
fool's paradise ".
He added it was an "uncalled for" action.
The Awami League Chief said he wondered how Army
could go to the Joydevpur Bazar when Martial Law authorities had stated that
troops had already been withdrawn to the barracks.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said the people of Bangla Desh
were no doubt in favour of peaceful settlement of the problems but that could
not mean that the people "can be frightened by the use of force. No power
on earth can suppress the people when they are prepared to shed blood".
In reply to a question, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said
he had already sent some of his partymen to the spot and added it could not be
ascertained as yet how many persons were killed.
He said curfew had been imposed in the area and as
such it was difficult even to pick up the injured persons from there.
Asked if his party leaders, who went in the evening
to meet the President's adviser would bring the incident to the notice of the
Martial Law authorities, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said: "Is it not
natural?"
Later in the evening Sheikh Mujibur Rahman warned
that no amount of force could suppress the demands of seven crores of
Bengalees. No matter in what manner it was being used against the unarmed
Bengalees.
Addressing a gathering of Bishkhubdha Biggan
Carmachari Union in front of his house, who had come in a procession, the
Sheikh declared that no sacrifice would be considered enough to emancipate the
people of "Bangla Desh".
The Sheikh said the roads and lanes of "Bangla
Desh" were stained with the blood of martyrs for the cause of the people.
Today again, the roads of Joydevpur had been besmeared with the blood of
Bengalees, he said.
Sheikh Mujib told the slogan shouting crowd:
"We wanted to resolve the problem peacefully but they want to rule us by
force, with the help of weapons."
The Awami League leader declared that the people of
Bangla Desh could not be suppressed by force. People would realise their rights
at any cost, he added.
He assured the people that he would never betray the
blood of the martyrs and asked them to repose their confidence in him.
" If necessary we shall give the last drop of our
blood to see that our posterity lived happily as a free citizen in a free
country ".
Earlier, the processionists paraded the city street
chanting slogans in support of Sheikh's non-violent non-co-operation movement
for the emancipation of the people of " Bangla Desh ".
(MORNING NEWS, Karachi and Dacca-March 20, 1971)
Source:
Bangldesh Documents, vol – I, p.252-253