[chottala.com] TAJUDDIN AHAMED'S SEVEN-POINT AGREEMENT WITH INDRA GANDHI

Tajuddin Ahmad's seven-point agreement with Indra Gandhi
Abid Bahar

True, "Indian rulers did not want a fully independent and sovereign Bangladesh, but a client state under its hegemony, from the very beginning was made clear in a less publicized seven-point document which Mr. Tajuddin Ahmad, the prime minister of the Bangladesh government-in-exile in India in 1971, was obliged to sign as a condition for India's direct military campaign in Bangladesh accelerate the defeat and surrender of the Pakistani occupation forces and to install a puppet government in power."(1)
The seven-point document reads as follows [2]:
"(1) A para-military armed force for Bangladesh will be raised under supervision of the Indian military experts; this force shall be stronger and more active than the regular armed forces of Bangladesh .
(2) Bangladesh shall procure all military equipment from India and under planned supervision of the Indian military experts.
(3) Bangladesh shall direct her foreign trade under supervision and control of the Indian government.
(4) Yearly and five-yearly development plans for Bangladesh shall conform to Indian development plans.
(5) Foreign policy of Bangladesh must be compatible with and conform to that of India .
(6) Bangladesh shall not unilaterally rescind any of the treaties without prior approval of the Indian government.
(7) In accordance with the treaties signed before December (1971) war of Pakistan and India , Indian force shall enter into Bangladesjh at any time and shall crush any resistance that may erupt there."

Afsan Chowdhury, wrote: "Indira didn't have enough confidence in Mujibnagar ( led by Tajuddin) and set up the Bangladesh Liberation Army, Mujibbahini as it was popularly known. It was drawn up of students and youth activists led by one Gen. Ovan, a man who later supervised the raising of the Rakkhi Bahini in Bangladesh. This was done without the knowledge of Tajuddin Ahmed and his allies and many deeply resented it but Indira was buying insurance against the not so dependable allies of 1971. And to her it was India's war and not anyone else's.(3) This shows that Indra Gandhi set forth the foundations of Indian hegemony
with Bangladesh.
Alam Mahmud wrote in reaction to people bowing to India and to Indra Gandhi as"the demigod."(4) He says: "History should be assessed with facts not with emotions. We are affected by emotions. Its not honoring the friend rather bowing to the demigod. To me, Bangladesh is a by product of Indo-Pak rivalry which were magnified by the atrocities of hot-headed generals of Pakistan. General DK Palit, a veteran Indian military thinker, stated about 1971 war that the war was over before the battles were won. Indians didn't win the battles but won the war. If you go through world famous military events of that time, the liberation war of Bangladesh has no space but the Indo-Pak war bears the importance. Its their interest to disintegrate Pakistan. They intervened and we are lucky to get a new nation. What Sheikh Mujib wanted is still a mystery. We must celebrate friends but not at the cost of our own existence. Bangladesh could have been an independent state in 1947. Had there been a dominant leadership at that time? ... I think the romance of 1971 is no more relevant today. There are changes in people's mind as well. It will be better to select a middle path to deal with India."
As for Tajuddin, his glorious role in the liberation war must be celebrated but like his master Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, he was also involved in forgiving corrupted AL goons/ smugglers, one among them was a godfather in Chittagong called Man-serumia who was captured by the Customs in Chittagong but was released by Tajuddin perhaps at the instruction of Bangabandhu Mujib himself. Tajuddin personally visited the custom's office the next day to drop the case entirely. There must be more mystery surrounding behind Tajuddin's sacrifices and betrayals, his rise and fall and his place in 'the proverbial dustbin of history.


ENDNOTES

[1] K M A Malik, The Sugar-coated Poison India"s offer of 'help' to restructure BDR
(2) Oli Ahad, Jatio Rajniti (1945 to 1975), 2nd Ed. , Bangladesh Cooperative Book Society, Dhaka , p. 450. (Cardiff , April 4, 2009)
(3)Afsan Chowdhury,
http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2011/07/25/bangladesh-honours-indira-gandhi%E2%80%99s-1971-war/Afsan Chowdhury,
(4) Indira Gandhi . . . in our collective memory, http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=195763

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