Defying rain, warnings, and exhaustion, the anti-quota protests gained momentum for the second consecutive day as hundreds of students and job seekers poured into the streets of Dhaka on July 2.
Though protests had already begun in response to a High Court verdict reinstating quotas in government jobs, it was on July 1, 2024, that the movement for reforms to the quota system truly took shape.
On March 31, 1971, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi moved a resolution in parliament strongly criticising the military action in Bangladesh.
At 4:00am on March 30, 1971, Bangladeshi forces, comprising East Pakistan Rifles (EPR), police and civilians under the leadership of Abu Osman Chowdhury, then a major and commander of the fourth wing of EPR, attacked the Pakistan occupation army in Kushtia from three sides.
In the evening, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was flown via helicopter from the cantonment, where he was detained, to the Tejgaon Airport. Afterwards, he was flown to Karachi by a special military aircraft.
On March 28, 1971, American Consul General in Dhaka, Archer K Blood, sent a telegram to Islamabad and Washington captioned “selective genocide”. He reported that they were “mute and horrified by a reign of terror by the Pakistan military” in East Pakistan. Pointing towards various pieces of evidence, Blood suggested that Awami League supporters and Hindus were being systematically targeted by the martial law administrators.
American Consul General Archer K Blood in a situation report submitted on March 27, 1971, wrote that according to numerous accounts, including eye witness reports, the Pak military crackdown on Bangalee nationalists has been carried out throughout Dacca swiftly, efficiently (despite heavy resistance from some quarters, including pro-Awami League police and East Pak Rifles), and often with ruthless brutality.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a press statement issued today, called for a general strike throughout Bangladesh on March 27 against the army’s action in certain places in East Pakistan including Saidpur, Rangpur and Joydevpur.
The Pakistan government today disqualified 195 of the 288 Awami League members elected to the 310’seat East Pakistani Provincial Assembly. They were charged with “incitement to murder, rape, kidnapping, attacks on police posts and banks, armed robbery, rebellion and conspiring with the enemy”.
Henry Kissinger, the US president’s assistant for national security affairs, today sent a memorandum to President Richard Nixon discussing implications of the situation in South Asia.
Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin was said to have told Pakistan President Yahya Khan that any war with India will be suicidal for Pakistan. Kosygin conveyed this in a message which the new Soviet Ambassador to Pakistan AA Rodinov delivered at Rawalpindi today.
US Senator Edward M Kennedy today denounced Pakistan’s military action against Bangladeshis as genocide and said the secret trial of Bangladeshi leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was “an outrage to every concept of international law”.
Bangladeshi naval commandos launched their first attack today. In the night, they attacked simultaneously the ports of Mongla, Chittagong, Chandpur, Narayanganj, and sunk 26 gunboats of the Pak army carrying commodities, arms and ammunitions.
In a letter dated August 14, 1971, US President Richard Nixon advised Pakistan President Yahya Khan to step up relief efforts to avert the risk of famine.
A Pakistani freighter due to dock in Philadelphia was forced to change its course and head for Baltimore after pickets supporting the cause of Bangladesh -- backed by a non-violent fleet of small craft -- occupied the shore and the inlet.
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.
India Prime Minister Indira Gandhi appealed to 23 heads of government around the world to use their influence to save Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In messages sent yesterday and made public today, she said India feared the trial of Bangabandhu “will be used only as a cover to execute him”.
UN Secretary General U Thant warned today that the trial of Bangladeshi leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would “inevitably have repercussions outside the borders of Pakistan”.
