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.
There was a final meeting between Awami League’s team and Yahya’s advisers on March 24, 1971, at 6:00pm.
The representatives of president Yahya Khan and an Awami League team met twice today.
Muzaffar Ahmed, president of the National Awami Party (Wali Group) rejected Yahya's plan to impose a government of Islamabad's choice on the people of Bangladesh.
The procession to Baduria’s cremation landing with the bodies of refugees from Bangladesh was endless, reported Washington Star.
The people of Bangladesh would not accept any political settlement short of independence, said Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani.
Pakistani President Yahya Khan, in a letter dated June 28, 1971, expressed his disappointment to American President Richard Nixon at Pakistan
The Pakistan army attacked at least five villages within 30 miles of Dhaka in the last four days, killing Hindu men and burning homes and markets in pre-dawn raids, reported Washington Star on June 28, 1971.
Pakistan, faced with the prospect of sharply reduced foreign aid during the coming year, announced a budget today that called for stringent national austerity but provided substantially more money for the military.
The major aid-giving nations, led by the World Bank, quietly agreed to postpone indefinitely any new economic assistance for Pakistan.
Acting president of the Government of Bangladesh Syed Nazrul Islam strongly deprecated renewed US arms supply to Pakistan. In a telegram to US President Richard Nixon, Nazrul said the government and people of Bangladesh were most hurt and distressed to learn about the arms supply.
Bangladesh Home Minister AHM Kamaruzzaman welcomed today the decision of the Aid Pakistan Consortium to withhold further aid until there was a political settlement of the Bangladesh issue.
The office of Senator Edward M Kennedy said today the state department had informed the senator that two Pakistani freighters now en route from New York to Karachi were carrying ammunition for the Pakistani armed forces.
