The student movement against the reinstatement of the quota system in public service recruitment escalated on July 3, 2024, as demonstrations expanded beyond university campuses to major highways and key city intersections, mounting pressure on the government.
Defying rain, warnings, exhaustion, anti-quota protests gained momentum
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.
On May 25, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra was shifted to Calcutta where it started functioning the same day.
In a letter dated May 24, 1971, Pakistan President Yahya Khan expressed his gratitude towards American President Richard Nixon and said,
On May 23, 1971, American President Nixon had a discussion with his Assistant for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger as to the situation in Pakistan.
The US consul general in Karachi sent a telegram to the US State Department providing details of his meeting with Pakistan President Yahya Khan on May 22, 1971. As to the political situation in Pakistan, Yahya Khan affirmed his belief that the future of the wings were intertwined with the whole.
Pakistan today conceded that there had been violations of human rights in East Pakistan and that “as in all conflicts innocent people had suffered”.
The Pakistan military junta has failed to restore civil administration in areas under its control in Bangladesh despite desperate efforts and it would never be able to do so, Bangladesh Home Minister AHM Kamaruzzaman told UNI in an interview published in the Hindustan Times today.
UN Secretary General U Thant appealed today to all governments and private sources to send relief assistance for the Bangladesh refugees who had crossed over to India.
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi warned Pakistan today that India “is fully prepared to fight if the situation is forced on us”.
Tajuddin Ahmad, the prime minister of Bangladesh, issued an 18-point directive on May 14 outlining the tasks of the people in the Liberation Struggle. He urged that the people should not listen to rumours nor should they have doubts about the ultimate victory.
Any American economic aid to Pakistan “will leave cash in their hands to pay their French arms bill and to step up arms purchases in the open market”, Rehman Sobhan charged today, adding that the US should give no aid, except for relief to be dispensed by international agencies.
