Bangabandhu declared independence moments after Pakistan army's attack: Joy

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy said Bangabandhu declared independence in the early hours of March 26 in 1971 moments after the Pakistani army went on the full-fledged attack.

"His (Bangabandhu's) declaration was broadcast on a special wireless frequency, which was picked up by the wireless of foreign vessels and Pakistani intelligence," he wrote in a facebook post on his verified account on Friday. 

Joy said the message was carried forward to the international community through ships including MV Salvista, MV Mini La Tria, MV VV Giri."

 

"It was after this message that Bangabandhu was arrested. Later, butcher Tikka Khan in an interview and Siddique Salik in his book confessed to hearing the declaration themselves," he said.

Joy, also a grandson of Bangabandhu, said Yahya Khan masterminded the diabolic plan of carrying out a mind-boggling genocide named Operation Searchlight, which he thought would eradicate the dream of freedom from the minds of Bengalis forever.

Tikka Khan, notorious for genocide with Balochistan, was entrusted with the task of bringing the same level of a massacre in Bangladesh, he said, adding that on the order of General Tikka Khan, Pakistani soldiers, equipped with advanced arms and ammunition, swooped on Bengalis in the sleep.

According to then-public relations officer of the Pakistani Army, Siddique Salik, Tikka Khan called Major General Khadim Hussain over the phone in the afternoon of March 25, saying directly - Khadim, today is the very time the operation has to be carried out, he mentioned.

 

Khadim had been waiting for this command, which he took no time to pass on to his employees, he said. In his book Witness to Surrender, Siddiq Salik also wrote that the crackdown had been set for 1:00am on March 26, said Joy. 

But, on the evening of March 25, one commander suggested that the crackdown timing be preponed, he said.  Then the Pak army unleashed hell across the entire city at 11:30 pm, he said.

Confided about this plan by his sources, Bangabandhu ordered, over the phone from his Dhanmondi 32 residence on the evening of March 25, to get equipped for the war across the country, he said.

 

About that night, Bangabandhu's assistant later said, "On the evening of March 25, we started receiving reports that all tanks had been lined up in the cantonment. They were all set for the attack. We reported that update to Bangabandhu. Bangabandhu's order was straightforward. He said, the moment they launch the attack, we are free since then."

Bangabandhu prudently avoided the trap of separatists, deciding not to attack in advance, he said.  But, he declared independence in the early hours of March 26, moments after the Pakistani army went on the full-fledged attack, he mentioned.