From: shamim@feldspar.egr.msu.edu (Tariq Shamim)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
Subject: Re: Victory Day / why India intervened in '71
Date: 21 Dec 92 02:25:12 GMT
Organization: College of Engineering, Michigan State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: feldspar.egr.msu.edu

In article <1992Dec21.010145.9914@zip.eecs.umich.edu>, bhattach@quip.eecs.umich.edu (sayan bhattacharyya) writes:
|> In article <BzL183.E3G@news.udel.edu> khaleq@brahms.udel.edu (Mohame Khalequzzaman) writes:
|> >In article <85595@ut-emx.uucp> shyk@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (shyam krishnamurthy) writes:
|> >>>
|> >>What about the heroic Indians???  What we have got in return from the Bangladeshis for 
|> >>helping them liberate themselves is burnt temples, massacred and butchered chakmas 
|> >>and the recent massacre in assam. Nice way of thanking us indeed!! 
|> >>
|> >>/Shyam
|> >>
|> >We the Bangladeshis are greatful for your support in our Liberation War, even
|> >though you can't expect an eternal friendship from Bangladeshis just because
|> >you helped us liberate.  The friendship between any two nations is a moral and
|> >social closeness that need to be based on equal respect for each other and need
|> >to be renewed from day to day; and never be taken for granted or being taken
|> >for granted.
|> >
|> >Khaleq
|> > 
|> 
|> I agree totally with Khaleq. Besides, the reason India supported Bangladesh
|> was not totally devoid of self-interest, i.e. it was not a selfless act on
|> the part of India that Bangladeshis need to be grateful for. I think the
|> reason India acted the way she did was because it was in India's political       
|> and strategic interests to weaken Pakistan, and the dismemberment of Pakistan
|> certainly achieved this. 
|> 
|> Secondly, during the 1970-71 years the Indian 
|> government was facing a potentially explosive situation in several parts
|> of India including West Bengal because of the Naxalite uprising. The 
|> Naxalites derived ideological sustenance from China, which was at that
|> time an ally of Pakistan. By intervening in Bangladesh, the government 
|> of India was largely able to turn Bengali popular sympathy away from the 
|> Naxalites. The Naxalite leadership was also confused, and the leader of
|> the Naxalites, Charu Majumdar, raised the slogan "Unify the two Bengals",
|> supporting the Indian government's action, while other elements in the 
|> Naxalite leadership opposed the government action. 
|> 
|> History has shown over and over that armed intervention and the "export" of  
|> liberation never works unless the people really exert themselves. Were it
|> not for the heroism of the Bangladeshi people , no amount of intervention
|> by the Indian government could have achieved the liberation of Bangladesh.
|> Thus, the credit for liberation of Bangladesh belongs solely to the people
|> of Bangladesh. Let me end this article with a few lines from a poem by
|> Shamsher Rahman :
|> 
|>            Ami ekjon kobi-ke' jantam
|>            je' tar doyitar maan rakhbar jonyo
|>            jaan kobul korechhilo amader ekattorer muktojuddhe' |
|>            Se' apekhha korto sei diner jonyo
|>            Jedin tar kobita hobe' 
|>            Sheikh Mujiber, Moulana Bhasanir surjomukhee bhasoner moto ...
|> 
|>          [ I used to know a poet                     
|>            who commited himself to our struggle in `71
|>            for the honour of his beloved,
|>            waiting patiently for the day
|>            when his poetry would be like 
|>            the fiery-as-sun words of Mujib and Bhasani.... ]
|> 
|>                                               Shamsher Rahman
|>                                               (" Bibeler Kalo Akshargulo")
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> -Sayan.
|> 
|>              
|> 
|> -- 
|> Sayan Bhattacharyya          |   Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.
|> Graduate student             |
|> Artificial Intelligence Lab  |
|> The University of Michigan   |
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh