The slaughter of students and teachers during the crushing of East Bengal created a deep feeling of outrage. The authorities have been sensitive enough to pick on two small inaccuracies in one report to launch a very expensive exercise in disinformation.

June 20. A detailed story on the “Pogrom in Pakistan” was run on the front page of the Sunday Times. It claimed that on the night of March 25 and 26 the Pakistan army among other things “killed more than 20 university professors. Of these, Dr. Moniruzzaman of the Physics department was shot dead instead of his namesake in the Bengali department. Mr. Monaim of the English department was similarly killed instead of Mr. Munir, also of the Bengali department.

July 7. Two Bengali professors Dr. S. Sajjad Husain, Vice-Chancellor of Rajshahi University and Dr. M. Mohar Ali, reader in History at Dacca University wrote to The Times. They said they were “surprised to discover that many people in Great Britain have the impression that a large number of Bengali intellectuals, including university teachers, were deliberately killed by the Pakistan army on March 25-26 and subsequently.” Referring specifically to The Sunday Times report, the two professors said “we have spoken to Mr. Monaim ourselves on June 13 on the eve of our departure for London and that he was very much alive.”

August 3. A full page advertisement, claiming to be sponsored by the Pakistan Solidarity Front of Barking, appeared in The Times under the caption: HANDS OFF PAKISTAN! It referred to the letter from Dr. Husain and Dr. Ali and to an earlier joint statement issued on May 13, 1971, by 53 professors, authors and artists of East Pakistan which mentioned that “some of us were very intrigued to find ourselves as listed among those shot and killed ....”

WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

The Sunday Times story of June 20 did contain two inaccuracies. In reporting Dr. Moniruzzaman’s death, we incorrectly described him as belonging to the “physics department”. The dead professors - and his deaths not denied by Dr. Husain or Dr. Ali - belonged to the department of Statistics. Mr. Monaim was not killed. He was shot and wounded. Bengali scholars and politicians and an American teacher who visited Dacca in the third week of July and met Mr. Monaim, confirmed he had a shoulder wound.

Dr. Husain and Dr. Ali also said in their letter that “there is no massacre of intellectuals” and that “no teacher was killed at Rajshahi or Chittagong universities on March 25 or late.” The letter continued : “The number of teachers of Dacca University who are known to have lost their lives in the fighting around Iqbal and Jagannath Halls on March 25-26 is nine. This is certainly most unfortunate and regrettable. But these colleagues of ours would not have died if armed members of the Awami League volunteers corps had not used the building in which they lived and the neigbourhood as a base for their operations against the army.”

I learned at first hand during a visit to Dacca in the middle of April that the nine “unfortunate” colleagues did not die by accident during the fighting around Iqbal and Jagannath Halls, but by deliberate action. The army sought
out these teachers on the basis of lists prepared earlier and, according to their neighbours, “finished them off.” Dr. Fazlur Rahman, of the department of Soil Science, was one. His flat behind Iqbal Hall had been hit repeatedly by heavy calibre bullets. The chowkidar (watchman) and neighbours said some soldiers had knocked on Dr. Rahman’s door. His nephew opened it and was shot dead. Rahman was hunted out of back room and shot.

Neither Iqbal Hall nor Jagannath Hall, despite the heavy firing were “used by armed members of the Awami League volunteer corps”, as Dr. Husain and Dr. Ali allege. Army officers smiled when I questioned them about such reports. The Iqbal Hall chowkidar was willing to swear on the Koran that the students had not fired back at the army. “How could they?” he said, “they had no guns.” The only evidence of “weapons’ in the hostel were dummy rifles used on parade by the University Officers Training Corps.

It is significant that both Dr. Husain and Dr. Ali were part of the Pakistan Government’s disinformation effort. The professors were sent out to London towards the end of June in response to the High Commissioner’s request for “prominent Bengalis” to “speak on behalf of the Government.” They were provided with hotel accommodation and an allowance of £10 a day - perquisites “available to Category 1 officials”. This has been substantiated by available documentary evidence. Mrs. Akhtar Suleiman, daughter of the late Prime Minister Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, and her husband were two others sent to London for the same purpose. Mr. and Mrs. Suleiman received £210 each for a four weeks period beginning July 20. The two professors and Mr. and Mrs. Suleiman received in additional £100 each “for expenses” from the Pakistan High Commission, London.

The advertisement in The Times on August 3 was ostensibly “sponsored by the Pakistan Solidarity front.” In fact, it was paid for by a special subvention made through Mr. Qayyum, Press Counsellor of the Pakistan High Commission, London. The sum of £2,640 was made available to him on July 20. This stemmed from Demand No. 92 - Sanction No. S(5)- 71/EP.II, dated 13 July, 1971, part of which is reproduced (at left) here. This was then handed over in cash to a representative of the Solidarity Front.

The hand of government is clearly behind “individual” visits and “spontaneous” advertisement.