Tale of a military governor of East Pakistan: 1960-62

This is an unusual story of Lt. Gen. Azam Khan, one of the troika of army generals, who toppled President Iskender Mirza and installed General Ayub Khan as the Chief Martial Administrator of Pakistan on October 27, 1958. A Pathan from NWFP, Azam Khan, appointed Governor of erstwhile East Pakistan in 1960, resigned in 1962 protesting the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman under the Public Safety Act.

I first met Azam Khan in 1953 in Lahore as the General who, as a Martial Law Administrator, ruthlessly controlled the widespread riot and killings between the Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis which totally paralysed the city of Lahore. The Governor of Punjab, Mr. I.I. Chundrigarh, was compelled to impose martial law within the city of Lahore. And Gen. Azam was appointed martial law administrator. Ours was a routine visit of civil service trainees to the Lahore cantonment where we were received by Gen. Azam Khan.

Within a period of few months, Gen. Azam made himself immensely popular with the people as well as the students. Dhaka University students welcomed his visit to the university campus, denied both to his predecessor and successor. As the chief guest, Azam Khan attended the Dhaka University 'Old Boys' Annual Dinner where he declared that the next annual dinner should be held in a grand manner and all old boys should be persuaded to attend.

Two severe cyclones hit the coastal belts of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Noakhali in October 1960 and caused extensive loss of lives and damage to property and General Azam's handling of the tragic situation made him instantly popular. He extensively toured the affected areas, personally supervised the relief work and internationalised the tragedy so much so that cyclone relief contributions started pouring in from all corners of the world and Prime Ministers of New Zealand and Australia, Presidents of Sudan and Turkey sent messages of sympathy. Justice Ibrahim, a minister in Ayub's cabinet, in his diary writes: "Azam created almost a world issue out of the havoc done by the cyclone. He brought East Pakistan on the front page of every newspaper in an outside of Pakistan, and made it for a time the centre of attention of the leading countries. He is one of those men who inspire millions of men."

Gen. Azam opened a Governor's Relief Fund, appealed for contribution and received unprecedented response from inside and outside the country and he became almost a world figure. As Justice Ibrahim writes in his diary: "President Ayub Khan becomes envious of Governor Azam Khan's successful relief activities and creates a parallel relief fund, namely, the President's Relief Fund."

I was appointed DC Chittagong in 1961 and during my one year stay in Chittagong, Gen. Azam visited Chittagong district 6/7 times. Gen. Azam seldom gave sufficient advance notice of his visit. Once, I was informed in the morning that Gen. Azam would come to Chittagong by road from Noakhali. I received him in Mirer Sarai and accompanied him back to Chittagong by road. Every 2/3 miles we had to stop. Hundreds of people will be waiting by the roadsides to cheer the Governor, garland him and hear him speak. In many a place, there were ornamental gates put up overnight. The Governor enjoyed this attention and often made long speeches and made the school children sing Poet Jashimuddin's popular songs. It was a problem for the Dy. Commissioner to keep him occupied. During one of his earlier visit he laid the foundation of Chittagong Press Club for which I had arranged land and funds to construct the Club building. On his last visit, he inaugurated the Chittagong Press Club.

Governor Azam Khan was a people's Governor and his every action bore testimony to his human quality. Once, as we came out of the Circuit House, I saw an American expert on a bicycle and I told the Governor that the gentleman completed his tenure and was leaving Chittagong very soon. The Governor stopped the car, got down and thanked the American for his work in East Pakistan. The American expert was in tears and said that he never received such an honour in his life. On another occasion, we were travelling by road from Cox's Bazar to Chittagong, I was driving the jeep and the Governor sat next to me. It was the same story of mammoth roadside reception every 3-4 miles. After a while, I noticed a lone Hindu lady waiting by the roadside for the Governor with a red flower in her hand. I ignored her and sped the jeep. The Governor looked at me with anger and I had no other option but to put the jeep in the reverse gear. The Governor got down from the jeep, received the flower and thanked the lady for her gesture.

The rumours were rife that the Governor had submitted his resignation and came for his farewell visit to Chittagong. On a flight by an amphibian plane to Cox's Bazar, he asked his Military Secretary, who was sitting next to me, to show me his correspondence with President Ayub Khan. It was a revelation. Governor Azam Khan had submitted his resignation protesting the arrest of Sheikh Mujib against his advice, which triggered massive anti-government agitation in East Pakistan. Justice Ibrahim in his diary dated March 1962 writes: "Governor Azam came to see me hearing that I was unwell. He showed me his resignation letter. A propaganda in Karachi was that I and Azam were behind the students' agitation and that we want secession of East Pakistan." Azam Khan attended a farewell dinner that I had arranged for him in DC's Bungalow. He made me and my wife sing a Tagore song as a farewell gift to him.

I never met Azam Khan after he left erstwhile East Pakistan. I understand that there was no protocol extended to Azam Khan as he reached Lahore after relinquishing his post as the Governor of East Pakistan. He went back to West Pakistan as a commoner. Justice Ibrahim aptly writes in his diary: "In a dictatorial regime, the popularity of a follower may become the latter's danger. Dictators do not like popular followers." This is exactly what had happened to Azam Khan. He was a victim of his popularity with the people of East Pakistan.

The writer is Bangladesh's first Finance Secretary, [email protected]