Irrefutable facts

Since the departure of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and General Ziaur Rahman from this world following their assassination, there has, time and again, been orchestrated campaign by leaders of both the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) about the declaration of independence.  But the preamble of Constitution of Bangladesh says: "We, the people of Bangladesh, having proclaimed our Independence on the 26th day of March, 1971 and through a historic struggle for national liberation, established the independent, sovereign People's Republic of Bangladesh". This should have stopped, once for all, the contesting claims by political leaders. They should rather concentrate on the development of the country to make the people prosperous in every field of endeavour.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, President of Awami League, had given the call for independence on March 07, 1971 at Suhrawardy Uddyan. He later on declared independence of Bangladesh on the fateful night of March 25, 1971 when Pakistan army launched a crackdown on East Pakistan Rifles, Ansars, the dormitories of Dhaka University and the unarmed innocent people of East Pakistan to create havoc and scare people to avoid anti-Pakistan movement. On March 07 at the Suhrawardy Uddyan, the people had great expectation that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would declare independence. There was pressure from pro-AL student leaders. People's expectations were not frustrated, by what Sheikh Mujibur Rahman noted, in a substantive way, in his speech on the occasion. This mammoth gathering took place against the backdrop of postponement of the session of National Assembly on March 03, 1971 because Z.A. Bhutto, chairman of the People's Party in the then West Pakistan, had refused to join the session if power was not shared with his party. In the elections, People's Party secured second (83 seats) position against AL's 160 seats.
At Suhrawardhy Uddayan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said that he would consider attending the National Assembly session only if the following four conditions were met: the lifting of Martial Law immediately; transfer of power to the elected representatives; recall of troops to their barracks and holding of an enquiry into the killings of civilians by the army. He also stated that this time the movement was meant for emancipation and independence. The then military ruler and President of Pakistan, General Yahya Khan, arrived later in Dhaka and continued further discussions, even after Sheikh Mujib's March 07 public speech in 1971. Talks, as it was reported by the media then, were held on March 24 in a friendly atmosphere and the people were under the impression that the then President of Pakistan had accepted the four points of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  Minutes of Washington Special Actions Group Meeting on March 26, 1971 under the chairmanship of Henry Kissinger confirmed that it looked as though an agreement was in sight.  However, that was not the case and in his comment Dr. Kissinger, Special Assistance to the US President on National Security Affairs, said "I have no idea what caused the breakdown in talks. I was as much surprised as anyone else".
The US State department's representative Christopher Van Hollen was reported to have indicated that possibly there would be a backlash in West Pakistan against Bhutto because it was he who forced Yahya to postpone the constituent assembly. Sensing compromise with President Yahya Khan, leader of the People's Party Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto aligned with the military top-notch to disrupt the talks by pointing out that six-point formula would weaken the role of Pakistan army and it was tantamount to secession. The fact was that by then, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had reportedly dropped two points, including that of a separate currency. He advocated for application of six-point formula to all the provinces of the then Pakistan, not exclusively for East Pakistan.
Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report indicated that a great expert in the legal and constitutional fields, the retired Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice A.R. Cornelius had said about six-point formula: "I think that about four of them were quite easily acceptable and I think I said in a meeting of the cabinet that it would be easily possible to amend the constitution so as to give effect to most of the six points and that would perhaps ease the political situation".
The fact of the matter is that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a matured political personality and made every effort to assert the constitutional bona fides of his six-point formula. He did in no way violate the constitution of Pakistan until the Pakistan Army went for a massive crackdown on the people of Bangladesh. With regard to the speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 07, Archer Blood, Consul-General of American embassy in Dacca (new Dhaka), did reportedly feel himself greatly relieved because Mujib had chosen to avoid declaring independence straightway (Cruel Birth, pp 175-176 by Archer Blood).      
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became President of Awami League after Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, a West Pakistani political leader, quit the party because Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, General Secretary of the Party, had placed six-point formula at the convention of all political parties in Lahore 1966 without the knowledge of the party chief. His formula was nothing new. Federal structures, including those of the USA, India and Germany, were more or less similar to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's proposal. Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan had earlier taken the leadership of All Pakistan Awami League following the death of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in a hotel in Beirut, Lebanon.
Major General D.K. Palit of Indian Army in his book Lighting Campaign  wrote about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: He was "aware of that a showdown was imminent for which Pakistan's Eastern Headquarters would be adequately prepared. Why did he (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) not reinforce the general strikes and autonomous administrative policies with some sort of defensive contingency plan?" The fact is, however, irrefutable about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman being the undisputed leader of East Pakistan before the crackdown by Pakistan army on the innocent people of East Pakistan.
Following the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Tajuddin Ahmad, General Secretary of the AL, navigated the movement for war of liberation subsequently and became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh government-in-exile. This is what Badruddin Omar (former Professor of Political Science and Sociology in Rajshahi University and a writer) has to say about the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: "The atmosphere on March 25, particularly in the evening, was full of apprehension that a military action was imminent. Some of the leaders of the Awami League were seriously thinking of going underground and they wanted Sheikh Mujib to leave his residence and move to a safe shelter. Curiously, Sheikh Mujib stubbornly refused to do so though he advised others to leave Dhaka and go underground. According to Barrister Amirul Islam, he pressed Sheikh Mujib to go into hiding and Tajuddin Ahmed did the same, and repeatedly requested him to leave his house. Many others tried to persuade him, but he remained firm in his decision not to leave."  
Late M.R. Akhtar, writer of Charampatra (final letter) and renowned journalist in his write-up, Ami Bijoydekhchi (I saw the victory), also indicated that Sheikh Mujib courted arrest on possibly receiving assurance from the American Ambassador. M.R. Akhtar was a confidant to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and he was appointed the first Director General of Radio Bangladesh and subsequently posted as the Press Minister of Bangladesh in the High Commission in London. Jyoti Sengupta in his book Bangladesh in Blood and Tears writes that Sheikh Mujib was in favour of compromise having talks with US Ambassador Farland.
The fact is that declaration of independence came from then someone unknown, Major Zia, from make-shift Kalurghat radio station of Chittagong on March 27, 1971.  The first declaration, in his name, was later revised as the declaration in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This was acknowledged by Tajuddin Ahmed in his speech from India on April 13,1971 that "you might have heard the first independent voice from organisation camp by Major Zia following the primary win in the war" and Indian President Sanjiva Reddy, in his welcome dinner speech in honour of Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman on  December 27, 1977, said: "Your position is already assured in the annals of the history of your country as a brave freedom fighter who was the first to declare the independence of Bangladesh".
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not directly involved in the Liberation War in 1971 as he was then held in detention and later faced trial for waging war against Pakistan and given capital punishment by the military junta as a secessionist leader.
On his return home upon being released by the then Pakistan government consequent to the surrender of the Pakistan Armed Forces in East Pakistan to the Joint Command, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman put Dr. Kamal Hossain, in an important position, first as the law minister. Dr Kamal Hossain was his close associate during the course of discussions with Pakistan President Yahya Khan and US Ambassador to Pakistan Joseph Farland. He was in Karachi as well at the same time when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was flown to Karachi by the Pakistan army. Kamal Hossain's father-in-law's house was in Karachi. It is still unknown whether Dr. Kamal Hossain, an eminent international jurist, was arrested or not, but he landed in Dhaka along with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on January 10, 1972 from Pakistan via London. Dr. Kamal Hossain was later appointed as the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, replacing Abdus Samad Azad who was in India during the war of liberation. Tajuddin Ahmad, Finance and Planning Minister, who spearheaded the movement, being based in India, was also later asked to resign by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Tajuddin Ahmad was not in favour of seeking assistance from the USA and other multilateral bodies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund over the affairs of which Washington had a strong clout.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had earlier built up his political base in the then East Pakistan under the close supervision of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, who came from Urdu-speaking aristocratic Muslim family of Calcutta and settled in Karachi on return from Calcutta after partition of the British India in 1947. It may be noted that Khawja Nazimuddin, son of an Urdu-speaking aristocratic family of Dhaka and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, both former Chief Ministers of Bengal, have had political rivalries. Therefore, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was preferred by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy as his political disciple to help him win majority votes to rule in Pakistan.  Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy became the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a short period when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was made chairman of Pakistan Tea Board from June, 1957 to 1958. As a disciple of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came to learn "the art of constitutional politics" as indicated by S.M.Ali in his book After the Dark Night.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had close friendship with Haroon group of Karachi, one of the wealthiest families in the then Pakistan. He was chief of Alfa Insurance Company in Dhaka. Yousuf Haroon was the mediator behind the scene between Sheikh Mujib, Yahya Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to help resolve the differences. Yousuf Haroon met with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as the Vice-President of PAN American Airlines in Algiers in 1973 where Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was attending the fourth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Yousuf Haroon was then invited by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to visit Bangladesh before Pakistan gave its recognition to Bangladesh. Yousuf Haroon's visit to Bangladesh and  Mujibur Rahman's  house at Tongipara in Faridpur, illustrated the latter's close intimacy with the former. Earlier, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's request to appoint Yousuf Haroon as the Governor of Sindh province was accommodated by President Ayub Khan at a round-table conference, in Rawalpindi. Sheikh Mujib was earlier released from Agartala Conspiracy Case which was ultimately turned out to be a concocted one. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman could have boycotted the general elections which were held under Martial Law's Legal Framework Order.  He did not boycott the election under Martial Law despite calls from other opposition political parties, including Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, and kept the option open to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.  
On assumption of his responsibilities as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh upon his return from captivity in Pakistan, the most significant achievement of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman  was the withdrawal of the Indian troops from the soil of Bangladesh by March 15, 1972 within three months. During the tenure of office by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a tripartite agreement between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan was signed in New Delhi on April 09, 1974. Under that agreement, the holding of the trial of prisoners of war -- 195 Pakistani defence personnel were earlier identified as war criminals - had to be forgone.
A hectic diplomatic manouvre was in place to bring reconciliation between Bangladesh and Pakistan before the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Lahore. A seven-member delegation from the OIC, headed by its Secretary General, came to Dhaka to invite Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pakistan recognised Bangladesh, one day ahead of the summit. Despite the request from Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, who initiated actions to support the Mukti Fouj (Freedom-fighters) to liberate the then East Pakistan from Pakistan,   Sheikh Mujibur Rahman went to Lahore to attend the OIC summit  on February 23, 1974. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman went to Lahore by an Algerian aircraft of the then president of Algeria, Boumedienne. This event caused severe displeasure of the Indian authorities.
Under no circumstances, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman should be held responsible for dismantling Pakistan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of the Pakistan People's Party and President Yahya Khan were largely responsible for the break-up of Pakistan.  There is no denying the fact that the war of liberation was  conducted in the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
This is an edited version of a dispatch by the writer who is a retired diplomat of Bangladesh and former President of Nova Toastmaster International Club of America.  amjad.21@gmail.com