
This account of a former diplomat brings forth new information on some of the important events of history that touches two South Asian nations, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The author had the privilege of witnessing events, which made history. It is a narration of events which took place over the past fifty years. Of the makers of history, the foremost is Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of independent Bangladesh. It is the fulfillment of a thousand year old dream nourished in every Bengali heart, come true.
Achievements of outstanding personalities and the examples set by leaders of a nation leave footmarks in the history of a people and thus of mankind. What we are today is largely the legacy which our leaders have bequeathed to us. The purpose of the present volume is to record the achievements and the examples set by some of the outstanding personalities from Bengal who have blazed our path of progress.
Pakistan's first military ruler, Mohammad Ayub Khan, was born in 1907, in the village of Rehana, near Haripur. In 1951, he became the country's first Pakistani Commander-in-Chief, and subsequently served as defence minister in the second cabinet of Mohammad Ali Bogra. On declaration of martial law by Iskander Mirza on 7 October 1958, he was made the chief martial law administrator. Less than three weeks later, after deposing Iskander Mirza in a bloodless coup, Ayub Khan became the president of Pakistan on 27 October 1958.
The book is an autobiographical account of the author's journey through life beginning with the pre-partition years of India. The author's ambivalence about what really happened at that time and why, is reflected in the book along with stories of his youthful days in Bengal and of the school years in the social and political context of the country. The communal divide of India, the political negotiations and the terrible conflicts at the time of the independence of India and Pakistan are briefly captured. Coming to East Pakistan was not without a silver lining.
This book is about an individual’s experience in 1971 when Bangladesh was writhing under the occupation army of Pakistan. The author was witness to some of the events that shaped the destiny of Bangladesh. The book is a sensitive account of how these events affected him and probably millions of his compatriots.
Contents:
1.Bangladesh: The Birth Travail / 2. The Resistance to Evil / 3. The Tragedy Deepens / 4. The Strength at the Core / 5. What the Ambassador and the Brigadier Said / 6. The Bond with the People / 7. A Cruel Joke