SUHRAWARDY'S DEATH WAS NOT NATURAL
It could be yet another case of ` political murder', says Mujib
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman yesterday raised the question
of the circumstances of the death of Mr. H. S. Suhrawardy in a
The Awami League President said he had received a
letter from the former Prime Minister from
The most trusted lieutenant of Mr. Suhrawardy said
he failed to co-relate the events of the telephone operator passing the call to
the Pakistani leader, his picking up of the telephone and then dropping it
down; at the same time the reasoning of the telephone operator finding the key
to the room and entering there to find him dead.
"How could one say that the death of Mr.
Suhrawardy was not ill unnatural circumstances?" he asked. "In any
case it will he looked into when the proper time comes " he asserted. It
could be yet another case of "political murder " in the country.
The Awami League chief was speaking at a seminar on
the " Life and Achievements of Mr. Suhrawardy " held last evening at
Beach Luxury Hotel under the auspices of the
The other speakers were Begum Akhtar Sulaiman,
daughter of the late Prime Minister; Begum Shasista lkramullah, member of the
first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan; Mr. G. M. Syed, President of the Sind
United Front; Mr. Ghulam Faruque, a former Governor of East Pakistan; Mr. Ahmad
Jaffar, member of tile first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan; Dr. Kemal
Husain, and Mr. Khalil Ahmad Tirmazi.
Victim of conspiracies
Mr. Mujibur Rahman said that Mr. Suhrawardy became
" a victim of conspiracies right from the day
In contrast, Nawab Mamdot who was the Chief Minister
of United Punjab became the Chief Minister of
The different treatment, he said, was in spite of
the fact that both cases Were identical in as Much as both leaders had been
originally elected from constituencies which became part of
Besides, he said, Mr. Suhrawardy was also deprived
of his membership of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
The Awami League Chief said that one of the biggest
contributions to democracy in
This was important because it was impossible to
conceive or democracy without an organised opposition.
He said that Mr. Suhrawardy's personality was
outstanding in countless manners. He was a lawyer whose monthly income in 1944
in
Second to Quaid
He said the Quaid-i-Azam rendered greatest
scarifices for the Muslim nation, and Mr. Suhrawardy was only next to the
Father of the Nation in this respect.
He said Mr. Suhrawardy was a man of character,
integrity and great intellect. He was also a man of the masses and could never
compromise on principles. For these very reasons, he said, his adversaries were
most afraid of him. They were also afraid of his workers and did not spare any
efforts to destroy them, either.
Mr. Mujibur Rahman said " we happened to be the
unfortunate people of a fortunate country in which due respect and regard was
not shown to men like Mr. Suhrawardy who felt for the people and had the
welfare of the country at their heart."
He said Mr. Suhrawardy was a great philanthropist
and was never found lacking in helping his friends and associates.
In this connection he said that he knew personally
that Mr. Suhrawardy spent Rs. 3,500 per month in helping his old workers and
friends.
Great Freedom Fighter
He said that the great freedom fighter died in the
quest of justice, rule of the common man, and to undo the wrongs which had led
the country to this situation.
As for his love for the Indian Muslims, he said, Mr.
Suhrawardy did what none else in this country could do. After the partition,
Mr. Suhrawardy stayed on
He was offered ministership but preferred the
responsibility of ensuring peace for the Indian Muslims.
To serve the Indian Muslims he toured Bihar, Alwar,
Bharatpur,
Mr. Subrawardy did all this because lie was fully
convinced that the Muslims of the minority provinces of
Sheikh Sahib said that Mr. Suhrawardy got the
biggest shock of his life when he was jailed by the Ayub regime in
He said it was "improper" to say that
Shaheed Suhrawardy was dead; he would never die; he would always remain alive,
he emphasised.
He said that Mr. Suhrawardy was fully in agreement
with him on the question of provincial autonomy. He added that he had exchanged
views with him on this subject on several occasions and declared that the
Six-point Programme of the Awami League truly reflected the thinking of the
former Prime Minister in building up a strong and united nation.
He said his homage to "my leader" was in
the firm belief that the Awami League would never deter from its course of
serving the people, its determination to refuse to Surrender to conspiracies,
intrigues and political bribery.
He cautioned that the conspirators who had been
active since the establishment of
(THE DAWN, Karachi-June 30, 1970)
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