Secret telegram

1 December 1971

From: Amconsul Calcutta

To: Secretary State Washington DC

 

Sub: Contact with Bangladesh Reps

 

1. Qaiyum made surprise call on Congen Officer (whom he had met before) evening November 27. Most of discussion centred on refugee relief matters, but inter alia Qaiyum said BD Cabinet was still in Delhi where it had gone at Prime Minister Gandhi's request. He said he had recommended to Delhi that Cabinet members not "sign any­thing" in New Delhi unless they first brought it back to Calcutta for general Awami League discussion.

 

2. Qaiyum said MEA policy planning chairman DP Dhar in his latest visit to Calcutta had questioned BD "Foreign Minister" Mushtaq Ahmed about allegations that Mushtaq was negotiating with USG, saying that in so doing, Mushtaq was "traitor." According Qaiyum, Mushtaq denied everything, but Dhar said he knew all about "negotiations" because State Department had told everything to In­dian Embassy in Washington.

 

3. Qaiyum said he heard about Dhar/Mushtaq conversation and pro­tested about it to BD "Acting President" Nazrul Islam, D.P. Dhar and MEA Joint Secretary Ashok Ray. He said Ne told Indians BDG had not sold its soul to India and that as independent government, it could talk with any other government it wished. He said, he added, that he, rather than Mushtaq, had been the one who talked to USG representatives. He said he asserted that if GOI did not like what he had done, it was just too bad. He said he and his group in Awami League did not intend to be dictated to by GOI and in addition he had threatened to walk out on BDG along with some 43 supporters and go to Pakistan rather than "sell out" to India.

 

Gordon

 

 

Source: Bangladesh Liberation War and the Nixon House 1971, Enayetur Rahim and Joyce L. Rahim, Pustaka Dhaka, p – 411