GENERAL YAQUB RESIGNS
General Yaqub, who had taken charge of East Pakistan from Governor Ahsan on March 1, 1971, sent his resignation by telegram on the morning of March 5, 1971. Siddiq Salik, then public relations officer in the Pakistan army at Dhaka, recounts the events leading to Yaqub s resignation in his book Witness to Surrender.
On March 4 General Yaqub rang up General Peerzada, principal staff officer to Yahya Khan, and told him to request the president to visit Dhaka without further delay. Peerzada, after having a word with Yahya, rang back and informed Yaqub that the president would be visiting Dhaka soon but the date is yet to be confirmed. The same night, around 9:10pm, Yahya rang Yaqub and said, I have changed my mind. I am not coming to Dhaka.
Tofail Ahmed
, one of the organisers of the movement, takes a trip down memory lane to reflect on the significance of this occasion in the history of our independence struggle.
How do you recall what happened on this day and in the days before and after that?
I feel at once pained, because of all the sacrifices that went into making our independence struggle successful, and extremely proud, because of what we achieved in the end. In hindsight, it was all of it worth it. For me, personally, those were the golden days of my life. I still vividly remember the events that led to this moment and what happened afterwards.
Shaheed Asad Day
Cultural activist and MP Asaduzzaman Noor. Photo: Star
January 20 is observed as Shaheed Asad Day. On this day in 1969, Amanullah Mohammad Asaduzzaman, an MA student of Dhaka University and a leader of the East Pakistan Students Union, was killed by the Pakistani police forces while students were holding processions against the repressive regime of Ayub Khan, breaking Section 144 of the constitution imposed by the government. Renowned actor and Member of Parliament
Asaduzzaman Noor
The Daily Star s Naznin Tithi about some of the historical events of that time and the day on which Asad sacrificed his life, turning the movement against Pakistani oppression into a mass uprising, which eventually led to our Liberation War.