On 30 September 1974, Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman met U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Both were attending the UN General Assembly session. Dr. Kamal Hossain and M. Hossain Ali, Bangladesh’s foreign minister and ambassador to Washington, respectively, accompanied Mujib.
Kissinger started the talk by giving an account of his meeting with Pakistan’s president, General Yahya Khan, at the United Nations in 1970. Yahya and Kissinger discussed Pakistan’s political outlook, especially in light of the 1970 general election. Yahya told Kissinger that there were twenty political parties in East Pakistan and that none would win majority seats in parliament. He would, therefore, have an excellent opportunity to maneuver to control the situation.
“Then, of course, you achieved your spectacular majority, with 167 out of 169 seats in East Pakistan. Ever since then I have never believed political predictions, unless, of course, you make them,” Kissinger said, referring to the Bengali leader’s massive election victory.
Mujib recalled that he had told a press conference in Dhaka before the poll that his party would win 90 percent of the seats. He had taken part in so many elections that he knew better than Yahya. He had also correctly predicted during a conversation with the US consul general just before the election that the Awami League would win all but two of the 169 seats allotted for East Pakistan in the 300-person National Assembly.
Kissinger commented that there would have been no elections if Yahya had known how it would turn out. “The last time I saw Yahya was on the way to China—the trip which he arranged for me. He gave a dinner for me and said at the table, ‘People call me a dictator.’ He asked everyone: ‘Am I a dictator?’ Everyone said, ‘No.’ Then he asked me, and I said: ‘I do not know, but for a dictator, you run a lousy election.’”
Mujib diverted the conversation: “Would you like something to drink?”
Kissinger: “I would like some tea.”
Mujib: “I am glad. I produce tea, also.” Bangladesh is a major tea exporter.
Kissinger assured Mujib of America’s continued help to Bangladesh. “We are committed to the well-being of Bangladesh. Within our capacity, we will do all we can to help you. Without meddling in Bangladesh’s internal affairs, I want you to know that we believe you are the best guarantee for stability in your country, and we want to do what we can to help you.”
Mujib thanked Kissinger. “That is very kind of you. After I got out of jail, we faced such big problems. Then you gave us massive help and we avoided famine.”
Kissinger: “We very much appreciated the trilateral agreements you have worked out with India and Pakistan. You have been very statesmanlike.” He was referring to the pact that allowed the Pakistani soldiers who had been held in India since the end of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 to return home.
Mujib: “This caused me some unpopularity because of the massacres that took place among intellectuals. I could give you names that you would recognize.” Militias allied with Pakistan killed many Bengali intellectuals in Dhaka days before they surrendered.
Kissinger: “The Bengalis are a rebellious lot. There were a number of Bengalis at Harvard when your foreign minister was a student of mine there.”
Kamal Hossain: “Yes, there were a number of Bengalis, including Mr. Murshed.” Syed M. Murshed was a chief justice of the East Pakistan High Court in the 1960s.
Kissinger: “Is he all right?”
Kamal Hossain: “Yes.”
Mujib then explained how Pakistan’s military had planned to kill the Bengalis: “General Forman Ali Khan wrote on his scratch pad and we found it, ‘The green land of East Pakistan must be painted red.’ I told Bhutto about this when he came to Dacca. I showed it to him. I said to him, ‘Do something from your side.’ There are 67,000 non-Bengali families living in Bangladesh who have opted for Pakistan. They don’t want them back. We don’t want them. They are in camps. We can’t feed them. We have no assets. I’ve done my duty. I’m the victim of genocide. Why can’t the Pakistanis show generosity?”
Kissinger: “We strongly favor normalization of relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Our aim in the area will be to use any influence we have to promote normalization. I have the impression that it’s a question of domestic politics in Pakistan. Is there anything concrete you want me to do?”
Mujib: “I have taken the liabilities. Why can’t I have the assets? We received no gold, no planes, no ships. I have 75 million people. I have returned the prisoners of war to Pakistan. I could have held back 4,000 prisoners for bargaining. But I did not want to do that. I want good relations in South Asia. Bangladesh is a small country.”
Kissinger: “With 75 million people Bangladesh is not a small country.”
Mujib: “We are small in territory. In the first two or three months of independence, we rebuilt the roads and the bridges, we opened government institutions, we approved a constitution. Our senior civil servants were detained for two years in Pakistan. I have resources in Bangladesh—fertile land, many people, gas, coal and livestock. And, we hope to find oil.”
Kissinger: “Is there coal in Bangladesh? Have you found oil?”
Mujib: “We have signed agreements with an American company for oil exploration and received bonus payments for the agreements.”
Kissinger: “When you have the oil, perhaps we will borrow from you.”
Mujib: “You won’t need to borrow. We will repay you for all you have done for us. We need a Marshall Plan in Bangladesh. We need foreign investment in fertilizer plants and in petrochemicals. We have natural gas and we can sell it. Flood control is a very serious problem… You organized the Marshall Plan for Germany’s recovery. Now you can start a Kissinger Plan for Bangladesh.”
Kissinger: “If I can get my name on a plan, I will do just about anything.”
Mujib: “You have had such good success in Vietnam and the Middle East. You can have success in Bangladesh. There are famine conditions in my country.”
Kissinger: “The domestic situation in this country is much less favorable than it was at the time of the Marshall Plan. In fact, the domestic situation is unfavorable. Candidly, I must say that that sort of program is not likely. On the other hand, we are joining the Bangladesh consortium. We favor the most rapid development possible for your country. In 1971 our dispute with India was related to our China policy. We supported the independence of Bangladesh by peaceful methods. We will do the maximum that we can, but you should not have exalted expectations. We will be extremely active in the consortium….”
Kamal Hossain: “Our problem is that we need a margin of time….”
Kissinger: “It is the curse of bureaucracies that they only do enough to avoid crises but not enough to solve the underlying problems. I personally favor taking big steps. We will have to look again at your problems. I will meet with Mr. McNamara and we will see what we can do. Will you meet with him?” Robert McNamara, former US defense secretary, was then president of the World Bank.
Mujib: “Yes, in Washington. He has been kind enough to see me.”
Kamal Hossain: “We need three or four years’ margin to work on the long-term development.”
Kissinger: “Can you become self-sufficient?”
Kamal Hossain: “Yes, in three or four years.”
Kissinger: “We are looking for another 100,000 tons in this current quarter.”
Kamal Hossain: “We need vegetable oil, fertilizer and project aid for the development of all our resources to increase exports so that we can get out of the current situation. We have no political problems. We are still winning by-elections in spite of our 40 percent inflation rate.”
Kissinger: “How are your relations with India?”
Mujib: “Very good. We have a foreign policy that is neutral, non-aligned and independent. We have good relations with India, USA, USSR and Burma. We are very anxious for good relations with China.”
Kissinger: “We are improving our relations with India.”
Mujib: “We welcome that. We have a friendship treaty with India and a commission on river control. I want to convey to you my assurances of our good relations. When I came out of jail, there was anti-US sentiment in Bangladesh. Now all my people are extremely friendly to the United States.”
Kissinger: “You showed great wisdom when you came out of jail. There must have been a great temptation to demagoguery and to deal harshly with Pakistan and the US. We have always had great sympathy for the Bengalis. It is a natural friendship on our side.”
Mujib: “Yes. Your longstanding interest is greatly appreciated.”
Kissinger: “You have a special place in the hearts of Americans. On food, for example, we are making a special effort.”
Mujib: “I am grateful for what you are doing today and for the massive food help you have provided.”
Kissinger: “You went to the United Kingdom and then back to Bangladesh. Did you take over the government immediately?”
Mujib: “Yes. It was very difficult. Everyone was armed and that created a serious problem. I appealed for everyone to surrender their arms. 150,000 arms were surrendered to me. The Pakistanis had armed everyone. The Pakistan military asked permission to arm civilians. We have documents that show the Pakistan Army asked for permission to arm civilians at the end.”
Kissinger: “How about the Chinese? Are they doing anything subversive in your country? Do you have relations yet?”
Mujib: “Not yet. We know each other. I went to Peking in 1958 and they came to Dacca in 1962. I want friendship with China, but we have our self-respect. I can offer friendship but the initiative has to come from them also. We appreciate the US support for Bangladesh in the United Nations. You steadily supported us there from the first day.”
Kissinger: “My impression is that China will start to move in the next year to normalize its relations with you. They are concerned about India, but they do not have anything against Bangladesh. They will move slowly. Yours is the right policy: Friendship with all the Big Powers and avoid all their quarrels. We certainly don’t object to your good relations with the Soviet Union.”
Mujib: “Thank you. You’ve done wonderful things over the last two years.”
Kissinger: “It is easy to conduct relations for an established country, but your foreign minister has had to conduct relations for a new country—to start from nothing. That is much more difficult. Were you released together?”
Mujib: “Yes. After they released me, I asked them why they forgot my friend. I asked them to release him because he was my foreign affairs adviser.”
Kissinger: “Were you treated badly?’
Mujib: “They kept me in solitary confinement. The conditions were bad. It was 117?”
Kamal Hossain: “I was a little cooler because I was in the North West Frontier Province.”
Mujib: “The case they made against me was a farce.”
Kissinger: “We exerted very great pressure.”
Mujib: “Yes. I know you did. They tried to kill me on the night of the 16th. The officer-in-charge took me out and hid me for five days near the Chashma Barrage. They planned to say that there had been a revolt of the prisoners and the prisoners had killed me. They tried to kill me three times: in 1958, when martial law came, they arrested me; in 1966 they arrested me on a conspiracy charge; in 1971 they arrested me and tried to kill me. I am living on extensions.”
Kissinger: “You have six more lives to live. They say that cats have nine lives. But you have made a great achievement. You have created a new state. You will find that the president will be very sympathetic in your talks tomorrow. We have our own difficulties with Congressional limits on aid and with our own food shortages, but we will make a special effort. I look forward to seeing you again in Bangladesh at the end of the month.”
Mujib: “I have this special problem with these people who do not want to remain in Bangladesh. I have to do something. Should I expel them like Idi Amin did?” Amin, president of Uganda, expelled people of Indian origin from his country in 1972.
Kissinger: “You mean the Biharis?”
Mujib: “Yes.”
Kissinger: “Pakistan won’t take them? We will take these questions up when we are there. You can explain this in more detail.”
Mujib: “I have nothing in my hand to bargain with. I have taken risks. They killed professors, intellectuals, journalists just before the surrender. I have to explain this to my people. I never go back on my word, but this time I did. I said that they would be tried on Bangladesh soil. There has been no trial.”
Kissinger: “It was a very humane and statesmanlike act to forgo trials, so that you could work for a long-term relationship. I will take this up.”
MUJIB MEETS FORD
US diplomats in Bangladesh had been pushing Washington to extend an invitation to Mujib since he visited Moscow in 1972. They feared he might feel neglected and tilt toward the Soviet Union. After lots of pushing and shoving, just a week before Mujib was to depart for New York to attend the General Assembly session, finally came the invitation. On 16 September 1974, the State Department told the Bangladesh ambassador in Washington that the “president will be happy to receive Bangabandhu during his presence” in the United States.
Mujib met Ford at 3 p.m. on 1 October at the White House, along with Kamal Hossain and Hossain Ali. Their forty-five minute talk started with a discussion on pipe tobacco and Betty Ford’s condition. The First Lady had just been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Ford: “It was a shock to us. We had to make the decision for the operation, then wait for them to determine malignancy, and so forth.”
Mujib: “I sincerely hope she is out of danger.”
Ford: “Yes, the prognosis cannot be certain, but only two nodes out of 30 were malignant. It is good to have you here. It is the first time an American president has met with the head of state of Bangladesh.”
Mujib: “Yes. I am happy to have the opportunity to talk with you about my people.”
Ford: “We are happy to do what we can for all countries.”
Mujib: “You know the history of my country. Its condition after the war was likened to that of Germany in 1945. I want to thank you for your help to us. Before the war we were divided by India. The capital was all in the West. Bangladesh wasn’t too bad in ‘47… Bangladesh has resources. If we could control the floods, we could be self-sufficient in five years. We produce rice, jute, wheat and tobacco. We have big gas deposits—ten trillion to twenty trillion cubic feet….”
Ford: “We have been telling the OPEC countries that if their high prices result in the problems that you and the industrial countries are having, the high prices will bring a collapse and won’t help them.”
Mujib: “We are suffering so badly from the oil prices.”
Ford: “The OPEC countries must realize they are being shortsighted.”
Mujib: “We are having a famine, and I have just heard that a cyclone is hitting. We are in dire straits. I have opened food kitchens in each of the regional areas to keep people from starving.”
Ford: “Wouldn’t a Bangladesh consortium to include some rich oil producers be a good thing? It would give them a chance to…”
Mujib: “Abu Dhabi and Iran have joined the consortium. I have a crisis immediately, Mr President, in grain and food aid.”
Ford: “There are 250,000 tons of food grains that are being made available for you. As we look at our food picture we will do what we can. We had hoped for a bigger crop. We had a wet spring and then a drought, and now an early frost. So our crop is disappointing. We must see what we have and we will do our very best with what we have.”
Mujib: “You are very kind. I hope, if I can make the flood control project with the World Bank, we will be self-sufficient within five years. With our gas we hope for oil. We have signed contracts with Atlantic-Richfield and Union Oil. Eventually we can export. But that is in the future, and my crisis is immediate.”
Ford: “Do you work with the international lending institutions?”
Mujib: “We are a member of the World Bank. Mr McNamara visited Bangladesh just after our independence. Most of my mills are working now, but there are not enough materials and parts to go at capacity.”
Ford: “How about the price of jute?”
Mujib: “It has only gone up 10 percent to 12 percent. We were a majority in Pakistan. We are doing our best to be friends with them. Though millions were killed, or jailed or exiled, we want to forget. We released the Pakistani prisoners, including 195 war criminals. We think we should get some share of the old Pakistani assets. Yet I have had to take on the liabilities of the new country. Bhutto came to Dacca and I told him this, but so far nothing has happened….”
Ford: “We congratulate you on your independence and UN membership. I was up there two weeks ago. I was encouraged with the improving attitude toward the United Nations. The American people in recent times had a better attitude toward the United Nations. I hope we can all work better in the United Nations. If it is just a debating society, it is no good. But we should use it tо make it work.”
Mujib: “We are grateful to you. We are a poor country, but we want good relations with you.”
Ford: “What is the comparison between what used to be East and West Pakistan?”
Mujib: “Pakistan is 65 million. I am 75 million. Pakistan is larger than I. I am starting a family planning organization. We are having particular problems now. I am glad you know our problems. I want to survive.”
Ford: “The 150,000 tons [of wheat] is all set. The 100,000 is virtually assured and only depends on our supplies.”
Mujib: “Would you consider edible oil and cotton? Our people are discussing with yours now.”
Ford: “We will do what we can.”
Mujib: “Thank you. I officially invite you to visit Bangladesh.”
Ford: “Thank you. Isn’t Secretary Kissinger going there?”
Mujib: “Yes. On 30 October, but I want to invite you.”
