Situation led Tajuddin to buy revolver in 1974
Says his personal secretary
Perturbed by the situation in Bangladesh, Tajuddin Ahmed had purchased a revolver from Washington in October 1974 and expressed concern while leaving for Bangladesh, said his former personal secretary, Dr Faruk Aziz Khan.
“Tajuddin told me, 'You don't know the situation of the country as you don't live there,'” Faruk said, narrating his last meet with Tajuddin while serving as the education counselor at the Bangladesh embassy in Washington DC.
He was addressing a discussion organised by Liberation War Museum at its premises in the capital yesterday marking the 87th birth anniversary of Tajuddin, prime minister in the Mujibnagar government during the 1971 Liberation War.
While returning with the newly bought revolver and some bullets, Tajuddin had hinted at the danger looming over Bangladesh, he said.
Tajuddin also said he was not sure for how long he would be able to keep himself safe with the revolver. “I had tried to calm him down,” said Faruk.
When Faruk had gone to see Tajuddin off at the airport, he could sense the latter's concern. “I feared something ominous was going to happen and everyone knows what happened next,” he said.
Former finance secretary Asaduzzaman introduced him to Tajuddin in Kolkata and he was given the office duties the next day, said Faruk.
Faruk described Tajuddin's pioneering role in forming the Bangladesh government in exile and organising the 1971 Liberation War in the absence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The ministers of the government in exile had pledged not to return to their families until the country was liberated. “None but Tajuddin remained resolute about his work and promise and he did not see his family for a single day even after falling sick,” he said.
“I cannot imagine what would have happened to the country had Tajuddin not been there at that time. Except him, there was none who could be relied upon,” said Faruk.
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