Kennedy helped shine spotlight on struggle
Dhaka, Aug 26, (bdnews24.com)--US Senator Edward Kennedy, brother of President John F Kennedy who died at 77 early on Wednesday BdST, was a great friend of Bangladesh.
He had backed to the hilt the war of independence from Pakistan which then the US administration vehemently opposed and helped shine the world's spotlight on the genocide of Bengalis.
He traveled to refugee camps throughout West Bengal on Aug 11, 1971, where some 9,000,000 refugees streamed across the border.
He reported back to the Senate in an extraordinarily passionate document about the plight of the refugees in India and what he called the "reign of terror which grips East Bengal." (Source:http://open.salon.com/blog/smithbarney/2009/01/21/ted_kennedy_a_true_friend_of_the_wretched_of_the_earth)
Kennedy concluded: "America's heavy support of Islamabad (West Pakistan) is nothing short of complicity in the human and political tragedy of East Bengal."
Kennedy not only bore witness, he jolted the world into taking notice and aiding the refugees if not the independence fighters in East Bengal, according to the site.
Senator Kennedy, who took the helm of one of America's most fabled political families after two older brothers were assassinated, flew down to new-born Bangladesh on Feb 14, 1972, attended a rally and gave a speech at Dhaka University where the Pakistani killing spree had begun less than a year ago.
The crowds shouted "Joi Kennedy!' (Victory to Kennedy) and he was mobbed everywhere he went.
"About 8,000 people crowded into the university courtyard and jammed lecture hall balconies and roofs, to hear the most popular American among Bengalis tell them what they have been telling themselves since their war for independence began last March," according to www.dailykos.com.
"Even though the United States government does not recognize you," Kennedy said, "the people of the world do recognize you."
In his speech, Kennedy drew parallels between the liberation of Bangladesh and the American Revolution. He said America had prospered despite people who predicted it would collapse following independence, and so would Bangladesh.
"Kennedy's early support for the Bengalis' fight against Pakistan's army has made him a symbol of the friendship with the United States which the Bengalis desperately want.
"When criticizing President Nixon for supporting Pakistan, Bengalis invariably mention Kennedy as the example to prove that the American people sympathize with their cause," according to the piece written on Jan 09, 2007.
He also visited refugee camps in Bangladesh and went to a few mass graves to pay homage for the war martyrs during the 1972 visit, said Faruk Chowdhury, the former foreign secretary, who was the chief of protocol in the newly born nation that year.
"Kennedy went to Kushtia as a foreign friend of our liberation struggle. He visited refugee camps there, talked to them and asked about their sufferings. He also went to food storage in Narayanganj and saw its port facilities," the former bureaucrat told bdnews24.com.
"He went to visit injured freedom fighters at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He also went to see the cholera hospital in Mohakhali," Chowdhury added.
Kennedy had been battling brain cancer, which was diagnosed in May 2008
Source: http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=93181&cid=1
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