On 17th April, 1971, the provisional government of Bangladesh took oath at Baidyanathtala. The place was renamed "Mujibnagar", in honor of Sk Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the movement (1/n)
The naming was done by Tajuddin Ahmad, the 1st prime minister of free Bangladesh. Tajuddin had undertaken a perilous journey to escape East Pakistan with his close aide Amir-ul Islam & crossed over to India on 30th March (2/n)
The man who traveled incognito into East Pakistan & escorted Tajuddin and Islam into India was one of the unsung heroes of the Bangladesh liberation. His name was Golok Bihari Majumdar. At that time, Majumdar was BSF chief for the eastern frontier (3/n)
Much before operation Searchlight was launched, BSF DG KF Rustomji had correctly deduced trouble was going to breakout in the eastern theater & Golok Majumdar was given Carte Blanche to act as he deemed fit (4/n)
When Golok met Tajuddin and requested him to join him in moving to India, the latter questioned on whose authority was he acting. Golok Majumdar replied "I have been sent by Government of India, specifically, Indira Gandhi, our Prime Minister" (5/n)
A day after the formation of the provisional Bangladesh govt, Golok pulled off a major diplomatic coup in Calcutta itself. It was originally Rustomji's idea to create some "diplomatic flutter" to embarrass the Pakistan govt (6/n)
However, when the plan was placed to MEA, it was shot down immediately. Golak however refused to back down. He persuaded M Hossain Ali, the deputy High commissioner at the Pak Chancery in Calcutta, to join the liberation efforts (7/n)
To ensure that the plan went off without a hitch, Golok sat opposite the chancery dressed as a cobbler. Rustomji himself walked past 3 times but failed to spot his subordinate. Golok's plan went off smoothly (8/n)
A day after the Bangladesh govt took oath, the Bangladeshi flag was hoisted at the Chancery in Calcutta. M Hossain Ali, supported by 65 other staff, led the ceremony. The Chancery became the new Bangladeshi High Commission (9/n)
Golok's daring plan now opened the gates and was followed by Bengali diplomats in New York, Washington, D.C., London, Baghdad, Manila, Kathmandu, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Lagos and Bern joining the new govt (10/n)
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