Bangabandhu’s speech at Delhi Airport

“I have given much thought since we met in Bermuda to our policies in the Indian sub-continent in the new situation which has been created there. In this connection it was of particular interest to me to have an hour’s talk with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman when he came through London.

January 1, 1972. An emergency meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, chaired by the Foreign Minister, was held that evening at my Dhanmondi residence.

On 28 December he [jail superintendent] came to me and said that I should pack up as he had received an order that I was to ‘shift to new location’. My immediate reaction was one of joy, at the prospect of leaving the jail after nearly nine months of solitary confinement.

At first, I remember the students, the labourers, the peasants, the intellectuals, the soldiers, the police, the people, the Hindus and the Muslims of my Bangladesh who were killed. I, wishing for their souls and paying tribute to them, would like to say a few words to you.