Rashidul Islam Rubel/Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed: Mr. Joseph L Galloway, A true friend of Bangladesh, had died at the age of 79 on August 18 at a hospital in Concord, North Carolina. 

Rashidul Islam Rubel and Tasneem Islam honored to host “Reminiscences of 1971 – An evening with Joseph L Galloway” at their residence on September 16, 2016. Mr. Joseph L Galloway, legendary military journalist and true friend of Bangladesh’s liberation war, has met with Bangladeshi Community residing in North Carolina. Joe Galloway, a legendary war hero, writer of a best-selling book-” We Were Soldiers Once … and Young” visited Dhaka in 1971. Mr. Galloway had witnessed the Pakistani Army’s atrocity and heinous crime vividly protested and expressed his deep concern against indiscriminate killing and preemptive attack on thousands of innocent Bangalees.

 Rashidul Islam Rubel has extended his rousing welcome to local guests out of state, including Chief Guest and keynote speaker of the evening Joe Galloway. Rashidul met with Joe Galloway in a North Carolina Democratic Party event, where Mr. Galloway spoke about his involvement in our great liberation war. After screening the documentary movie on our liberation war, “Ora Ashbee,” composed by Rashidul Islam Rubel, Dr. Tahmida Jahangir has introduced the Chief Guest of the evening, Mr. Joseph Galloway. The discussion session was moderated by Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed and Dr. Amalendu Chatterjee.

Mr. Galloway also participated in the Q& A session where he answered many questions from the attendees. 

On the eve of Bangladesh’s fifty-year commemoration of Independence, with deep gratitude, all Bangladeshis are saddened at the abrupt demise of the legendary journalist Joseph L. Galloway. He has consistently shown courage, compassion, and empathy against the Pakistani Army’s indiscriminate killing and atrocities towards millions of innocent people of Bangladesh. Mr. Galloway visited Dhaka in April 1971, the so-called capital of East Pakistan, where the military regime arranged an aerial tour using crop-dusting aircraft as an attempt to portray the usual situation of the civilian population aftermath of an army crackdown. “Operation Searchlight” was a well-orchestrated military operation that isolated international attention by deporting foreign journalists and shutting down all radio operations to disable communication. Mr. Galloway disagreed strongly with the misleading and fabrication pursuit of the Pakistani regime. He expressed his firm conviction for humanity, justice, strong resentment against the heinous crimes committed by the Pakistan military regime. When all foreign journalists were asked to leave, he feigned illness; subsequently, he sneaked out from Pakistani custody, took a risk on his life, walked a couple of miles, and took shelter at the U.S. Consulate located in another part of Dhaka city. Mr. Archer Blood, stationed as Consulate General of the U.S. Embassy of Dhaka, has shared his deep concern against the Pakistani massacre and gruesome crimes with Mr. Galloway. Mr. Blood offered a private room of the U.S. Consulate building to Mr. Galloway, where he listened to the most tragic stories of indiscriminate murders of innocent people and excruciating suffering from local employees of the U.S. Consulate. Were it not for Mr. Galloway’s photographs and dispatches about the Bangladeshi genocide, and the world would have remained ignorant of this tragedy. He has persistently spoken the truth, often putting his own life in danger.

Later on, Mr. Galloway also visited Dhaka in the middle of December of 1971, when he witnessed the closing episode of our great liberation war, led by father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and different stages of surrendering preparation of the Pakistani Military Forces to the freedom fighters and allied Indian forces. Mr. Galloway also visited Rayer Bazar, where he experienced the flagrant killing of the intellectual community of Bangladesh by fleeing the Pakistani Army. A significant act of cowardice by the Pakistan Army with far-reaching implications for Bangladesh.

Unfortunately, the Nixon Administration had disturbing and worrisome policies towards a military crackdown on innocent and helpless Bengalees of so-called East Pakistan. As Gary Bass mentioned in his book ‘The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide, “Once Pakistan confronted the possibility of splitting in two, U.S. policymakers faced sharply opposing alternatives; The first was to try for a negotiated solution that would avoid bloodshed and preserve the unity of Pakistan, yet the other alternative, which was eventually chosen, was simply inaction.”

Contrary to the “inaction” position of Nixon’s administration and its failure to denounce atrocities in Bangladesh, in 1971, Mr. Joe Galloway has continued to express unwavering support and conviction against heinous crimes and atrocities committed by the Pakistani regime by writing an article and publishing photos to acquire the help and attention of the world communities.

Mr. Joseph L Galloway has expressed his mournful concern and disturbances for the genocide and heinous crimes committed by the Pakistani regime in 1971. Mr. Galloway also expressed his sincere regret for the U.S. policies towards Pakistan in 1971.

 We are not only profoundly grateful for the support and the fortitude that Mr. Galloway rendered during our liberation war, but we also firmly believe his dedication to human rights and efforts to preserve the freedom of the oppressed population have emboldened him not only as an American Hero but also to members of the International community.

During the Covid 19 vaccine crisis, Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Galloway requested cabinet members of Biden’s administration, including U.S. Secretary of Defense, Mr. Lloyd J. Austin and Dr. Ronnie Chatterji, to allocate vaccines to Bangladesh to mitigate the dire situation caused by delta variant. 

Bangladesh has lost a true friend, Joseph L Galloway, who had the honor and the proud privilege of observing the birth of our motherland in 1971.

Video link of  ” Reminiscences of 1971 – An evening with Joseph Galloway”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXzDJ9AZ_0

Remembering Vietnam War Journalist Joe Galloway by MSNBC’s Brian Williams

Galloway’s writeup on the massacres of Bangladesh:
http://www.culturechange.org/ArcherBloodBangladesh.html

Article on Archer Blood:
https://adst.org/2014/01/our-government-has-evidenced-moral-bankruptcy-the-blood-telegram-and-the-1971-bengali-genocide/