Dhaka, Oct. 18 -- In June 1971, a young Member of Parliament stood up to initiate a discussion, calling for the government of India to accord diplomatic recognition to the Bangladesh government-in exile based in the Bangladeshi town of Mujibnagar that functioned as the provisional government, while its leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was in a Karachi prison.

The MP, 36-year-old Pranab Mukherjee, spoke at length about the precedents to intervention in world history, and the brutal atrocities being carried out in Bangladesh that necessitated Indian action.

"I am talking of a political solution which means categorically recognising the sovereign democratic government of Bangladesh. Political solution means giving material help to the democr...