The first fracture

A new book explores how Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's quiet manipulations turned Sheikh Mujibur Rahman against his closest ally—setting the stage for tragedy in a newly liberated Bangladesh

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JANUARY 1972.

The Bangladesh liberation war is over. In Dhaka, the Pakistani army has surrendered to the joint forces of India and Bangladesh. In New Delhi, it is a crowning moment for prime minister Indira Gandhi. In Islamabad, public anger forces Pakistani army chief Yahya Khan to hand over power to barrister-politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Before his fall, Khan's regime had sentenced Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to death. Bhutto, wary of the international fallout that carrying out the verdict would bring and concerned for the fate of 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war awaiting repatriation-decides that Mujib has "suffered enough".

So he frees Mujib. But Bhutto cannot forgive him for what he sees as the dismemberment of Pakistan. In his new book, Mujib's Blunders: The Power and the Plot Behind His Killing, veteran journalist Manash Ghosh explores how a calculating Bhutto sowed discord within Bangladesh's leadership. According to Ghosh, Bhutto "poisoned" Mujib's mind, turning him against Tajuddin Ahmad-his closest comrade in the independence struggle and the country's first prime minister. Bhutto, Ghosh writes, sowed mistrust and hatred in Mujib's mind "by telling him that Tajuddin was a clear winner in the power game that had now gripped Bangladesh" The book also chronicles how Mujib, ignoring the counsel of trusted allies, appointed pro-Pakistani collaborators to key posts, ushered in a one-party state, and inadvertently allowed Islamists to infiltrate politics. These missteps, Ghosh writes, would eventually lead to his assassination.

But in January 1972, that grim future was still unwritten. Mujib flew to London, held a news conference at the iconic Claridge's Hotel, and then boarded a flight to Dhaka. As Bangladesh readied for a hero's welcome, the political fault lines had already begun to form.