On March 21, 1971, the non-cooperation movement initiated by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman entered its 20th day with no signs of slowing down.
Bangabandhu marked the day with another stirring speech to a crowd at his Dhanmondi residence, where he declared that 75 million Bengalis could never be silenced, not even by bullets.
In the evening, People’s Party Chairman ZA Bhutto arrived in Dhaka. A massive military contingent was deployed at the airport for security.
While Bhutto and his military escort travelled from the airport to the Hotel Intercontinental, pedestrians on both sides of the road derided him with pro-liberation slogans. The Pakistani leader later met with the president at his residence, but nothing is known about the closed-door meeting.
Before meeting Yahya Khan for a fifth time, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman met lawyer AK Brohi for a short dialogue. Tajuddin Ahmed was also present during the meeting with Yahya Khan.
Journalists waiting in the hotel lounge did not see Bhutto that day. When reporters tried to get into the elevator he used, Bhutto's bodyguard stopped them.
Meanwhile, Shadhin Bangladesh Sramik Sangram Parishad announced a boycott of Pakistani goods from March 23.
Meanwhile, NAP chief Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani said at a rally at Polo Ground in Chittagong that power should be handed over to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman because people from all walks of life were rejecting Yahya.
A curfew imposed on March 19 in Joydebpur after at least 20 people were killed in army firing was withdrawn for six hours on March 21 before being reimposed indefinitely.
