"During a substantial stay in some East Bengal villages in the summer
of 1971, when East Pakistan was in the traumatic process of being
transformed into Bangladesh, it first dawned upon me that peasants
were not stupid, devoid of political consciousness. Discussions with
different types of peasants revealed that at least the upper echelons
were aware of the implications of the liberation struggle for
Bangladesh and the superpower involvement in it. Richard Nixon and
Indira Gandhi were familiar names. Ordinary peasants often quoted
the Bengali news readers and commentators of the BBC world...