The Book The Birth of Bangladesh in American Press Jaglul Alam “The American press,like other world media,followed and observed the day-to-day developments that finally led to the emergence of a new nation Bangladesh 10,000 miles away. The turbulent political events of the 1960s and the 1970s were adequately focused there although the US readership on the issue,during that period,was negligible. In those times,the Asians did not crowd the USA as they do today to show greater interest in the Bangladesh events. Perhaps because of its internationally strategic importance,the Bangladesh situation later emerged crucial and made them immensely interested. On the other hand,migration of more than 10 million people from erstwhile East Pakistan to India and their sufferings caught the attention of the American press as it had assumed a volatile humanitarian issue. It is interesting to note that the small local newspapers of the interior areas of the US,with more limited readership,were more interested than others on developments revolving round Bangladesh. The media interpreted the situation from various perspectives. This book reflects a historic US perspective on the emergence of Bangladesh and outlook of various interest groups on the situation in the eyes of individual American newspapers. Many of the reports,articles and commentaries originated from the wire services of the USA,Pakistan and India,but the presentation and display of the news items reflected the newspapers’ own perceptions and preferences. When compiling various age-old printed materials,the author had to narrate the happenings from his own view,but with an objective mind. Adequate care was taken for maintaining a neutral posture. The author,as I see while reading the compilation,had to take great pains to unearth volumes of rare documents to produce the book. This,I hope,has given the book the shape of a historical document. The job of compiling the age-old materials was indeed a difficult task but it carried a valuable historical responsibil
