290 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিল : চতুর্থ খন্ড মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে প্রবাসী বাঙালীদের | বাংলাদেশ ডিফেন্স লীগের মুখপাত্র ১ জুলাই, ১৯৭১ তৎপরতা সংক্রান্ত তথ্য “বাংলাদেশ নিউজ লেটার’ নং ৪ Editorial BANGLADESH COUNTS ON YOU Three months have passed since the brutal army operation began in Bangladesh. During this time hundreds of thousands of defenseless Bengalis have sacrificed their lives at the altar of freedom and justice. A conservative estimate puts the number of those killed by the Pakistan Army close to half a million. Six million, people have been forced to leave their homes for the safety and protection 011 the other side of the border. A hundred thousand more continue to pour into India everyday with tales of army brutalities, rape, torture, arson and killing. Thousands fall, dead on the way from fatigue and exhaustion. And several more thousands have died from cholera and other diseases and continue to die every day in the over-crowded camps in India. An exodus of this magnitude is probably unprecedented in human history. Within its own limitations, the government and the people of India have done a super-human job in taking care of these helpless millions of refugees. We owe a deep sense of gratitude to them for coming to our aid at the time of our greatest need. Within Bangladesh Bengalis are sacrificing their lives to ensure that we can live as a free and proud people for all times to come. The tales of their courage and determination are being documented everyday in the press. But what are we doing for our motherland at the time of her greatest need? We, who are living in the comfort and luxury of Western life, for removed from the scene of death, disease and destruction, may ask ourselves: Have we given our utmost for the sake of our country? Individually and collectively, we must put every bit of pressure on the officials of this country to stop all aid to Pakistan, and take all possible measures to create a strong public opinion in this country against any aid to Pakistan. Secondly, Bangladesh is badly in need of foreign currency. A dollar goes a long way to help our cause. Let us pledge that from every paycheck we will keep only an amount to cover bare necessities and the rest will go to help Bangladesh. Can we afford to do otherwise? O O O O O O O O O O COORDINATION BODY FOR WEST COAST BANGLADESH GROUPS With the beginning of liberation war in Bangladesh it became necessary to find way for coordinating and channeling the spontaneous responses of all the Bengalis. In order to arrive at some specific lines of approach for effective coordination and communication, a meeting was held on May 22, 1971 at San Francisco attended by the representative of Los Angeles. Berkeley, Stanford, and San Francisco Bengali residents the following decisions
