বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ৬১। দক্ষিণ এশিয়া : দুযোর্গের পদধ্বনি নিউইয়র্ক টাইমস ৫ জুলাই, ১৯৭১ THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY, JULY5, 1971 SOUTH ASHA: THE APPROACH OF TRAGEDY By Chester Bowles Essex, Conn.-Unless two rather unlikely developments occur, South Asia is in imminent danger of erupting into a tragic, needless war. These developments are: First, that the ruling West Pakistan Government turns away from the path of terror against its own subjects in East Pakistan and agrees to a settlement that will stem the flow of frightened, homeless refugees into India; and second, that the world community soon mounts a massive campaign to relieve India of the burden of supporting nearly six million refugees who have already crossed the border. The Indian Government is making a Herculean effort to provide food, medical assistance and shelter to these destitute and frightened people. The cost which is estimated at more than $10 million a week, is being assumed by India at a time when its economic assistance from the World Bank and the Consortium (the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Canada) has been sharply reduced and more than $500 million in principal and interest on past debts is scheduled to be repaid this year alone. These economic constraints are compounded by political factors. Prime Minister Gandhi has emphasized that the refugees belong to "every political persuasion - Moslem, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu." But reports are now spreading that the West Pakistan military has to focus its fury on the Hindu minorities throughout East Pakistan. If this is true it is bound to create credulous tension with India's 65 million Moslem minorities. Finally, India fears that an independent East Bengal may encourage West Bengal, where the Communist party Marxists are the largest single element, to merge into a single Bengali nation and thereby create a target for Chinese intrigue and subversion. In a recent speech in the Indian Parliament, Mrs. Gandhi asserted, "This is not as some say 'an internal problem' of Pakistan. It is a problem which threatens the peace of South Asia, Has Pakistan the right to compel at bayonet-point not thousands, not hundreds of thousands, but millions to flee their homes? This is an intolerable situation. This Government may have its faults, but it does not lack courage. It is not afraid to take a risk that is a necessary risk. The possible sequence of events that may soon confront us is appalling: (1) India in a desperate effort to cut off the flow of refugees, return the present refugees to their own homes and prevent the establishment of ail extreme left-wing government in East Pakistan may move troops into East Pakistan: (2) Pakistan may then be expected to reply
