If so we can testify they are wrong. The rutted border trail is virtually deserted. The odd Bangladesh join drives into India to collect a drum of petrol-and may be a pistol or two-from sympathisers at the border town of Gangarampur. It is, after all, a traditional smugglers' trail, scarcely guarded in normal times. But Indian police and troops mindful of the propaganda attacks, have now manned a post there to prevent any movement. The BBC Panorama team and I were temporarily arrested by Indian police as we came out.
As for Pakistani reports that six Indian divisions are threatening the border, these arc non-sense. And West Pakistani troops are moving to close the border; there will be scarcely any more movements across it, of troops or journalists.
Meanwhile “Free Dinajpur" is., whatever one's views on the Pakistani civil waran inspiriting place to visit. The local Bengali population is 100 per cent for Bangladesh. Those who were not-Punjab is and other non-Bengalis-have either fled or been butchered. And, unlike Jessore in the south, which we visited 10 days ago. Dinajpur is organized highly efficiently. The new found patriotism and martial spirit, spiced with the characteristic Bengali histrionics, is most impressive,
The 60,000 inhabitants-those who have not left for surrounding villages-are calm. All the banks and about half the shops are functioning normally. The people queue in long, disciplined lines for ration books (although Dinajpur is the area distribution centre for rice and is not yet short of food). Stringent blackout regulations are observed.
The young man train daily in the local stadium under Sgt.-Major Rab and other military leaders learning the proper Sandhurst drill for Lee Enfield rifles and Chinesemade stenguns, marching to and-fro as martial voices exhort them to look like soldiers- head up, chin in, chest forward. They sing a freshly-composed Bangladesh national anthem to bolster their spirits and even hold large, orderly political meetings at which politicians and administrators from the entire north western area tell them what they arc to fight for.
This part of East Pakistan was traditionally dominated by supporters of the leftwing radical Maulana Bhashani whose virtually Communist Policies kepi them at odds with Sheikh Mujib the main East Pakistan leader. But today the political unity, not surprisingly, is complete.
Two weeks ago, when the Pakistani civil war begun. Dinajpur was in a very different situation. The town was garrisoned and controlled by a company of the West Pakistani Frontier Force Regiment reinforced by the Punjabi officers of the East Pakistan Rifles.
On the day Yahya's troops struck in Dacca-Thursday March 25-the local Punjabi troops began moves to dominate the town, moves clearly long planned to co, ordinate with a countrywide military coup.
The first move, comically enough, was an invitation to a party. The Punjabi commanding Officer courteously asked all Bengali troops in Dinajpur to watch his Punjabis dance their traditional khatak and Luddi dances. Come in civvies, unarmed, he said.
