494 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড influx of refugees from East Pakistan. They also assessed the need for relief in East Pakistan by talking to the refugees and briefly crossing the border into the East Pakistan Bruce Douglas Mann went on behalf of the Justice for East Bengal Committee and John Stonehouse went on behalf of two British voluntary organizations to raise money for relief work. J. Stonehouse who was a Minister in the last British Government talked to Mark Tully and told him about the size of refugee problem as he saw it. JOHNSTONEHOUSE: "It was absolutely enormous. When I was there already over 300,000 had come across the border, now I understand the figure is nearly half a million. I was very impressed with the arrangement the Indian authorities had made. But of course if the numbers go on coming across as they are new it would be beyond the Indian government's resources and I think that it is important that other countries should help." John Stonehouse went on to say how he thought aid should be given. J. S. "Charities have raised a lot of money in the past and I believe that they can raise money again for this. It is important not only to help in the refugee camps themselves but to have some supplies available to assist in East Pakistan. I think government aid should also be used. I think that the money which has been available to East Pakistan in the past should now be used in some of the camps and held in reserve for contingency plan in order to avoid famine in East Pakistan." MARK TULLY: Then asked John Stonehouse whether he thought giving aid to the refugees in West Bengal would encourage more people to cross the border. J. S. "I doubt very much whether a person fleeing for his life is going to worry much about the conditions just across the border. He is going to get out as best he
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Cstil. John Stonehouse agreed that the government of Pakistan could make it difficult to get aid into East Pakistan but he went on to say: J. S. The horror is so awful and the evidence of it so strong that it is now absolutely aimperative that the Big Powers put the maximum pressure on the government of Pakistan. J. S. contd: "They have not done enough. What has been done so far isall behind the scenes and I think that there should be an immediate meeting of the Security Council of the U.N. to discuss what is obviously a serious threat to international peace. I think Britain can take a stand on this. Britain is after all a member of the Commonwealth and I think we can use some of the commonwealth machinery to take some steps. Also in the U.N.. Britain commands a lot of authority and it is for us to take some steps to ensure that Pakistan realizes the way to world opinion. Britain should also liaise with U.S. and other States concerned on ensure that aid to Pakistan is held up until the situation in East Pakistan is satisfactorily resolved."
