539 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড Like the International Red Cross, the World Council of Churches is ready to send immediate relief to East Pakistan, but cannot do so because of the Pakistan authorities ruling that there should be no outside intervention, not even in the shape of medical teams. This is essentially is the report that Mr. Mitton is making to Council headquarter. At Bongao, on the Indian side of the frontier about forty five miles northeast of Calcutta, he talked with both Moslem and Hindu refugees in a camp set up by a Hindu religious organisation, which he described as well organized with no shortage of food. The refugees told him about bombing of their villages. Some of them were crossing she frontiers, unguarded except for occasional Pakistan army patrols, to attend to the fields and then returning to the camp on the Indian side. Mr. Mitton said that some aid, including medicines was being taken into East Pakistan by individual Indians. He had spoken to two families of European missionaries who had walked into India pushing their belongings in prams. They had said there were local food shortages, but as most peasants were able to complete their spring sowing for the September harvest, a famine situation could be averted. q | DESPATCH FROM COLOMBO 22nd April, 1971 by Ronald Robson PAKISTAN ECONOMY For some idea of how Pakistan's economy is affected by the situation in East Pakistan here is Ronald Robson. Pakistan's economy was sick before the civil war. The sick bed soon could become a death bed. The East Wing always did earn for Pakistan more foreign exchange than the West Wing. East Pakistan's economy has suffered setbacks since the movement which unseated president Ayub Khan. Trouble started then never quite stopped. But the present crisis has virtually halted the East Wing's economy. The loss of production Already of jute and jute goods alone would be serious. Since the first of March no tea has gone out either. The West Wing which relied on the East Wing's tea has had to buy from abroad. Newsprint came from the East wing. This too now has to be imported from foreign sources and at three times the price. Already the situation is reflected in curtailment in the size of some newspapers. Such a situation might be borne as a temporary embarrassment by a wealthy country, but Pakistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, heavily dependent on foreign aid. Earlier this month Pakistan requested an extension of repayment of an American loan, and according to information published openly in the West wing. Pakistan is understood also to be seeking extension of expiry dates from loans from other countries and from the World Bank. Figures for State Bank reserves have not been published since February when it was already obvious that reserves were declining alarmingly. The State Bank has not been able to meet the statutory obligation of keeping a specific amount of its notes fully backed by gold and foreign exchange reserves. By the end of February only a little more
