587 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ২০৬। বাংলার বিপর্যয় রেডিও প্রাগ, উদ্ধৃতি : বাংলাদেশ ১৪ জুন, ১৯৭১ ডকুমেন্টস RADIO PRAGUE CZECHOSLOVAKIA ON JUNE 14, 1971 TRAGEDY IN BENGAL COMMENTARY BROADCAST IN THE AFRO-ASIAN SERVICE When the Head of a State admits that Pakistani forces during their reprisals in East Pakistan were behaving "roughly" this only confirms that the alarming reports from this part of the world are founded on truth. And even if it were not far this unexpected admission, the unceasing How of refugees from East Pakistan itself indicates that in that country one of the most terrible tragedies of modern history is being enacted. It is never easy for anyone -with the exception of political adventurers-to leave his own country. There ala ways must be a serious reason for doing so. For the five and a half million refugees from East Pakistan there is a serious reason in the situation that has arisen after the unique election victory of the East Pakistani Awami People's League. The victory of that Party which won practically all votes in East Pakistan and more then 50 per cent majority in the envisaged all. Pakistan parliament is due to the fact that the Party voiced the just claims and complaints of the population. Among its leading election slogans was the demand for an equitable distribution of the national income and a call for a higher degree of autonomy. On both these points, the leaders of the Party, held a realistic view, taking into account that East Pakistan makes up the majority of the whole country's population and that it contributes a larger share into the common treasury. Although at the fringe of this Party stood some extremist forces calling for a fully independent East Pakistan yet the Awami League as a whole could not be described as separatist, Events only took an unfortunate turn when the West Pakistan authorities began to see in the legitimate East Pakistani demands a threat to the country's integrity. On March 25th they responded to political arguments by military force. What followed only reflected the loss of goodwill for any dialogue guided by common sense. There was an uncoordinated forceful resistance by the population, the desperate calls for an independent Republic-Bangladesh, and finally the massive fight of the population caused by the "rough" treatment meted out by the army, which is mainly recruited from West Pakistani citizens. The fact that among the refugees there are about one million Muslims shows that the army does not seem to differentiate between the people of different religions. The fate of the refugees, who, rather than risking their lives at home, chose an uncertain existence, hunger and the threat of cholera in refugee camps on Indian soil, is only one aspect of the tragedy. The other-still more serious with regard to the international situation-is the danger of the tension that has, arisen between India and
