634 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ২২ত বাঙালীদের পরিকল্পনা झाज्ञ इंग्लान इकबर्शिक क्वेछिऐंठे ২৫ সেপ্টেম্বর, ১৯৭১ FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW, SEPTEMBER 25, 1971 BENGALI PLANS By T. J. S. George Hong Kong: The skies over Bengal will be dry again by next month. Tanks can move again, aircraft can fly and troops get around. J list before the onset of the monsoon, the military authorities had struck, hard and rapidly to secure the border towns which had been under rebel control. When the rainy season ends, they are likely to fan out with equal speed in mopping up operations. This possibility lends an enigmatic aura to the claim being made by "official" representatives of Bangladesh-travelling Awami League members of parliament or defected diplomats-that their struggle will be carried to a successful military conclusion by the year's end. The only safety clause they admit is that either Bangladesh will be free in the next two or three months or the struggle there will turn into a long guerilla war of attrition. This is not entirely wishful thinking. Five thousand extremely well trained guerrillas have entered the battle during the past month or so supplementing though with out-dated arms, the 10,000 members of the former Bengal Regiment and East Pakistan Rifles still active inside the country. The Bangladesh "government" (location unknown) also is pushing through an intensive programme of military training for what may eventually turn out to be a "regular army" of 60,000 to 70,000 men. These personnel come almost exclusively from the ranks of the refugees, now officially estimated by the Indian side at 8.5 million, and by the Pakistan at around two million. The freedom fighters will be only as effective as their weapons. But on this score the Bangladesh leaders are full of confidence. Arms, they say, are no problem. They cite the substantial funds collected by overseas Bengalis, the availability of modern weapons on the commercial market and the willingness of some countries like Israel to help them. They do not mention it, but the "reliable area" of India must also be a major factor in these calculations. Logical as most of these calculations are, it is difficult to imagine the West Pakistani military ordering an about turn in East Pakistan. Latest moves suggest a plan to impose a civilian administration under whose cover the military can continue to Rile. The recently appointed civilian governor has picked a 10-man caretaker cabinet and by election have been scheduled in the eastern wing for the last week of November. By then the government-drafted constitution will be ready.
