more supplied. We Bengalis ask only that you provide nothing...no guns, no money to either side...that you simple remain neutral” To me this seems both sound from a political as well as moral view. Neutrality, rather than the mindless and fruitless practice of following old habits in our dealings with military cliques in South Asia, may provide us with leverage which is real and effective.
The nations of that region are struggling today against heavy odds to achieve democratic government. We in America do not fully realize how the spirit of democracy flourishes there. India a few months ago held, for the fourth time, the largest free election in the world. For Pakistan it has taken a longer period to arrange free election. But the significance of last December's vote was not missed even by the marital law authorities in West Pakistan. They proudly and rightly, proclaimed it as a milestone in Pakistan's history. It had presented Pakistan with its first real opportunity to bridge its regional division and develop democratic institutions.
So it was that civilian leadership emerged in Pakistan, capable of pulling together the forces of history............ of preserving the unity of Pakistan and the stability of the region. The full folly of the West Pakistan army's bid to undo what a whole people had set in motion........... to suppress its best hope for unity...can only be understood in this context.
If some political solution is not found soon...if some mechanism is not established for cooling tempers and furnishing relief... the situation in East Bengal threatens to develop into terminal cancer both for Pakistan and Eastern India. For no issue has had more disruptive impact on the subcontinent since partition in 1947.
The implications for American foreign policy are clear.
First, we must arouse America to the real human tragedy now taking place in Pakistan and India. The tragedy of East Bengal is not only a tragedy for Pakistan. It is not only a tragedy for India. It is a tragedy for the entire world community, and it is the responsibility of that community to act together to ease the crisis. If America is to fulfill its role as the leading humanitarian nation of the world community, than America must take the lead in bringing international aid and relief to the million of refugees and other victims of this international conflict.
We know, however, that the response of the United States and the international community has been far short of the need. To date, the United Nations has given less than $ 150 million for relief. Of this total, the United States has pledged about 880 million.
To be sure, as the Administration pointed out with pride, we have pledged a larger share of the total than the rest of the world combined. But the pride is quickly dispelled by the vastly greater burden now being carried single-handedly by the government and the people of India. When we realize that India herself faces the prospect of a budget for refugee relief of $500 million to $1 billion in the next year alone, we realize how little the outside world is really doing, and how paltry the American contribution really is.
Simple humanity demands that America and the United Nations must accept the truth that this heavy burden should be borne by the entire international community, and not by
