ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড had been committed by Bengalis and it blamed the whole tragedy on a planned Bengali mutiny. Whether that account was true-it was regrettable that a paper of the statute of the Sunday Times did not make it clear that the reporter who had presented the account was not only a West Pakistan national but the news editor of the Karachi News, which is controlled and owned by the West Pakistan Government National Press Trust-or whether the accounts of other, more independent, Western journalists are true, it is clear from all accounts and from the public relations statements which Hon. Members will have received from the High Commission of West Pakistan, that the killing was started by West Pakistan forces, whether or not to prevent a possible mutiny. That is the first point that is clear. The second is that fresh victories are being claimed with each day's handout. I received a release this morning, from which it appears that serious fighting, is still going on. The third point is that the scale of the killing and of the hatred is such that Pakistan as a single State is now dead. In the words of Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, Prime Minister of independent Bangladesh : "Pakistan is dead and buried under a mountain of corpses". It is possible to hold East Pakistan down only by large military forces. I met the Prime Minister of independent Bangladesh at an army camp inside East Pakistan. From the talks, I had with him, and the second in command of the Bangladesh Army. Major Osman, certain things became clear in my mind. The first is that the war will continue until West Pakistan is forced out. The second is that there is a capacity on the part, of the Bangladesh forces and the Awami League to organise and continue the guerrilla war, remembering that, according to what we have been told, the rural areas are still largely under the control of the Bangladesh forces. It is, of course, true that West Pakistan forces, with better equipment and superior fire power, can force a way through any area in which it chooses to take that course, as long as the bridges are not blown up. This country is dependent on bridges for it communications, and without bridges over the waterways progress would be difficult. Basically, the administration in the rural areas is carried on by the Bangladesh Army. They have substantial support from the population, which is overwhelmingly hostile to the West Pakistan forces. Indeed, it would be impossible for West Pakistan to administer this State in a satisfactory fashion. The point stressed to me by the Prime Minister of independent Bangladesh is that he is more worried by the threat of Starvation and disease for the people of East Pakistan than he is by the military situation. He told me that approximately one-third of the country is not being planted and that the proportion is higher in the ricegrowing areas, which are principally relied on for the food crop. In any normal year East Pakistan imports between 2 million and 3 million tons of food-grains. This year the West Pakistan authorities are not allowing in any imports. There
