931 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড this year, is a policy of the ostrich, a policy of closing one's eyes to reality, a policy of hiding one's head in the sand. We are against such a policy. It is clear to all of us that the subject of discussion in the Security Council is, as has been pointed out on several occasions, the situation that has been produced in East Pakistan as a result of the actions of the Pakistan military authorities. We must be objective and we must call a spade a spade. We have a right to that. That right is confirmed by history, when we spoke as the impartial mediator between the two parties, a mediator who strove, strives and will continue to strive, to achieve further improvement in relations with these two highly respected States and their peoples, It was precisely as a result of the application of force and terror against the people of East Pakistan-and this has been so convincingly related to the Council by the Representative of India, Ambassador Sen-that millions of people were compelled to leave their homeland, to forsake their property and land, to flee to a neighboring country, India, and become political refugees. This is the reality. These are the facts. Whoever wishes to close his eyes to reality will find it very difficult to discover the right way out of that situation. The exacerbation of the tensions in the Indian sub-continent and the events there are well known. It is there that the serious political crisis occurred. The timely elimination of that crisis by peaceful political means would have eliminated the complications in that sub-continent. It is known that as long ago as December 1970, for the first time in the history of the development of that country, universal elections were held in Pakistan for the National Assembly. Among the political parties in Pakistan that took part in the national elections was the Awami League, headed by an important political figure, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who has already been mentioned in the statement by the Representative of India. The Awami League went to the elections with slogans which called for the implementation of a programme of six points, the essence of which was to provide the province of the country political and economic autonomy within the context or framework of the Pakistan State and I wish to emphasize this: within the framework of the Pakistan State. The programme advanced also claims for the implementation in Pakistan of progressive social and economic changes. The foreign policy platform of that League provided for the development of friendly relations of Pakistan with all countries, including the neighboring Indian State. The programme provided for a fight for the withdrawal of Pakistan from the military and aggressive blocs of CENTO and SEATO. This is the kernel of the problem. This is something that no Member of the Security Council can ignore, even those who are trying to divert attention from it. In the election, that party obtained an absolute majority of the seats-as has already been confirmed by the Representative of India in his statement-167 seats out of 313. According to the logic of things, it had the right to form a Government. This did not happen. The Pakistan authorities, under various pretexts, prevented the participation of this League in the Government. Moreover, Rahman was arrested on the accusation of having betrayed the interests of the country; his collaborators and the people of the area were subjected to mass repression by the use of a planes, tanks and firearms.
