○○br বাংরাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ দ্বাদশ খন্ড One hon. Member spoke of our taking a begging bowl to other countries. Sir, I am not in the habit of begging. I have never begged. I am not begging now. And I have no intention of begging. If our emissaries go from this country to other countries, they are not speaking with a voice of weakness; they are not begging. We are sending them because this is an international responsibility. And we are not going to let the international community get away with it. They cannot avoid their responsibility. They may give help, or they may not give help. But they will certainly suffer from the consequences of whatever happens in this part of the world. We must put this problem to them in its proper perspective. We certainly want help, and the more help we get, the better we shall be able to look after the refugees. But so far, this help has been pitiable in proportion to what is needed; it is about one-tenth of what is actually needed, so far as we have been able to assess. I hope that this help will increase. This is very important from the point of view of saving lives, of giving better nourishment to children and of giving better treatment to those who are suffering from cholera and other diseases. But the point is not the quantity of help. Our appeal is even more important from the point of view of putting this problem in perspective. What are we concerned about? We are concerned about the lives and the comforts of the refugees, but we are even more concerned about the problem of democracy, the problem of human rights, the problem of human dignity, which have now been brought into focus before us and the whole world in such a poignant and heart ending manner. And, if our representatives have gone, whether they are Members of the Council of Ministers, whether they are non- official people or other people, it is with this end in view, namely that all the countries should be told about the reality of the situation, and I think that our efforts have succeeded in this in some measure. Today, the world press is reacting more sharply and is devoting greater space to this question; I think that we have had something to do with this change of attitude. So we should not sneeze at all the efforts that are being made. As I said on a previous occasion here, I can understand the emotionalism and the sense of sorrow and of helplessness which hon. members and many people outside feel. It is understandable and I sympathies with it. But it should lead us to something more. It should not lead us to a dead end, to a feeling that nothing is being done, that nothing can be done, and that we are going to be engulfed. We are bearing a tremendous burden, and as I said- I do not know whether the world is parliamentary or not; if it is not please strike it out, Sir- as I said in my meetings with the people even in the camps where I had gone, we will have to go through hell to meet this situation. But I have no doubt that we can emerge, and we will. It will hurt us un many ways, economically and in other ways, but we will get thorough if we have the courage, the determination, and the endurance. I personally believe that our people have these qualities, and, therefore, we will be able to handle this situation. But it cannot be done cheaply either as regards financial effort or physical effort. The effort may hurt all sections of the people, all along the line. It may even affect some of our essential programmers. But this is something which we cannot avoid, because, as I have said on an earlier occasion, what happens in Bangladesh will have an impact on India. We are concerned with the general principle of democracy, but we are more concerned here because Bangladesh is so close to our border that its impact will be very much greater than if such a thing had happened in a distant place.
