| শিরোনাম | সূত্র | তারিখ |
|---|---|---|
| নয়াদিল্লীর ইণ্ডিয়া গেটে অনুষ্ঠিত জনসভায় প্রধানমন্ত্রী ইন্দিরা গান্ধীর ভাষণ[১] | ভারতের তথ্য ও বেতার মন্ত্রণালয় প্রকাশিত ’দি ইয়ার্স অফ এণ্ডীভার, | ৯ আগষ্ট, ১৯৭১ |
MEETING THE CRISIS
Parliament began its session on March 19 and some events, which happened on March 25 and 26 beyond our frontiers in Bangladesh shocked the world. The people of Bangladesh are fighting for the same objective for which you and I carried on a long struggle in our country.
The events in Bangladesh have created a crisis. Over 73 lakhs of people have taken shelter in India to escape massacre by the Pakistan army. We had not invited them. How could we do that? We have shortage of many things in 09ur own land. So. how could we invite them to come and increase the want and sufferings of our own people. It was no fault of ours that they came. They left their land to escape from the calamity that has befallen them. Even those who had nothing to do with politics were being massacred. Their houses were set on fire and all sorts of atrocities were committed on them.
If anyone among you goes to the camps where they have been lodged and sees their plight, he would never say that the Government or the people of India do not want them to go back. No human being can stand in mud and water all day and night with a child in his lap, because there is no dry place to sit, if he can go back to his homeland and find a resting place there. The refugees are prepared to suffer all this here because on their own land they were victims of barbarous atrocities. We are trying our best to give succor to these suffering millions. We told them and we told the work as well that we can keep them only for a short period. No country can afford to absorb or keep such a large mass of people from another country. It is not possible for us also to do so and we shall never agree to it. We have clearly told the world community about it.
You are well aware that we do what we say. But there are some who believe that to raise slogans is enough. Those who always ridiculed Satyagraha have come forward to offer Satyagraha on the Bangladesh issue. Their present Satyagraha has no meaning because those offering themselves for it know that they would be released in a couple of hours. The true Satyagraha was during the freedom struggle when the Satyagraha did not know if they would have to remain in prison for seven years or even ten years. That was the occasion for Satyagraha. But those now offering Satyagraha made a mockery of it then. The object of Satyagraha is to secure recognition for Bangladesh. We have never said that we shall not recognize Bangladesh. But Government would take steps only after carefully studying all aspects of the question. It has to be assessed if such a step would help solve the Bangladesh crisis and strengthen our own nation. This would be the test of our decision would be greeted by our people. But we have to think how it will affect the people living in want and misery not only in our land but in Bangladesh as well. I can
- ↑ Free translation of speech in Hindi at a public meeting at India Gate, New Delhi, August 9, 1971
