493 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ষষ্ঠ খণ্ড bloodshed, because her people or the more politically minded of them made up their minds that they would no longer tolerate the rule of a government which could behave so ruthlessly towards its subjects. Now in East Bengal, within a month or two, thousands of atrocities have taken place, far more ruthless than the massacre of Jalianwala Bagh, for they were apparently carefully planned, while Jalianwala Bagh was largely due to the panic of local authorities. Even allowing for exaggeration, it appears that the loss of the life in East Bengal over the past three months runs into millions, the victims of violence unparalleled since the days of Chinghiz Khan, far more comprehensive and vicious than the cruelties of Cromwell in Ireland. The presence of so many millions of refugees within the borders of India is evidence enough of the conduct of the Pakistan troops. Hitherto I have remained silent, in all the many disputes between India and Pakistan, for I am a specialist in early history, and I do not normally look on it as part of my duty to air my views on current affairs. Now, as a historian, I am compelled to speak. If history teaches any lesson in this matter it is that the people of East Bengal will never again willingly associate themselves with Pakistan. If Pakistan holds East Bengal it will do so by force, as an occupying imperialist power, hated by the people whom it dominates. Such a situation cannot long continue. The question remains-How long? If the Pakistanis persist in their determination to cling to East Bengal it will spell the ruin of the economics of both countries, and immense loss of life and human misery on both sides. And ultimately Bangla Desh will become independent, for all the Pakistanis may do, as their ruthlessness win never be forgotten, and the Bengalis will never again accept their rule willingly. The wiser brains of Pakistan must have already realized this. The United nations, governments of individual states, men of good will everywhere, must use all their influence to persuade the government of Pakistan to withdraw its troops and allow the new state to be formed. If Pakistan refuses to do so it will be branded before the eyes of the whole world as the most ruthless imperialist power in history, and history has shown that imperialist states can never survive indefinitely.
