634 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ষষ্ঠ খণ্ড শিরোনাম ংবাদপত্র তারিখ News On Activities for Bangladesh News letter 10 June, 1971 Bangladesh Movement Chicago : No. 3 SCHOLARS APPEAL TO NIXON American, Canadian and other scholars specializing in the language literature, history, economy and life of Bangladesh and West Bengal held their annual conference at the University of Minnesota on May 29-30, 1971. Two sessions of the conference were devoted primarily to the discussion of the current events in Bangladesh. In a statement sent to President Nixon, Secretary of State and the members of the Senate and the House participating American scholars appealed to stop all military and economic aid to the Government of Pakistan. Following is the full text of statement. As scholars of Bengal, we share a deep distress at the continuing attempt by the Government of Pakistan to kill and terrorize large numbers of Bengali people and to destroy their society. Having examined the extensive evidence available to us relating the events that have occurred in East Bengal since March 25, 1971, we can only conclude that it is the policy of the Government of Pakistan to eliminate Bengali culture and society as we presently know it. We are aware of the full seriousness of this charge and do not make it lightly, Yet we feel that we, as students of Bengali culture and society outside of Bengal, have a special, responsibility both to the people whose life and work we have studied and to our academic colleagues in East Bengal. As citizens of the country which has largely equipped the Pakistani army, we can not remain silent while that army kills the people to whom we are so deeply indebted. We therefore ask the U. S. government to use all proper means available to it to bring an end to the killing in East Bengal. We are concerned at recent reports, for example, that of the Christian Science Monitor of May 26, 1971, that “the U.S. now is reported ready to participate in a standby loan of roughly $ 100 million to be given by the consortium this summer”. We believe that the U.S. should not give further assistance of any king to the Government of Pakistan until it ceases the use of military force in East Bengal, Moreover, we urge that all possible assistance be provided to the enormous and ever-increasing number of Bengalis who have been forced by the Pakistani army to leave their homes. A similar statement has been issued by the non-American scholars expressing then concern appealing to the United Nations for immediate action. ORGANISATION NEWS A meeting of the Bangladesh Defense League was held in Chicago on June 6, 1971, to consider the ways and means of coordinating the activities of different groups around the United States and Canada. Representatives from Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Washington were present in this meeting. Bangladesh groups working in nine southwestern states already organized themselves into a zonal unit and sent a representative on their behalf to participate in the meeting.
