216 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র : সপ্তম খণ্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ৯৬। আমার কোন বিকল্প ছিল নাঃ নিউজউইক ম্যাগাজিন ৮ নভেম্বর, ১৯৭১ নিউজউইক ম্যাগাজিনের সাক্ষাৎকারে প্রেসিডেন্ট ইয়াহিয়া ΑΤΑΙ.Κ WΙΤΗΡΑΚΙSΤΑΝ"S ΡRΕSΙΙΟΕΝΤΥΑΗΥΑ ΚΗΑΝ With his country in the midst of one crisis-the guerrilla rebellion in East Pakistanand on the verge of another War with India-Pakistan President Mohammad Yahya Khan gave an interview last week to Newsweek Senior Editor Amaud de Borchgrave. In their conversation, President Yahya spelled out his position on some of the crucial issues facing his country and India. Below, excerpts from Yahya's remarks: On the Likelihood of war I have no reason to tell you war is not imminent because it is. The Indians are already at war with us, and the only reason there is no general confrontation is that we are not hitting back. We are still exercising maximum restraint despite growing provocation. The Indians are lobbing from 140 to 3,000 artillery and mortar shells across East Pakistan borders every 24 hours ... [The East Pakistan guerrillas] are destroying bridges, electric pylons, even a food ship the other day. The Indians have set up 23 guerrilla training camps ... Civilian populations have been evacuated from their border areas, their Defence Minister is threatening us every day ... if the Indians escalate with a view to capturing territory and installing a puppet Bangladesh regime, that will be war. On India's Military Advantages How can [our] army fight and win against [Indian] army that is five times its size? It would be military lunacy for me to take them on. But if we're attacked we'll fight back ... [Te Indians] have a big war machine that is self-sufficient in many respects. If they can lob over 3,000 shells in a day, that means they have plenty of ammunition on hand. It's a luxury our army cannot afford. On Chinese aid to Pakistan The Chinese will not tolerate an attack on Pakistan we will get all the weapons and ammunition we need, severy assistance] short of physical intervention. We get Some things free and pay for others. But Chinese terms are so easy-25 year credit interest-free. Last year when I was in Peking I negotiated $200 million worth of economic and for our five-year-plan with no interest. On the Future of Bangladesh No one ever treated the Bengalis fairly. We too have made mistakes and by "we" I also mean East Pakistanis who have been our Presidents and Premiers since independence. East Pakistan was down and out, and we did not pay sufficient attention to its development.
