* International Herald Tribune, March 27-28, 1971

YAHYA DENOUNCES MUJIB AS TRAITOR : SHARP FIGHTING REPORTED IN EAST PAKISTAN REVOLT

New Delhi, March 26 (Reuters) – Thousands of villagers have joined Awami League volunteers fighting West Pakistani troops in the streets of four major cities of East Pakistan, the Press Trust of India reported to night.

* The Statesman, March 27, 1971

BANGLA DESH DECLARES FREEDOM- RAHMANS’S STEP FOLLOWS ARMY CRACKDOWN- CIVIL WAR ERUPTS IN EAST PAKISTAN- AWAMI LEAGUE LEADERS GO UNDERGROUND

Press Report from Delhi

Pakistan’s eastern wing, rechristened the independent state of Bangla Desh by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a clandestine radio broadcast, was in the throes of a civil war on Friday with west wing troops restoring to force to regain control and the people, aided by the east Pakistan rifles and the police, resisting the attempt, report uni.

Heavy fighting was going on in Dacca, Chittagong, Sylhet, Comilla and other towns, according to reports from across the border gathered by UNI bureaus in Shillong and Calcutta and correspondents close to the border in the eastern sector. Casualties were believed to be heavy.

Mr. Rahman and other Awami League leaders had gone underground according to highly reliable reports received in Gauhati by PTI and UNI. A later reports said Pakistan troops went hunting for them but could not find them.

Speaking over “Swadhin Bangla” (Free Bengal) Betar Kendra, Mr. Rahman later proclaimed the birth of an independent Bangla Desh.

* The Daily Telegraph, March 29, 1971

‘NO MERCY’ IN PAKISTAN FIGHTING

West Pakistan troops tightened the Army grip on the Eastern province yesterday after a weekend in which many hundreds of civilians were reported to have been killed.

Our staff correspondent in Delhi cabled that East Pakistan was virtually sealed off from the outside world, but the indications were that killing was on a mass scale. The Dacca curfew was lifted yesterday, but last night more troops were flown to Chittagong to quell disturbances.

Bitter protests that the troops were showing no mercy and trying to terrorize the civilian population into submission came from supporters of Sheikh Mujibar Rahman’s Awami League.

* The Daily Telegraph, March 29, 1971

EAST WINGS SEALED OFF

Killing on a mass scale is underway in East Pakistan, caught in the grip of a vicious civil war, according to all available indications from the province, which is now virtually sealed off from the outside world.

* The Daily Telegraph, March 29, 1971

CASUALTIES LIKELY TO BE HEAVY

Heavy civilian casualties can be expected form the Army takeover of East Pakistan. The shelling of the capital, Dacca, has been cold-blooded and indiscriminate although there was almost no sign of armed resistance.

* International Herald Tribune, March 30, 1971

TRAGEDY IN PAKISTAN

The Eastern wing of Pakistan, much the more populous, won national elections last December and began moving peaceably to take over national power. The Western wing, which has dominated and exploited the East since Moslem Pakistan was carved out of British India in 1947, correctly perceived the threat and–rather than surrender power–stalled.

* International Herald Tribune, March 30, 1971

DHAKA CIVILIANS ‘STUNNED’ BY KILLINGS, WITNESS SAYS

Dhaka (AP) After two days and night of shelling in which perhaps 7,000 Pakistanis died in Dhaka alone, the Pakistan Army appears to have crushed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 25 days of defiance in East Pakistan.

The army, which attacked without warning on Thursday night with infantry, artillery and American supplied M-24 tanks, destroyed parts of the city.

Its attack was aimed at the university, the populous old city, where Sheikh Mujib, the Awami League leader, had his strongest following, and the industrial areas on the outskirts of the city of 1.5 million people.

* International hearald tribune, April 2, 1971

DHAKA SAID TO BE BOMBED: ALL-OUT PAKISTAN OFFENSIVE REPORTED

New Delhi, April 1 (Reuters):- Indian press and radio reports said tonight that the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force had launched an all-out offensive to quell Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s resistance in East Pakistan.

All India radio and the Press Trust of India News agency, quoting reports reaching Calcutta said the drive followed the arrival of troops reinforcements from West Pakistan.

The radio said the Pakistan Air Force had bombed Dhaka and several other towns and that heavy fighting was going on for control of the capital.

* The Libyan Times, April 2, 1971

PAK. GOVT. SAYS INDIANS ARE NOW INFILTRATING TO HELP REBELS

London, (UPI)- The Pakistan government said yesterday that armed Indians were “inflitrating the border areas of East Pakistan.”

Radio Pakistan quoted a Foreign Office Spokesman as saying the Pakistan government was fully alive to the needs of the situation.

* The Daily Telegraph, April 3, 1971

MASS KILLINGS IN TERROR CAMPAIGN BY PAKISTAN ARMY

Killing on a mass scale are reported to be continuing in East Pakistan, indicating that the Army has shown no let-up in the terror campaign begun after President Yahya Khan gave it his “full authority’ to restore central Government control.

* Daily American, April 3, 1971

E. PAKISTAN FORCES STILL FIGHTING OVER WIDESPREAD AREAS

New Delhi, April 2 (AP)- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s independence forces apparently were active in vast sections of the East Pakistan countryside today as the Pakistan government officially acknowledged that the province was not as normal as originally claimed.

For the first time since the civil war broke out between the West Pakistan dominated army and the Sheikh’s followers in the eastern wing, the government-controlled Radio Pakistan did not report normalcy throughout the province.

* The Observer, April 4, 1971

THE EXPLOSION OF A NATION

Whatever its military outcome, there will be no winners in the brutal conflict now going on East Pakistan. Nor will the war, which was so shortsighted started, damage only the interests of the two parties most immediately engaged in the conflict–Punjabi-dominated Pakistan and the Muslim Bengalis. It will almost certainly promote the risks of revolutionary warfare in a particularly explosive part of Asia, threatening India, Pakistan and Burma. And it will possibly draw both the Russians and the Chinese into this arena.

* Newsweek, April 5, 1971

PAKISTAN PLUNGES INTO CIVIL WAR

Until the very last moment, it looked as if the two proud men entrusted with Pakistan’s density might still be able to avert a head-on clash. From the East Pakistani capital of Dacca came optimistic reports that President Mohammed Yahya Khan and Mujib–as the leader of secessionist-minded East Pakistan is known-were about to reach a compromise. But then, with stunning suddenness, the pieces of Pakistan’s complicated political puzzle flew apart. In the East Pakistan cities of Rangpur and Chittagong, federal troops poured machine gun fire into mobs of demonstrating Bengali nationalists. Swiftly, Yahya issued orders to his army to “crush the movement and restore the full authority of the government”. In his turn, Mujib proclaimed East Pakistan the “Sovereign, independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation)”. And with that, Pakistan was plunge into civil war.

* Time April 5, 1971

PAKISTAN: TOPPLING OVER THE BRINK

With the awesome fury of a cyclone off the Bay of Bengal, civil war swept across East Pakistan last week. In city after crowded, dusty city the army turned its guns on mobs of rioting civilians, Casualties mounted into the thousands. Through the full toll remained uncertain because of censorship and disorganization in the world’s most densely populated corner (1,400 people per sq. mi.) at week’s end some estimates had 2,000 dead. Even if President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan is prepared to accept casualties of geometrically greater magnitude, the outcome is likely to be the final breakup of East Pakistan and the painful birth of a new nation named Bangladesh (Bengal State).

* The daily telegraph, April 5, 1971

INDIA CANNOT STAND SILENT ON BENGAL, SAYS MRS.GANDHI

India could not remain a silent spectator of events in East Pakistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Prime Minister, said yesterday, But she called on Indians to keep emotions in check.

* International herald tribune, April 5, 1971

PAKISTAN CHARGES INDIANS ARE GIVING ARMS TO REBEL

New Delhi, April 4 (NYT)- Radio Pakistan has charged that nine Indian “vehicles’ loaded with arms and ammunition crossed the East Pakistan border and were stopped by West Pakistani troops.

* International herald tribune, April 6, 1971

PAKISTANI ARMY IN BIG CITIES : REBELS HOLD MUCH OF EAST PAKISTAN

Chuadanga, East Pakistan, April 5 (AP)- Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman’s independence forces held on today to stretches of East Pakistani territory along the border with India, vowing to fight until they defeat the Pakistan Army.

* The daily telegraph, April 8, 1971

USE OF U.S. JETS AND TANKS IN BENGAL WORRIES NIXON

The American Government, as chief supplier of arms to Pakistan, has made it’s first move to express concern over reports that American military equipment is being used against civilians in East Pakistan.

The Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Joseph Sisco, is reported to have voiced this feeling in a meeting with the Pakistan Ambassador, Mr. Agha Hilaly.

* Daily American, April 9, 1971

PAKISTAN SAYS INDIA MASSES FOR POSSIBLE INTERVENTION

New Delhi, April 8 (AP)- The Pakistan government said yesterday that the Indian armed forces were preparing ‘for possible operations’ in East Pakistan.

* Daily American, April 9, 1971

REBELS CONTUNUE TO GAIN IN EAST PAKISTAN

New Delhi, April 9 (UPI)- The Bengali secessionist forces have claimed almost complete control of the western part of East Pakistan, reports in the Indian Press said today.

* International herald tribune, April 12, 1971

CONCERN GROWS IN CONGRESS OVER ARMS AID TO PAKISTAN

Washington, April 11 (NYT)- The United States is continuing to ship to Pakistan ammunition and spare for weapons under a program begun in 1967.

There is growing evidence that the Pakistani Army has been using American tanks, jet aircraft and other equipment in its attempt to crush the movement for autonomy by the predominantly Bengali citizens in the eastern half of the country.

* Time, April 12, 1971

PAKISTAN: ROUND 1 TO THE WEST

“There is no doubt” said a foreign diplomat in East Pakistan last week, “that the word massacre applies to the situation.” Said another Western official: “It’s a veritable bloodbath. The troops have been utterly merciless.”

As Round I of Pakistan’s bitter civil war ended last week, the winner– predictably was the tough West Pakistan army, which has a powerful force of 80,000 Punjabi and Pathan soldiers on duty in rebellious East Pakistan. Reports coming out of the East via diplomats, frightened refugees and clandestine broadcasts varied widely. Estimates of the total dead ran as high as 300,000. A figure of 10,000 to 15,000 is accepted by several Western governments, but no one can be sure of anything except that untold thousands perished.

Mass Graves

Opposed only by bands of Bengali peasants armed with stones and bamboo sticks, tanks rolled through Dacca, the East’s capital, blowing houses to bits. At the University, soldiers slaughtered students inside the British Council building. “It was like Chengis Khan,” said a shocked Western official who witnessed the scene. Near Dacca’s marketplace, Urdu-speaking government soldiers ordered Bengali-speaking townspeople to surrender, then gunned them down when they failed to comply. Bodies lay in mass graves at the University, in the old city, and near the municipal dump.

* The Time, April 13, 1971

WITNESS TO A MASSACRE IN EAST PAKISTAN

An Account of Three Days of Carnage at Dacca University:

A student who survived the three days of carnage at Dacca University last month has given an eyewitness account of how the West Pakistani Army systematically shot down students and lecturers who were trapped in the encircled dormitories.

“I jumped out of the dormitory window and hid in the top of the tree for the night”, he told a science lecturer at Notre Dame College, Dacca, who has now sought asylum in Calcutta.

“The firing continued. In the morning there was a lull and I saw some Pakistani soldiers giving orders to the terrified bearers. After a while I saw the bearer dragging the bodies of students and lecturers towards the football ground.

“They were ordered to dig a huge grave. The Pakistani soldiers told the eight or nine bearers to sit down. After a while they were ordered to stand and line up near the grave. The guns fired again and they fell next to the bodies of my friends.”

* International Herald Tribune, April 13, 1971

EAST PAKISTAN PROCLAIMS ITS INDEPENDENCE

New Delhi, April 12 (AP)- An independent republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) was formed tonight, with Sheikh Mujibur Rhaman as president of the secessionist province of East Pakistan, Indian radio monitors reported.

They said that announcement of the government’s formation was heard on a newly set-up Free Bangladesh Radio, which had gone off the air two weeks ago, a few days after the civil war in the province broke out between the Sheikh’s followers and the West Pakistan-dominated army.

Both of Indian’s national news agencies carried the announcement.

The Free Bangladesh Radio also was quoted as announcing that Tajuddin ahmed, a close associate of Sheikh Mujib, would be the prime minister and foreign minister.

Syed Nazrul Islam, Vice-President of the Sheikh’s outlawed Awami League, was named vice-president Bangladesh, the radio added.

* The Times, April 14, 1971

EAST BENGAL RESISTANCE CRUMBLES AS TROOPS ADVANCE

Chuadanga, East Pakistan, April 13, Armed resistance in much of East Bengal was crumbling fast today before the advancing columns of President Yahya Khan’s Pakistan Army.

* International Herald Tribune, April 15, 1971

REBELS ASK INTERNATIONAL AID: PAKISTAN ARMY PUSHES DRIVE AS THOUSANDS FLEE TO INDIA

New Delhi, April 14 (AP)- East Pakistan independence forces appealed today to other countries for arms and ammunition as the Pakistan Army intensified a two-pronged offensive to crush the three-week old rebellion in the secessionist province.

Meanwhile, refugees from East Pakistan poured into India today, fleeing from the advancing Pakistan Army troops. ‘What was a trickle has become a stream’, said a high Indian official, describing the influx of refugees.

* The Daily Telegraph, April 17, 1971

PAKISTAN ARMY TAKES BANGLADESH CAPITAL

Pakistan Government forces last night took the town of Chuadanga, proclaimed two weeks ago as the provisional capital of Bangladesh, the breakaway eastern province.

The Observer, April 18, 1971

THE FADING DREAM OF BANGLADESH

Calcutta, 17 April- Troops from West Pakistan loyal to General Yahya Khan, the country’s military ruler are now rolling up the map of Bangladesh. They have ended, for the time being, Bengali dreams of secession and freedom in East Pakistan.

In spite of their passionate hopes, the unwar like Bengalis have been no match for the Frontier soldiers from the West- traditionally the best and most ruthless warriors on the Indian subcontinent.

But after a 200-mile journey through the tragic landscape of Bangladesh. I am sure that from now on President Yahya will hold his eastern province only by force and that his rule will be harassed by continual resistance, however, ill-organised and futile it may be. The Bengalis will never forget or forgive the happening of the past few weeks.

* Wall Street Journal, April 21, 1971

A FLICKERING CAUSE

East Pakistanis pledge to fight to the death but mostly they don’t…. They lack Arms, Leadership to Prolong their Revolt; No Aid by other Nations.

* International Herald Tribune, April 24-25, 1971

BANGLADESH ISSUES APPEAL FOR RECOGNITION AS A NATION

New Delhi, April 23 (Reuters)- The so-called Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) government in East Pakistan tonight sent an appeal to world governments for recognition as the Pakistan Army gained more ground in its push against the secessionist regime’s forces.

* The Sunday Times, April 25, 1971

SPECTER OF FAMINE OVER EAST BENGAL

An appalling picture of widespread devastation throughout the country is given by the latest reports reaching The Sunday Times from East Bengal. The vast, stricken area will take many weeks to make even a partial recovery from its wounds, and ‘normality’ in any pre-March, 1971, sense can probably never be restored.

* Newsweek, April 26, 1971

PAKISTAN: VULTURES AND WILD DOGS

For more than two weeks, the Pakistani Army of President Mohammad Yahya Khan had played curious waiting game. Siting tight in their well-fortified cantonments in the rebellious eastern wing of their divided country, the federal troops virtually ignored the taunts of the secessionist ‘liberation forces’. But then early last week, the lull came to a sudden end. Springing from their strong-holds the Punjabi regulars simultaneously staged more than a dozen devastating attacks from one end of beleaguered East Pakistan to the other. And when the blitzkrieg was over, it was clear that the less-than-one-month-old Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) had been delivered a stunning blow.

* The Libyan Times, April 27, 1971

INDO-PAKISTAN RELATIONS KEEP MOVING TO THE WORST BY THE HOUR

Moscow, (AP, UPI) – M. Arshad Hussein, special envoy of Pakistani President Mohamed Yahya Khan met yesterday with Soviet Preminer Alexei Kosygin for a private conference on undisclosed subjects.

An official announcement said Pakistani Ambassador to Moscow also took part in the meeting.

Arshad Hussein arrived in Moscow about five days ago, apparently to serve as Yahya Khan’s spokesman with Soviet Officials about the trouble in East Pakistan and the explosive India-Pakistani climate.

* International Herald Tribune, May 4, 1971

PAKISTAN SAYS INDIA CREATES ATMOSPHERE OF CONFRONTATION

Karachi, May 3, (NYT)- Pakistan accused India today of ‘creating an atmosphere of confrontation’ and said Indian border units had shelled Pakistani positions.

* International Herald Tribune, May 8-9, 1971

EAST PAKISTAN MILITARY CHIEF DENIES SLAUGHTER OCCURRED

Dacca, East Pakistan, May 7 (NYT)- Gen Tikka Khan, the military governor of East Pakistan, said today that his staff had estimated that 150 persons were killed in Dacca on the night of March 25, when the army moved to reassert control over the province.

The General speaking at a reception, said that other estimates of the number of people killed, ranging up to 10,000 were wildly exaggerated.

* International Herald Tribune, May 19, 1971

MRS. GANDHI LAMENTS LACK OF AID FOR PAKISTAN REFUGEES

New Delhi, May 18 (AP)- Prime Minister Indira Gandhi complained today that “no prosperous country” or any of the “upholders of democracy has tried to help the nearly three million East Pakistani refugees now in India.

* International Herald Tribune, May 22-23, 1971

DEATH IN ‘GOLDEN BANGLADESH’

Firm figures of massacre in East Pakistan, as anywhere, are hard to verify. Some say thousands, others insist on two hundred thousand. Probably 50,000 is a conservative estimate. Numbers of refugees are more obtainable: 650,000 in four Indian states on May 1.

* The Weekly Economist, May 29, 1971

HOW NOT TO FACE FACTS

President Yahya needs to acknowledge realities, Mrs. Gandhi needs to maintain her cool, and the rest of us should be more helpful.

It is a standard practice of governments, especially those which are fighting wars, to putout self-justifying propaganda. This propaganda may fail to convince, which is troublesome. Or it may convince so well that the propagandists themselves are taken in, which is positively dangerous. The Government of Pakistan has clearly dug itself a credibility gap. The question now is whether it has also buried its head in the sand.

* International Herald Tribune, May 29-30, 1971

REBELS CALLED STILL ACTIVE IN EAST PAKISTAN CLASHES WITH ARMY TERRORISM REPORTED

New Delhi, May 28 (NYT)- Despite official descriptions of normality in East Pakistan, guerrilla activity and the army crackdown continue, according to reports from the area.

The foreign informants report that the Pakistani Army has been able to widen its control of vital installations and major towns and cities. But they say that guerrilla and terrorist activity by Bengali insurgents-but tressed by Bengali noncooperation in general– has prevented the army from establishing an effective civil administration in most of East Pakistan.

* International Herald Tribune, May 31, 1971

CHOLERA OUTBREAK REPORTED : INDIA PUTS PAKISTANI REFUGEES AT 4 MILLION

New Delhi, May 30 (Reuters)- Indian announced today that more than four million East Pakistanis have fled into its territory since the Martial-Law crackdown in their province.

Reports have said living conditions in overcrowded temporary border camps have led to 300 deaths from cholera and gastroenteritis.

* The Times, June 4, 1971

SECRET CATALOG OF GUILT AND DISASTER OVER EAST PAKISTAN

Within the space of a few short weeks both East and West Bengal have suddenly become international trouble sports. Millions of people have been uprooted by civil war, thousands have been killed, famine and disease are already beginning to stalk the countryside and a full scale war between India and Pakistan threatens to break out at any moment.

* The Sunday Times, June 6, 1971

THE ROAD FROM BANGLADESH

The life of the refugee produces its own particular kind of hopelessness. Isolated in a foreign country, physically weak, surrounded by strangers, these Bengalis swiftly find themselves victims of increasing lethargy, silently awaiting any new blow from an almost universally hostile world. The old men, who in their own country had great dignity, are now reduced to queuing like children for food. If they are ill, like the half-crippled man with his stick and umbrella, they merely sit and wait for someone to help them. No one does. If they are your, or part of a united family, they can at least scavenge for food and fuel to recreate a vagabond imitation of their former life in Pakistan.

* International Herald Tribune, June 8, 1971

TALK HEARD IN INDIA OF WAR WITH PAKISTAN ON REFUGEES

Calcutta, June 7 (WP)- Talk of a war with Pakistan has increased here as a result of the continuing flow of refuges into India, which confronts this country with an enormous, unwanted burden.

* International Herald Tribune, June 14, 1971

WEST PAKISTAN NEWSMAN SAYS ARMY SLAUGHTERED EASTERNERS

London, June 13 (NYT)- A West Pakistani journalist who accompanied the Pakistani journalist when it crushed the independence movement in East Pakistan alleged yesterday that the government troops “deliberately massacred” people in East Bengal.

Mr. Mascarenhas writes that the Pakistani government has suppressed “the second and worse horror which followed when its own army took over the killing”. He says that officials in West Pakistan privately estimate that 250,000 persons have been killed by both sides in the fighting–not including those who have died from hunger or disease.

* International Herald Tribune, June 14, 1971

PAKISTAN ARMY SCORCHES BORDER: BENGAL GUERRILLAS TRAIN IN INDIA

Shikarpur, India, June 13 (AP)- The Pakistan army had launched a scorched-earth operation along the frontier between East Pakistan and India, according to Indian military and civilian authorities on the spot.

President Yahya Khan’s troops are burning frontier villages, destroying jute and sugar-cane plantations and ordering those inhabitants who have not already fled to India to pull back at least five miles from the border, the Indians report.

The operation seems designed as a defensive measure against guerrilla attacks by East Pakistani secessionist forces-the Mukhti Fauj-building up their strength in the safety of Indian territory.

* The Sunday Times, June 20, 1971

EAST PAKISTAN : THE SILENT VOICE OF U THANT

As world opinion becomes increasingly increased at the West Pakistani army’s brutal region of terror in East Bengal, and at the pitiful sight of the ever-growing millions of refugees fleeing form that terror, one voice remains conspicuously silent. It is the voice of the Secretary General of the United States Nations, U Thant.

* International Herald Tribune, June 22, 1971

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

India’s suggestion that international aid to Pakistan be suspended “until a political solution acceptable to the people of East Bengal is found” is offensive in its reference to East Pakistan as “East Bengal”, but otherwise apt. It is unthinkable that donors would want to underwrite a minority military government’s cruel war against its own citizens, thousands of whom it has murdered, millions of whom it has forced into flight. Moreover, strictly from the technical standard of whether Pakistan in its disrupted condition can spent aid funds efficiently, it hardly can qualify.

* International Herald Tribune, June 28, 1971

THREE MONTH LATER, FEAR STILL REIGNS IN DACCA

Dacca (NYT)- People talk with foreigners in a whisper and keep looking behind them to see if anyone is listening. Soldiers and special police-brought from West Pakistan, more than, 1,000 miles away stop and search cars and buses and persons carrying bundles.

Arrests are made and denied. When families ask the martial law authorities what has happened to a son or father, the army replies that he was released after questioning and that if he has not returned home, then maybe he has fled to India.

Many persons listen to the clandestine Bangladesh (Bengal Nation) Radio every day, although the penalties are severe.

This is the nervous and unhappy flavor of Dacca, capital of East Pakistan, three months after the army launched its offensive to try to crush the Bengali autonomy movement throughout the province.

The army is clearly in control of this city, but “normality”- the word the government uses to describe conditions here- does not exist.

Dacca today can best be described as a city under the occupation of a military force that rules by strength, intimidation and terror, but which has been unable to revive an effective civil administration.

* The Daily Telegraph, June 29, 1971

REIGN OF TERROR STILL BY ARMY IN EAST BENGAL

The British Parliamentary Delegation to East Bengal led by Mr. Arthur Bottomley, Labour MP for Middles borough East left Dacca for Calcutta yesterday in a frustrated and gloomy mood.

He has spent some hours in a vain attempt to visit Boliadi, a village 15 miles north of Dacca, which was destroyed at dawn on Sunday morning by the West Pakistan Army.

For reasons not yet explained six villages have recently been razed to the ground in this area, to the north of the small industrial town of Tongi, and firing can still be heard there.

* International Herald Tribune, July 1, 1971

WHY AID PAKISTAN?

After months of equivocation and evasion, the State Department has finally made it clear that the administration intends to keep on furnishing military and economic assistance to the government of Pakistan despite continuing acts of repression in East Pakistan that have shocked the world. This incredible policy decision defies understanding.

* The Observer, July 4, 1971

BENGAL GUERRILLAS STEP UP BOMBING

Dacca, 3 July: As Secretary of Dacca’s Council Muslim League, Mr. Abdul Matin, a Bengali and a lawyer, is a firm believer in the unity of the two Pakistans. He is also a lucky man.

At 1.55 one morning this week, he escaped unhurt when a bomb went off in his home. It woke the city and blew a hole the size of a football in a thick brick wall. The bomb was the Mukti Fouj’s (Freedom Fighters) way of reminding people that nowadays it pays to be a Begali first and a Muslim second.

* The Observer, July 4, 1971

EDITORIAL: BENGAL CHAOS COULD LEAD TO WAR

The Enormous and increasing scale of the refugee exodus from East Pakistan to India confronts the world not only with the greatest humanitarian relief task since World War Two but also with a political crisis of growing magnitude. Already five or six million people – more than the entire population of one of the smaller European States- have fled from their homes through fear or hunger. Millions more may move by the autumn if famine occurs through a breakdown of minimal food distribution.

There is a growing danger that if the exodus continues, the whole of the Indian sub-continent may be dragged into war and unpredictable social convulsions.

* International Herald Tribune, July 6, 1971

REPRESSION, TERRORISM FOUND GROWING IN EAST PAKISTAN

The army is, indeed, in control, except for a few areas near the active and growing more so-with aid from India.

* The Economist, July 10, 1971

THE MUKTI FOUJ IS STILL FIGHTING

But even when the list is out, the continued activities of the Mukti Fouj may deter people from collaborating with the Martial Law regime. At the moment the main activity of the Bengali resistance is confined to the border areas, where India provides sanctuary and a certain amount of assistance from Indian regular troops in the form of coverage fire. Even Rajshahi-separated from India by the Ganges, which is some five miles wide during the monsoon I heard noises of skirmishing in the night. Most of the Mukti Fouj’s work is sabotage and in one district alone, Comilla, it is officially admitted that eight rail bridges and 15 road bridges have been down. This is enough to keep the 60,000 men of the Pakistani army in the east busy.

In the interior, the army has more or less had to limit its operations to the Madhupur Forest area north of Dacca, where, there are still more than 100 deserters from the East Pakistan Rifles and the East Bengal Regiment with a few machine-guns and mortars; the Noakhali area, where the Bengali communist leader, Mohammad Toaha, is operating the Barisal area, where those members of the large community of Hindus who have not made it to India have apparently armed themselves; and the Khulna district, where there is evidence that Naxalites slipped over the border from West Bengal. Otherwise guarding the interior has had to be pretty well a police job.

* The Observer, July 4, 1971

BENGAL GUERRILLAS STEP UP BOMBING

Dacca, 3 July: As Secretary of Dacca’s Council Muslim League, Mr. Abdul Matin, a Bengali and a lawyer, is a firm believer in the unity of the two Pakistans. He is also a lucky man.

At 1.55 one morning this week, he escaped unhurt when a bomb went off in his home. It woke the city and blew a hole the size of a football in a thick brick wall. The bomb was the Mukti Fouj’s (Freedom Fighters) way of reminding people that nowadays it pays to be a Bengali first and a Muslim second.

* The Obeserver, July 4, 1971

EDITORIAL: BENGAL CHAOS COULD LEAD TO WAR

The Enormous and increasing scale of the refugee exodus from East Pakistan to India confronts the world not only with the greatest humanitarian relief task since World War Two but also with a political crisis of growing magnitude. Already five or six million people – more than the entire population of one of the smaller European States- have fled from their homes through fear or hunger. Millions more may move by the autumn if famine occurs through a breakdown of minimal food distribution.

There is a growing danger that if the exodus continues, the whole of the Indian sub-continent may be dragged into war and unpredictable social convulsions.

* International Herald Tribune, July 6, 1971

REPRESSION, TERRORISM FOUND GROWING IN EAST PAKISTAN

Dacca (NYT)– “Doesn’t the world realize that they’re nothing but butchers?” asked a foreigner who has lived in East Pakistan for many years. ” That they killed — and are still killing-Bengalis just to intimidate them, to make slaves out of them? That they wiped out whole villages opening fire at first light and stopping only when they got tired?”.

The foreigner, normally a calm man, was talking about the Pakistani Army and the bloodbath it has inflicted on East Pakistan in its effort to crush the Bengali independence movement.

Most of the foreign residents–diplomats, missionaries, businessmen– also talk the way this man does now. And they are eager to tell what they know to those foreign newsmen who were permitted to re-enter East Pakistan in mid-June and travel around unescorted for the first time since March 25.

* The Economist, July 10, 1971

THE MUKTI FOUJ IS STILL FIGHTING

At the moment the main activity of the Bengali resistance is confined to the border areas, where India provides sanctuary and a certain amount of assistance from Indian regular troops in the form of coverage fire. Even Rajshahi-separated from India by the Ganges, which is some five miles wide during the monsoon I heard noises of skirmishing in the night. Most of the Mukti Fouj’s work is sabotage and in one district alone, Comilla, it is officially admitted that eight rail bridges and 15 road bridges have been down. This is enough to keep the 60,000 men of the Pakistani army in the east busy.

In the interior, the army has more or less had to limit its operations to the Madhupur Forest area north of Dacca, where, there are still more than 100 deserters from the East Pakistan Rifles and the East Bengal Regiment with a few machine-guns and mortars; the Noakhali area, where the Bengali communist leader, Mohammad Toaha, is operating the Barisal area, where those members of the large community of Hindus who have not made it to India have apparently armed themselves; and the Khulna district, where there is evidence that Naxalites slipped over the border from West Bengal. Otherwise guarding the interior has had to be pretty well a police job.

* International Herald Tribune, July 16, 1971

FIGHT FOR BENGALI AUTONOMY MAY BE GAINING MOMENTUM

New Delhi, July 15 (NYT)- The resistance fighters in East Pakistan have been increasing their hit-and-run attacks on small West Pakistani Army units and police stations.

As the still disorganized Bengali autonomy movement appears to be gaining momentum, the guerrillas have been avoiding frontal battles but have inflicted a sizeable number of casualties.

They have also stepped up executions, sometimes by beheading of those collaborating with the army.

In many areas the army pulls back to the relative safety of its cantonments at night, leaving the rebels free to move through the countryside.

With the growing resistance, the army has had to reimpose curfews in an increasing number of towns. Foreign observers are beginning to draw parallels to Vietnam.

* International Herald Tribune, July 16, 1971

BAN URGED ON U.S. AID TO PAKISTAN

Washington, July 15 (NYT)- The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted today to withhold all military and economic assistance for Pakistan and Greece.

The action on Pakistan proposes to cut off United States funds until East Pakistani refugees have been returned to their homes and “reasonable stability” has been achieved in the country where the army crushed an East Pakistani movement for political autonomy.

* The Weekly Economist, July 17, 1971

THE BENGAL PRESSURE BUILDS UP ON MRS. GANDHI

India is known to be giving the Mukti Fouj-the guerrillas in East Pakistan, some help. But how much help, niether party is eager to reveal. Sanctuary, invaluable to all guerrillas, is certainly being granted, and perhaps covering fire from the Indian border security forces. Training may still be in the hands of guerrillas themselves. But since even those of them who were previously a regular part of the Pakistan army had no training with explosives, and since they have recently pulled off some spectacular bridge bowling, it is likely that Indian sappers haves been providing the explosives and know-how. Certainly the Mukti Fouj needs training. The East Pakistan Rifles and the East Bengal Regiments, which have now been merged into it, have dropped their previous tacties of fighting in battlle order and now operate in small groups. But it will be harder to persuade them to swallow their regimental pride and wear civilian clothes.

* Newsweek, July 19, 1971

PAKISTAN: THE BENGALIS STRIKE BACK

“I am glad to be able to tell you”, declared Pakistan President Mohammad Yahya Khan in a recent address to his nation “that the army is in full control of the situation in East Pakistan. It has crushed the mischief-mongers, saboteurs and infiltrators”. Alas for Yahya, the facts told a different story. Throughout East Pakistan, the embattled Bengali resistance movement seemed more determined than ever to prove, that it was alive and well-and capable of making life extremely difficult for the heavily armed but thinly spread occupation forces of the Pakistani Army.

* The Telegraph, July 23, 1971

GUERRILLAS REGAIN MARKET TOWN IN EAST PAKISTAN

Bangladesh guerrillas have reoccupied an area of 150 square miles in the Jessore district of East Pakistan near the frontier with India.

They were carlier driven from these positions to take refuge in India when Pakistani Army reinforcements move form Jessore cantonment in April to obliterate Pockets of Bengali resistance in the border regions.

* International Herald Tribune, July 31-August 1, 1971

‘THANT IS REPORTED TO WARN OF INDIA-PAKISTAN’ DISASTER

United Nations, July 30 (UPI)- Secretary General U Thant has warned the Security Council in a secret memorandum that humanitarian aid will not suffice to avert “Potential disaster” in the Inadia-Pakistan crisis, it was reliably learned yesterday. He expressed his deep concern about the situation and described it as a “potential threat to peace and security which could no longer be ignored by the international community.

* International Herald Tribune, August 5, 1971

14 EAST PAKISTANI DIPLOMATS QUIT IN U.S. ASK POLITICAL ASYLUM

Washington, Aug. 4 (IHT) – Fourteen Pakistani diplomats, including the No. 2 United Nations delegate, resigned today to join the East Pakistan independence movement. They sought political asylum in the United States. They are all East Pakistanis.

* Internal Herald Tribune, August 9, 1971

MAJOR POWERS SEEK TO AVERT WAR IN BENGAL

Washington, Aug 8 (NYT)- The Principal Western powers, the Soviet Union, China and Secretary General Thant were reported yesterday to be engaged in new diplomatic efforts to prevent the possible outbreak of fighting between India and Pakistan.

* International Herald Tribune, August 10, 1971

PRESIDENT YAHYA ANNOUNCES AWAMI LEAGUE CHIEF TO BE TRIED BY ARMY

Rawalpindi, Aug. 9 (AP)- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, President of the banned Awami League will be tried by a special military court for “waging war against Pakistan” and other offensives, a note issued by the office of President Mohammad Yahya Khan said today.

The trial, which will start on Wednesday, will be held in secrecy the announcement said.

* The Daily Telegraph, August 10, 1971

INDIA AND RUSSIA SIGN 20-YEAR DEFENCE PACT

Russia will back India with force if necessary in the event of a war with Pakistan under a 20 year treaty, signed in New Delhi yesterday, that puts India firmly in the Russian camp after years of non-alignment.

It was signed by Mr. Gromyko, Soviet Foreign Minister and Mr. Singh, his Indian counterpart. The treaty of “friendship, peace and co-operation” provides for mutual defence arrangements.

* The Times, August 12, 1971

RUSSIA AND INDIA CALL FOR A POLITICAL SOLUTION IN EAST BENGAL

Delhi, Aug. 11- The Soviet Union and India said tonight that they considered urgent steps were necessary to achieve a political solution to the problems of East Pakistan and that there could be no military solution.

Their views were expressed in a joint statement issued here at the conclusion of three days of talks between Mr. Gromyko, Soviet Foreign Minister, and Mr. Singh, his Indian counterpart, during which a treaty of “peace, friendship and cooperation” was signed.

* International Herald Tribune, August 14-15, 1971

EAST PAKISTAN CRISIS TERMED ‘GREATEST CHALLENGE’ TO INDIA

New Delhi, Aug. 13 (Reuters)- Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has described the situation created by the East Pakistan crisis as the nation’s “greatest challenge since independence”.

“The Bangladesh situation has produced all the consequences of war without the actuality of engaging in a war”, she said in an apparent reference to the influx of millions of refugees into India and increased border clashes along the East Pakistan borders.

* International Herald Tribune, August 17, 1971

AFTER VISITING REFUGEES IN INDIA KENNEDY HITS PAKISTAN ‘GENOCIDE’

New Delhi, Aug. 16 (NYT) – Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D. Mass., today denounced Pakistan’s military repression in East Pakistan as genocide and said that the secret trial of the East Pakistani leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was “an outrage of every concept of international law”.

* International Herald Tribune, August 17, 1971

BENGAL REBELS PERMITTED TO USE INDIA, ENVOY ADMITS

Washington, Aug 16 (WP)- Indian Ambassador Lakshmi Kant Jha admitted yesterday that India was permitted its territory to be used as a sanctuary for Bengali rebels fighting for an independent East Pakistan.

* The Daily Morning Post (Nigeria), September 10, 1971

SECESSION ATTEMPT IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan occupies a prominent position in the political might of Asia. Being the biggest Muslim state and fifth largest in world population, her affairs can easily become the affairs of the world. No wonder the civil war in the country had so provoked worldwide comments in the Press. And now the frightening reality of the aftermath of the Pakistani crisis is the refugee problem whereby some million homeless people are reported to have gone over to India. What is the cause of Pakistan’s predicament? A secession was being attempted by a political group belonging to the majority in term of population and the government of Pakistan ordered an action to arrest the situation. But after facing an armed resistance from the secessionists, the government brought the situation under control and is now engaged in restoring economic life and organising relief measures in East Pakistan- the territory that attempted to secede. Contrary to sensational reports that a worsening situation is being experienced in East Pakistan, reliable and accurate sources disclose that many factories and industrial units have resumed their normal work. Communications and transportation on railways and the reverence have been largely restored. Also, the movement and distribution of food grains and other essential goods have also been resumed.

* The Daily Al-Bilad (Jeddah), September 17, 1971

EDITORIAL : HONOUR FOR PAKISTAN

It is a great honour for Pakistan that of all the countries Mujibur Rahman’s secessionists contracted Israel for assistance. They party who does not find help but from sources like Israel, is well-known throughout the world that it is a tail to the colonisation and racialism. It is a party whose endeavour has failed and whose merchandise remained unused, and its wind will blow out shortly because bankruptcy in the beginning results necessarily to bankruptcy at the end. I hesitated much before commenting on news reports, received yesterday, about the arrival of an envoy of the secessionists of Mujibur Rahman is Israel to seek assistance from the Israel’s- the enemies of humanity, Arabs and Islam. But the fact that the envoy held a press conference in Jerusalem along with Mardakhay Shnorson and Saul Karif from Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has removed every doubt from my mind, and ascertained this tragedy.

* The Daily Ayandegan (Tehran), September 19, 1971

THE POLITICAL SOLUTION FOR PAKISTAN

News from Pakistan has been more encouraging. After the appointment of a Bengali- Dr. Abdul Malik- as the East Pakistan Governor is place of Lt. Gen. Tikka Khan, now a 10 man cabinet, including some members of the Awami League, has been constituted to administer the Government. The army and the Martial Law Administration headed by Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi, have been instructed only to assist the civilian Government. In addition to this, President Yahya Khan has announced general amnesty for all those accused of committing atrocities during March 1 and September 5 this year and as a result, a large number of Bengali police and military personnel have also been released.

* The Al-Thaura (Tripoli), September 22, 1971

EDITORIAL: SITUATION IN PAKISTAN

People of the Libya Arab Republic have supported the people of Pakistan in their hour of crisis with unmatched steadfastness and sincerity. However, it is necessary that the brotherly people of the Libya Arab Republic should know that they are their brethren, but because they are supporting a right and just cause. International and Zionist propaganda consider the present crisis in Pakistan as a “golden opportunity” to eliminate Pakistan and thereby to eliminate one of the most fraternal allies of the Arabs.

* International Herald Tribune, September 30, 1971

MRS. GANDHI TERMED PLEASED BY SOVIET STAND ON REFUGEES

Moscow, Sept. 29 (NYT): Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, left Moscow today after a 48-hour visit, reportedly pleased with an explicit show of Soviet support on the issure of East Pakistan refugees.

A joint Soviet-Indian statement issued after her departure affirmed the Kremlin’s endorsement of India’s stand on East Pakistan voiced yesterday in a luncheon speech by Premier Alexei N. Kosygin.

* The Al-Madina (Jeddah), September 30, 1971

EDITORIAL: WHERE IS WAR?

The Indo-Russian statement issued in Moscow yesterday is yet another step of interference of Russians and Indians in the Internal affairs of East Pakistan, as this statement reflexes the two parties’ pretension to be worried about the situation in East Pakistan. It is certain that a large number of refugees crossed into India, but they are not 9 million as the Indian propaganda puts it. The refugee swept to India in order to escape the saboteurs coming from the in order to escape the saboteurs coming from the Indian territories.

* The Indonesia Observer, October 7, 1971

EDITORIAL: A HARD PRESSED REGIME

Time is fast running out for Pakistan’s military regime under General Yahya Khan as the combined forces of public opinion in the world as well as within the country itself exert great pressure for political economic reforms. Yahya Khan’s desperate attempt to avert his country’s total bankruptcy by announcing general amnesty and the replacement of East Pakistan’s military governor by a civilian has not aroused the least interest among the 9 million refugees from East Pakistan in India. The Pakistan President has not touched the essential core of the problem in promising a lenient attitude towards the refugees. He did mention about the future legislature of Pakistan as result of the general elections of last December in which the Awami League achieved an overwhelming victory.

* International Herald Tribune, October 7, 1971

PAKISTAN TELLS U.N. THAT INDIA CARRIES ON A CLANDESTINE WAR

United Nations, N.Y. Oct. 6 (NYT): Pakistan’s Chief delegate to the United Nations, Mahmud Ali, said yesterday that India has been carrying on a clandestine war against Pakistan “for the past few months,” Chiefly since violence erupted in East Pakistan in March.

Speaking in the General Assembly, Mr. Ali said Pakistan is willing to acept UN border observers, an idea that has been rejected by India.

* The York Times, October 11, 1971

HORRORS OF EAST PAKISTAN TURNING HOPE INTO DISPAIR

Dhaka Oct. 10:- The horror of life in East Pakistan shows every sign of becoming permanently institutionalised, and most, if not all, the foreigners who came hoping to help are on the verge of despair.

In particular, the chances of reversing the tide of millions of destitute refugees who have fled to India seem remote. Most governments consider the refugee problem the main catalyst in the atmosphere of war prevailing on the subcontinent.

* International Herald Tribune, October 13, 1971

NEW FIGHTING BY BENGALIS IS EXPECTED; TENSION BUILDS ALONG INDIA-PAKISTAN BORDER

Calcutta, Oct. 12 (NYT): Under heavy security, several special freight trains carrying military supplies have been arriving in Calcutta every day for some time. The arms are reported to be earmarked for the insurgent Bangali forces fighting for East Pakistan’s independence, who are believed to be preparing to step up their activities against the Pakistan Army within a few weeks or possibly sooner.

Meanwhile, an air of suspense continues to build between the opposingarmies of India and Pakistan, on both the eastern and western borders. Reliable reports here indicated that both sides have reinforced their troops on these always sensitive frontiers. This correspondent has observed sizable Indian troop movements along the border with East Pakistan. Near one border point, at petrapole, Indian regular troops were training with recoilless rifles, which are often used against tanks.

Speculation abounds about the possibility of another India-Pakistani war, but there is no strong evidence that war is imminent, and the troop movements might be elaborate psychological warfare.

* The Lybian Times October 20, 1971

INDO-PAKISTAN TENSION RISES TO A WARLIKE FEVERISH PITCH

Karachi (AFP): Pakistani Air Force Commander Air Marshal Rahim Khan Yesterday warned his Planes would take “appropriate action” against further violations of Pakistani airspace by indian aircraft.

In a telegram to his Indian counterpart, Air Marshal Rahim Khan said “Indian aircraft have been violating air space over both wings of Pakistan for some time”.

* International Herald Tribune, October 25, 1971

BENGALI ASSSAULTS REPORTED

Karachi, Oct. 24 (NYT). –The Pakistan government said its forces in East Pakistan today repulsed tow battalion-sized attacks by Bengali guerrilas supported by Indian troops and artillery.

The two attacks were said to have taken place in Comilla District near East Pakistan’s eastern frontier with India.

Casualties were heavy, according to government announcement.

* International Herald Tribune, October 27, 1971

PAKISTAN CLAIMS IT MOPS UP ‘INDIAN TROOPS AND AGENTS’

Karachi, Oct. 26 (NYT)– The Pakistani Army continued mopping up “Indian troops and agents” in the Kasba area of Comilla District, in East Pakistan to day and, according to an evening communique, 78 more enemy bodies were found.

The latest claim brought to 579 the number of insurgents said by Pakistan to have been killed in the last three days.

Pakistan has reported that the attacks Sunday and yesterday involved around 1,000 “Indian troops and agents”.

The communique noted that India has claimed the Kasba area as being under the control of rebel Mukti Bahini forces, but reiterated Pakistan’s contention that all the territory in East Pakistan is under the control of Islamabad’s forces.

Government communiques do not mention Pakistani military casualties.

* The Financial Times (London), October 27, 1971

REPRISALS CONTINUE AGAINST UNARMED EAST PAKISTAN’S

In spite of the military regime’s persistent denials, the Pakistan army and police continue to take reprisals against unarmed civilians living where the Bengali rebels operate, even within sight of the residence of the new civilian governor in the middle of Dacca. Authoritative sources say the American Government also continues to urge the Pakistani army to halt the attacks in an effort to create a tranquil atmosphere to attract back some of the millions of refugees who have left East Pakistan since March 25, when the army cracked down against the Awami League and its leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, throwing the predominantly Bengali province of 75 million people into civil war.

*International Herald Tribune, November 1, 1971

SOVIET AIR CHIEF ARRIVES IN INDIA

New Delhi, Oct. 31 (UPI).– The commander of the Soviet Air force arrived yesterday for a six-day visit while government spokesmen charged Pakistan with a series of border violations, including one in which six Pakistani soldiers were reported to have been killed.

Two Pakistani aircraft intruded into Indian airspace over northern Jammu and Kashmir states yesterday, the All-India Radio reported. It said that the planes had flown back to Pakistan before they could be engaged.

Air Marshal Pavel S.Kouthakov, who is a deputy defense minister and commands the Soviet Air Force, met Defense Minister Jagjivan Ram quickly after his arrival.

* Internal Herald Tribune, November 2, 1971

MRS. GANDHI SAYS U.S. TAKES SHORT-TERM VIEW ON PAKISTAN

London, Nov. 1 (NYT). Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of INdia said today that the United States was taking a “short-term” view of the crisis with pakistan and warned that the influx of East Pakistan refugees had strained India beyond the breaking point.

* Newsweek, November 8, 1971

A WAR WAITING TO HAPPEN

In their 24 years as independent nations, India and Pakistan have shown a boundless capacity for squabbling with each other. They have argued endlessly over Kashmir and a bit of wasteland called the Rann of Kutch, and six years ago they plunged into a brief but bloody war. “These two countries,” remarked one Western diplomat, “have hardly ever been genuinely at peace.” And certainly they were not last week. Along 3,000 miles of border, Indian and Pakistani troops massed in menacing formations. Most observers felt that the current travels of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who is due in the U.S. this week, ruled out the likelihood that India would go to war for the moment. But there remained the omnious feeling in both nations that, sooner or later, they would stumble into conflict.

* The Daily Telegraph, November 9, 1971

SINO-PAKISTAN TALKS COMPLETE SUCCESS, SAYS BHUTTO

Any aggressor crossing into Pakistan “would be doome.” Mr. Ali Bhutto, President Yahya’s personal envoy, said in Rawalpindi yesterday on his return from three days of talks in Peking with Chou En Lai Chinese Prime Minister.

Mr. Bhutto led a high-powered military and diplomatic mission to he Chinese capital.

While he conferred with Chou En-lai, three Pakistani Service chiefs–Air Mahshal Rahim Khan, Lt-Gen Gul Hasan and Cdre Rashid, had talks with their Chinese counterparts and members of the Chinese Military commission.

* The Daily Telegraph, November 9, 1971

U.S. CUTS ARMS TO PAKISTAN

America announced yesterday its decision to cancel licences for the export of
1.4 million worth of military equipment to Pakistan by “mutual consent.”

By this step the Nixon Administration hopes that a major irritant will be removed in relations with India, and that America will be placed in a better position to persuaded India to reduce tension along the India-Pakistan border where troops are massing.

America imposed an arms embargo on Pakistan last April after military operations had begun in East Pakistan.

The Daily Telegraph, November 13, 1971

BHUTTO SAYS HE WILL NOT STAND EAST PAKISTAN RULE

Mr. Zulfika r Ali Bhutto, leader of West Pakistan’s Leftist People’s party gave a warning yesterday that he would not tolerate any attemptv to form an East Pakistan dominated Government after next month’s by-elections in the province, “We will

topple it within 40 days.” he declared.

* Newsweek, November 22, 1971

BENGAL: THE TIME OF REVENGE

From the moment last March that Pakistan’s President Mohammed Yahya Khan unleashed a reign of terror against the Bengalis of East Pakistan, his army has been embroiled in bloody–and losing–guerrilla war there. By now, the Bengali insurgents–known as the Mukti Bahini–claim a force of insurgents–known as the Mukti Bahini–claim a force of 100,000 soldiers and control roughly one-fourth of the countryside of East Pakistan.

* International Herald Tribune, November 23, 1971

EDIRORIAL: BANDAIDSS FOR THE SUBCONTINENT

There United Nations is drifting toward a disastrous failure on the Indian subcontinent because it is attempting to treat a potentially mortal wound with bandaids.

While India and Pakistan move closer to all-out war, the world organization has been wrangling over relief measures for an estimated nine million refugees, who have fled to India from East Bengal and for the 66-odd million Bengalis they left behind in that rebellious Pakistani province.

* International Herald Tribune, November 25, 1971

EDITORIAL : WAR ON THE SUBCONTINENT

The Indians and Pakistanis have finally got their war. Indians wanted it to humiliate Pakistan, rationalizing (fairly enough) that no other way was left to be rid of the refugees. Pakistanis want it to cover their frustration at failing to suppress the Bengali insurgents in East Pakistan. Mrs. Gandhi went around the world asking for help ; none was forthcoming so her government proceeded alone. Gen. Yahaya Khan took the opposite course, trying unsuccessfully to subdue East Pakistan himself. Now he probably hopes the international community will step in the before the Indians beat him too badly, in the West as well as the East. The Indians, fighting an undeclared war, seem to hope they’ll be able to lick the Pakistanis before international pressures enforce a cease fire.

* International Herald Tribune, November 29, 1971

INDIA – PAKISTAN – BIG POWERS

INDIA: ‘WE’LL FINALLY GET THE PAKISTANIS OFF OUR BACKS’

Calcutta, (NYT). – India and Pakistan were born 24 years ago in a burst or commual hatred that consumed hundreds of thousands of Hindu and moslem lives before subsiding., although never really dying out. The old hatred flared into two wars. And last week the two neighbours of the Indian subcontinent stood on the brink of third war–potentially the most dangerous collision of all.

* International Herald Tribune, November 29, 1971

PAKISTAN SAYS TROOPS PULL BACK AT JESSORE

Karachi, Nov. 28 (WP).– The Pakistan government indicated today that Pakistan troops in the eastern wing of the country have lost ground in the past 24 hours as fighting reportedly continues.

An official statement, alleging that Indian forces had launched three major attacks against Pakistani positions, said the attackers had made some “dents” in Pakistani forward positions in the Jessore area.

* International Herald Tribune, December 4–5, 1971

INDIA SAYS FOE LAUNCHES ALL-OUT WAR; PAKISTAN CALLS BOTH ITS REGIONS BESET

New Delhi, Dec. 3 (Reuters).- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi tonight declared that Pakistan had launched full-scale war on India.

Speaking in a nationwide broadcast, Mrs. Gandhi said that she had no option but to put the country on a war footing.

Her speech came shortly after Indian President V.V. Giri Issued a proclamation declaring a national state of emergency. He said a bill would be introduced in Parliament tomorrow for immediate enactment of emergency measures which will give the government virtually unlimited powers.

Pakistan President Mohammed Yahya Khan declared a state of emergency in his country on Nov. 23.

* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971

INDIA’S INVASION TO CRUSH EAST PAKISTAN 36 PLANE DOWN, SAYS YAHYA KHAN

India yesterday launched a full scale invasion of East Pakistan with the object of driving out the 70,000 West Pakistan troops in the province, Indian forces linked up with the Bengladesh guerrillas, and claimed to have captured several towns in the eastern areas.

The drive got under way as Mrs. Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, said that Pakistan had declared war on India, and that this would be fully met.

* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971

ULTIMATE FOLLY, SAYS MRS. GANDHI

The following is the text of the statement by Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, to the Indian Parliament yesterday:

This morning the Government of West Pakistan has declared a war upon us. Last evening, the West Pakistani Air Force violated our airspace wantonly and attacked a large number of our airfields. Simultaneously, their ground forces shelled our positions along the Western border.

Their propaganda media have made totally baseless allegations that India has launched an assault.

* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971

FINAL WAR, SAYS YAHYA KHAN

In a broadcast in Urdu yesterday President Yahya Khan of Pakistan said:

We are fighting for our country’s integrity and honour, God is with us in our mission. Our enemy has once again challenged us. The armed forces of India have launched a full-scale war on us.

India’s hate and enmity for Pakistan are known to the whole world. India has always tried to weaken and destroy Pakistan. This is India’s biggest and final war against us.

So far Pakistan has acted with supreme patience. We have tolerated enough. The time has now come to give a crushing reply to the Indian aggressors.

* The Daily Telegraph, December 6, 1971

STIFF DEFENCE IN EAST

India’s armed forces, totalling a million men kept up their heavy and concerted assault yesterday on both East and West Pakistan in the air, at sea and on the ground, claiming heavy enemy losses and casualties with only light to moderate Indian losses.

The main thrust is being concentrated on East Pakistan, with a holding operation along the Western front.

The Daily Telegraph, December 6, 1971

RUSSIA STOPS U.N. CALL FOR CEASE-FIRE

The Security Council was to meet again in emergency session last night after a long and bitter debate during which a United States proposal for a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops was vetoed by the Soviet Union.

Two other resolutions call for an immediate end to the fighting, while one from the Soviet Union seeks a political solution of the conflict “leading to a cessation of hostilities.”

The Times, December 7, 1971

BANGLADESH RECOGNIZED AS INDEPENDENT STATE BY INDIA

India gave the “Democratic Republic of Bangladesh” full recognition yesterday, as its invading forces thrust deeper into Pakistan’s eastern province towards the capital of Dacca. Justifying India’s decision, Mrs. Gandhi told Parliament in Delhi that President Yahya Khan was now “totally incapable” of regaining control of the territory.

* International Herald Tribune, December 7, 1971

SECURITY COUNCIL DEADLOCKED IN 3RD EFFORT

United Nations, N.Y., Dec. 6 (Reuters): Security Council members failed to agree tonight on the terms of a ceasefire resolution in the India-Pakistan conflict and prepared for a possible transfer of the problem to the General Assembly.

This was the third attempt in as many days by the 15-nation council to draft a unanimous resolution that would call for a halt to the fighting between India and Pakistan.

The two previous attempts were blocked by a Soviet veto. Russia had maintained that cease-fire resolution should not contain a commitment for the withdrawal of troops, but the United States insisted I should.

* International Herald Tribune, December 8, 1971

INDIA URGES FOE IN EAST TO GIVE UP

New Delhi, Dec. 7.: After reporting that Indian troops had battered their way into Jessore, the Pakistani Army’s chief garrison town in western East Pakistan, the Indian Army’s chief of staff broadeast a dramatic appeal to the 70,000 Pakistani soldiers in the eastern province:

“Your fate is sealed. Time is running out. Lay down your arms before it is too late.”

Gen Sam Manekshaw, the chief of staff, told the enemy forces they were surrounded not only by Indian troops but also by East Pakistani guerrillas– the Mukti Bahini–and he said he guerrillas were “ready to take revenge for the cruelties and atrocities you have committed”.

* International Herald Tribune, December 8, 1971

YAHYA APPOINTS COALITION HEADED BY EAST PAKISTANI

Islamabad, Pakistan, Dec. 7.:– President Mohammad Yahya Khan today named a center coalition government headed by an East Pakistani as premier with the most powerful politician in West Pakistan as deputy premier.

In a move obviously designed to show that the eastern and western sections of Pakistan remain united in one state, despite India’s recognition yesterday of East Pakistan’s breakaway regime of Bangladesh, Pakistan announced that the coalition had been formed” in light of the present war situation.

* International Herald Tribune, December 9, 1971

UN ASSEMBLY CALLS ON INDIA, PAKISTAN TO CEASE FIGHTING

United Nations, N.Y., Dec. 8 (WP).– The General Assembly adopted a resolution last night calling on India and Pakistan to cease hostilities and withdraw their armed forces to their own sides of the borders. The vote was 104 to 11 with 11 abstentions. The resolution was essentially the same as the one the Soviet Union vetoed in the Security Council Sunday. The Council voted late Monday night to send the question to the assembly under the “united-for-peace” resolution originally used to deal with the Korean War in 1950– after two Soviet vetoes and the Threat of a third.

The Assembly has neither a veto nor the power to make its resolutions compulsory.

While 57 speakers expressed their countries’ views, Indian troops and Bangladesh guerrillas moved toward making the People’s Republic of Bangladesh a fact on the ground rather than a fiction of diplomacy.

* International Herald Tribune, December 10, 1971

EDITORIAL: THE EMERGENCY OF BANGLADESH

Defying a United Nations plea for a ceasefire, Indian forces appear on the verge of achieving New Delhi’s major objectives in East Pakistan. These are the defeat of West Pakistani military repression in the disaffected Bengali province and the creation of conditions that will facilitate the speedy repatriation of nearly 10 million refugees– Moslem and Hindu–to an independent, friendly and secular “Bangladesh”.

* The Daily Telegraph, December 11, 1971

BANGLADESH PACT SIGNED

India and Bangladesh have signed an agreement whereby Indian troops will remain in Bangladesh to “restore conditions of absolute normalcy.”

Working in Concert with the Mukti Fouj, the Bangladesh army, Indian forces will under the agreement help to restore essential services and public utilities, and facilitate the return of 9,7000,000 refugees now in India.

They will also “try to provide” protection to everybody in areas under their control from mob violence.

One significant feature of the agreement is that it clearly indicates that Indian troops will not withdraw from Bangladesh for some time. The point about is a crucial one for the future of Bangladesh in coming months.

* The Observer, December 12, 1971

LAST STAND IN THE EAST

Calcutta, 11 December.– In the last desperate days of East Pakistan, the retreating soldiers of the Pakistani Army appear to be digging in for a final face-saving stand against the advancing Indian columns.

Over the last 24 hours, the speed of the Indian push towards Dacca has noticeably lessened and in some places has slowed to a painful crawl.

On all fronts the severity of the fighting has increased and for the first time Indian field commanders are admitting to heavier casualties than at any other time since war broke out. Significantly, the number of Pakistani troops surrendering has also grown. Since Friday, more than 1,000 have given themselves up as Indian units more deliberately to isolate the more remote areas of the country.

* The Daily Telegraph, December 13, 1971

INDEPENDENT BANGLADESH GOVT. TAKES OVER IN JESSORE

The Government of independent Bangladesh, which returned over the weekend to the former Pakistani district capital of Jessore, has stated that its first priority is to restore law and order to its now chaoitic country.

In a triumphant procession led by armed guerrillas and Indian Army military police, Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, the Prime Minister and Syed Nazrul Islam, the Acting President, drove in two commandeered Pakistani diplomatic corps Chevrolets from Petrapole, on the Indian border, to Jessore on Saturday.

Addressing a crowd of thousands in the centre of the town, the two Bengali leaders urged their people not to take the law into their own hands by killing “traitors and Pakistani collaborators.”

They said that a special war tribunal would be held soon in Dacca at which these men would be tired.

* The Times, December 14, 1971

PAKISTAN GENERAL SAYS HE WILL FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN

Dacca Dec. 13. Seated on a shooting stick at a street corner in Dacca, General A.A.K. “Tiger” Niazi, the commander of Pakistan’s forces in the east, vowed todya to fight to the last man in the face of advancing Indian forces.

He made the pledge to jounralists as the Indians were reported to be as close as nine miles on their southern push to the city.

General Niazi, told the reporters: “It does not matter if we don’t have enough men to defend the city. It’s now a question of living or dying and we shall fight to the last man.”

* The Times, December 15, 1971

DHAKA LEADERS RESIGN AND SEEK ASYLUM

As Indian Migs destroyed his official residence and the final assault on Dacca began, Mr. A.M. Malik, Governor of East Pakistan, last night wrote his resignation and that of his entire Cabinet on a scrap of paper addressed to President Yahya Khan.

Senior Government officials joined foreigners seeking refuge in a Red Cross neutral Zone in the city which India has ordered its forces to respect. The East Pakistan capital was attacked from all sides and All-India Radio claimed that part of the garrison had already surrendered Indian armoued and infantry columns were locked with the Pakistanis in the city’s outer defences and military (targets were pounded both by an artillery barrage and through air strikes.

Russia advised Delhi that it had received warnings from both China and the United States that they might be forced to intervene if the integrity of West Pakistan were threatened. In the Security Council, Britain and France launched a new, but undisclosed attempt to solve the deadlock.

* The Times, December 16, 1971

INDIA REPLIES TO DHAKA CEASE-FIRE INQUIRY WITH MORNING DEADLINE FOR ARM’S SURRENDER

Calcutta, Dec. 15. India has given the Pakistani Army in the east until 9 a.m. tomorrow to stop fighting after a dramatic inquity about a cease-fire from Lieutenant General A A K Niazi, the army’s commander in chief, in Dacca tonight.

A pause was immediately ordered in the intense Indian bombing of Dacca while the Pakistan Command considers proposals made to it by General Sam Manekshaw Chief of Staff of the Indian Army.

However, the elation that greeted the news when it broke here just after 6 p.m. was slightly damped when the full meaning of General Niazi’s inquiry became known. He is asking, in fact, for a chance to withdraw his soldiers to safe areas from which they could be repatriated to West Pakistan and he has not talked yet in terms of a total surrender.

Informed observers here tonight are wondering whether General Niazi, who promised previously that his men would “fight to the last”, is playing for time or is opening the bargaining in a nigh-long diplomatic give and take.

General Manekshaw’s reply to the inquiry from Dacca said: “Since you have indicated your desire to stop fighting I expect you to issue orders to all forces under your command in Bangladesh to ceasefiring immediately and surrender to my advancing forces wherever they are located.

“I am giving you my solemn assurance that the personnel who surrender shall be treated with the dignity and respect that soldiers are entitled to and we will abide by the provisions of the Geneva Convention.

“Further, as you have many wounded I shall ensure that they are well cared for and your dead properly burried. No one need have any fear for their safety, no matter where they come from, nor shall there be any reprisals by the forces operating under my command.”

If a positive response was received, he added, he would direct General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Command, to halt air and ground action in East Pakistan. But if there were no such response he would be left with no alternative but to continue his offensive with the utmost vigour.

A radio link was being kept open tonight so that communications could be continued before the deadline expires tomorrow.

A later message said that General Niazi had been persuaded to make his tentative inquiry about a ceasefire by United Nations officials in Dacca, after the general had been found earlier today to be almost a breaking point.

His message was countersigned by Major-General Farman Ali Khan, military adviser to the governor of East Pakistan, whose own peace initiative to U Thant, the United Nations Secretary-General was countermanded by President Yahya Khan several days ago.

News of the latest initiatives reached here just after it had been announced that Indian soldiers had crossed all the waterways separating them from Dacca, including the Lakhya on the city’s eastern outskirts, and were now mortaring the capital from only a mile or so outside.

* The Times, December 16, 1971

MOVE TO DHAKA PLANNED BY BENGAL REGIME; BANGLADESH TO OBSERVE GENEVA CONVENSION

Calcutta, Dec. 15.– The Bangladesh Government is remaining in Calcutta while waiting for the Indian Army, with the help of the Mukti Bahini, to capture Dacca. As soon as the East Pakistan capital falls, the Government plans to install itself there.

The regime’s officials feel that this will signify their full establishment of power and legitimacy. They are hoping that friendly nations such as the Soviet Union, which have so far declined to follow India’s lead in granting diplomatic recognition, will then recognize Bangladesh.

Mukti bahini officials have been travelling extensively inside the captured or liberated areas lately, but Calcutta remains their base of operations.

Mukti Bahini is getting a regional civil administration restored. In some cases, former officials who fled before Pakistan Army repression and joined the Bangladesh cause are returning to their old posts. In other cases, those who stayed and collaborated with the Army are being purged and new officials assigned.

India is sending is some of its own officials to help with administration and police organization, and in technical fields such as medical and engineering services. Already this has given rise to some discontent, some beginning of ill-will.

* The Daily Telegraph, December 17, 1971

EAST PAKISTAN SURRENDERS; INDIA HAILS FREE BANGLADESH; TOTAL CEASE-FIRE OFFER; SURRENDER TERMS PLEDGE PROTECTION

All Pakistan’s forces on the Eastern front surrendered unconditionally to India yesterday. In return the Delhi Government offered a total cease-fire to include the Western front as well, but Pakistan’s President Yahya Khan said the “Holy war” would go on.

Pakistan’s Gen. “Tiger” Niazi, pledged to “fight to the last man” in Dacca, surrendered only 10 minutes before hte Indian ultimatum expired. He dropped previously-made evacuation conditions.

Gen. Niazi stripped off an epaulette marking his rank and handed his revolver to Lt.-Gen. J.S.Aurora, India’s commander in the East. The surrender documents were “in the highest terms of gallantry and chivalry,” it was claimed in Delhi.

While Bengalis were giving the victorious Indians a rapturous welcome, Mrs Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, in announcing her ceasefire offer, said Dacca was now the “free capital of a free country.” India rejoiced in the triumph of Bangladesh.

Mrs Gandhi told a cheering Parliament that India had no territorial ambitions, and further conflict would be pointless. A defence spokesman pointed out that the surrender was military occasion, not a political negotiation, but the Bangladesh Government would take over today.

* THE SUNDAY TIMES, December 19, 1971

DHAKA MURDERS EXPOSED: BENGAL’S ELITE DEAD IN A DITCH

Before they surrendered at Dacca on Thursday, the Pakistani Army arrested and then shot more than 50 of the city’s surviving intellectuals, scientists and businessmen. It was a closely planned elimination of elite Bengali citizens, carried out as a sudden military operation. It must therefore have been done with the full knowledge of the Pakistan high command, including the commanding officer, General Niazi.

The discovery of the bodies can only increase tension in Dacca, make revenge killings and riots more likely, and possibly even cause friction between the Mukti Bahini guerrillas and the Indian Army.

If the occupying forces have to clamp down on the liberated Bengalis, they co8ld come to resent even Indian occupation; and there are small signs of this ominous development already in Dacca.

The murdered intellectuals were discovered in some isolated clay pits on the outskirts of the town at a place called Rayar Bazer. I actually saw 35 bodies there, in a decomposed condition which indicates they were killed four or five days ago. There are probably many more, and from kidnap reports, some in Dacca are putting the number of killed as high as 150.

Compiled by Sajjatul Islam Nobel