Quality of mercy!
IT is certainly not nice to rub an August personage the wrong way– especially someone like U Thant, All the more pity if there is not sufficient provocation to cause anger. India baunted by the incubus of a massive evacuee problem cannot by any stretch of perverse logic be said to have taken an aggressive attitude towards the shockingly inadequate U. N. response to the Bangladesh crisis. And she has kept her cool in spite of the fact that she has had every reason to be chagrined over U Thant’s feeble and equivocal approach even to the screaming injustice of genocide. The Secretary-General’s taking umbrage at a mere trifle like the republication by the Indian Mission of a letter published in the New York Times and issuing a statement on that, therefore, seem to be unworthy of his role as an international peace-maker. The reaction of the Indian Ambassador to the U.N. Mr. Samar Sen, is perfectly understandable. As he said, relief operations in Bangladesh are of great concern to India and since relief plans are worked out without sufficient public discussion, there is need to air various points of view. And in any event, as Mr. Sen made clear, quoting an independent source should not be equated with official Indian policy and in fact, India “certainly did not share the point of view put forward.”
Whether this explanation mollifies the Secretary-General remains to be seen. But the issue of personal pique ought not to be allowed to obscure the lamentable truth. U Thant’s scheme of building a staff of international experts to coordinate and supervise humanitarian aid in Bangladesh does not appear to be suffused with the milk of human kindness or a sense of even-handed justice. Whatever relief may percolate into Bangladesh through a U.N. mission will only strengthen temporarily the logistical position of the Pakistani army. U Thant has in the past talked of the need for political reconciliation in the troubled area but how can a relief mission serve any useful purpose as long as the thud of army boots muffles the anguished cries of the defenceless? It is not without reason that General Yahya is always eager to be amenable to the Secretary-General’s brand of sense. Mrs. Gandhi was absolutely right to complain that the U.N. had shown a singular incomprehension of what had driven millions of East Bengalis to flee their homes. (Editorial]
Hindustan Standard 05.09.1971