ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, APRIL 29, 1971
CRUMBLING DREAM IN PAKISTAN
While the future of Pakistan remains far from clear, it is evident that the old order has passed. The dream of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, one of the three great Indian leaders who emerged in the years preceding the withdrawal of the British in the mid-1940s, is dissolving in civil war between the eastern and western segments of the country. The wonder is that it did not happen sooner.
Given Hindu-Moslem antagonisms, it can hardly be argued that Gandhi and Nehru were right, and yet the fact is that for a generation India has been a stable democracy; it has just demonstrated its maturity in a remarkable vote of confidence for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Pakistan has tong since turned to military authoritarianism; the regime had the means to send warplanes and tanks to attack civilian dissidents in East Pakistan.
India, fortunately, has shown no disposition to involve itself in its neighbor’s struggle though it was natural for Mrs. Gandhi to speak in support of East Pakistan. It has been the militaristic West that has been at odds with India for more than 20 years.