Awami League unlikely to accept UN forces plan
From Our London Office, JULY 13. – The proposal for UN force between India and Pakistan and on the Indo-Bangladesh borders or for a UN observers force inside Pakistan for distribution of relief will not be acceptable to the Bangladesh liberation movement unless the hordes of President Yahya Khan leave Bangladesh and the Awami League forms a Government in Dacca.
This is the reaction of People connected with the Bangladesh movement here who heard from Karachi yesterday morning that President Nixon’s special envoy Dr. Kissinger had been canvassing for such a proposal.
Reports from Geneva suggested that exploratory talks had taken place for an observer corps to be placed under Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. Some people connected with the Bangladesh movement do not think that India will tolerate UN forces between her and Bangladesh until a political settlement satisfactory to the East Bengal people is achieved. They draw attention to the communique issued after Mr. Swaran Singh’s talks with Sir Alec Douglas Home.
Some observers here have pointed out that unless the young West Pakistani officers who have been primarily responsibile for the genocide in East Bengal are punished it will be difficult to restore normality to East Bengal.
Apparently the casualties among young officers in Bangladesh have been more than their casualties were in the 1965 war with India. Consequently the surviving young officers are out to take revenge on innocent people. They have apparently even threatened the military regime that they would revolt if there is any political settlement in East Bengal which will make the Pakistani armed forces leave. They are also thinking of an Israeli type of attack on India.
Some Labor members, including those who are supporting Bangladeshi feel that UN observers should be in East Bengal after a political agreement in order to enable the leaders to take the power from the hands of the Army. Some of them suspect that lured by the announcement of a political settlement, Awami League leaders who are in hiding will come back and become easy targets to trigger happy officers of the Pakistanı armed forces.
Anyway, the concept of UN forces between India and East Bengal has apparently been left by France and Russia to India. Pakistan and the Bangladesh movement for comments.
The plan has been apparently devised by Britain and the USA to keep West Pakistan and East Bengal together and prevent the liberation forces from driving away Pakistani’s armed forces from East Bengal.
According to the abroad with which two Pak diplomats who defected in France, are now closely associated, Pak troops will never voluntarily agree to quit East Bengal. With the presence of armed forces in East Bengal no UN forces either on the borders or inside East Bengal would be able to do much. Even refugees in India would not return while Pakistan’s armed forces remain in East Bengal.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 14.07.1971