Efforts to trace six Britons missing in East Pakistan
From Peter Hazelhurst Calcutta, April 7
British diplomats are urgently attempting to trace six Britons, including three women, who have been missing since civil war broke out in East Bengal 10 days ago.
The six people were all stranded in the province of Jessore, near its western border, after fighting between the regular West Pakistan troops and East Pakistan Rifles broke out in the last week of March
The British High Commission in Dacca, which has evacuated the majority of the British community in East Bengal, has not been able to contact Jessore. The Deputy High Commissioner in Calcutta has been asked to watch the western borders for the missing people.
The High Commission here has refused to issue the names of the Britons, but it is known that two couples among them are connected with the jute industry while the others are an unmarried woman and a man.
Radio messages in East Bengal Indicate that the Liberation Front has apparently established its headquarters in the northern communist stronghold of Nasirabad, and the East Pakistan Rifles’ radio network is being used by a “High Command” to coordinate the fighting and the movement of troops and supplies.
Radio messages between the Bengal police outposts, monitored near the border here today, indicate that orders are being issued to various units by a newly established headquarters under the code name Dada, the Bengali term for “elder brother.” They appear to be beamed from Nasirabad, Indian radio operators said today.
The radio messages are the first sign that the uprising is now being coordinated by a central command. The Dada station today instructed police bases throughout the country to inform people to listen to “Free Bengal Radio.” which is expected to come on the air again.
However, the headquarters has not indicated whether Shaikh Mujibur Rahman, the Bengal leader, is free and leading the movement. It would now seem likely that the shaikh is either dead or under arrest.
The radio reports also indicate that the para-military force, the East Pakistan Rifles and the East Bengal Regiment, are operating under instructions of a high command.
Other messages confirm reports that the Pakistan Army is using aircraft in the north to hold on to its base at the town of Rajshahi, which protects the Hardinge bridge over the Ganges. If the bridge is destroyed, the northern regions of Bengal will be isolated from the south.
A Pakistan Army unit stationed at Rangpur, about 200 miles northeast of Calcutta, sent an urgent message to Dacca today asking for food. This is believed to be an indication that the isolated Army contingents in the main towns are running short of provisions.
Indian intelligentes reports received today indicate that the Liberation Front occupied Sylhet, in the eastera regions, yesterday. The Pakistan Army, at about battalion strength, was said to have retreated to Salutikar airfield. 10 miles from the city. However. Indian observers on the border saw that the Army has received reinforcements and a brigade is firmly entrenched in the town.
Our Diplomatic correspondence writes: The B.B.C were asked by the British Government yesterday to broadcast to the 120 British nationals in outlying areas in East Pakistan that no further evacuation of British nationals was being organized for the present.
Fred Perry writes from washington: The United States has urged the Pakistan Government to take “every feasitie stop” to end the fighting, and to reach a peaceful accommodation with the Bengalis, the Senate Department disclosed today.
Breaking an official silence imposed while Americans were being evacuated from East Pakistan, American officials also said that disapproval had been exposed to the Pakistan Government over the reported use of American-supplied military equipment in the army’s repression of the rebellion.
Officials have also left no doubt of their dismay at Pakistan’s failure to respond to repeated offers of international assistance to retrieve the suffering in East Pakistan.
American willingness to take part in an international relief effort was emphasized in meetings earlier this week between the Pakistan Ambassador and the assistant Secretary State.
Use of U.S. Jets and Tanks in Bengal The American Government, as chief supplier of arms to Pakistan, has made its 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. · The American Ambassador to Pakistan, Mr. Joseph Farland, is also said to have been instructed to remind the Pakistani authorities about their arms agreements.
Under it American arms were not to be used against unarmed Pakistan civilians in an internal conflict.
Jets And Tanks
An absence of first-hand evidence of the use of American arms against civilians has caused Washington to move slowly on the issue.
In the part few days, however, there has been an increasing volume of reports from journalists and refugees that American Sabre jet aircraft and tanks have been used against Bengali crowds.
Although the arms agreement contains a clause that the weapons may be used to maintain Pakistan’s internal security, officials here interpret this to mean internal subversion or external aggression but not a civil uprising.
Moving Cautiously
There is also a growing belief in Washington that the West Pakistani Army may not be able to hold down the country areas of East Pakistan where most of the population live.
Washington is obliged to move cautiously to avoid alienating the Pakistan Government
It is noted in Washington that the Russians have called on Pakistan’s President, Mr. Yahya Khan to “stop the bloodshed.” America is trying to avoid any move which might further isolate Pakistan and drive it into the arms of China.
By Richard Beeston In Washington
Reference: The Daily Telegraph April 8, 1971