US and Chinese diplomats find it tough in Dacca
From Our Staff Reporter, DACCA, Dec. 21.—The two most, puzzled men in Dacca are perhaps the chiefs of the Chinese and the American consulates. Heads of both these missions do not go out of their residences, and the Chinese Consular authorities have sought Indian Army protection.
The Chinese consulate staff live together under the same roof, i.e. the consulate building and they sought Indian Army protection immediately after the Pakistani Army surrendered in Dacca. When an Indian captain went to the consulate with some men, some one looked through a slit in the wall and asked the captain to “be on guard duty outside the compound wall.” The captain, it is said, refused to do so. He would not allow his men to stand outside in the cold. When he insisted that his men should be allowed to take position inside the outer boundary, the Chinese relented. The Indians went in and are still there on duty.
For the Americans, the situation is not much different either. Along with other Americans sent their families out of the country long ago. when the war, begun they left their residences in Dhanmandi and other places and huddled together in the Consulate building in the Commercial Area. Only a couple of days ago, they had shifted back to their residences.
What is in store for them in Bangladesh is perhaps a million dollar question haunting the Americans? An American diplomat candidly said: “We do not know whether they will throw us out or allow us to stay since our Government is yet to recognise them.” “They”, of course, meant the Bangladesh Government.
The war had been quite an experience for the diplomatic community here. A diplomat, who lived close to the airport, said : “The first night your fighter bombers flew close to my house to drop their loads on the airport. Oh! What an experience. It was 2-30 a.m. and I distinctly remember I was thrown at least 6 inches up in the air”. The next morning he shifted to the Consulate as he “became wiser”. He was sure the Pakistanis did not have more than 16 planes in East Bengal. And what about Niazi? Oh, he “fooled only himself”.
In fact, the diplomat and his colleagues are still in a quandary about the rapid slide-down by the Pak Army in East Bengal. A second American diplomat I talked to said that they had thought the Pakistanis had at least five divisions in Bangladesh.
All the diplomats I met held that the Pak regime had practically no links with the popular sentiment long before the elections which led to the Army crackdown. A diplomat said: “The Pakistanis had officially estimated before the elections that the Awami League would not get more than 50 per cent of the seats.”
While many members of the diplomatic community still have to sort things out, the Russians and other East European delegations, who were never popular with the Pak regime, move about freely in the town. The other day I met a Russian diplomat in front of his hotel. As he introduced himself. I invited him inside for a cup of tea. He refused to come because, as he put it, “only subversive elements were welcome inside.”
I now miss the ever-smiling Bulgarian diplomat and his wife in the hotel as they had left for their Consulate. So had the Indonesian diplomat.
Almost all the diplomats representing various countries appear to have realised now the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent county on its own right. If the Americans, who are now definitely unpopular, are eager to reestablish their reputation and have good relations with the Bangladesh Government they will have to go a long way. For the British there is no alternative since they have large investments in jute and tea here. The Japanese also, because of their stand when the war began, may face difficulties in establishing good relations with the new country, although they seem to be keen on it. Only Russia, which has been all along a good friend of the Bengalis, and the East European countries are, it seems, on secure ground.
Some of the Western countries want the Indian Army to stay here for the next six months. They argue it is necessary for the security and safety of the people since so many youths “now have guns.” But undoubtedly their more real reason for such advocacy could be that it would be caser for them to maintain contact with Bangladesh through India, with which they have diplomatic contacts, rather than go forward to meet the Bangladesh Government with uncertain steps.
What perhaps puzzles the Americans most in how Bangladesh is going to reconstruct itself. A USAID man maintained that “for technical know how and advice they will have to look to the United States.” He admitted, however, that all these could come from India to a large extent. But in any case, whether they are wanted or not, the big Western powers are not going to abandon this land of strategic importance in South Asia so easily or for that matter the enormous market of 75 million people.
Reference: Hindustan Standard 22.12.1971