THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDA Y, MARCH 28. 1971
SLICKS AND SPEARS AGAINST TANKS IN EAST PAKISTAN
SLICKS AGAINST TANKS
By Sydney H. Schanberg
Special to The New York Times
New Delhi, March 28- The people of East Pakistan, armed with sticks, spears and homemade rifles, are mounting a resistance movement against a military force from West Pakistan that is armed with planes, bombs, tanks and heavy artillery.
The resistance, which began after a surprise attack on the civilian population by the Government force three nights ago, sprang from a nonviolent drive for provincial autonomy.
The East Pakistanis tried to claim the majority political power they had won in the elections last December, and the army moved to prevent this. Earlier this month, Maj. Siddiq Salik, public relations officer for the martial-law administration in East Pakistan, was telling foreign newsmen about the role of the Pakistani Army in dealing with disobedient civilians.
“Then you call in the army,” said the tall West Pakistani officer, “it’s a last resort. The army would shoot to kill.”
The remark was prophetic. Two weeks later, starting last Thursday night, the Pakistani Army apparently began killing anybody who moved in the streets of Dacca or who shouted defiance from a window. The troops used artillery, machine guns, recoil less rifles and rockets against East Pakistani civilians to crush the Bengali movement for self-rule.
It seems certain that thousands of Bengalis will be killed, but their dedication to the self-rule movement and to their leader. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is deep-so deep that it is questionable whether what is virtually a foreign army from a region 1,000 miles away can control ‘East Pakis tan indefinitely.
The army comes from the West, big business is concentrated there, the per capita income is higher, prices are lower. Everything is better for the 55 million West Pakistanis than for the 75 million East Pakistanis.
Many Bengalis, as the people of East Pakistan arc known, had fled the city in the last few weeks for home villages in the interior.
Foreign newsmen, including this correspondent, were expelled from East Pakistan on Saturday. Their film and notebooks were confiscated in thorough body and luggage searches.
Most of the East’s foreign exchange earning and taxes went for development projects in the West and for the support of the army which consumes more than 60 per cent of the national budget. Fewer than 10 per cent of the troops are Bengalis.
The army has acquired most of its weapons from the United States, the Soviet bloc and Communist China. So far, none of the major powers have criticized the army’s action in East Pakistan.
Heavy secrecy surrounded the political talks in Dacca whose breakdown was followed by the army’s surprise attack. But the bits and pieces that have come to light make it clear that the power establishment in the West never intended to let Sheik Mujib win a significant measure of autonomy for East Pakistan President. Agha Mohammed, Yahya Khan- whose image as a potentially decent general, sympathetic to the Bengali’s grievances, has changed drastically- said that the talks had broken down because Sheikh Mujib refused to let an agreement be negotiated at a session of the newly elected National Assembly. But Sheikh Mujib knew that he had to get an agreement in writing before the Assembly met.
The talks dragged on for 10 days and the Bengali “bush telegraph” said that they were taking too long, that something was wrong.
During this time, Sheikh Mujib and his Awami League defied the martial-law administration by leading a nonviolent movement of non-cooperation with the virtually unanimous support of the population.
Sheikh Mujib’s followers took over certain Government agencies, closed others and ignored directives, such as the one that ordered civilian defense employees to report to work or face 10 years “rigorous imprisonment.”
The green, red and gold flag of Bangladesh-Bengali for Bengal Nation was unveiled and militant students and workers began demanding complete independence, not simply semi-autonomy
But those buoyant days for the Bengalis ended quickly. After initial reports of progress the talks slowed and fears of an army crackdown revived.
Troops were flown in daily from West Pakistan and many Bengalis began to believe that the negotiations were being deliberately prolonged to give the Government in West Pakistan time to get heavy reinforcements to the East.
Clashes between civilians erupted in several towns and a number of deaths were reported. Sheikh Mujib denounced what he called “a reign of terror” in a statement distributed last Thursday just before 7 P. M. Four hours later, the troops moved into the streets and began firing.