THE DAGENS NYHETER STOCKHOLM, JUNE 27, 1971
TO STOP VIOLENCE
“The reign of terror in East Bengal is now in its fourth month. The fleeing and hunted people are still streaming across the border into India. There is no limit to the brutality of the Pakistani military dictatorship-very few of the terror victims belong to the Bengali group of leaders whom the aggressors are trying to eradicate. Also the common man falls victim to the ‘final solution’ which the Pakistani Army, obsessed by power, is trying to force through as the terrible climax to decades of systematic misgovernment. Scenes which are a daily occurrence along the border between East Bengal and India expose the miserable lies about the ‘return to normalcy’ with which the dictatorship is trying to camouflage its crime against its fellow men.
The longer this war, this persecution and devastation goes on. the stronger will be our condemnation of (he Government which have not yet managed to pull themselves together in a determined effort to stop the bloodbath. The suffering we see in the Bengali woman’s eyes is a compromising picture of our era’s statesmanship. Behind the official inability to being pressure on Yahya Khan from outside-moral, political and above all economic pressure-lie cynicism and totally unfounded speculations that the Pakistani military dictatorship in future could stand for any kind of stability at all in this part of the world.
However, according to information from Washington, the big givers of aid to. Pakistan-the so far favored recipient-now seem to have adopted a policy of not granting any new apart from purely humanitarian measures. The decision is said to be motivated by the economic chaos that has arisen in Pakistan since the dictatorship decided to go all out to crush East Bengal-the last few drops of foreign currency reserve are being squeezed put to get still more weapons to create still more violence.
This would be the first international step towards circumscription of the aggressive policy of the Pakistani regime. Further measures will be required to create at least a breathing space for a thorough survey of Pakistani existence which the dictatorship is trying to lay in ruins.