STATESMAN, MAY 17, 1971
NO RECOGNITION AT WRONG TIME: MP
STRESS ON REFUGEE RELIEF PROBLEM
By Our Special Representative
The Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, made it clear at a brief meeting with reporters at Dum Dum airport on Sunday that the much talked about issue of giving recognition to the Bangladesh Government was not as much an immediate problem with the Union Government as one might think.
She said the main consideration was whether such recognition by the Union Government would help the Bangladesh people. “I think it will not help them much and recognition should not be given at the wrong time”, she added.
The Prime Minister was apparently annoyed when a reporter asked her if she was waiting for some other countries to recognize the Bangladesh Government. She said such questions had been put to her several times before. She had always maintained that India had an independent policy and did not depend on others in formulating her stand on various issues.
“We happen to be an independent country with an independent policy, with very strong views on many subjects under the sun and we are not dependent on what others say or do” she added.
Immediately on her arrival at that airport by an Air Force helicopter after her visit to two refugee camps and a hospital at Bongaon, the Prime Minister held a closeddoor meeting with the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr. Ajoy Mukherji and Mr. Bijay Singh Nahar. Mr. Siddhartha Sankar Ray, the Union Education Minister who travelled with the Prime Minister, was also present at the meeting, which lasted more than half an hour.
Mrs. Gandhi flew from Assam to Haldibari in the morning and then to Dum Dum airport where she touched down at about 2:15 p.m. Her party included Mr. Ray and Miss padmaja Naidu. who is the head of the Bangladesh Sahayak Samiti. From Dum Dum the Prime Minister and her party West to Bangaon by a helicopter. Another helicopter carried the West Bengal Ministers. They came back to Dum Dum a little after 5-30 p.m.
The prime Minister wore a blue sari and a full-sleeve blouse and she looked tired. As she came on the first floor of the new airport lounge, she asked her attendants to arrange a ground floor room for an immediate conference with Mr. Ajoy Mukherji and Mr. Nahar. Press reporters were asked to wait on the first floor lounge. After some time. Miss Padmaja Naidu was called in at the conference when it discussed relief problems.
At her meeting with Mr. Ajoy Mukherji and Mr. Nahar, where Mr. Siddhartha Ray was also present, problems relating to West Bengal came up for discussion. Contacted later. Mr. Nahar said some serious problems were discussed but he refused to disclose what transpired at the meeting.
Huge Problem
About her impression regarding the refugee problem, she told reporters: “It is a huge problem and we are finding it difficult to deal with it. We have a shortage of commodities and in the circumstances the Government has done good work”
She was aware that many were still without shelter and “it takes time for articles to come” when asked if any help was expected from abroad, she said that one might hope for it, “But nothing much has come so far from other countries” she added. She felt that if outside assistance in relief material came, India would know what was coming and from which agencies.
In reply to a question, the Prime Minister said evacuees would have to leave as soon as possible, but “how soon that will be possible, I do not know”. She thought that international bodies might create conditions for the evacuees to go back to their homeland.
Commenting on Pakistans claim that normality had returned in Bangladesh as far as the Pakistan Government was concerned, Mrs. Gandhi said that it is a very convenient way of achieving normality by removing the people and this to my mind is not normality.
The Union Government was considering proposals for dispersal of evacuees from the border areas. Such dispersal, the Prime Minister said, would pose a great problem for Tripura. which was a very small State. She said arrangements for given shelter to the evacuees in other parts of the country were being considered. She was not however, sure if that would be possible.
Asked to comment on the demands by different sections of the people as well as by many political party for arms aid to freedom fighters in Bangladesh. Mrs. Gandhi said that she had “no comment, no reaction.”
Regarding repatriation of the Indian diplomats from Dacca, she agreed with the suggestion that the issue was deadlocked because of the refusal by the Pakistan Government to accept any proposal.
Mrs. Gandhi said newspapers required to be very cautious in publishing news and views. It was possible that enemy agents were around. Care should be taken so that the evacuee problem, which should be treated as a national concern, might not be turned into a communal issue.
She said there had been cases of the Pakistan Army resorting to firing across the border into India. In such cases some steps were taken. “It might not always be possible however to take action”, the Prime Minister added.
At Bongaon
Our staff Correspondent adds: Earlier, addressing the Bangladesh refugees at Bongaon this afternoon the Prime Minister said it was a pity that certain elements in East Bengal were now trying to give a communal color to the liberation war in Bangladesh. Such attempts would only weaken the cause of this country, she added.
In the afternoon, Mrs. Gandhi visited two refugee relief centers at petrapole and Itkhola. She also visited the sub divisional hospital at Bongaon and talked to the evacuee patients from Bangladesh who had been shot at by Pakistani troops.
She told the refugees that the liberation war in East Bengal was a “war against all kinds of repression and wrongs. Remember your fight is our fight”
While fighting against injustice and repression, the people of Bangladesh had been forced to take shelter in India. “We know that despite all our good wishes, you might have to face difficulties here because we are not a rich country” she said.
Mrs. Gandhi expressed the hope that the refugees would not have to suffer long and they would be able to return home soon. She said India was a democratic country. Here there was no ill feeling among the Hindus, Muslims, Christians and other communities. She hoped that the people of East Bengal would also maintain communal harmony and jointly fight their war of liberation.
At the Petrapole camp, where more than 8,000 refugees were living Mrs. Gandhi gave food to a small girl. She was reported to have lost many of her relatives. A 10year-old boy who had been carrying his small sister on his shoulder burst into tears while narrating his story. She also talked to a woman whose husband had been shot dead by Pakistani troops.
According to a spokesman of the Bharat Sevasram, Muslims constituted about 40 percent of the population at the Petrapole camp. Boys and girls below the age of eight numbered 2,200.
Demanding immediate recognition of Bangladesh a demonstration was organized by the supporters of the Democratic Students’ Organization and the Democratic Youth Organization when Mrs. Gandhi landed at Calcutta airport. The demonstrators protested against the Union Government’s attitude towards Bangladesh.
Mr. J.C. De; chairman of the West Bengal branch of the Indian Red Cross Society, explained to the Prime Minister, and the chairman of the Indian Red Cross Society, Miss Padmaja Naidu, what the State unit of the Society was doing in Petrapole and many other centers.
At Haldibari
Our Staff Correspondent at Haldibari adds: Referring to repeated Pakistani intrusions into Indian territory, the Prime Minister said people living near the border “will have in face some risks”. She said those living close to the border in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir had to face similar situations even during peace-time.
Mrs. Gandhi addressing two meeting at the evacuee camps in the Haldibari Girls schools and Dewanganj. She said Pakistan was deliberately reducing the population of East Bengal by expelling the people who had voted for Mr. Mujibur Rahman in the last election.
The local units of the SUC and Forward Bloc and another organization submitted memoranda to Mrs. Gandhi demanding immediate recognition for Bangladesh.
SUC supporters also staged demonstrations near the helipad and the PWD Bunglow, where she met the party representatives.
UNI adds: Mrs. Gandhi invited two West Bengal Ministers to New Delhi to discuss relief measures. She Sounded the State Health Minister Mr. Jainal Abedin, and the PWD Minister. Mr. Santosh Roy, about such a discussion. They are expected to leave for New Delhi 011 Thursday.