THE STATESMAN, JULY 30, 1971
Editorial
BANGLADESH AND THE U.N.
New Delhi’s extreme sensitiveness to any seeming move to transform the Bangladesh issue into one between India and Pakistan puts this country unnecessarily on the defensive. India has nothing to be apologetic about and if New Delhi’s response to suggestions about a United Nations role lacks clarity and force this is largely because of a failure to anticipate events and attitudes. When Islamabad was claiming that the Bangladesh struggle and its suppression were Pakistan’s internal affair it was rightly pointed out that entire humanity must be involved in seeking an end to mass slaughter, plunder and rape. When millions of refugees poured into India the happenings ceased to be Pakistan’s internal affair even in a narrow technical sense and the point was then correctly made that India being directly affected had a special reason to reject the “internal affair” claim. It was perhaps hoped at that time that the international community would act promptly and decisively to stop Pakistan from pursuing a course which was not only a brazen challenge to every humanitarian principle but also a direct political, economic and social threat to a neighboring country. No such action has been taken; a few countries have tried but quite ineffectually.
Evidently, New Delhi either did not foresee this or did not give much thought to what it could do after such a negative development. Pakistan and its friends on the other hand are now trying to use the international implications of the Bangladesh issue for their own cynical purpose. After East Bengali’s population has been reduced by more than seven million and after most of the people who could effectively defy the military administration have been killed or driven out Pakistan’s obvious interest is in stabilizing its eastern borders with India. This can be done by introducing a U.N. presence on either side of the border with the ostensible purpose of persuading the refugees to return in effect U.N. observers would be used only to curtail the activities of the Bangladesh freedom fighters operating in or from the border areas. That therefugees are only waiting for pursuasion by some foreigners to return to their shattered homes is a kind of delusion which even the most ignorant member of the United Nations cannot be capable of the idea is mischievous and India has done well to reject it summarily.
But she cannot oppose the concept of any kind of U.N. role, that would be incompatible with her own entirely correct view that the East Bengal events are more than a purely internal matter for Pakistan. Nor can New Delhi, while rightly maintaining that a settlement can be reached only between Islamabad and the people of East Bengal, take the position that India is not involved in any way; that would be contrary to India’s own interests so far as the refugees are concerned. If the matter is raised in the Security Council there is no reason why India should fight shy of explaining the nature of her involvement and her pressing interest in seeing the involvement ended as soon as possible. Mr. Swaran Singh has denied that U Thant suggested a Security Council meeting but the possibility of the Bangladesh issue being raised in the U.N. cannot be ruled out. India has no reason to oppose such discussion indeed it should take an active part to ensure that the issues discussed are the right ones. There would be little to gain from sullen self imposed isolation.