‘No Mercy’ in Pakistan Fighting
‘Peace restored,’ West claims
West pakistan troops tightened the Army grip on the Eastern province yesterday after a weekend in which many hundreds of civilians were reported to have been killed.
Our Staff Correspondent in Delhi cabled that East Pakistan was virtually sealed off from the outside world, but the indications were that killing was on a mass scale. The Dacca curfew was lifted yesterday, but last night more troops were flown to Chittagong to quell disturbances.
Diplomatic missions and foreign observers in Dacca reported that the troops were showing no mercy in their efforts to suppress the Independence movement of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League.
Sheikh Under Arrest West Pakistan officials denied allegations against the Army and said peace had been restored and life was returning to normal. The said willd stories were being picked up from a clandestine radio station operating from a ship moored near Calcutta.
Sheikh Mujib was believed to be under Army arrest last night. A small force of troops surrounded his home in Dacca late on Thursday night.
There were fears that the conflict might spread across the border to West Bengal where sympathy with fellow Bengalis in East Pakistan might be exploited by Indian political agitators. India is not expected to intervene at present. Plans have been made to fly800 Britons out of Pakistan if the fighting worsens.
Reference: Daily Telegraph : 29 March, 1971