Old Wounds Reopened
Ever since 1947 the quarrel between India and Pakistan has been conducted with the bitterness that one expects in a family that has split apart. Recriminations were always the more intense because the two had recently been one and knew each other too well. So the prospect of a further split is the same grouping of peoples has revived all the passions that were simmering below the surface. For India especially with its own Bengal population. the sight of a brutally repressed movement for autonomy in East Pakistan has aroused every kind of indignation and unquestioning support for those resisting the Pakistan army. At times the charges and counter charges between New Delhi and Islamabad have seemed to absorb the two governments more even than the tragic events that were their cause.
Certainly there has been no pretense at neutrality on the part of the Indian Government. Almost as soon as the operation began a resolution on parliament was followed by outspoken speeches by all Indian leaders including Mrs. Gandhi. Ever as late as last Tuesday she said, in answer to a question. that Indian recognition of the newly-formed government of an independent East Bengal would receive du consideration. This called forth a barrage of allegations from Pakistan about India involvement with the rebels, the truth of which cannot remotely be ascertained through plainly the nature of the border in the east and the character of the population offered every opportunity for irregular activity. Yesterday the Indian replied hotly to these allegations, denying them all and adding a rider that Pakistan was trying to treat the question of East Pakistan simply as a point of dispute between India and Pakistan.
But in a sense the quarrel is bound to be a fundamental one because it raises the arguments that surrounded Pakistan’s emergence as a nation. An independen East Bengal would not merely have been a different kind of neighbor for India but would have made West Pakistan a different kind of neighbor as well. In the past any observer of Pakistan must have regarded this split as a possibility. The events the past month have made it much more probable – at some further date. But for the moment the heat may begin to go out of this latest quarrel between India and Pakistan. Control in the east by the Pakistan army. Although not yet complete, it is now established in almost all important centers and order of a kind is being restored throughout the territory. In so far as it survives the independence movement will be underground or fostering in the experience of many more Bengalis.
Of course it is impossible to overlook the other contributor to this quarrel-China Waiting first to see whether the Pakistan army was going to succeed in East Pakistan: the Chinese then made a statement of strong support for Pakistan though in ver small print. Their strategic interests in Pakistan are obvious in the context of a hostile Russia. They, too, made use of the opportunity to round on India, but very carefully kept their positions open by saying nothing at all about East Pakistan. By now the risks of conflict between India and Pakistan – much less any intervention on China’s part – must be receding. The time for an end to the shooting and for healing measures may be at hand. There are many questions that will be asked. Must President Yahya Khan be blamed for the excessive brutality of the repression – for which enough evidence is now available to shock all observers? Or was the army taking its own decisions? The answers to such questions will depend on the hopes of President Yahya’s promised return to democracy and a subsiding of the tribal violence of the past three weeks.
Reference: The Times, 17 April, 1971