A massacre in Pakistan
“Only now are we getting Pakistani facts to abet the fears. President Yahya Khan has written to suppress these facts, filling his air waves and press with evasive propaganda, deporting every journalist he could find. But a few Independent reporters escaped this net, and their stories just emerging-reek with horror: crowds indiscriminately machine-guned; student hostels razed by shells; shanty towns burned and bombed; civilians shot dead in their beds. We do not yet know the fate of those arrested in the East, or the true level of resistance throughout the province. But we do know, first hand and reliably, that many unarmed and unready Bengalis have died.
From this point the whole complexion of the crisis changes. Before the troops moved many leaders shared responsibility and blame, Sheikh Mujib and his men among them. But Yahya Khan’s licensed mayhem has swept all this towards irrelevancy. While he negotiated with Mujib his generals planned carnage. His vaunted bluff sincerity (and the sincerity of Pakistan’s brief return to democracy) lies tattered. Henceforth the country must be regarded as a particularly brutal and insensitive military dictatorship. Its elected political leadership in prison, its majority party obliterated by decree. The “Guardian.” with many others, has long believed that the balance of advantage lay with a united Pakistan. But unity can never come through murder: and unity is not worth the price of innocent lives. East Pakistan survives today only as occupied and exploited territory, a living proof of every Bengali suspicion over the years. Mr. Bhutto, who purports to be a national leader. “thanks God ” for this miscrable carnage. Yahya Khan hears none of Pakistan’s friends who counsel mercy and morality, even at this late stage.
But he must be made to hear. In contrast with Biafra, the rights and wrongs of East Pakistan are easily determined. Those-like America-who stock the Pakistan Army must realize what uses their weaponry is put to. Those-like China and Ceylon Who permit forces to ferry from the West must realize what acts and purposes those forces pursue. Those-like Britain-who retain some vestige of influence in the area should spend it openly and forcefully. The fate of Dacca is an arrogant crime against humanity and human aspirations: no one should stand mealy-mouthed by.
Reference: The Guardian : 31 March 1971