Pakistan Army on Christian Community
President Yahya Khan is expected to visit East Pakistan today or next Tuesday. He will arrive in Dacca at the height of a psychological warfare campaign by Bangladesh guerrillas.
This is designed not against the West Pakistanis or the Army but rather to frighten the Bengali population from areas of action.
The guerrillas claim they will soon take “dramatic action”. The Bengalis have been warned not to go near the airport.
There was a clash on Friday night, at Farmgate, an industrial suburb between the city and the airport, between the guerrillas and the army.
The exchange of automatic fire and loud explosions could be heard throughout the city and six guerrillas are reported killed.
Far more serious was the destruction by the army of three Christian villages of Loodaria, Bachata and Laripara near Dacca, situated on the branch railway line which runs from Tungi to Arikhola on a high embankment.
This is the first time the Defense Forces have been involved in the burning down and flattening of houses of purely Christian communities. The guerrillas had derailed a train some miles away along the line-I saw the results of this action.
At the moment these villages are completely surrounded by water and many of the men who live there work in offices and hotels in Dacca. They say that between 3,000 and 4,000 Christians have been rendered homeless and a few hundred were taken away by the army for questioning.
Although these events took place on Wednesday, I have been unable to obtain any comment from the military spokesman, who has not been available since then. The Catholic clergy in the area are deeply concerned by this first attack on members of their community.
Clare Hilling worth
In Sunday Telegraph, London, August 1, 1971