MASSACRE IN EAST PAKISTAN
THE civil war in East Pakistan, which has claimed thousands or even tens of thousands of lives, would not have been so notorious as it is, had force been met by force, had the East Pakistanis launched an armed rebellion. As it turned out, what the Pakistani army is doing in East Pakistan is killing unarmed people, including women and children, simply because they demanded autonomy from the Central Government in Islamabad in order to improve their lots.
The way in which the people of East Pakistan pursued their autonomy is legal. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League contested December election, which was sanctioned by President Yahya Khan, on the six-point platform placing major emphasis on full autonomy for East Pakistan, President Yahya Khan did not object to the program, and the majority of Pakistani voters cast their ballots for Sheikh Mujiburs’ Awami League. As a result, the League won an absolute majority of seats in the National Assembly, which never met. What Sheikh Mujibur insisted on demanding following the election is what was stated in his six-point program, which President Yahya Khan had already known far before the election and which the majority of Pakistani voters had supported.
Despite this fact, however, Sheikh Mujibar was denounced as a traitor and is now reportedly being held in jail, while Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who, boycotted the projected session of the elected Assembly, remains free and respected as a leader of the people. Not only that. The people who supported Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were oppressed and burtally killed, and the massacre is still going on.
What is being launched in East Pakistan, therefore, is not a military action against an armed rebellion but a war of genocide. As such, it cannot be justified on the guise of “internal affairs” of Pakistan but should be taken as a matter of grave concern by the whole mankind. Where and when mankind is subjected to brutal killing, mankind in other parts of the globe should do something to halt it.
The International Red Cross has tried to do something to help the oppressed people but rejected by the Pakistani authorities. The Intemational Commission of Jurists has urged President Yahya Khan to take steps to reduce the death toll. USSR President Nikolai Podgorny has also appealed to President Yahya Khan to adpot “the most urgent measures to stop the bloodshed, the repression against the populaton in East Pakistan”.
It may be advisable for other international organizations and heads of state or government of other countries including Indonesia, to raise their voices over the brutal massacre. Mankind should not remain silent over the oppresson and wanton killing of fellow mankind in East Pakistan.
ref. The Djakarta Times, 6.4.1971