World Blamed for Bengal Confrontation
Harold Jackson
New Delhi, November 26. As fighting continued in East Pakistan. much of it centered around the key western town of Jessore. The President of India. Mr. Giri, once more appealed for a peaceful solution to the conflict. He was addressing the annual conference of State Governors in Delhi. “In the last few days:’ he said. “the military rulers of Pakistan have intensified their aggressive postures. We are a mature nation and shall not be provoked into a confrontation unless our own territorial integrity is violated. or in self-defense.”
He said that the tragedy of East Bengal might well become the tragedy of the failure of the international community to respond promptly in the interest of human values. “If there is a sincere friend of Pakistan in any part of the world,” he said, “he should consider it his duty to tell the military rulers the only solution to the problem that they have created for themselves, is release Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the other democratically elected representatives of the people of Bangladesh and to come to a settlement with them.”
Party banned
Even while he was speaking, the news came over Radio Pakistan that President Yahya had issued an order banning the National Awami Party, left-wing breakaway from the Sheikh’s Awami League. The order said that some of the party leaders were trying to destroy Pakistan in league with the enemies of the country, and that they were inciting rebellion in parts of West Pakistan. President Yahya seems to be coming under political pressure from all sides. The leader of the Pakistan People’s Party. Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who carried the majority of the West Pakistan seats in the general election, flew to Islamabad for talks with the President. On arrival he made an enigmatic statement which swore loyalty to the country and the public good but called for “a government of the people’s true representatives.”
It did not seem to carry the message that the military rulers came into that category, though it is equally unlikely that Mr. Bhutto would rank Sheikh Mujib among their number either. It was Mr. Bhutto’s refusal to attend the Assembly after the sweeping victory of the Awami League which precipitated the whole crisis. With the restrictions on information in Pakistan it is virtually impossible to determine how the balance stands between the military and the politicians. The one point that stands out is that there is no hope of a military solution to the tangle.
But President Yahya seems determined to stifle any genuine political activity, in spite of his reaffirmation when he declared the state of emergency that this would not interrupt his timetable for the convening of the Assembly in December. The Assembly, of course, has already been postponed once, in spite of equally firm undertakings earlier. The military preparations continue with the Indians claiming that Pakistan has started building bunkers and digging trenches along the cease-fire line in Kashmir. on the western front. The Indians said that there were heavy concentrations of Pakistani troops along the cease-fire line north of Jammu.
Jessore aim
In the East, the guerrilla forces of the Mukti Bahini claimed that they were within four miles of Jessore, though this was disputed by the Pakistanis. Reports in Delhi said that a three-pronged thrust was underway against the town which is of considerable strategic importance. Whoever holds it can control a wide surrounding area for which it is the road and rail communications center. It is one of the Pakistan Army’s three main bases in East Pakistan and a big logistic center. The guerrillas claim to have immobilized the airport, and to have stopped supplies coming in from the port of Khulna to the south.
Reference: The Guardian, 27 November, 1971