The cost, so far immense in economic and human terms, is likely to remain crushing. Bengalis now pin Pakistani flags to their clothing and fly them from their homes, but that is for safety.
“Look what the Army did” whispered a Bengali student to a reporter in one town. His eyes showed a fierce bitterness. Then, as an officer approached, he smiled brightly and offered a patriotic remark.
His reaction was common all over the sullen, defeated province. Bengalis must eventually return to work to feed their families. They lost badly and there seems little serious prospect of armed resistance.
But it will take more than impassive compliance to rebuild Pakistan even at its prewar level it was badly hurt by economic woes and natural disasters.
The question of tolerance is touchy. Military rulers have used their censorship net to black out in West Pakistan any reports of atrocities by Bengalis living their.
Eventually the facts will slip across to the other side.
One immediate threat is the crippled food crop and the disrupted relief program. Some foreign observers fear these may cause a calamitous famine this summer.
Another fear is that buyers of jute will switch to other fibers from more stable parts of the world. East Pakistan grows 80 per cent of the world's jute but exporters are concerned that the halted supply would not be missed.
That would stagger the East's economy and make it less attractive to the West.
“It's still far too early to tell what happens next”, said one foreigner close to both economy and politics. “But one thing is certain. Things will never be the same again between the West and the East”.
