In many populous areas in the countryside crops are growing, and It there are serious food shortages they are not evident.
The political background to this strife is easy enough to trace. East and West Pakistan, separated from each other by 900 miles of Indian territory, share a belief in the Muslim faith but little else. The Bengalis of the east speak a different language from the Urdu of the west they have different cultural and social traditions and even look different. The Bangalis have long regarded the Punjabi of West Pakistan as economic exploiters of the eastern region.
Latent Bengali yearning for autonomy from West Pakistan came to a head last March and some Bengali leaders called for outright secession and the creation of a new Bengali nation, Bangladesh. On March 25, West Pakistan's army-East Pakistani military units had joined the rebels-moved into Bengal as an invasion force. They have applied an iron hand to the administration of the region ever since.
Just how many persons were killed in the process remains one of the many persisting controversies. The Government forces have never disclosed their own estimates, saying only that “enemy dead are not counted; they are thrown into the river.” Estimates range all the way from 10,000 to several hundred thousand killed. In any case. West Pakistan's three regular divisions now control every aspect of life in East Pakistan, apart from hinterland zones they do not take the trouble to occupy.
And the prevailing impression remains one of despair on the part of the Bengalis rather than challenge. For many observers here, the saddest and most significant fact is that somewhere near seven million people have fled to India, and the refugee flood continues.
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