পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (চতুর্দশ খণ্ড).pdf/৫৪২

510 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড Woollacott says that the political prospects are uncertain and much will depend on the course of the war during the coming winter months, when the Pakistan Army is expected to embark on major operations against the guerrillas. રે8 ASEAN TOPICAL TALKS SITUATION IN EAST PAKISTAN 21st September, 1971 Edited by Mark Tully Yesterday two reports on the situation in Hast Pakistan came in the first in a dispatch from the BBC correspondent in Dacca, Ronald Robson Spokesman for the East Pakistan rebels outside East Pakistan claim that their forces hold large parts of East Pakistan, but this is firmly denied by the authorities in Dacca. In several hundred miles of travelling in East Pakistan I have not personally seen any sign, or heard even any rumor, that rebels hold any portion of territory at all in the sensitive border areas. Rebels do come across from India, often inflict damage and then return swiftly when chased by troops. This is hardly the same thing as holding areas of territory. Crossing the border is relatively easy. It would be almost impossible for any army to seal such a border of 1,780 miles against Infiltrators. Dispositions can be made, however, to see that no intruder penetrates very far inside East Pakistan with impunity, and the Pakistan Army seems well able to see to this. There has been a diminution in the incidents of acts of sabotage in the past month. Civilian volunteers are guarding the many bridges and other vulnerable points thereby releasing regular troops for other tasks, Pakistani personnel certainly suffer casualties in, for example, border shelling incidents, but observers here in East Pakistan are extremely sceptical of rebel claims that Pakistan Army suffers 3000 casualties per month." The second report is from Ian Macdonald who is the relief coordinator for 3 British charities and has just returned from East Pakistan where no use working on an agricultural project. He told Adam Raphael on a BBC Radio programme last night that he feared there would be a major famine in East Pakistan. He had seen land uncultivated in this the main crop season, children with bloated bailies laying by the road side and an increased number of beggars and he had talked to farmers who were very heavily in debt because of crop failure over the last year. Macdonald said that even if the United Nations did manage to get the necessary food stocks to East Pakistan the problem of distributing it would still be enormous. Food which arrived in January was still lying on the dockside at Chittagong. 100 UN trucks arrived a few days ago but up to the time Macdonald left East Pakistan only 30 drivers had been found for them. The United Nations have said that they will rely on the existing administration to distribute the food but Macdonald was very doubtful whether the local administration could deal with the huge problems it was going to face over the next few months. He said that the United Nations effort was already getting tied up in the bureaucracy, After 3 months work in Pakistan the United Nations had still not been able to get local machinery going. Macdonald indeed by saying that he was afraid that there might be no solution at the problem of fooding the population of East Pakistan over the next few months.