পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (চতুর্দশ খণ্ড).pdf/৮৩

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খণ্ড
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 The central Government officially bars all foreign newsmen from East Pakistan. But from the evidence available in secessionist-held rural areas-some of which are occasionally contested by the army-the Pakistani armed forces have killed leaders and potential leaders of East Pakistan and shattered the economic base of the region, in their effort to crush the independence movement.

 On orders, the army-now consisting entirely of West Pakistani troops-has killed students, intellectuals, professors, engineers, doctors and others of leadership caliber-whether, they were directly involved with the nationalist movement or not.

 Both in military attacks and in executions, the central Government's forces killed East Pakistani Army officers and soldiers who were unable to break out and join the guerrilla forces when the army offensive began on March 25. Most of the officers' families have been killed, only a few escaped into hiding.

 With the aid of air and naval bombardment, the army has destroyed food supplies, tea factories, jute mills and natural-gas fields the economic basis of East Pakistan.

 “This has already set the country back 25 years,” said a Scottish tea-estate manager who fled to India from his plantation in the northeast. “The liberation army, trying to stop the army, is blowing the railroad lines and roads. Even if they eventually win independence, they'll have to start completely from scratch again."

 This man and two other estate managers who escaped with him asked that their names not be used because of their fear of reprisals against British families still in East Pakistan.

Attack on 'Empty' Trucks

 The three evacuees reported that a convoy of nine trucks that the Pakistani radio contended had been carrying arms and ammunition from India and had been destroyed by Pakistani planes was in fact a collection of empty trucks in the yard of a tea estate.

 Authoritative reports indicate that perhaps 20 to 25 per cent of the people are left in such towns as Dacca, the capital, are Chittagong and Comilla. Smaller centers are also largely deserted. Dacca had a population of about 1.5 million, Chittagong about 400,000 to 500,000 and Comilla about 100,000.

 In the eastern part of East Pakistan the thump of artillery fire can be heard every day in virtually every sector. After every guerrilla attack or harassment by the outnumbered and outgunned resistance troops, the Pakistani Army appears to be inflicting reprisals on the civilian population.

 “The bloody cowards” said a young Bengali lieutenant who escaped the army attempt to annihilate his battalion of the East Bengal Regiment at Comilla. “We give them fronts to shoot at. We are in uniform. But they attack civilians instead."

 The secessionist army is desperately short of trained officers, arms, ammunition, vehicles and basic supplies. Some of the men are barefoot.