বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড
before compares with the tragedy which I witnessed in the Refugee Camps in India recently. Mile after mile, camp after camp, it was - the same. Millions of human beings somehow existing in conditions that we in England would not allow our animals to endure. Within two short months, from June to August, I saw the situation deteriorate very badly. The effect, too, on the morale of the refugees was alarming. Not only had they lost their homes and their possessions, they began to lose dignity and feeling. Faced with an inhuman environment, they became withdrawn and apathetic. They appeared to be unmoved by the sight of a dead child lying in the rain, it's arm and legs gnawed off by dogs, it's eyes pecked out by crows. I could afford my emotion-I would be going home to my pleasant house in the country, my warm comfortable bed. For me it was a nightmare, for them a reality.
FATHER D'SOUZA, CATHOLIC CHURCH, BONGAON
Now that the area is flooded; 29, out of 32 camps are under water and it is very sad to see the people crowded on the road, with no proper shelter, just jute canes over their heads.
The Government is trying its best with the help of different organizations, but there is need of much help in this colossal work, because in Bongaon sub-division there are over 450,000 refugees. And now that the roads are blocked it is difficult for the Government to carry foodstuffs.
After the floods, I expect the medical condition in the camps to be very bad because of the large expanses of stagnant water. The Government will have to do something in the line of disinfecting the areas, giving cholera injections again, because the refugees are going to have a very hard time in the winter, and if disease start will make thing must worse.
JOHN DREWERY, CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORP.
I found it impossible to shut away the memories of what I saw, in the refugee camps of West Bengal and along the trails leading out of East Pakistan, in that corner of my mind reserved for other horrors I witnessed during wars I covered in Korea, the Congo, Egypt, Vietnam, and Biafra. It is not that the brutalization of the people of East Pakistan is worse than what has happened to countless others throughout history. The effect of sword, fire, and starvation differ very little in degree on the individual body and spirit.
It is simply that the magnitude of the tragedy is so immense, so overwhelming, it overshadows all other things. The cry for help coming out of in and East Pakistan is echoing all around the world. If we ignore it we are killing our future too.
MONA MOLLERUP, DANISM CHURCH AID
The Government of India and the voluntary agencies are doing a great deal to house, feed and provide medical care for the evacuees. We can never do enough for this tide of humanity.
