| শিরোনাম | সূত্র | তারিখ |
| বাংলাদেশের বিপর্যয়কর পরিস্থিতিঃ সিনেটর মণ্ডেল-এর বিবৃতি ও পররাষ্ট্র সচিব রজার্সকে প্রেরিত টেলিগ্রাম | সিনেটের কার্যবিবরণী | ৬ মে, ১৯৭১ |
May 6, 1971 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE S 6383
DISASTER IN EAST PAKISTAN
Mr. MONDAL. Mr. President, the people of East Pakistan-already ravaged by cyclone and civil war-are now threatened by a new disaster of incredible magnitude.
Only the most urgent action by the United States and other governments can save millions from dying of starvation.
The evidence of gathering tragedy was summarized in a letter printed by the New York Times, May 2.
Over 35 million Bengalis depend on imported food to maintain a precarious balance between life and death.
Food imports have been interrupted since February. Internal distribution has stopped.
History has given us the clearest warning of tragedy. In 1943, when the food shortage in the area was one-third what it is now, a similar break-down of food shipments meant the death of over a million people
Famine will not wait on publicity or bureaucratic inertia. A massive relief effort must be mounted now to revive the distribution system and reach the needy before meager food reserves are gone.
By the time we see the pictures of starving children, it will be too late to save them.
, Yet, in the face of this horror, the U. S. Government has stood by in unconscionable negligence.
We have made a vague, general offer of help, but failed to press the Government of Pakistan in any way to undertake the necessary relief effort.
We were silent when International Red Cross observers-whose impartial humanitarian mission is recognized by world community-were recently denied entry into East Pakistan.
The Department of State's “Pakistan Working Group", created when the civil, war broke out, has been disbanded now that the fighting has subsided. Apparently the danger of millions starving was not deemed an occasion for a “special effort" by this Government.
But something can be done.
The consortium of Governments giving economic aid to Pakistan are now in the process of meeting. They are being asked for considerable financial aid to bail Pakistan out of an acute foreign exchange crisis.
