পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৩৬১

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড
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 any resumption of our aid to the Military Government would only subsidize slaughter and spread pestilence.

 Gallagher said that the cholera epidemic, now sweeping through the camps and threatening Calcutta and India citizens, came from Last Pakistan along with the refugees. He explained that hundreds of bodies of people killed in the communal violence and by the Army of Pakistan have fouled much of the drinking water inside East Pakistan. “India is now unwillingly a partner in this tragedy and the world community must assume some obligation to assist India in meeting this influx of refugees,” Gallagher said.

 The argument has been advanced that we must continue our ordinary policies at this time because the crisis is an internal matter of Pakistan.' This overlooks the international implications of the refugees and it is a fact that internal Pakistan is divided. The boundaries of East and West Pakistan are not only physically some 1100 miles apart but their intellectual and cultural lives are worlds apart. Testimony before my Subcommittee revealed the economic exploitation and the unequal distribution of American aid. Now, we see American boats supplied last winter to case the suffering during the hurricane and flood are presently being used to carry troops on murderous raids throughout the countryside.”

 Gallagher also pointed out that while the Army may be in control of large population centers-described in report from East Pakistan as being virtual “ghost towns”-the countryside of East Pakistan is ideal territory for insurgency. “Giving aid in any form now to the Military Government of Pakistan, thus assisting in its thwarting of the will of the majority in East Pakistan, would undoubtedly cause communist inspired groups to gain adherents. From what I have learned of the leadership of the Awami League, they are moderate, and they scored electoral success on a program of a fair share of economic resources and political power between the two wings of Pakistan. The military Government of Pakistan showed during its inadequate attempts to alleviate, suffering caused by the flood and hurricane, and proved conclusively by its bloody policy of destruction after March 25, 1971, that they should not be permitted control over relief supplies. To allow American aid to be utilized by the intransigent Military Government would merely exacerbate passions and probably assure the end of any opportunity for people friendly to the West to exercise their electoral mandate.”

 Gallagher said that we must funnel our assistance through the United Nations and the World Bank. In addition, he called on a massive influx of money and supplies for India to meet the problems in the refugee camps, particularly in light of the cholera epidemic.

 “Even in the best of times, life in the region of India surrounding East Pakistan is difficult. The coming of the monsoons, the five million refugees which is expanding every day, and the outbreak of the dreaded cholera makes this not only the worst of times for that trouble-prone area; it may well make it the worst possible time for peace in the whole subcontinent. American policy must be neutrality in deed as well as world,” “Chairman Gallagher concluded.