পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৪২৫

397 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ংলার জনগনকে আত্মনিয়ন্ত্রণাধিকার না কংগ্রেসের কার্যবিবরণী ১৪ অক্টোবর, ১৯৭১ দেওয়া পর্যন্ত সংকট অবসানের আশা নাইঃ রোজেনথল Oct. 14, 1971 CONGRESSIONAL KECORD- Exiensions of Remarks E 10915 STATUS REPORT ON PAKISTAN In the House of Representatives Mr. ROSENTHAL, Mr. Speaker, more than 6 months have elapsed since the West Pakistani Army began its fierce attack against East Bengal. By now the American public has been satiated with a stream of reports describing a tale of terror. The rape, torture, looting, killing, starving, and systematic burning of villages have continued unabated since March 25. No end is in sight. The number of refugees who have fled across the border now totals 9 million and relief workers in India are bracing themselves for an additional 3 to 11 million others who are expected to arrive before the end of the year. By all accounts this constitutes the largest mass exodus of human beithe in modern history. Unlike last winter's natural disasters which took a toll of a half million lives, the present holocaust has taken twice as many lives and is entirely man made. East Bengal's leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman-whose party received 95 per cent of the seats at stake in the cast in the December 1970 election-is now secretly imprisoned in the western sector and is being tried for his life by the military government. Until he is released and until the people of East Bengal Bangladesh-are allowed self-determination, there will be no hope of ending the suffering. The U.S. Government maintains that Pakistan's current difficulties are an "internal" matter and that the goal of U.S. policy is to exert "leverage" upon the Pakistani Government in order to stave off a disastrous cimax. Behind this cloak of impartiality however, lies an entirely different story: U.S. arms, military equipment, and economic assistance continue to flow to West Pakistan, providing the major financial backing for General Yahya Khan's program of suppression. Some sources estimate that as many as 80 per cent of the weapons being used by the West Pakistani Army in Bengal are of American origin. At his August 4 press conference. President Nixon clarified his administration's policy with a brief statement: We feel that the most constructive role we can play is to continue our economic assistance of Pakistan............ We are not going to engage in public pressure on the Government of Pakistan. That would be totally counter-productive. These are matters that we will discuss only in private channels.