পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৪৬৯

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড
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borders of India if the Bengali guerrillas, the Mukti Bahini, intensified their activities along the eastern borders in East Bengal. Indian leaders were officially warned that such an escalation, even if undertaken by Pakistan, would have “serious effects on Indo-American relations.” There was little suggestion that such a development would affect United States Pakistani relations. No plan for peace or direct negotiations involving Sheikh Mujib was reportedly offered-just warning that if India did not curtail its Support of the Bengali guerrillas then war would be inevitable or so predicted American officials in October-2 months ago-without any meaningful alternative offered to India by U.S. official.

 Mr. President, as our national leadership has been incredibly silent during the past 8 months, the specter of human deprivation and violence has engulfed South Asia. It is now a late stage in the crisis, but the opportunity still exists, I believe, for our Government and the international community to make a positive contribution toward the peace and relief of the area.

 By ourselves we cannot solve the crisis, and by no means should we become directly involved in it. But to a degree we are already “involved"-our guns and equipment are involved, our economic aid, and our diplomacy-so it is not a question whether we should become involved, but how we should become involved, but how we should use our present involvement.

 As Prime Minister Indira Gandhi wrote in a letter to our Government just a few weeks ago:

 I hope that the vast prestige of the United States and its wisdom......... will be used to find a political solution acceptable to the elected representatives of East Bengal and their leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On my part I shall make every effort to urge patience on our people. However, I would be less than honest if I were not to repeat that the situation in which we find and ourselves has long been an unbearable one.

 Mr. President, for the international community to help resolve this crisis we must press for a standstill cease-fire that will provide the “cooling off period necessary to begin immediate and simultaneous negotiations between India and Pakistan-and between Islamabad and its Bengali opposition under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib. The purpose of the Indo-Pakistan talks would be to restore the 1965 cease-fire along the western borders, while the Islamabad-Bengali negotiations would determine the future status of East Bengal.

 Anything short of this will mean the continuation of the war and even greater tragedy. And so I urge again that our Government must turn its policy around-to begin to consider the source of the violence, not just the manifestations of it-and move on a political settlement in East Bengal...