পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৫৬২

534 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড The Islamabad government could be made to cut its losses, possibly quite soon, if the pressure of world opinion is persistent and if it is radically skeptical of Yahya's window-dressing arrangements. West Pakistani leaders have known for a long time that their rule is hated in the East. The idea that it might be sensible to allow the unappreciative Bengalis to go their own way is by no means a new one. And there are of course precedents. The Dutch gave up their control of Indonesia in 1949 in roughly similar circumstances. In December 1948 they had made a desperate attempt to strike a knockout blow against the Indonesian Republic. By the following March it was clear that they had failed to break the Indonesian nationalists' spirit and the U. N. then insisted that they disengage completely rather than fight a long war against determined guerillas. Ten years later France withdrew from Algeria when it became clear that its military might would never prevail against Algerian nationalism. It did so despite the fact that a million of its citizens lived there and despite the long-proclaimed contention that Algeria was part of France. And it is not difficult to see analogies with the way in which the U. S. is being forced to swallow its pride in Indo-China today, International pressure could be effective in moving the Yahya Khan government, particularly if it is pressure for the actual relinquishment of the Eastern area. But let it lie stressed that it is not enough for outside powers to advise the West Pakistan authorities to move towards the restoration of democracy and civilian government in the East. That may well lead simply to more window-dressing there. The hard fact is that, for a government whose hold on power is as tenuous as that of Islamabad in post-March 1971 East Bengal, the only alternatives are more of live massive repression being perpetrated today and complete disengagement. Bangladesh Information Center 418. Seward Square. S. E Washington. D. C. 20003 (202)547-194.