পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৬৪

ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড 12.29 p.m. Mr. Denis Healey (Leeds, East): The whole House is grateful to my Hon. Friend the Member for Kensington, North (Mr. Douglas-Mann) for opening this debate and for the moving and well-informed speech that he made. Hon. Members taking part in the debate have followed the lead that my Hon. Friend set in that respect. The Pakistan disaster has two aspects. The first, and the one which is most fresh in our minds is a colossal human tragedy, and the second is a tremendous political danger. The world is still so stunned by the human tragedy not yet to be fully alert to some of the long-term political dangers, which could bring even greater human tragedies than we see today, The scale of the human tragedies we cannot yet fully appreciate. We know the scale of the refugee problem in India. Over two million people-roughly the population of New Zealand or of Israel-have moved away from their homes and out of their country in the last few weeks to live in what they regard as greater security. The cost of looking after these refugees is estimated by the Indian Government at about £140, million a year. Yet the refugees are still said to be leaving East Pakistan at the rate of about 60,000 a day. The Indian Government have estimated that the number could reach five million, unless the flow stops in the near future or is reversed. We have very few details so far about the scale and nature of the problem inside East Pakistan because administration and communications have pretty well collapsed throughout that territory. But we know that there are large areas of chaos outside the cities and that some cities, have become largely depopulated as a result of recent events. We have heard terrifying stories of communal violence. There have been appalling massacres—by no means carried out by one community only. We know that fear is the dominant factor in society throughout the territory. The result is a risk of widespread famine affecting 70 million or 75 million people and accompanying disease. This is the human problem. I think that all Right Hon. and Hon. Members in this House recognize that the immediate problem is relief of this human suffering. We all agree with the Government that relief is far too big a problem for one country alone, or even for one group of countries. The only agency which can hope to collect and administer relief on the scale required by the tragedy is the United Nations. We welcome the fact that the Government have already asked the Secretary-General to intervene, and so, I understand, here the Indian Government, concerning the problem in West Bengal. Immediate action by the United Nations in West Bengal could be effective. The Indian Government have said that they want United Nations help and that they are capable of helping to administer any relief supplies which are sent. East Pakistan is still a bit of a mystery. I think that the Minister said that the Secretary-General was in touch with President Yahya Khan, but, as I understood him, no agreement has yet been reached about the reception of a United Nations team. The tragedy in East Pakistan is that, even if the Pakistan Government are willing to receive United Nations aid, the physical problem of distributing it is likely to be appallingly difficult.