পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৬৮

40 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড the two tremendous hammer blows which that territory had suffered first the Hoods last year, and now this tragedy- we should insist that aid which is given, either by ourselves or by international organizations to which we contribute, is concentrated largely in East Pakistan. Mr. Wood: I should not like the House to be under any misapprehension. That is our firm intention, and in that we are supported by the Government of Pakistan, but, as the Right Hon. Gentleman is explaining, and as I tried to explain, until condition in East Pakistan are restored to relative tranquility, it will be impossible for us to make progress with our programme. Mr. Healey: I accept that, and if my Right Hon. Friend the Member for Lanark (Mrs. Hart) takes part in the debate perhaps she will follow that up. The next matter is the critical importance of United Nations involvement. I agree with my Right Hon. Friend the Member for Fulham (Mr. M. Stewart), that the Commonwealth Secretariat might well have a useful role to play, but there could be special difficulties in involving the Commonwealth, because the largest Commonwealth country in the area is India, and it could be that on this issue the United Nations has a better chance of obtaining acceptance than a Commonwealth organisation, but it is worth trying. Given the scale of the problem, the human problem, and the nature of the political dangers which could follow if there is not rapid progress towards a settlement, it seems to me that the involvement of the United Nations is vital. This is the only way, in the short run, of alleviating the suffering caused by the recent tragedy. I believe that the involvement of the United Nations is the best hope of preventing the present tragedy from developing into an international conflict and so threatening the peace of the world. The involvement of the United Nations might help to create conditions for more rapid progress towards a political settlement. In this respect, the precedent is not so much Nigeria as the Congo, Indeed, the more one thinks about the Congo problem, the closer the analogies appear. The big difference, of course, is that the Congo tragedy was caused by the abdication of an imperial power; while the tragedy in East Pakistan is caused by the collapse of a postimperial settlement for which we in Britain had a major responsibility. This, if nothing else, justifies the concern which all of us are showing in this tragedy. 12.51 p.m. Sir Richard Thompson (Croydon. South): Like all other speakers in this debate, I congratulate the Hon. Member for Kensington, North (Mr. Douglas Mann) on the terms in which he moved his Motion and on the opportunity which he has provided for us of discussing this vitally important matter. For me, this is a moving debate, because I have, by birth and association, long been involved in the affairs of the sub-continent, particularly Bengal. More than a quarter of my life has been spent in that part of the world. I was born there, I have earned my living there. The earliest tongue I learned, other than my own, was Bengali: although I would not choose to be cross-examined in it now-it is very rusty-it has given me a deep personal