পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৭০৭

679 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড Bottomley spoke so strongly at the meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association that he has aroused their of Yahya Khan who is now saying that the CPA has been interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. The point was made very well this morning that if we are going to achieve the preservation of equal rights and equal justice for all citizens all over the world, if we are going to talk in terms of world-wide recognition of basic rights and justice, than any talk in terms of national Sovereignty is a contradiction. At almost every point world recognition is bound to impinge all ideas of sovereignty and indeed there would often be conflict between these two points. Therefore, I am happy to accept in this situation that the argument adduced in the early stages in the House of Commons that the British Government could not interfere with the action of a sovereign state is one which can never be recognized as valid. I would only say that the magnitude of the problem will be realized and there will be stirrings of the conscience among the ordinary people. I am certain that the organizations working to relieve the sufferings of the refugees are doing very good work, and 1 hope the day is not far off when we can say not "Joy Bangladesh" but "Joy Freedom Fighters" all over the world and "Joy Universal Peace". Stanley Plastrik U. S. A. Respected Chairman and Yellow Delegates: I have come here from New York together with Mr. Michael Harrington, who is Chairman of the American Socialist Party, on a mission of education, I would say our self-education through participation in this Conference. We expect our education will be successful. We have a lot to learn, and we have already learnt a lot. When the Conference is over I plan to go to Calcutta and visit some of the camps for a short period. I am a little hesitant about that because I feel that by now the refugees in the camps have perhaps had more than enough of people from foreign lands walking around and seeing the misery and sufferings in which they dwell. My friends in the States and in New York have asked me to go there. I come from a country which, perhaps next to the military junta of West Pakistan, is most responsible for what is happening in Bangladesh. I say that in full realization of the fact that as an American, when I go out, I am not supposed to criticize my country. However, I would take the risk, and it does not matter who hears me here, but we, the American people, have a very heavy responsibility which we cannot shuffle off. When first the tragedy began in March there was immediate recognition that this was the beginning of a big disaster for the human race and that unless some immediate changes were made many of the people of the United States would be held responsible for it. We know nothing can be done without public opinion, without organisation, public demonstrations and so on. So we went up to the authorities in Washington, Mr. Kissinger, whom we could contact, some Senators and others, and urged on them that we should act on humanitarian grounds and from our Government Some kind of a general declaration of sympathy for the people of Bangladesh should be made. Besides, we should prevent any kind of military aid to the Pakistan regime. As everybody knows, the response was unfortunately negative. It is not that the United States has been adhering to military ideas,