পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৯৭৬

এই পাতাটির মুদ্রণ সংশোধন করা প্রয়োজন।

948 ংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খন্ড "...not a word about the most appalling refugee situation of modern times Private diplomacy was doubtless going on, but there was no visible sign of American pressure on Yahya Khan for the only step that could conceivably bring the refugees back-a political accommodation with the Bengalis. "Pakistan's argument was that it was all an internal affair. Yes, like the Nazi's treatment of German Jews. But even if one accepts, as one must, that Pakistan was bound to defend its territorial integrity, this issue had spilled beyond its borders. The refugee impact on India very soon made it clear that the peace of the whole subcontinent was threatened. "It was as if the entire population of New York City had suddenly been dumped on New Jersey to feed and clothe-only infinitely worse in terms of resources available. Yet when Indira Gandhi went to the capitals of the West for help in arranging a political solution in East Pakistan she got nothing. "The Indians can be sanctimonious" I do not mind quoting against my country, my Government or, my Prime Minister from a newspaper of repute. -"Mrs. Gandhi acts for political reasons, not out or purity of heart. India has helped the Bangladesh guerrillas and, in recent weeks, put provocative pressure on East Pakistan. All true. But given the extent of her interest and the intolerable pressure upon her, India has shown great restraint." "After all, India has not intervened in a civil conflict thousands of miles from her own border." I shall skip the rest of that paragraph. "American policy towards the Indian sub-continent is as much of a disaster by standards of hard-nosed common sense as of compassion. India may be annoying and difficult, but she does happen to be the largest nation in the world following our notions of political freedom. In position and population she is by far the most important country of Asia apart from China. To alienate India-worse yet, to act so as to undermine her political stability-is a policy that defies rational explanation." It is not my habit to give quotations either from newspapers or anything else, but since: we are coming to the conclusion of the debate, I thought 1 should depend on some other and wiser people and not only on my own statements and conclusions. Here is Senator Church, who has just come back from India. I shall not read the whole of his statement-which he made only this morning-because it would take rather too much time, but 1 shall read the two brief concluding paragraphs: "I find it odd to understand why there is such a pro-Pakistani bias in American policies. India's position in the war, which has now broken out, is not only consistent with her professed ideals, but is also the position which is most likely to prevail. By showing such favouritism towards West Pakistan, we side with the probable loser, and