Mr. Spivak: Madam Prime Minister, the charge has been made in this country, by our press at least, that India gives sanctuary and arms and training to the liberation forces and has even provided artillery and mortar fire for the Bengali guerrillas. What is the charge and what is your answer to that charge?
Prime Minister: Well, quite frankly, we do support the people of East Bengal in their struggle. At I have said earlier, they did not ask for independence or secession. They function in a democratic way and they were asked to function, they were asked to vote honestly and openly and this is what they did, and now they are being punished for that. Even then we have not interfered, until this movement of guerrillas grew on its own. Perhaps you know that it is based on the para-military forces belonging to East Bengal, that is, the East Bengal Rifles and the East Pakistan Regiment. This is the basis of the movement. Today, it is they who are training the young people and so on. They may be coming into India territory. I think they do sometimes, but they are not entirely based in India. The guerrilla activities are all over East Bengal quite far from the Indian border. Obviously, they have the most tremendous and single-minded support of the entire people of East Bengal in spite of the retaliation on these villages by the army.
Mr. Sprivak: Thank you, Madam Prime Minister for being with us today on MEET THE PRESS.
