one. And we have the determination to bear this burden. We are not going to go under, however heavy the economic burden is, or any other burden.
But we may have to take steps which are necessary to safeguard our freedom and our stability, and, I think, that this is not only in the interest of India, it is in the interest of Pakistan itself. Pakistan cannot remain if India is unstable. If Pakistan becomes unstable for a while and India is stable. Pakistan will come back to stability. But if, in the larger part of the sub-continent, there is trouble, then certainly nobody can save Pakistan or any other smaller countries there. and, I think, if there is instability in India, it will have an effect on all of Asia, and perhaps in other parts of the world as well.
So, today, we feel that very much more is at stake than people are realizing; and I have come here not to ask for anything from the Government, from any of the countries where I have been, but merely to give my assessment of the situation as it exists. And it is then for these countries, these governments or the people, to decide what they should do in such a situation, whether they should help or they should not. Naturally, everybody welcomes sympathy, everybody welcomes friendship, everybody welcomes support, but we know that in life, in the ultimate analysis. everybody-even a parent, or a child, or a sister, or a brother, each individual is alone; each country is alone; and India must learn to stand on her feet; she is going to stand on her feet and deal with the problems herself.
Following are some of the questions asked by the audience and the replies given
by the Prime Minister:
Question: You speak about humanity for the East Pakistanis. How will you explain the construction of Farraka Barrage which certainly is going to destroy the agriculture and economy there?
Prime Minister: I don’t know whether the young lady knows the geography of the place. East Bengal does not suffer from a shortage of water but of too much of water.. (applause). This matter has been under discussion for a long time. Unfortunately, Pakistan is now trying to make it into a political question, whereas it is not. It is not in any way harming East Pakistan or East Bengal.
Question: Excellency, Mrs. Gandhi, I want to tell you that I am Vice President of the Committee of Migration in the International Council of Women. We have made a resolution in our meeting in Amsterdam about the very great problem of refugees in you country, to urge all 60-member councils to take more care for your problems and urge the United Nations to look after the minorities in the world.
Prime Minister: Thank you very much.
Question: Madam, you said in the course of your speech that East Pakistani people are imbued with nationalism. Do you think this nationalist spirit is absent in West Bengali people, and because Bengalis are a nation, therefore, they should have one State? How would you preclude the people of West Bengal, who are as much Bengalis, from forming the same State?
