| শিরোনাম | সূত্র | তারিখ |
|---|---|---|
| বাংলাদেশের রাজনৈতিক সমাধান প্রয়োজন: ওয়াশিংটনের ন্যাশনাল প্রেসক্লাবে ভারতের পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী সরদার শরণ সিংয়ের ভাষণ | ভারতের পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয় প্রকাশিত পুস্তিকা | ১৭ জুন, ১৯৭১ |
BANGLADESH NEEDS POLITICAL SOLUTION
Foreign Minister Sardar Swaran Singh's address to the National Press Club,
Washington, June 17, 1971.
Following is the text of speech delivered by Foreign Minister Sardar Swaran Singh at the National Press Club of Washington, D.C., U.S.A., on June 17, 1971:
I value and appreciate the invitation to address the National Press Club. There is a special reason for this. I have come here to seek, together with your leaders, a just, peaceful and enduring solution of a problem which has been reported upon so well and in such detail by your press. So, I am happy to have this opportunity to speak to this distinguished gathering of the representatives of the American Press who play such a vital role in shaping public opinion.
The tragedy of East Bengal looms large on the horizon of India today. It looms large on the horizon of Asia. It poses a grave threat to peace and progress in our region.
The facts of the situation in East Bengal are well known to you. But I wish to draw your attention to the dangerous potential of this problem for us and for our region. We should also consider the consequences that the world may have to face tomorrow, if today, due to a sense of indifference or helplessness, or out of some misplaced feeling of delicacy towards the perpetrators of the tragedy, we permit the situation to drift further.
The concern and anxiety which this situation in East Bengal causes to us in India are not ours alone. They are yours too. The character and the magnitude of the happenings in East Bengal are such that they are bound to have repercussions beyond the frontiers of Pakistan and be a source of concern to the international community.
Democracy Brutally Suppressed
Besides, our two countries have a common commitment to democratic principles and values. These same values and principles are being brutally suppressed in East Bengal.
The suppression of democratic principles by the army in East Bengal I would remind you cannot be defended on the ground that it is an attempt to deal with a secessionist movement. The elections took place in Pakistan in December last year for a assembly to frame constitution for that country. The Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, swept the polls on a programme demanding greater control over state affairs in East Bengal within the union of Pakistan. The league's six-point programme was not a manifesto for secession or independence. The demand for independence of Bangladesh came, it should be remembered, in the wake of the bloodbath which began on March 25, The
