their homes. In the meantime their properties in East Bengal should be preserved and protected under international supervision pending their return.
The return and resettlement of refugees in their homes will obviously take a while and relief measures will be necessary and camps will have to be set up for the purpose. It seem to us that temporary relief camps should be set up in East Bengal itself and the refugees now in India should be transferred to those camps.
The Pakistan Government claims to have set up camps or reception centers in East Bengal, but refugees are not returning there, because they apparently do not trust the Pakistan Government’s declarations of amnesty. It is, therefore, necessary to restore their confidence that they will be well treated on return, that they will enjoy safety of person and property and that bonafide measures will be taken to rehabilitate them and protect their rights and interests.
International Supervision
As a measure in that direction, an area in Pakistan may have to be set aside for temporary camps, to be administered by the refugees themselves under international supervision.
The basic problem is a political one and it calls for a political solution. Without such a solution, the atmosphere of confidence and security, which is necessary for the return of refugees, will not be generated. There are two essential pre-requisites:
First, the necessary political solution must be found urgently, and
Secondly, the solution to be effective and enduring must be in accord with the wishes of the people of East Bengal and their elected leaders.
Any effort to set up a regime in East Bengal which is not truly representative will only prolong the agony, and harden attitudes and pose hazards to peace of the whole region.
Concern For Mujib
We feel great concern for the personal safety and well-being of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He is a leader of very high stature and rare human qualities, who commands the affections of the entire people of East Bengal. We hope that the international community will spare no effort to persuade the rulers of Pakistan to release Sheikh Mujib, and to join symbolize the urges, aspirations and hopes of 75 million people which were expressed as late as December last. These will not be extinguished by this incarceration.
We would urge the International community as a whole, and countries friendly to Pakistan in particular, to bring their influence to bear on the Pakistan Government for a political solution on these lines.
Our views with regard to the grant of military aid to Pakistan are well-known. A situation has now arisen in which even the grant of economic aid to that country, in
