Therefore, the Prime Minister will be giving that leadership, which she has given to the country, to the whole of Asia if she takes courage in her hands and calls for a total human endeavour against this oppression and this conspiracy to enslave an entire people.
This is not a moment for India alone it is moment for the entire free world, and if we rise, then we shall always be remembered as a people who merely not shouted our help to the oppressed but have actually shown how that sentiment can be translated into action. Therefore, the time for action has come not merely extending our sympathy to those related millions across our border. They are closely related to us, they are friendly to us, they need our help, and if we deny that help to them today, we will not be forgotten by these free people in the future.
Let us organize ourselves and give all the he4lp we can unofficially. Let Government as on institution rise up and stop all flow of arms into East Pakistan, blockade, if necessary, those ports and seize those shops which carry lethal weapons for the purpose of butchering an innocent people. That is a duty we owe by reason of our allegiance to the Charter of the UN, by virtue of our protestation in the past and by our being a signatory to the Genocide Convention. That enjoins on us to put a stop to genocide in any part of the world, particularly when it is practiced on a people who are so near and dear to us.
The words of the External Affairs Minister, though very encouraging, though full of sympathy, have frankly disappointed many of us. I share the sentiments of Prof. Mukerjee when he said that a much stronger language is needed, a much more decisive voice was expected to meet a situation which is unparalleled in the history of the world.
I remember when the French Revolution started and the shouts of the Paris mobs reached Versailles the king asked: 'Are the people in revolt? His Minister said, “No, Sir, it is a revolution!” Prof. Mukerjee will remember that.
Therefore, this is not merely a groan and anguish of a people who have been exploited for years, this is the voice of revolution of an entire people which cries out for not merely succour and sympathetic words but positi8ve action so that the conscience of the world awakes and frowns upon and destroys those very people who, armed with foreign arms have descended themselves upon innocent people to butcher them.
SHRI K. MANOHARAN (Madras North): The statement of the Minister of External affairs is not only not convincing but. I am sorry to say, terribly disappointing. The concern and feeling of the Ilouse have already been manifested by so many speakers who have preceded me. Shri A.K. Sen who spoke just before me has said that strong language is required to be used. So far as I am concerned, what is required is not strong language, but strong action to be taken, whether it is visible or invisible.
The ballot which has given status, recognition, position and independence to the people of Last Bengal has been snatched away and killed by the bullets that have been poured ceaselessly by Islamabad. What is going on in East Bengal is not just a fight between some people in East Bengal and the military regime the entire people of East Bengal in a full, complete, total effort are waging a war against certain military goondas engineered by the President of Pakistan, Yahya Khan.
