পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (দ্বাদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৯৪৩

ՏՏ Գ বাংরাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ দ্বাদশ খন্ড Say, Pakistan State is no longer a recognized State so far as we are concerned. Of course, if they have declared war against us, there is the end of it. That is to say, there is nothing standing in the way. But this matter must be cleared, because in the eminent position the Prime Minister occupies, If she says in the House that Pakistan has declared war against us, international opinion will turn round and say, this is an exaggeration. Now , it is no exaggeration in fact, but we should not put ourselves in the wrong in this matter. If it is not declared war, it is undeclared war and what is known as pre-emptive war. Pre-emptive war is the most sinful of all things. The decision who to hit and where to hit must remain with the Government and not with the Generals. War is to serious a matter to be entrusted to Generals. Therefore, I have no doubt that the Defence Minister who is otherwise pre-occupied will see to it that where and in which terms to hit is left to be decided by Government and nobody else. I do hope that today, tomorrow or whenever, it is, Bangladesh should be recognized because that would be a fitting answer to Pakistan, almost as powerful as the lethal blows that we may deliver. I want to conclude by saying, this is a sorry business. War is a gruesome affair, especially in a population of our size without the necessary equipment for shelters and things of that character, with a nation that has not seen a war on its own soil since the battle of Wandiwash. That is to say, our people, our professional soldiers, have fought in other fields of battle with glory, but on this soil, we have not seen a war, War is a gruesome business with the blackouts, the fear of bombing etc. It is a gruesome business. So, there may be competition amongst us as to who makes the most extreme speeches because that this nobody. I want to assure the Prime Minister that I belong to on party. Apart from that, there are no differences here; we ate one IldtIOI) . Philip of Spain thought in the 16th century because Mary Queen of Scotland, was executed the Catholics would support him when he invaded Britain. But it is the same as what you have heard from the representative of the Muslim League. This is one country and one nation and I have no hesitation in saying that today we are under one leader irrespective of her ideologies, I do not believe she would bring socialism to this country. I want to say this quite frankly because you cannot jump into a ditch and then leap. But that is another matter which we will deal with afterwards. There will be neither socialism nor any ism unless this nation survives, the survival of this nation is the most important thing. Coming to war, this country nerve wanted to wage a war. But when our frontiers beyond the cease-fire line are unfortunately compromised by the action of another country, when another country, when another country decides to indulge in border violation and things of that kind I think a new situation arises. Therefore, while we believe in peace at any price we are in the position of an old American President who is reported to have said. "I am a man of peace at any price but the present price is war. But, in the present case, we do not have to make a choice; the enemy has made the choice War action has taken place by the bombing of our air-field for the crippling of our Jawans, not of our striking power. And I have no doubt that in the operations which we are forced to undertake, as Shri Indrajit Gupta has righty pointed out, we have no quarrel with the people of Pakistan and we do