পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (পঞ্চদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৩০৯

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ পঞ্চদশ খন্ড
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to the Bangladesh government. It was a great diplomatic coup. Since they were a big group and had within their ranks some of the most able officers of the Pakistan foreign and civil service. S. A. Karim, who was Deputy Permanent Representative at Pakistan's mission to the U.N. and the senior most amongst them came in from New York and joined the group in a well attended press conference held to announce their decision. A conspicuous absentee from the press conference was Einayet Karim who a few days before had been hospitalized by a severe coronary attack. He had however, from his sick bed, declared his solidarity with the other Bengalis.

 Earlier in June we have noted that the report of the World Bank-IMF fact mission to Pakistan bad been leaked to the New York Times by some officials of the World Bank. The report had a significant impact not just on the Consortium but on the U.S. public, Congress and donors outside the United States.

 By this time the Bangladesh movement in the United State had become more organized in their lobbying efforts. Support amongst the U. S. public had crystallised in the form of a number of effective Volunteer organisations made up of committed and idealistic Americans who were willing to volunteer their time and energies to work for the Bangladesh cause. One of the most effective of these groups was the Bangladesh Information Center which was based in Washington. This group took on the task of coordinating the lobbying effort for the Sexby Church amendment.

 The availability of this sizeable body of Bengali diplomats and the more widespread support for the Bangladesh cause amongst the people and Congress in the United States pursuaded the Bangladesh government to establish a permanent mission in Washington. This was located in offices at Connecticut Avenue in downtown Washington. M.R. Siddiqui was sent out to head the mission which was manned by a distinguished collection of defected diplomats. S.A. Karim was entrusted with the tasks in the U.N. and the New York area.

 The newly formed mission in Washington and the Bangladesh Information Center became the focal point for the lobby effort In Washington for the SaxbyChurch amendment. The amendment sought to attach a ryder on the U.S. Foreign Aid bill that all fresh commitments of U.S. aid to Pakistan be cut off till they stopped their genocide in Bangladesh and resumed a dialogue with the elected representatives of Bangladesh. This bi-partisan group in the U.S. Senate, led by a ranking Republican and a Democrat, had already attracted a large number of adherents within the Senate.

 The political objective of the moment was to secure a majority vote for the amendment on the floor of the Senate. Whilst the amendment had attracted very strong support its supporters had to contend with strong counter-pressures from the U.S. administration. They had moved to justify their support for the Yahya regime on the plea that they wished to retain coverage on the yahya government and that any move to cut aid would prejudice their efforts to influence the Pakistanis. On this ground they had continued shipments of arms and spare parts to Pakistan, an exercise which had been exposed by Senator Kennedy on the floor of the Senate. An imaginative effort by a group