and other vehicles. They even restored the railway line between East Pakistan and West Bengal un-used since partition, to remove locomotives and rolling stock.
This is the context in which the current refugee problem, exploited by India all over the world, needs to be viewed.
Arbitrary Figures
There is no denying the fact that a very large number of Pakistani citizens left the country during March and April 1971. It is not possible to give the exact number as no machinery existed on either side of the border to keep account
Recently when a Member of the Canadian Parliament mentioned a figure of 5 or 6 million, the wife of the famous British author, Professor Rushbrook Williams, asked him sharply, “How do you know, did you count? “She had an equally pertinent question to ask in respect of the stories related by some of these displaced persons. “Did you understand their language", she asked. “If not, who provided the interpreters? The Indians? Didn't they?”, she asked; and the MP had to concede that they had to depend on interpreters provided by the Indian authorities
Whatever the precise number, it is well worthwhile determining the reasons which brought about this movement across the border.
India's Bid to Break Up Pakistan
The reasons may be traced back to India's designs to break up Pakistan through external pressure and internal subversion. Her objective was clearly spelled out by Mr. Subramanyam, Director of the Indian Institute of Defense Studies, in an address to the Institute of International Affairs on 7 April 1971, when he said: “What India must realize is the fact that the break-up of Pakistan is in our interest, an opportunity the like of which will never come again".
The method used to achieve this objective was stated just as bluntly by Mr. K. K. Shukla, General Secretary of the West Bengal Unit of the All India Congress Committee who, addressing that Committee on 4 April 1971 declared that “Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was fighting India's war".
Apart from India's direct involvement with secessionists in East Pakistan and her incessant racist propaganda instigating the people of East Pakistan in the name of 'Bengali' race, language, and culture, and enticing them with offers of safe transit and warm welcome to Indian sanctuaries across the border, there were certain other factors which also contributed. Beginning 1 March 1971, there was widespread looting, burning and killing of racial minorities and political “nonconformists" by the India-backed Awami League and its collaborators. A general break down of law and order ensued as a result of the massive civil disobedience movement launched by the Awami League Chief, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
