বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (দ্বাদশ খণ্ড)/২৯
| শিরোনাম | সূত্র | তারিখ |
|---|---|---|
| জাতিসংঘের ইকনমিক এণ্ড সোশাল কাউন্সিলে ভারতীয় পর্যবেক্ষক প্রতিনিধিদলের নেতা এন, কৃষ্ণনের ভাষণ | ভারত সরকারের পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয় | ৯ জুলাই, ১৯৭১ |
Extracts from the Statement by Ambassador N. Krishnan, leader of the Indian
Observer Delegation to the 51st Session of the Economic and Social Council
On July 9, 1971
With these promising growth trends characterizing the Indian scene during the last few years the country was poised for a breakthrough in several new directions leading to sustained and substantial progress. Indeed after the General Elections which took place in February this year, my Government was getting ready of a determined attack on our economic and social problems. Our plans for continuing an accelerated tempo of development in the economic and social fields have, however, received a severe jolt due to the tragic turn of events in East Bengal which have resulted in a massive influx of refugees from there into India. The influx still continues unabated and has already reached a phenomenal figure of 6.3 million by the end of June. It is clear that the task of providing food, shelter and medicines to them must receive high priority. Even the token provision of 80 million in our budget for the current year for this purpose has meant an additional tax burden of 30 percent on our people. We are therefore appreciative of the sympathetic response of the world community in sharing this burden with us and the efforts of the UN system to channel this assistance. However, much still remains to be done to cope with the gigantic relief needs of the ever increasing number of refugees. At the same time, relief efforts, ever on an expanded and accelerated scale, could at best be only an temporary palliative. The real and truly humanitarian solution, as the international community has come to recognize and accept, lies in stopping the flow of refugees and in expediting their return to their homeland, in conditions which would assure them full freedom and security and create in them confidence and faith for the future.
My delegation is grateful for the initiative taken by Yugoslavia and New Zealand in asking for discussion on this item during the current session of the Council and the support expressed in their statements by the delegations of the Soviet Union, U.K. Hungary, Norway and others. We await with interest the statement which the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in expected to make before the Council next week. We are confident that discussion will highlight the need to mobilize further assistance on a substantial scale to meet the pressing relief needs of these unfortunate refugees and focus attention also on the urgency of their speedy and voluntary repatriation. We do hope the ECOSOC during its deliberations will consider the problem in its overall perspective and endorse a viable and lasting solution.