East Pakistan

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32567, 29 March 1971, Page 14

East Pakistan

The “ return to normal life ” announced yesterday from East Pakistan appears to be the enforced calm of a military occupation imposed on parts of the province by troops from West Pakistan. No more than a brief lull can be expected in the fighting brought about by the bitter estrangement of two provinces a thousand miles apart The “national “unity” sought by President Yahya Khan cannot be maintained for long by force.* Two-thirds of Pakistan’s population live in the East they support solidly the eastern leader (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) his proposals for a loose federation of the two Pakistani provinces which have little in common except the Islamic religion. If it is not already too late President Yahya Khan would be wise to accept the Sheikh’s proposals. The alternative must be a short-lived “ unity ” maintained by force before the East collapses into civil war.

India cannot help but be concerned with what happens in Pakistan, although Mrs Gandhi’s Government would be most unwise to attempt to make capital from the conflict A divided Pakistan would not necessarily be less truculent towards India; an aggressively independent East Pakistan, a “ Bengali “ nation ”, might well serve as a rallying point for the discontented factions in the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal Like the rest of the world, India has much to gain from encouraging the Pakistanis to solve the crisis of the federation as quickly and peacefully as possible. If this means the break-up of the federation, it may be for the best. Close economic and defence ties between two independent States formed from what is now Pakistan would serve both halves better than the present situation. The military occupation of the East adds to the suffering of a country which has already had more than its share of human and natural disasters.