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March-Apri l 1972
short,
anyone who rnight play a leading
¡·ole in rebttilding a new nation
-
were
special targets. Mass graves of such
people were found immediately after the
war .
The policy executed by the Pakistani
forces was not genocide, tbe killing of
a race. Rather, it was cephalocide, the
"cutting off of the head,'' the calculated
extermination of East Pakistan's leader–
ship class.
Vengeance
Considering all that had happened, it
was not hard to predict wbat thought
would be uppermost in the minds of
many Bengalis following their victory
over the W es
t.
Vengeance!
Many of the civilians who collabo–
rated with the Pakistaoi Army were ex–
terminated. T he main targets were the
Razakars, a local mil it ia in the employ
of the West Pakistanis, Most of these
were Bengalis, many with cr iminal rec–
ords.
The 1.5 million minority Behari com–
munity remains in danger, as a dispro–
portionately large number of them
cooperated with the West Pakistani
authorities.
Many of the vengeance ki ll ings car–
ried out were qui te barbarie and, as was
the case with the West Pakistanis,
innocent people have been killed.
Destruction, devastation, deprivation,
depravity - this unfortunately is the
The
PLAIN TRUTH
foundational base that the new nation of
Bangladesh has been given upon which
to build.
Building a Nation
The new govemment has enormous
problems to solve. First of all, order
must be restored. The armed youths
who roam the countryside must be dis–
armed. Guerri lla groups of various pol it–
ical shades like the Maoist, Ala Uddin
and the rightist Mujib Bahini must !ay
clown their arms and not be allowed to
funct ion as prívate armies seeking their
own advantage by force.
Then there are the refugees. Most of
the
10
mi llion or so who fled into
India have begun their homeward trek.
Unfortunately, most of the refugees are
Hindus, who may fiad it difficult to dis–
lodge Moslem squatters who have oc–
cupied their properties. The Moslems
represent the millions of ' 'interna! ref–
ugees" who fled their homes but re–
mained in the country. Many of their
homes were destroyed.
According to Sheik Mujib, possibly
85 percent of Bangladesh's 75 mi llion
people could face threats of disease and
starvat ion.
Is There a Future ?
l t's a gross understatement that
Bangladesh needs all the help it can
get. Economic and technical help to
build the nation, certainly. Food for the
starving millions, unquestionably.
Birth of o nat ion, death of o child . The tra vesty of wa r.
Ambossodor
College
19
But all indications are that Bangla–
desh faces nearly insurmouotable odds.
Once the heady iluff of nationalism dies
down, the harsh facts of reality will be–
come al! too apparent.
One expert predicts that Bangladesh,
if it remains as an independent entity,
"can exist only as an international
basket-case.
It
will have to be supported
by international charity."
lounensely overcrowded, haviug a
shattered economy, and subject to
periodi c calamities of nature - its
economic outlook is grave. Politically,
Bangladesh will undoubtedly be a client
state of India.
Bangladesh logically needs to be part
of a greater whole. But herein lies tbe
biggest problem of all.
Reunion with Pakistan's western rem–
nant is totally out of the picture. The
hatred is simply too insurmountable.
A much more logical answer is re–
unían with the other half of Bengal -
within India - with which East Bengal
was traditionally bound before the par–
tition of India in 1947.
The old Beogali state, despite reli–
gious division between Hindu and Mos–
lem, was one of the more economically
successful of the old Indian states. In–
dustry in the West, plus the port of
Calcutta, blended perfectly with the
agricultura! output of the East. Much
of Calcutta's current plight stems from
being cut off from its traditional hinter–
land.
But how could the two Bengalí halves
be reunited
?
Seemingly tbe only two answers are
Bangladesh's reabsorption into India,
or the creation of a united "Greater
Bengal" of 118 million people.
Again, either answer seems unrealistic
under prevailing política! conditions.
Regarding the first "solution" it must
be admitted that powerful Bangladesh
nationalism, compounded by religion,
simply would not permit the "trading of
Pakistan for India."
Shortly before his arrest by the West
Pakistanis, Sheik Mujib told an Ameri–
can official, "We remember too well the
tyranny exercised over us when Bengal
was united and Hindu zamindars beld
us like serfs. We will never go back to
those Bengalí Hindus."
Write off "solution" number one. The