In a news conference in Delhi on October 13, 1971, the then Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi asserted that there was no question of India having any discussion with Pakistan on Bangladesh issue. Spurning the Pakistani proposal the Indian Prime Minister clearly stated that the Pakistan authorities must sit with the elected representatives of Bangladesh.
The Indian leader in her speech at a public meeting in Belgaon on brutality of the Pakistani forces committed uponIndia was in no mood to declare war on Pakistan, yet, was ready to brace any situation. She stressed the need for safe and honourable return of Bangladeshi refugees to their own country and any political road map towards the solution to the Bangladesh imbroglio acceptable to the Awami League.
On October 16, 1971, the Indian Prime Minister held a meeting with Mr. Joseph Tito, the then President of Yugoslavia, in Delhi. Mrs. Gandhi in that meeting apprised Mr. Tito about the ongoing situation regarding the Bangladesh problem.
At a function in Delhi on October 18, 1971, the then Indian Prime Minister refuted the Pakistani allegation of the alleged attack by Indian armed forces in the border areas and said that it was the muktijoddhas (liberation warriors) of Bangladesh and not the Indian forces that had waged war in retaliation on Pakistani forces. Out of one lac fifty thousand liberation warriors about fifty thousand war from police, armed forces and East Pakistan Rifles (EPR). All of them were Bengalees and they had been forced to resist thethem on March 25, 1971 night. And, they was struggling to liberate their motherland, Mrs. Gandhi added.
In an interview to the correspondent of The New York Times on October 19, 1971, the then Indian Prime Minister asserted that an explosive situation was prevailing in the border areas between India and Pakistan. India, however, was determined to protect its own territorial integrity, albeit India was not in favour of instigating any war like scenario. Denying the United States of America’s allegation of India helping the liberation warriors of Bangladesh, Mrs. Indira Gandhi pointed out that the USA was supplying arms and ammunitions to the Pakistani authorities.
The same day, in Delhi, Mrs. Indira Gandhi reiterated her views regarding the pervading explosive atmosphere in the India-Pakistan border and said that India was leaving no stones unturned to avoid any war of conflict, but, the real problem was emanating from the differences between the Pakistani rulers and the people of Bangladesh, and India was facing the brunt of that very unwanted situation.
In a joint declaration on October 21, 1971, the then Indian Premier and Mr. Joseph Tito, the then Yugoslav President, cautioned Pakistan and said the scenario was bound to worsen if the people’s verdict in the last Pakistani general election was ignored. They also underlined the need for immediate release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the banned Awami League.
On October 23, 1971, the then Indian Prime Minister pointing out the fact of her country facing the imminent danger, made it crystal clear that the time was up for ensuring her country’s security. She called upon the opposition parties in her country to forget all the differences among them and stand firmly united in the hour of national crisis. The Indian leader also advised her countrymen to refrain from any sort of activities that could trigger spreading of rumours and communalism and uphold national unity and integrity. She uttered a word of caution to food adulterers and hoarders, too. The government was mindful about the plights of the landless folk and the unemployed despite the incessant inflow of refugees from the then East Pakistan, she further added.
national Affairs in Brussels on October 25, 1971, A considerable portion of Bangladesh came under the control of the liberation warriors (muktijoddhas) at the beginning of October, 1971. The central military command of Pakistan at Dhaka dispatched a large contingent of armed forces to the border areas to resists ensuing Indian attacks, although, India was yet to send a single troop to the border areas. On and from October 13, 1971, eleven days after the Pakistani military manoeuvre, did India start its military positioning. Both the armies started staring at eyeball to eyeball awaiting just the order to start firing. Mrs. Indira Gandhi was wise enough to understand that the international community needed to be apprised of the overall ongoing situation and on October 24, 1971, she was out on a 19-day world tour. During her this tour Mrs. Gandhi delivered her speech on numerous occasions and held deliberations with many heads of state and governments in Europe and America. This was a very important episode in the liberation history of Bangladesh.
In her address to the Royal Institute of Interscope for any compromise between India andthe then India Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi said that over nine million refugees from the then eastern flank of Pakistan were forced by the utmost inhuman tortures of the Pakistani military junta to cross over to and take shelter in India. The Pakistani military rulers were unleashing a large – scale genocide on the peace loving and democratic folk of the then East Pakistan who had exercised their legitimate democratic right. The Indian government had been exercising utmost restraint in view of the ongoing overall happenings to sort out the root cause of the problem and believed in the necessity of working out a political solution to the bottleneck acceptable to the elected representatives of Bangladesh. She further added that it was the duty of the believers in world peace to ensure an environment where the refugees could return with honour and also ensure their safety and their living in peace.
Speaking to newspersons in Brussels on October 26, 1971, the then Indian Premier asserted that there was no England, she had toured were only focusing the refugee problem which was not any meagre Pakistan at that juncture since the grave situation was caused by the wrong, unethical and inhuman activities of Pakistani solders and India was being made to pay for it, albeit, India was not at all responsible for that situation. And, as such, the whole scenario required something that could end the imbroglio.
Mrs. Indira Gandhi set her feet in the Austrian capital city of Vienna from Belgium that very day and sat with President Mr. Frank Jonus and Chancellor Dr. Brunecraky to discuss the situation.
On October 28, 1971, in an address to the Austrian Quality in Vienna, the Indian leader said that the Austrians were aware about the happenings in the soil of the erstwhile
East Pakistan during the last seven months and the whole scenario emerged out of Pakistani rulers’ reluctance to recognize the legitimate demands of the people of East Bengal.
In her speech in Britain on October 31, 1971, Mrs. Indira Gandhi said that the governments of the countries, including then British Premier Mr. Edward Heath on Bangladesh issue and also satproblem. It was not at all easy and comfortable to bear the burden of about ten million refugees, she added. She further added that the Bangladesh crisis did not mean just the refugee problem alone and it was the problem of India only since the bone of contention was lying elsewhere. The people of Bangladesh were struggling to achieve their right and the Pakistani government was carrying out a large-scale genocide by slaughtering lakhs of common people and this truth had already been realized and acknowledged by many countries and international observers. The Pakistani authorities failed to foresee the outcome of the general elections and now they were not only refuting the peoples’ verdict but also had been engaged in resorting to extensive killing of innocent people in vengeance that was nothing but an evil design to snatch the legitimate right of seventy-five million people.
Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the then Indian Prime Minister, had a two-hour-long discussion with the adventure to start any kind of conflict in the border areas. The Indian Prime Minister expressed her eagerness to be aswith Mr. Alec Douglas Hume , the then British foreign minister.
At a press conference in London, Mrs. Gandhi said that on an average about thirty thousand refugees was crossing over to Indian soil daily, whereas this number was sixty-two thousand earlier. Out of the total number of refugees twenty-five lakh were Muslims, and Hindus, Buddhists and Christians accounted for the rest. All of them must go back to their motherland since India was not in a position to bear the burden of such huge number of refugees for long. During her meeting with Mr. Edward Heath, Mrs. Gandhi said that India was not willing to entangle the British government in the affairs of the Subcontinent. But, she expressed her hope that the British administration would extend their support for the cause of the liberation of Bangladesh and the Indian government’s policy pertaining to this issue. She further hoped that the western nations including Britain would activate their leverage over the Pakistani authorities to refrain it from making any misshould first be aware of the ground situation in the east while interior part ofsured by the then British Premier Mr. Edward Heath that the British government would do its best to convince the Pakistani government so that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , the detained Awami League leader, and his party colleagues behind the bar should have the opportunity to hold deliberations with the Pakistani authorities to chalk out a road map to the political solution to the ongoing crisis.
Speaking to Mr. Mark Tully, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent on November 2, 1971, Mrs. Indira Gandhi said that India was of the view that the world community should help create a conducive atmosphere wherein East Bengal could witness improvement of the scenario and the refugees could go back to their homeland fearlessly.
In reply to another question the Indian Prime Minister held that the countries extending Pakistan financial and military assistancePakistan before dolling out such assistance.
Replying to a question whether she was concerned about the American view point regarding the Bangladesh tangle, the Indian leader asserted that India was no judging us actions with regard to East Bengal separately. She added that different countries were just attaching impetus to the refugee problem alone, rather they should have gone deep into the problem causing large-scale exodus of these refugees.
Answering to another question the Indian Premier was of the view that the solution to the ongoing crisis was lying in a mechanism that would take into account the opinion of the elected representatives of the then eastern wing of Pakistan that would ensure their right in entirety.
In reply to another question of Mr. Mark Tully, Mrs. Indira Gandhi asserted that the people of east Bengal had become the victims of a large-scale and extensive genocide. They were compelled to hate and distrust Pakistan. The people of east Bengal would never ever forget what had befallen on them on March 25, 1971 night.
to be continued…….
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