November 11, 1971

BRANDT WANTS POLITICAL SOLUTION

West German chancellor Willy Brandt today said a political solution of the East Pakistan problem must be found. Speaking at a dinner hosted by Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi in Bonn at the conclusion of two-day talks between the two leaders, Brandt said his government "is convinced that for the sake of maintaining peace and stability in the region, a political solution of the problem of East Pakistan must be found that will eliminate the existing situation of strife and ultimately enable the refugees to return home". "In spite of the grave tensions it will be possible to avoid a military confrontation," he hoped.

KAMARUZZAMAN'S PRESS CONFERENCE

The Bangladesh government will take back all refugees irrespective of their caste or creed and rehabilitate them honourably once the country is freed, AHM Kamaruzzaman, home minister of the Bangladesh government-in-exile announced at a press conference today. The same announcement was made by Mizanur Rahman Choudhury, organising secretary of the Awami League, before a large gathering of refugees at the Salt Lake camp in Kolkata.

The home minister made it clear that the Bangladesh government would not discriminate between the refugees who crossed over to India after the Pak army crackdown and those who left their homes earlier. He said that in case of those who went to India before March 25, the government would restore their property if not already "exchanged or sold". The minister said that the government and the people of Bangladesh would in no case compromise on the issue of independence. He categorically ruled out any possibility of a solution of the Bangladesh issue within the framework of Pakistan.

CABINET MEETING HELD

The Bangladesh Cabinet held a meeting today which was presided over by acting president Syed Nazrul Islam. All the members of the Cabinet, including the prime minister, were present at the meeting, and the problems in setting up civil administrations in the liberated areas were discussed. It was pointed out that law and order, rehabilitation, arrangement for food and other essential supplies, housing, medical facilities etc. would pose problems of inconceivable dimensions. It was also suggested that during screening of collaborators, very large-scale purge of the government employees might create an administrative vacuum which might be difficult to fill in. The Cabinet decided that a sub-committee of the secretaries would be formed to examine various facets of the problem of setting up civil administration in liberated Bangladesh. The sub-committee would submit a comprehensive report containing their findings and recommendations to the government as early as possible.

US URGES INDIA, PAKISTAN TO AVOID ALL-OUT WAR

Alarmed by what one US official described as a "dramatic escalation of fighting" along the India‐Pakistan border in the last few days, the United States called on the two sides to avoid an all‐out war.

Joseph J Sisco, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, summoned the Indian and Pakistani ambassadors to the State Department to express the Nixon administration's heightened concern. He urged both sides to take such steps as they could defuse the situation.

The American appeal was prompted by cables received recently from United States representatives in India and Pakistan expressing concern about the upsurge in fighting.

Shamsuddoza Sajen is a journalist and researcher. He can be contacted at sajen1986@gmail.com