May 27, 1971

Pledges of $2.5 million by the United States and $2.4 million by Britain were the first by governments for a fund for East Pakistani refugees in India, the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees announced today.

UNHCR added that nearly $7 million had already been pledged to aid East Pakistani refugees. 

PLEA FOR RECOGNITION

A Bangladesh parliamentary delegation pleaded for immediate recognition of the Bangladesh government at a meeting of the MPs in New Delhi yesterday. The delegation consisted of Noorjahan Murshed, who was elected to the Pakistan National Assembly, Phani Bhushan Majumdar and Shah Moazzem Hussain. About 60 MPs belonging to different Indian political parties attended the meeting.

Phani Bhushan Majumdar said the recognition by India of the Bangladesh government would certainly boost the morale of the Bangladesh people, enhance prestige of the newborn state and inspire other countries to follow suit. 

LECTURE SERIES ON BANGLADESH OPENED

The Bangladesh martyrs memorial lecture series was inaugurated at a function recently held at the Indian Association Hall under the auspices of Lekhok-Shilpi-Sikshabrati-O-Samajkarmi Sangha.

Tracing the liberation movement during the past 23 years, Kamaruzzaman, president of the Bangladesh Sikshak Sahayak Samiti and in-charge of the educational and cultural affairs of the Bangladesh government, gave a vivid account of how poor countrymen of East Pakistan were being exploited by the West Pakistani ruling clique.

US PLAN FOR FOOD RELIEF IN EAST PAKISTAN

On May 27, 1971, Executive Secretary of the US Department of State Theodore Eliot sent a memorandum to the US President's Assistant for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger as to the planning for food relief in East Pakistan:

"We have already taken initial steps to ensure that food is available in India for refugees from Pakistan. Beyond this, however, looms the potentially much greater problem of food shortages in East Pakistan itself, which normally must import two million tonnes of food annually. There is now sufficient food either in stock or awaiting shipment to East Pakistan, but the critical problem is distribution. We believe that about 1.5 million people in the area hit by cyclones last November are now in dire need of food, and there is likely to be a food shortage throughout the province unless the Government of Pakistan mounts a large-scale relief program within the next few months. An Interdepartmental Working Group has been set up to coordinate all aspects of our contribution to relief work in Bengal but we recognize that neither we nor any outside donor can be of more than marginal help in meeting the problem."

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