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* International hearald tribune, April 2, 1971
DHAKA SAID TO BE BOMBED: ALL-OUT PAKISTAN OFFENSIVE REPORTED
New Delhi, April 1 (Reuters):- Indian press and radio reports said tonight that the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force had launched an all-out offensive to quell Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s resistance in East Pakistan.
All India radio and the Press Trust of India News agency, quoting reports reaching Calcutta said the drive followed the arrival of troops reinforcements from West Pakistan.
The radio said the Pakistan Air Force had bombed Dhaka and several other towns and that heavy fighting was going on for control of the capital.
* The Libyan Times, April 2, 1971
PAK. GOVT. SAYS INDIANS ARE NOW INFILTRATING TO HELP REBELS
London, (UPI)- The Pakistan government said yesterday that armed Indians were “inflitrating the border areas of East Pakistan.”
Radio Pakistan quoted a Foreign Office Spokesman as saying the Pakistan government was fully alive to the needs of the situation.
* The Daily Telegraph, April 3, 1971
MASS KILLINGS IN TERROR CAMPAIGN BY PAKISTAN ARMY
Killing on a mass scale are reported to be continuing in East Pakistan, indicating that the Army has shown no let-up in the terror campaign begun after President Yahya Khan gave it his “full authority’ to restore central Government control.
* Daily American, April 3, 1971
E. PAKISTAN FORCES STILL FIGHTING OVER WIDESPREAD AREAS
New Delhi, April 2 (AP)- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s independence forces apparently were active in vast sections of the East Pakistan countryside today as the Pakistan government officially acknowledged that the province was not as normal as originally claimed.
For the first time since the civil war broke out between the West Pakistan dominated army and the Sheikh’s followers in the eastern wing, the government-controlled Radio Pakistan did not report normalcy throughout the province.
* The Observer, April 4, 1971
THE EXPLOSION OF A NATION
Whatever its military outcome, there will be no winners in the brutal conflict now going on East Pakistan. Nor will the war, which was so shortsighted started, damage only the interests of the two parties most immediately engaged in the conflict–Punjabi-dominated Pakistan and the Muslim Bengalis. It will almost certainly promote the risks of revolutionary warfare in a particularly explosive part of Asia, threatening India, Pakistan and Burma. And it will possibly draw both the Russians and the Chinese into this arena.
* Newsweek, April 5, 1971
PAKISTAN PLUNGES INTO CIVIL WAR
Until the very last moment, it looked as if the two proud men entrusted with Pakistan’s density might still be able to avert a head-on clash. From the East Pakistani capital of Dacca came optimistic reports that President Mohammed Yahya Khan and Mujib–as the leader of secessionist-minded East Pakistan is known-were about to reach a compromise. But then, with stunning suddenness, the pieces of Pakistan’s complicated political puzzle flew apart. In the East Pakistan cities of Rangpur and Chittagong, federal troops poured machine gun fire into mobs of demonstrating Bengali nationalists. Swiftly, Yahya issued orders to his army to “crush the movement and restore the full authority of the government”. In his turn, Mujib proclaimed East Pakistan the “Sovereign, independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation)”. And with that, Pakistan was plunge into civil war.
* Time April 5, 1971
PAKISTAN: TOPPLING OVER THE BRINK
With the awesome fury of a cyclone off the Bay of Bengal, civil war swept across East Pakistan last week. In city after crowded, dusty city the army turned its guns on mobs of rioting civilians, Casualties mounted into the thousands. Through the full toll remained uncertain because of censorship and disorganization in the world’s most densely populated corner (1,400 people per sq. mi.) at week’s end some estimates had 2,000 dead. Even if President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan is prepared to accept casualties of geometrically greater magnitude, the outcome is likely to be the final breakup of East Pakistan and the painful birth of a new nation named Bangladesh (Bengal State).
* The daily telegraph, April 5, 1971
INDIA CANNOT STAND SILENT ON BENGAL, SAYS MRS.GANDHI
India could not remain a silent spectator of events in East Pakistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Prime Minister, said yesterday, But she called on Indians to keep emotions in check.
* International herald tribune, April 5, 1971
PAKISTAN CHARGES INDIANS ARE GIVING ARMS TO REBEL
New Delhi, April 4 (NYT)- Radio Pakistan has charged that nine Indian “vehicles’ loaded with arms and ammunition crossed the East Pakistan border and were stopped by West Pakistani troops.
* International herald tribune, April 6, 1971
PAKISTANI ARMY IN BIG CITIES : REBELS HOLD MUCH OF EAST PAKISTAN
Chuadanga, East Pakistan, April 5 (AP)- Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman’s independence forces held on today to stretches of East Pakistani territory along the border with India, vowing to fight until they defeat the Pakistan Army.
* The daily telegraph, April 8, 1971
USE OF U.S. JETS AND TANKS IN BENGAL WORRIES NIXON
The American Government, as chief supplier of arms to Pakistan, has made it’s first move to express concern over reports that American military equipment is being used against civilians in East Pakistan.
The Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Joseph Sisco, is reported to have voiced this feeling in a meeting with the Pakistan Ambassador, Mr. Agha Hilaly.
* Daily American, April 9, 1971
PAKISTAN SAYS INDIA MASSES FOR POSSIBLE INTERVENTION
New Delhi, April 8 (AP)- The Pakistan government said yesterday that the Indian armed forces were preparing ‘for possible operations’ in East Pakistan.
* Daily American, April 9, 1971
REBELS CONTUNUE TO GAIN IN EAST PAKISTAN
New Delhi, April 9 (UPI)- The Bengali secessionist forces have claimed almost complete control of the western part of East Pakistan, reports in the Indian Press said today.
* International herald tribune, April 12, 1971
CONCERN GROWS IN CONGRESS OVER ARMS AID TO PAKISTAN
Washington, April 11 (NYT)- The United States is continuing to ship to Pakistan ammunition and spare for weapons under a program begun in 1967.
There is growing evidence that the Pakistani Army has been using American tanks, jet aircraft and other equipment in its attempt to crush the movement for autonomy by the predominantly Bengali citizens in the eastern half of the country.
* Time, April 12, 1971
PAKISTAN: ROUND 1 TO THE WEST
“There is no doubt” said a foreign diplomat in East Pakistan last week, “that the word massacre applies to the situation.” Said another Western official: “It’s a veritable bloodbath. The troops have been utterly merciless.”
As Round I of Pakistan’s bitter civil war ended last week, the winner– predictably was the tough West Pakistan army, which has a powerful force of 80,000 Punjabi and Pathan soldiers on duty in rebellious East Pakistan. Reports coming out of the East via diplomats, frightened refugees and clandestine broadcasts varied widely. Estimates of the total dead ran as high as 300,000. A figure of 10,000 to 15,000 is accepted by several Western governments, but no one can be sure of anything except that untold thousands perished.
Mass Graves
Opposed only by bands of Bengali peasants armed with stones and bamboo sticks, tanks rolled through Dacca, the East’s capital, blowing houses to bits. At the University, soldiers slaughtered students inside the British Council building. “It was like Chengis Khan,” said a shocked Western official who witnessed the scene. Near Dacca’s marketplace, Urdu-speaking government soldiers ordered Bengali-speaking townspeople to surrender, then gunned them down when they failed to comply. Bodies lay in mass graves at the University, in the old city, and near the municipal dump.
* The Time, April 13, 1971
WITNESS TO A MASSACRE IN EAST PAKISTAN
An Account of Three Days of Carnage at Dacca University:
A student who survived the three days of carnage at Dacca University last month has given an eyewitness account of how the West Pakistani Army systematically shot down students and lecturers who were trapped in the encircled dormitories.
“I jumped out of the dormitory window and hid in the top of the tree for the night”, he told a science lecturer at Notre Dame College, Dacca, who has now sought asylum in Calcutta.
“The firing continued. In the morning there was a lull and I saw some Pakistani soldiers giving orders to the terrified bearers. After a while I saw the bearer dragging the bodies of students and lecturers towards the football ground.
“They were ordered to dig a huge grave. The Pakistani soldiers told the eight or nine bearers to sit down. After a while they were ordered to stand and line up near the grave. The guns fired again and they fell next to the bodies of my friends.”
* International Herald Tribune, April 13, 1971
EAST PAKISTAN PROCLAIMS ITS INDEPENDENCE
New Delhi, April 12 (AP)- An independent republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) was formed tonight, with Sheikh Mujibur Rhaman as president of the secessionist province of East Pakistan, Indian radio monitors reported.
They said that announcement of the government’s formation was heard on a newly set-up Free Bangladesh Radio, which had gone off the air two weeks ago, a few days after the civil war in the province broke out between the Sheikh’s followers and the West Pakistan-dominated army.
Both of Indian’s national news agencies carried the announcement.
The Free Bangladesh Radio also was quoted as announcing that Tajuddin ahmed, a close associate of Sheikh Mujib, would be the prime minister and foreign minister.
Syed Nazrul Islam, Vice-President of the Sheikh’s outlawed Awami League, was named vice-president Bangladesh, the radio added.
* The Times, April 14, 1971
EAST BENGAL RESISTANCE CRUMBLES AS TROOPS ADVANCE
Chuadanga, East Pakistan, April 13, Armed resistance in much of East Bengal was crumbling fast today before the advancing columns of President Yahya Khan’s Pakistan Army.
* International Herald Tribune, April 15, 1971
REBELS ASK INTERNATIONAL AID: PAKISTAN ARMY PUSHES DRIVE AS THOUSANDS FLEE TO INDIA
New Delhi, April 14 (AP)- East Pakistan independence forces appealed today to other countries for arms and ammunition as the Pakistan Army intensified a two-pronged offensive to crush the three-week old rebellion in the secessionist province.
Meanwhile, refugees from East Pakistan poured into India today, fleeing from the advancing Pakistan Army troops. ‘What was a trickle has become a stream’, said a high Indian official, describing the influx of refugees.
* The Daily Telegraph, April 17, 1971
PAKISTAN ARMY TAKES BANGLADESH CAPITAL
Pakistan Government forces last night took the town of Chuadanga, proclaimed two weeks ago as the provisional capital of Bangladesh, the breakaway eastern province.
The Observer, April 18, 1971
THE FADING DREAM OF BANGLADESH
Calcutta, 17 April- Troops from West Pakistan loyal to General Yahya Khan, the country’s military ruler are now rolling up the map of Bangladesh. They have ended, for the time being, Bengali dreams of secession and freedom in East Pakistan.
In spite of their passionate hopes, the unwar like Bengalis have been no match for the Frontier soldiers from the West- traditionally the best and most ruthless warriors on the Indian subcontinent.
But after a 200-mile journey through the tragic landscape of Bangladesh. I am sure that from now on President Yahya will hold his eastern province only by force and that his rule will be harassed by continual resistance, however, ill-organised and futile it may be. The Bengalis will never forget or forgive the happening of the past few weeks.
* Wall Street Journal, April 21, 1971
A FLICKERING CAUSE
East Pakistanis pledge to fight to the death but mostly they don’t…. They lack Arms, Leadership to Prolong their Revolt; No Aid by other Nations.
* International Herald Tribune, April 24-25, 1971
BANGLADESH ISSUES APPEAL FOR RECOGNITION AS A NATION
New Delhi, April 23 (Reuters)- The so-called Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) government in East Pakistan tonight sent an appeal to world governments for recognition as the Pakistan Army gained more ground in its push against the secessionist regime’s forces.
* The Sunday Times, April 25, 1971
SPECTER OF FAMINE OVER EAST BENGAL
An appalling picture of widespread devastation throughout the country is given by the latest reports reaching The Sunday Times from East Bengal. The vast, stricken area will take many weeks to make even a partial recovery from its wounds, and ‘normality’ in any pre-March, 1971, sense can probably never be restored.
* Newsweek, April 26, 1971
PAKISTAN: VULTURES AND WILD DOGS
For more than two weeks, the Pakistani Army of President Mohammad Yahya Khan had played curious waiting game. Siting tight in their well-fortified cantonments in the rebellious eastern wing of their divided country, the federal troops virtually ignored the taunts of the secessionist ‘liberation forces’. But then early last week, the lull came to a sudden end. Springing from their strong-holds the Punjabi regulars simultaneously staged more than a dozen devastating attacks from one end of beleaguered East Pakistan to the other. And when the blitzkrieg was over, it was clear that the less-than-one-month-old Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) had been delivered a stunning blow.
* The Libyan Times, April 27, 1971
INDO-PAKISTAN RELATIONS KEEP MOVING TO THE WORST BY THE HOUR
Moscow, (AP, UPI) – M. Arshad Hussein, special envoy of Pakistani President Mohamed Yahya Khan met yesterday with Soviet Preminer Alexei Kosygin for a private conference on undisclosed subjects.
An official announcement said Pakistani Ambassador to Moscow also took part in the meeting.
Arshad Hussein arrived in Moscow about five days ago, apparently to serve as Yahya Khan’s spokesman with Soviet Officials about the trouble in East Pakistan and the explosive India-Pakistani climate.
DHAKA SAID TO BE BOMBED: ALL-OUT PAKISTAN OFFENSIVE REPORTED
New Delhi, April 1 (Reuters):- Indian press and radio reports said tonight that the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force had launched an all-out offensive to quell Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s resistance in East Pakistan.
All India radio and the Press Trust of India News agency, quoting reports reaching Calcutta said the drive followed the arrival of troops reinforcements from West Pakistan.
The radio said the Pakistan Air Force had bombed Dhaka and several other towns and that heavy fighting was going on for control of the capital.
* The Libyan Times, April 2, 1971
PAK. GOVT. SAYS INDIANS ARE NOW INFILTRATING TO HELP REBELS
London, (UPI)- The Pakistan government said yesterday that armed Indians were “inflitrating the border areas of East Pakistan.”
Radio Pakistan quoted a Foreign Office Spokesman as saying the Pakistan government was fully alive to the needs of the situation.
* The Daily Telegraph, April 3, 1971
MASS KILLINGS IN TERROR CAMPAIGN BY PAKISTAN ARMY
Killing on a mass scale are reported to be continuing in East Pakistan, indicating that the Army has shown no let-up in the terror campaign begun after President Yahya Khan gave it his “full authority’ to restore central Government control.
* Daily American, April 3, 1971
E. PAKISTAN FORCES STILL FIGHTING OVER WIDESPREAD AREAS
New Delhi, April 2 (AP)- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s independence forces apparently were active in vast sections of the East Pakistan countryside today as the Pakistan government officially acknowledged that the province was not as normal as originally claimed.
For the first time since the civil war broke out between the West Pakistan dominated army and the Sheikh’s followers in the eastern wing, the government-controlled Radio Pakistan did not report normalcy throughout the province.
* The Observer, April 4, 1971
THE EXPLOSION OF A NATION
Whatever its military outcome, there will be no winners in the brutal conflict now going on East Pakistan. Nor will the war, which was so shortsighted started, damage only the interests of the two parties most immediately engaged in the conflict–Punjabi-dominated Pakistan and the Muslim Bengalis. It will almost certainly promote the risks of revolutionary warfare in a particularly explosive part of Asia, threatening India, Pakistan and Burma. And it will possibly draw both the Russians and the Chinese into this arena.
* Newsweek, April 5, 1971
PAKISTAN PLUNGES INTO CIVIL WAR
Until the very last moment, it looked as if the two proud men entrusted with Pakistan’s density might still be able to avert a head-on clash. From the East Pakistani capital of Dacca came optimistic reports that President Mohammed Yahya Khan and Mujib–as the leader of secessionist-minded East Pakistan is known-were about to reach a compromise. But then, with stunning suddenness, the pieces of Pakistan’s complicated political puzzle flew apart. In the East Pakistan cities of Rangpur and Chittagong, federal troops poured machine gun fire into mobs of demonstrating Bengali nationalists. Swiftly, Yahya issued orders to his army to “crush the movement and restore the full authority of the government”. In his turn, Mujib proclaimed East Pakistan the “Sovereign, independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation)”. And with that, Pakistan was plunge into civil war.
* Time April 5, 1971
PAKISTAN: TOPPLING OVER THE BRINK
With the awesome fury of a cyclone off the Bay of Bengal, civil war swept across East Pakistan last week. In city after crowded, dusty city the army turned its guns on mobs of rioting civilians, Casualties mounted into the thousands. Through the full toll remained uncertain because of censorship and disorganization in the world’s most densely populated corner (1,400 people per sq. mi.) at week’s end some estimates had 2,000 dead. Even if President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan is prepared to accept casualties of geometrically greater magnitude, the outcome is likely to be the final breakup of East Pakistan and the painful birth of a new nation named Bangladesh (Bengal State).
* The daily telegraph, April 5, 1971
INDIA CANNOT STAND SILENT ON BENGAL, SAYS MRS.GANDHI
India could not remain a silent spectator of events in East Pakistan, Mrs. Gandhi, Prime Minister, said yesterday, But she called on Indians to keep emotions in check.
* International herald tribune, April 5, 1971
PAKISTAN CHARGES INDIANS ARE GIVING ARMS TO REBEL
New Delhi, April 4 (NYT)- Radio Pakistan has charged that nine Indian “vehicles’ loaded with arms and ammunition crossed the East Pakistan border and were stopped by West Pakistani troops.
* International herald tribune, April 6, 1971
PAKISTANI ARMY IN BIG CITIES : REBELS HOLD MUCH OF EAST PAKISTAN
Chuadanga, East Pakistan, April 5 (AP)- Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman’s independence forces held on today to stretches of East Pakistani territory along the border with India, vowing to fight until they defeat the Pakistan Army.
* The daily telegraph, April 8, 1971
USE OF U.S. JETS AND TANKS IN BENGAL WORRIES NIXON
The American Government, as chief supplier of arms to Pakistan, has made it’s first move to express concern over reports that American military equipment is being used against civilians in East Pakistan.
The Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Joseph Sisco, is reported to have voiced this feeling in a meeting with the Pakistan Ambassador, Mr. Agha Hilaly.
* Daily American, April 9, 1971
PAKISTAN SAYS INDIA MASSES FOR POSSIBLE INTERVENTION
New Delhi, April 8 (AP)- The Pakistan government said yesterday that the Indian armed forces were preparing ‘for possible operations’ in East Pakistan.
* Daily American, April 9, 1971
REBELS CONTUNUE TO GAIN IN EAST PAKISTAN
New Delhi, April 9 (UPI)- The Bengali secessionist forces have claimed almost complete control of the western part of East Pakistan, reports in the Indian Press said today.
* International herald tribune, April 12, 1971
CONCERN GROWS IN CONGRESS OVER ARMS AID TO PAKISTAN
Washington, April 11 (NYT)- The United States is continuing to ship to Pakistan ammunition and spare for weapons under a program begun in 1967.
There is growing evidence that the Pakistani Army has been using American tanks, jet aircraft and other equipment in its attempt to crush the movement for autonomy by the predominantly Bengali citizens in the eastern half of the country.
* Time, April 12, 1971
PAKISTAN: ROUND 1 TO THE WEST
“There is no doubt” said a foreign diplomat in East Pakistan last week, “that the word massacre applies to the situation.” Said another Western official: “It’s a veritable bloodbath. The troops have been utterly merciless.”
As Round I of Pakistan’s bitter civil war ended last week, the winner– predictably was the tough West Pakistan army, which has a powerful force of 80,000 Punjabi and Pathan soldiers on duty in rebellious East Pakistan. Reports coming out of the East via diplomats, frightened refugees and clandestine broadcasts varied widely. Estimates of the total dead ran as high as 300,000. A figure of 10,000 to 15,000 is accepted by several Western governments, but no one can be sure of anything except that untold thousands perished.
Mass Graves
Opposed only by bands of Bengali peasants armed with stones and bamboo sticks, tanks rolled through Dacca, the East’s capital, blowing houses to bits. At the University, soldiers slaughtered students inside the British Council building. “It was like Chengis Khan,” said a shocked Western official who witnessed the scene. Near Dacca’s marketplace, Urdu-speaking government soldiers ordered Bengali-speaking townspeople to surrender, then gunned them down when they failed to comply. Bodies lay in mass graves at the University, in the old city, and near the municipal dump.
* The Time, April 13, 1971
WITNESS TO A MASSACRE IN EAST PAKISTAN
An Account of Three Days of Carnage at Dacca University:
A student who survived the three days of carnage at Dacca University last month has given an eyewitness account of how the West Pakistani Army systematically shot down students and lecturers who were trapped in the encircled dormitories.
“I jumped out of the dormitory window and hid in the top of the tree for the night”, he told a science lecturer at Notre Dame College, Dacca, who has now sought asylum in Calcutta.
“The firing continued. In the morning there was a lull and I saw some Pakistani soldiers giving orders to the terrified bearers. After a while I saw the bearer dragging the bodies of students and lecturers towards the football ground.
“They were ordered to dig a huge grave. The Pakistani soldiers told the eight or nine bearers to sit down. After a while they were ordered to stand and line up near the grave. The guns fired again and they fell next to the bodies of my friends.”
* International Herald Tribune, April 13, 1971
EAST PAKISTAN PROCLAIMS ITS INDEPENDENCE
New Delhi, April 12 (AP)- An independent republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) was formed tonight, with Sheikh Mujibur Rhaman as president of the secessionist province of East Pakistan, Indian radio monitors reported.
They said that announcement of the government’s formation was heard on a newly set-up Free Bangladesh Radio, which had gone off the air two weeks ago, a few days after the civil war in the province broke out between the Sheikh’s followers and the West Pakistan-dominated army.
Both of Indian’s national news agencies carried the announcement.
The Free Bangladesh Radio also was quoted as announcing that Tajuddin ahmed, a close associate of Sheikh Mujib, would be the prime minister and foreign minister.
Syed Nazrul Islam, Vice-President of the Sheikh’s outlawed Awami League, was named vice-president Bangladesh, the radio added.
* The Times, April 14, 1971
EAST BENGAL RESISTANCE CRUMBLES AS TROOPS ADVANCE
Chuadanga, East Pakistan, April 13, Armed resistance in much of East Bengal was crumbling fast today before the advancing columns of President Yahya Khan’s Pakistan Army.
* International Herald Tribune, April 15, 1971
REBELS ASK INTERNATIONAL AID: PAKISTAN ARMY PUSHES DRIVE AS THOUSANDS FLEE TO INDIA
New Delhi, April 14 (AP)- East Pakistan independence forces appealed today to other countries for arms and ammunition as the Pakistan Army intensified a two-pronged offensive to crush the three-week old rebellion in the secessionist province.
Meanwhile, refugees from East Pakistan poured into India today, fleeing from the advancing Pakistan Army troops. ‘What was a trickle has become a stream’, said a high Indian official, describing the influx of refugees.
* The Daily Telegraph, April 17, 1971
PAKISTAN ARMY TAKES BANGLADESH CAPITAL
Pakistan Government forces last night took the town of Chuadanga, proclaimed two weeks ago as the provisional capital of Bangladesh, the breakaway eastern province.
The Observer, April 18, 1971
THE FADING DREAM OF BANGLADESH
Calcutta, 17 April- Troops from West Pakistan loyal to General Yahya Khan, the country’s military ruler are now rolling up the map of Bangladesh. They have ended, for the time being, Bengali dreams of secession and freedom in East Pakistan.
In spite of their passionate hopes, the unwar like Bengalis have been no match for the Frontier soldiers from the West- traditionally the best and most ruthless warriors on the Indian subcontinent.
But after a 200-mile journey through the tragic landscape of Bangladesh. I am sure that from now on President Yahya will hold his eastern province only by force and that his rule will be harassed by continual resistance, however, ill-organised and futile it may be. The Bengalis will never forget or forgive the happening of the past few weeks.
* Wall Street Journal, April 21, 1971
A FLICKERING CAUSE
East Pakistanis pledge to fight to the death but mostly they don’t…. They lack Arms, Leadership to Prolong their Revolt; No Aid by other Nations.
* International Herald Tribune, April 24-25, 1971
BANGLADESH ISSUES APPEAL FOR RECOGNITION AS A NATION
New Delhi, April 23 (Reuters)- The so-called Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) government in East Pakistan tonight sent an appeal to world governments for recognition as the Pakistan Army gained more ground in its push against the secessionist regime’s forces.
* The Sunday Times, April 25, 1971
SPECTER OF FAMINE OVER EAST BENGAL
An appalling picture of widespread devastation throughout the country is given by the latest reports reaching The Sunday Times from East Bengal. The vast, stricken area will take many weeks to make even a partial recovery from its wounds, and ‘normality’ in any pre-March, 1971, sense can probably never be restored.
* Newsweek, April 26, 1971
PAKISTAN: VULTURES AND WILD DOGS
For more than two weeks, the Pakistani Army of President Mohammad Yahya Khan had played curious waiting game. Siting tight in their well-fortified cantonments in the rebellious eastern wing of their divided country, the federal troops virtually ignored the taunts of the secessionist ‘liberation forces’. But then early last week, the lull came to a sudden end. Springing from their strong-holds the Punjabi regulars simultaneously staged more than a dozen devastating attacks from one end of beleaguered East Pakistan to the other. And when the blitzkrieg was over, it was clear that the less-than-one-month-old Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation) had been delivered a stunning blow.
* The Libyan Times, April 27, 1971
INDO-PAKISTAN RELATIONS KEEP MOVING TO THE WORST BY THE HOUR
Moscow, (AP, UPI) – M. Arshad Hussein, special envoy of Pakistani President Mohamed Yahya Khan met yesterday with Soviet Preminer Alexei Kosygin for a private conference on undisclosed subjects.
An official announcement said Pakistani Ambassador to Moscow also took part in the meeting.
Arshad Hussein arrived in Moscow about five days ago, apparently to serve as Yahya Khan’s spokesman with Soviet Officials about the trouble in East Pakistan and the explosive India-Pakistani climate.
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