July 4, 1971

Shamsuddoza Sajen

CANADIAN MPS PREFER AUTONOMY TO RECOGNITION

A three-man Canadian parliamentary delegation was convinced that autonomy in Bangladesh was preferable to recognition, and a situation should be created where the elected representatives of the people would be allowed to fulfil their duties.

The delegation told newsmen today in Calcutta that they had no doubt that the 6.5 million evacuees were forced to flee their homes only because of a violent military action. Having returned from a trip in the morning to three refugee camps, they said they were deeply moved by the human tragedy.

BANGLADESH REFUGEE CRISIS

India was receiving one evacuee from Bangladesh every second according to an official report. Everyday some 100,000 people are driven out from Bangladesh to the India side of the border. The cost of food and shelter for each evacuee was estimated at four rupees a day.

NIXON CRITICISED BY SENATOR ON AID TO PAKISTAN

Senator Frank Church, Idaho Democrat and a member of the senate foreign relations committee, charged in a Senate speech today that $35 million worth of military equipment was still in the “pipeline” for delivery to Pakistan.

He said President Richard Nixon “refuses to stop the flow” despite recommendations from the “bureaucracy” for the cancelling of outstanding licenses for equipment destined for the Pakistani armed forces.