November 11, 1971

Shamsuddoza Sajen

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.