India rejects proposal for posting observers
July 30, 1971
INDIA REACTS SHARPLY AGAINST THANT'S PROPOSAL
India reacted sharply against UN Secretary General U Thant's proposal which suggested posting observers in both India and East Pakistan. The Indian government considered the proposal as a design to divert the world's attention from the real issue and depicted it as one between India and Pakistan.
Indira Gandhi's government took its stand on the firm basis that the refusal of the military junta in Islamabad to give democratic rights to the people of Bangladesh and its attempts to suppress the Independence movement by genocide and terror had created the problem, which was one between people now being decimated and the military junta killing them. India would most definitely not be a party to any move calculated to treat the problem as a conflict between India and Pakistan, shared Indian government sources.
YAHYA TO VISIT DHAKA SOON
Pakistani President Yahya Khan indicated he would visit East Pakistan in the next few days. He said this in an interview with television teams from six countries at the president's house today. The president invited the television teams informally to accompany him to East Pakistan and when pressed for dates he replied cryptically, "stick around a day or two".
TUNKU CALLS OFF VISIT
Tunku Abdul Rahman, former Malaysian prime minister and current secretary general of the Islamic Secretariat, today called off the visit of the secretariat delegation headed by him to India to study the situation caused by the influx of Bangladesh refugees. The visit was called off following objection by the Government of India to receive the delegation members of the Islamic Summit from which India was barred. Tunku said he was still keen to visit India not only to see the refugee situation on the eastern border but also to talk to the Indian leaders, including Indira Gandhi.
UNICEF CENTRES IN INDIA
To stave off the threat of widespread deaths from malnutrition among refugee children from Bangladesh, the United Nations Children's Fund took the initiative for opening 1,000 centres in Eastern India on August 15 to dispense high‐protein foods.
"The situation is very serious," said J Gullmar Andersson, the Swedish director of a new emergency section set up by Unicef. He said two million refugees -- children below nine and expectant mothers -- would be given about three and a half ounces of high-protein food a day, including food made from milk powder.
YAHYA FAVOURS ICRC HELP
Pakistani President Yahya Khan told the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that he was in favour of its carrying out humanitarian work in East Pakistan, ICRC announced today.
Shamsuddoza Sajen is a journalist and researcher. He can be contacted at [email protected]
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