1971-11-10
By Malcolm W. Browne
Page: 3
DACCA, Pakistan, Nov. 9—Pakistani authorities here have announced that collective fines will be imposed on entire communities in East Pakistan when guerrilla actions against the Government occur.
In Dacca, capital of East Pakistan, union and ward committees have been warned that when bombings, shootings or other anti‐Government incidents take place, local populations will be subjected to special fines. Local civic committees have been instructed to report any guerrilla activity or face punishment.
The warnings, however, are seen by many residents as modification of Government policies. Collective responsibility has been imposed by the authorities since March, when the army was ordered to suppress the Bengali secessionist movement.
The painting of slogans on house walls has been punished by demolition of the houses. Villages in which Pakistani troops have been resisted have been burned to the ground, and the army's typical operations are of the search-and‐destroy kind.
Houses, shops or important buildings that fail to display the Pakistani flag are also subject to demolition. As a result, it is easy to distinguish between Government‐held territory and areas held by the Mukti Bahini, the guerrilla forces of the secessionists.
Political assassinations by the guerrillas have now reached a rate of at least half dozen a day in East Pakistan, and bomb explosions are heard in Dacca during the day and night.
Most of the explosions seem intended more to keep up a war of nerves than to cause casualties, although growing numbers of people are being hurt.
The current wave of guerrilla operations coincides with heavy shelling and occasional skirmishing between Pakistani Army units and Indian forces along the frontier.