DACCA, Pakistan, Dec. 21— A tense and possibly dangerous situation has developed between Bengali officials still in Calcutta and the young guerrillas who hold Dacca on the brink of chaos.
Hostility between the politicians who are supposed to lead the newly proclaimed state of Bangladesh and the radical youths who helped win the war of independence is causing concern to the Indian Government and its army here.
The Indians are also concerned about the summary justice that the youths are dealing, out in the streets, which could yet explode into widespread killings.
Leading Bangladesh officials have not so far come to Dacca because of this instability. They are in Calcutta despite original plans to arrive here shortly after the surrender of the Pakistani army.
The longer the officials stay away, the more serious a guerrilla arrogation of power could become as a challenge to their government's ever being established here.
Disarming Favored
The Indian Army has been trying to keep out of the way in Dacca since it accepted the Pakistani surrender Thursday. But Indian generals on the spot and the Government in New Delhi increasingly feel the need to move in and disarm the uncontrolled young gun men who have taken the law into their own hands.
India is committed to the Bangladesh government. India sponsored it and is virtually alone in officially recognizing it as the lawful regime for the former province of East Pakistan.
Several sympathetic governments are believed waiting only until the government can establish itself here before recognizing it. But the tense situation here now is blocking that.
The bulk of the young guerrillas, mostly students and former students, hold Bangladesh officials in contempt. They feel the politicians, who formed the exile regime in April, should have been inside East Pakistan fighting for freedom instead of sitting comfortably and safely in Calcutta.
The opinion is held by members of the Mujib Bahini, as many of these guerrillas call themselves as distinct from being part of the Mukti Bahini, the main guerrilla organization.
The Mukti Bahini, or freedom army, was supposedly under the command of the Bangladesh regime. But many of its members felt they were fighting for Sheik Mujibur Rahman rather than for politicians in Calcutta.
Sheik Mujib, the leader of the Bengali nationalist movement, was imprisoned by the Pakistani Government when it began its crackdown on that national ism on March 25 in hope of preventing the secessionist trend. The sheik is still being held in West Pakistan.
The Bangladesh regime, made up of the sheik's lieutenants, is conservative. But the students always pushed the sheik to adopt more radical positions.
It was students who demanded complete independence while Sheik Mujib was trying to negotiate autonomy for East Pakistan within a Pakistani federation just before March 25. Bangladesh officials now feel that it was this radical pressure that brought about the Pakistan Army's crack down.
One of the most direct clashes between the Bangladesh cabinet in Calcutta and the Mujib Bahini here came over control of the Dacca radio station.
The cabinet wanted it used only for relay of programs originated by itself in Calcutta so policy could be controlled. But the students seized it in the aftermath of the surrender and began putting out their own policy statements.
The Indian Army brought the head of the Bangladesh civil service, Ruhul Quddus, and the chief of the national police system, Abdul Khaleq, to Dacca by helicopter Saturday to try to bring some law and order.
But the task is proving slow for Mr. Quddus, and Mr. Khaleq conceded in an interview that he lacked the power to control the armed guerrillas. Mr. Quddus returned to Calcutta yesterday to report to the cabinet.
The guerrillas have more guns than anyone else except the Indian Army, which has been reluctant to get involved.
Guerrilla guns have been used in the last few days for some frontier‐style justice, such as execution of four youths accused of looting or attempted kidnapping.
Reports so far indicate, how ever, that the killings have been much fewer than had been widely predicted.
But this does not mean the situation is settling down. It could go the other way as the euphoria of victory gives way to private matters of revenge against those who helped the Pakistani Army with its slaughter of Bengali civilians.