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1971-12-28

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Pact to Disarm Bengali Rebels Reported

By Fox Butterfield

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DACCA, Pakistan, Dec. 27—India and the new regime proclaimed by the Bengalis in East Pakistan have worked out a major agreement under which the Bengali guerrillas will be reorganized and disarmed within the next 10 days and the Indian forces in East Pakistan withdrawn in two to three months, an authoritative Indian source said today.

With these two crucial steps, the source said, India believes that the security situation in East Pakistan should return to normal.

Under the plan, work on which was completed today, the estimated 100,000 guerrillas of the force known as Mukti

Bahini will report immediately to newly established camps in their home areas to deposit their arms and be trained as a national militia.

Most of the Pakistani prisoners will be taken on river boats to Khulna in the western part of East Pakistan, and then transferred to trains for their journey to India. The Indian troops who escort the prisoners will remain in India, the source said.

[In New Delhi, the Indian Government said that it would consider holding war ‐crimes trials for those Pakistani military personnel charged with “heinous crimes” in East Pakistan. Page 3.]

The source in Dacca said that Indian forces would be gradually withdrawn over the next two to three months, as security permits. But, he added, “India is prepared to leave some small units behind on a long‐term basis if necessary.”

Last week, Indian officials in New Delhi predicted that their troops would have to remain in East Pakistan a long time until the situation here became stable.

The plan reflects India's concern for getting her troops out of Bangladesh (Bengal Nation), as the Bengalis call the nation they have proclaimed in East Pakistan, before Bengalis begin to resent the presence of those troops. Indian forces have backed. the Bengalis in their fight against Pakistan, whose forces were trying to suppress a separatist movement here.

No incidents of friction between the well‐disciplined Indians and the Bengalis have been reported.

The agreement was worked out for India by Durga Prasad Dhar, India's special envoy to the Bangladesh regime, and by Gen. S.H.F.J. Manekshaw, the Indian Army's chief of staff. General Manekshaw left Dacca today for India after two days of conferences with Bengali officials.

Fresh Fruit in Markets



Many stores and offices in Dacca reopened today as public confidence in the security situation rose. Fresh vegetables and fruit reappeared in the markets for the first time in two weeks.

If the plan succeeds, the loosely organized guerrillas will be turned into a national militia, obeying government orders. They will then be demobilized and return to civilian jobs they held before last March when Pakistan began trying to crush the Bengali separatist movement.

The Bangladesh government, made up mostly of men who have been in India for the last nine months, is reported reluctant to issue orders to the guerrillas for fear that they may not obey.

But the Indians are said to be confident that security here is improving rapidly and that most of the Mukti Bahini (Liberation Forces) were tired of being soldiers.

At the same time, the authoritative Indian source said, half the Indian troops here now will be withdrawn within the next two weeks when they escort their Pakistani prisoners to India.

Women Returning to Work



In some offices, women who had been afraid to report for work since March returned to their jobs today. Pakistani soldiers had been widely accused of molesting and raping Bengali women.

The Bangladesh government announced today that it had added four more ministers to its, cabinet, making a total of eight. They are all members of the Awami League, the dominant Bengali political party.

In today's agreement, the Indians said they would provide training and equipment to the Mukti Bahinis in their new camps. In addition, India will also help create a regular Bangladesh army of 20,000 men, with artillery and possibly with planes.

Development of that army is expected to take at least a year, the Indian source said.