As the evidence accumulates from East Pakistan almost all hopes for political compromise seem to be vanishing. From our own correspondents, from the British parliamentary delegation led by Mr Arthur Bottomley, and from the report based on an assessment in June by a World Bank mission of which details are published today, there can be only one conclusion. From the beginning the Pakistan army established its rule by the deliberate use of terror and this rule is maintained now, over three months later, by the same means.

East Bengal is being held down by force and by fear. The cooperation exacted from Bengalis has been exacted by the same means and the only real collaboration available to the army comes from the non-Bengali Muslims who all along have identified themselves with the government and its repressive policy. The view of the World Bank that there were no signs of improvement in the situation nor any prospect of normality seems as true now as when it was made a month ago.

The evidence also confirms how false is the picture of events offered by the Pakistan Government in Islamabad. If their only source of information is that supplied by General Tikka Khan and his staff they must not be surprised if others find them unconvincing. Such a version of events, reporting constant amelioration of conditions in East Pakistan, can flourish when there have been obvious exaggerations by spokesmen on the other side or in India.

In a war of words these exchanges are unavoidable. But it is much worse when a government that seems lamentably undecided should not merely reassure itself by its own false information but should base its plans for the future on expectations that cannot be fulfilled. The policy being followed in East Pakistan is self-defeating: the collaborators will not be forthcoming in sufficient number. The rule of fear will remain the only rule to hold down the province.

By now the impasse they face must be obvious to many members of the Pakistan Government. They can have little hope that the proposals announced by President Yahya Khan last month have any hope of bringing peace to East Pakistan or ending fear and distrust among the Bengali population. Other fearsome alternatives loom up: the analysis of the Indian Institute of Defence Studies of which details were published yesterday must be matched by some gloomy estimates of strength on the Pakistan side if matters came to war between the two neighbours. That would be a disastrous outcome, certain to increase the suffering ten-fold and create more problems than it solved. But can there be an international answer? It may be that the economic pressures on Pakistan will be most potent in bringing a change. At the very least there must be some lessening of the military repression which still goes on in East Pakistan. There is no hope in it.