Belated, but for the Pakistan Government no doubt welcome support for President Yahya Khan’s action in East Pakistan. Sir Frederick Bourne, who was governor of the province from 1947 to 1950, has told the London Urdu weekly Akhbur-e-Watan that “to crush the enemies of a country and traitors is among the first duties of armed forces in every country. What the Pakistan army is doing in East Pakistan to defend the country’s solidarity is legitimate and necessary.”

Sir Frederick has not, he tells me, been back to East Pakistan since 1957. Nevertheless he recalls that at the time of independence in 1947 the Muslims in the area were “very happy to be free of the economic bondage of the Hindus who continued to control all walks of economic life and treated the Muslims as untouchables. I could never imagine that East Pakistani Muslims would ever want the return to Hindu economic domination”

Sir Frederick, who is 80 this month, is understandably appalled by the slaughter that has taken place in Bengal although he doubts some of the quoted figures. “But there was nothing else the army could do—they either had to suppress the rebels or let the province secede.” He doubts whether an independent Bangla Desh could survive for long and would prefer to see a federal solution—if it were still feasible.