Washington, Aug 4
All 15 Bengali officials at the Pakistan Embassy here and at the Pakistan United Nations mission in New York resigned today in protest at the “barbarous actions” of their Government “which have turned Bangla Desh into a land of death and terror”. They asked for political asylum in the United States and offered their services to the Bangla Desh government.

Seven of them are senior diplomats. They include the minister and head of chancery, Mr Enayet Karim, and the political, economic and cultural counsellors. Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative at the United Nations Mr Sayyid Karim, also resigned his post and appeared at a news conference here with his colleagues to discuss their action.

The diplomats welcomed the action of the House of Representatives in suspending United States aid to Pakistan and said this would be a “serious setback” to the Government.

“We have decided to join the suffering millions of Bangla Desh who are resisting with their lives the barbarity of the West Pakistan Army, who are determined to reduce East Pakistan to a colony” they said in a joint statement. “The Government of Pakistan is now a military junta of West Pakistan desperate to retain its stranglehold over the country.”

They said that Bengali staff members at the embassy had been cut off from all information with a hearing on the crisis in East Pakistan and that their views had been ignored. They cited eight cases of alleged victimisation of Bengali staff members at the embassy.
Cost of Bangla Desh. page 12