Delhi, Nov 2
Even today, when the Mukti Bahini (Freedom Fighters) have put more teeth into their guerrilla activities and caused heavier damage in East Bengal than ever before, they think they would have fared better if only they had prepared themselves earlier. Their regret is that they had assumed that General Yahya Khan would arrest their leaders, as was done during the struggle for independence in the Indian sub-continent.

They did not believe that he would ignore the political aspirations of 75 million Bengalis and embark on a ruthless programme of suppression.

“We never even imagined that West Pakistan forces would use tanks to suppress our movement” This is the explanation offered by the Mukti Bahini, the mailed list of the Awami League, which secured a majority in the Pakistan National Assembly in the elections last December.

The guerrillas' argument runs like this: Our experience was that of the British who put Mahatma Gandhi and his followers behind bars whenever the talks for self-rule broke down and then resumed negotiations after a lapse of time. We thought that General Yahya Khan would do the same, imprison the Awami League leaders and pick up the thread later; but he started shooting.

“Mahatma Gandhi was fortunate in having the British as his adversary”, the guerrillas add wistfully. In fact, the Bahini’s allegation is that General Yahya played them false; that he pretended to have talks with Shaikh Mujibur Rahman, the Awami League leader, to gain time for the 1,000-mile haul, of men and materials from the western wing of Pakistan. When he had done so, he struck. This is evident from the report that Shaikh Mujib was arrested two hours after the military attack on March 25-26. “Had we known General Yahya Khan's intention, we should have at least whisked away our leader to some place of security”, the guerrillas say.

This story was confirmed for me by Mr Humayun Rasheed Choudhury, a senior East Bengal diplomat who defected from the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi early last month.

He said that the decision to crush the autonomy movement in East Pakistan was taken soon after the elections, in which the Awami League won, much to the dislike of the Yahya Khan regime; the Punjabi-dominated military as well as the West Pakistan administration were not willing to part with power which had been used to the detriment of East Bengalis.

This rumination over the past has not damped the spirits of the Mukti Bahini. In the past few months they have been feverishly trying to make up what has been lost in terms of time.

The guerrillas’ claim is that they have killed nearly 20,000 Pakistan soldiers since March. The figure is probably exaggerated but there is ample evidence to prove that Islamabad's forces have lost at least 6,000 men.

Indeed, the increasing effectiveness of the Mukti Bahini, with their impatience to go all out, has created a warlike situation in the sub-continent. The problem that President Yahya faces is how to punish the freedom fighters, who are not only nibbling at his army but also at his prestige. He would like to hit at the Indian sanctuaries to which most of the guerrillas retreat after attacking the overstretched Pakistan forces. Were he to do so, he knows he would be guilty of violating Indian territory. If he sits quiet he realizes that the Mukti Bahini will eventually succeed in “Liberating” Bangla Desh.

Delhi's strategy appears to be to sit pretty and help the guerrillas as much as it can. It probably has no other option. The influx of 10 million refugees from the east has strained its economy and social Fabric. If it does not help the Mukti Bahini, what else can it do, short of starting hostilities itself, to solve the problem of East Bengal?

To add to Delhi's dilemma, the extremist group in the Mukti Bahini is exerting pressure on its leaders to look more towards Peking since India “is not willing to fight the Bangla Desh battle”. Only last week. Syed Nazrul Islam, acting President of Bangla Desh, said his people had sought China's support for their liberation struggle. The guerrillas realize that the key to peace lies in their hands.