Baltimore Sun

UNITED NATIONS, N.Y.-While the United Nations is engaged
in what is likely to be a fruitless debate on the
conflict between India and Pakistan, it seems likely
that in a matter of weeks the Bangla Desh leadership
will be given the task of trying to salvage and
invigorate what remains of their country.

They will be faced immediately with three problems:

1. The creation of an effective government.

2. The return of the refugees to East Pakistan .

3. The maintenance of internal stability, and the role
the Indian Army should or should not play in East
Pakistan.

The Bangla Desh representatives in New York (not, to be
sure representatives to the U.N.) are not entirely
pleased with recent events. A Mukti Bahini victory
unaided by India, they reason, would have clearly
established the legitimacy of their government.

"Personally, I would have preferred guerrilla warfare
rather than Indian invasion," says Sayyid Karim, a
member of the Bangla Desh mission in New York. "Morale
would have been better if liberation had come from our
own efforts rather than those of another country. But we
can show that our fighting has been important even
though India has played a prominent role."

The Indian government has not gone out of its way to
keep the Bangla Desh representatives informed, he
reports.

"We were not informed of the invasion when it took
place," he said. "Whether the Mukti Bahini were informed
or not, we don't know ."

A second worry is what to do with the Indian Army when
it pitches its tents in Dacca. Will Indians be essential
as a police force to maintain stability in the country?
"The Indian army is going to go back," said Karim. "I
don't envisage them staying on as a police force. They
know that whatever sympathy they have at present is
because of the Bangla Desh movement.

"I think they will also be anxious to transfer as many
troops as possible to the west when the fighting in
Bangla Desh is over."

Without the Indian Army in residence, however, Mr. Karim
concedes the possibility of indiscriminate killing.

"The Indian army is going to take prisoners and we think
it is a great advantage to take prisoners," he said.
"But the Mukti Bahini must follow the wishes of the
populace, and they may not take prisoners."

The return of the refugees may prove to be a difficult
problem for the new government. The refugees, more than
half of whom are Hindus, will have to be persuaded-or
perhaps forced-to return to what is now an
overwhelmingly Muslim state,

"Bangla Desh is a secular state," says Mr. Karim, who
adds, "But I see no problem in the refugees going back.
If we can provide physical security and return their
land, they will return."

Establishing an effective government will be much easier
if the West Pakistanis release Sheik Mujibur Rahman, who
has been imprisoned since the military repression last
March. Of the four conditions set forth by Bangla Desh
for talks with West Pakistan-the recognition of Bangla
Desh, the release of Mujib, the withdrawal of all West
Pakistani troops, and an agreement in principle for
compensation for damages-the first is non-negotiable and
the second is very negotiable.

Without Mujib, a provisional government will be formed
and will be led by Syed Nazrul Islam, the acting Bangla
Desh president and long the number two man in Mujib's
banned Awami League. A South Asian scholar at Columbia
described him as "a lawyer, considered to be a sound
intellectual, and very cool under fire."

The government's major task will be to rebuild the
shattered economy of East Pakistan. That task has been
multiplied in the past few days, since it has been
reported that the Indian Navy and Air Force have been
bombing Chittagong, the site of the country's major
heavy industries.

It has been reported also that the steel mill and
kerosene factory in Chittagong, both the only suppliers
of those essential goods in the country, have been
destroyed.

Some observers here feel that India may have done this
not only because of military considerations but
additionally in order to make East Pakistan completely
dependent on India for these goods. Mr. Karim does not
agree with this assessment.

"If the steel mill has been destroyed I would be upset,
but I would not assume it was deliberate," he says, "So
far as we know the Indian Army is going to take care not
to damage the infrastructure.

"Economically Bangla Desh will be better off than it
ever was as part of West Pakistan. About $2.6 billion in
revenues has been transferred from East to West since
independence. That is at an end. And we should have a
mutually profitable relationship with India,
particularly in the jute and coal industries."

Karim foresees nothing of substance emerging from the
General Assembly debates, and concedes that the Mukti
Bahini would not obey a ceasefire.

"As to a peace-keeping force, India won't accept them on
her border, and Pakistan doesn't control the border in
Bangla Desh, so where can they go?"

With or without the United Nations, maintaining order in
East Pakistan in the coming months is going to be a
grave challenge for the Bangla Desh regime. When the
euphoria of their liberation wanes the people of East
Pakistan will be faced with the grim prospect of being a
citizen in the most desperately poor country in the
world.