Should it later develop that India. once having occupied East Pakistan. comes to take a different view. then will be the time to pass adverse judgment on Indian motives. and to brand her with the label of "aggressor." But on the basis of the present facts. as we know them. India is doing no differently in intervening in this Pakistan civil war than we ourselves did when we intervened in the Vietnamese civil war or when we invaded Cambodia last year. except that. in Indias case. the provocation was much greater. and the necessity for taking some action miich more acute. India cannot possibly support 10 million refugees indefinitely. She is a poor country to begin with. A person has to go out there and witness the tragedy to appreciate its true dimensions. Not only had an enormous economic burden been imposed upon India. but the most severe political and social strains as well. It Is the very existence of these refugees. some of whom actually outnumber the indigenous Indian residents in the bordering states of Meghalaya and Tripura. that is creating for the Indian Government a very serious political problem. and the longer this festers. the more radicalized the politics become. Calcutta is already a seething caldron. largely as a result of the fallout effects of the tremendous influx of refugees following partition in 1947. Now this new burden. So India really had to do sonething and. it is to her credit. first of all. that she compassionately took in these refugees and attempted. at great cost. to administer to them. to shelter them. and to furnish them with food. medicines. and hope. But clearly. having waited 8 months for the problem to disappear. it was apparent in New Delhi when I was there that some action had become essential. that India could not wait much longer. I came away realizing that war was imminent. but I did not think within the week. otherwise.
Keywords matched
refugees