But the facts. Mr. President. show that this war began not last week with renewed military border crossings. nor last month with the escalating crossfire of artillery between India and Pakistan: this war began on the bloody night of March 25 with the brutal suppression by the Pakistan army of the free election it held in East Bengal. A review of events since March 25a quick jostling of our memoryreminds us that the problem in South Asia is today. and has been from the very beginning. a political problem between the ruling military elite in West Pakistan and the Bengali opposition elected in East Bengal. The facts documenting the beginning of this war. and who started it. are too grim and well reported to be in doubt. even by an administration that attempts to ignore them. Hundreds of articles have now been written and thousands of pictures have been taken by countless eyewitness foreign observers testifying to the bloody terror that has swept over East Bengal since March 25. Indeed. suppressed field cables to the Department of State in the beginning characterized the actions of the Pakistan army as "genocide." Foreign journalists were expelled by military authorities lest they record the holocaust. and film of foreign cameramen was confiscated. It was only after refugees began to pour out of East Bengal in April that the story of repression could be slowly pieced together. Even now. the full dimension of the tragedy is not really known. Nevertheless. as troops descended upon Dacca at night. they indiscriminately shelled residential areas. attacked the universitys student hostels. and imprisoned or executed all suspected Awami Leaguers they could round up.
Keywords matched
border crossing refugees