Mr. Jaya Prakash Narayan, Mr. Sadaq Ali, President of the Congress (O), Mr. Krishna Menen and other leading politicians continue to call for the immediate recognition of Bangla Desh. The demand has also been pressed by some members in the Lok Sabha and the Jan Sangh plans to take the issue to the streets next month. Though the Government’s sympathies are fully with the Bangla Desh movement there are good reasons for not according diplomatic recognition at this stage. There would be little point in that recognition unless it can be followed up with massive supply of arms to the freedom fighters. This would be treated as an act of war by Pakistan and provide grist for Pakistan’s propaganda mill which has been trying to tell the world that India promoted a seccessionist movement in East Pakistan and that the Awami League is a pro-Indian party.
Pakistan would probably welcome any sign of Indian intervention in the east, and if black-out exercises are being held in New Delhi and troops put on the alert in Kashmir, it is because India fears that Islamabad may provoke a war at any moment, just to make it appear that India has engineered the Bangla Desh struggle to weaken Pakistan.
