Mohammad Ali Sattar
Many foreign individuals and heads of government extended support to the people of erstwhile East Pakistan when they were fighting against the Pakistani occupational forces for an independent Bangladesh in 1971. One of them was the then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau who came forward despite having close ties with Pakistan.
Situation at that point of time was not favorable for Canada to stand beside the struggling people of East Pakistan. According to records, the Canadian government sent a parliamentary delegation to India to witness the situation of the Bangladeshis fleeing the war-torn country first hand.
Upon their return to Canada, the three-member delegation released a statement in Ottawa on July 19, 1971 stating that the number of refugees in India were from 6.4 million to 6.8 million. They also mentioned the atrocities in Bangladesh carried out by the Pakistani military, and suggested actions.
“… Near borders between East Pakistan and West Bengal, we ourselves saw and spoke to people trudging along the road who told us that they had walked for ten days to get across the border which they had crossed within last 24 hours,” the statement said.
The delegation recommended that the Canadian government increased provisional figure of its commitment to $50m from $200m to India for the sake of the rising number of refugees. They also urged the Canadian citizens to extend supports generously.
“From our inquiries of many of the refugees it is clear that the great exodus of people was prompted by fear. We were given many sad and depressing accounts – of violent actions by the West Pakistani military forces and other groups – many reported their homes burned, members of their families put to death and other incidents which led them to flee in terror to sanctuary across Indian border.”
They also asked the Canadian government, either by itself or in collaboration with other nations, “to bring question to attention of the UN as conscience of mankind stressing the right of humanitarian intervention on behalf of world community and willingness of the UN to make available observers to supervise and encourage … refugees from West Bengal to East Pakistan.”
Finally, the parliament members urged upon parties concerned – the Government of Pakistan and the repre¬sentatives of East Pakistan – that a political settlement be reached reflecting clear expression of opinion in the 1970 election for greater autonomy and a role in their own affairs. It is also said that at some point of the war, the government of Pierre Trudeau had imposed arms sanction on West Pakistan.
Pierre Trudeau also received a warm welcome when he first visited Bangladesh along with his son Justin Trudeau in November 1983 as reported by journalist John Ferguson of The Ottawa Citizen of Canada who also accompanied the then Canadian premier. He earlier visited erstwhile East Pakistan, long before the war.
Interestingly, we have other records as well. It was not easy for the Canadian government to shift its ongoing policy over night. British politician Richard Pilkington in his book “In the national interest? – Canada and the East Pakistan crisis of 1971” mentioned that Ottawa had established an important relationship with Islamabad “as a provider of substantial amounts of development aid and as a partner in Pakistan’s nuclear power programme.”
Despite knowledge of the atrocities in East Pakistan, the Canadian government “chose not to exert hard influence by threatening the withdrawal of aid or technical assistance, but to adopt a four-strand policy based upon public neutrality, the private encouragement of a political settlement in South Asia, calls for restraint to both India and Pakistan, and the provision of humanitarian relief.”
According to Pilkington, this approach served to protect Canada’s relationship with Pakistan, deemed desirable in terms of national interest, narrowly construed, and maintained Canadian neutrality with regard to a foreign secessionist issue that might have stirred unwelcome comparisons with its own separatist debate over Quebec.
It was extremely unlikely, given ongoing support for Pakistan from both China and the US that firmer Canadian action would have led to the resolution of the crisis Pilkington said.
Post script: During her recent visit to Canada prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed the Friends of Liberation War Honour crest to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, son of former Canadian prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, in Montreal, Canada.
Bangladesh has already honoured several hundred foreign citizens and organizations for their outstanding contributions to the War of Independence of Bangladesh
Email: malisattar@outlook.com