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OCR Page 1 of 57120098
AMBASSADOR OF INDIA
WASHINGTON, D.C.
#444 742
December 15, 1971
Excellency,
I have the honour to convey to Your
Excellency the following message from Her Excellency
the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi :-
"Dear Mr. President,
I am writing at a moment of deep anguish at
the unhappy turn which the relations between our two
countries have taken.
I am setting aside all pride, prejudice and
passion and trying, as calmly as I can, to analyse once
again the origins of the tragedy which is being enacted.
There are moments in history when brooding
tragedy and its dark shadows can be lightened by
recalling great moments of the past. One such great
moment which has inspired millions of people to die for
liberty was the Declaration of Independence by the
United States of America. That Declaration stated that
whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of
man's inalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit
of happiness, it was the right of the people to alter
or abolish it.
All unprejudiced persons objectively surveying
the grim events in Bangla Desh since March 25 have
recognised. the revolt of 7,5 million people, a people who
were forced to the conclusion that neither their life,
nor their liberty, to say nothing of the possibility
of the pursuit of happiness, was available to them. The
world press, radio and television have faithfully
recorded the story. The most perceptive of American
scholars who are knowledgeable about the affairs of
this sub-Continent revealed the anatomy of East Bengal's
frustrations.
The tragic war, which is continuing, could
have been averted if during the nine months prior to
Pakistan's attack on us on December 3, the great leaders
of the world had paid some attention to the fact of
revolt, tried to see the reality of the situation and
searched for a genuine basis for reconciliation. I wrote
letters along these lines. I undertook a tour in quest
of peace at a time when it was extremely difficult to
leave, in the hope of presenting to some of the leaders
of the world the situation as I saw it. It was heart-
breaking to find that while there was sympathy for the
poor refugees, the disease itself was ignored.
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