Introduction
WOGLE THE SOVIET UNION'S POLICUS HAVE FOLLOWED A predictable course, with a new emphasis on détente in Europe. necessitated by Moscow's national interest and accelerated by the beginnings of a Sino-American rapprochement, much has happened in Pakistan since I was there and since the postscript. In my original introduction to this book, I had said in September last year: No one acquainted with Pakistan can doubt that East Pakistan will one day become independent. No one can subjugate 75 million people who wish to be independent and lead their own lives. Baptised by fire and suffering, Bangladesh will become a reality. Bangladesh is a reality today sooner than the world had anticipated. To pick up the threads of the story, we must go back to the general elections in Pakistan in December, 1970-the first held under adult suffrage since that country came into being. The world was amazed that a military régime under President Yahya Khan conducted what turned out to be scrupulously fair elections. But the military rulers of Pakistan were, in their turn, amazed by the results. Instead of a fragmented mosaic in West Pakistan, the military régime saw the ambitious Mr Bhutto's young People's Party emerge as a viable force. Mr Bhutto's own popularity, specially with the young, the intellectuals and dissidents, was never in doubt. But no one had expected his fledgeling party to amass the kind of votes it did. Mr Bhutto's amalgam of the Left stance mixed with a brand of chauvinism oriented against India proved a highly successful brew. Even more amazing was the almost total decimation of the religious parties a sardonic comment on a quarter century's efforts to build an Islamic State. In East Pakistan, everyone expected Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Awami League to do well. But few could have conceived of the sweeping majority it obtained, emerging as an almost monolithic party of the people of East Bengal. The results of the general elections in East Pakistan were a fantastic endorsement of Awami League policies, particularly its six points, and ensured an overall majority for it in the projected National Assembly, which was charged with the task of framing the new constitution within a time limit, with President Yahya retaining a veto. There can be no doubt that the results of the elections came as an unpleasant surprise to Pakistan's military rulers. It is also clear that the hawks in the Army, never in full sympathy with President Yahya's desire for free elections, were more than surprised; they were shocked. They feared two consequences: an ambitious Mr Bhutto would demand his right to rule West Pakistan outside the ambit of the Army's sphere of influence, and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would be even more resistant to the kind of compromise settlement the Army would want. President Yahya's experiment in holding free elections having gone away from the Army's point of view, he was under increasing pressure from the hardliners to do their bidding. Against this background. Mr Bhutto began his dialogue with Sheikh Mujib, but as he was to discover rather soon, there was no meeting point between the two-particularly on the sensitive issue of finances from export trade and revenue collection. Mr Bhutto, as also the Army leadership, demanded more from East Pakistan than the Sheikh could offer. Mr Bhutto's decision to boycott the National Assembly session set the stage for much that was to follow. The die was cast when President Yahya postponed the National Assembly session in deference to Mr Bhutto's boycott without caring to make the remotest gesture of consulting the Sheikh. This was an undeniable travesty of justice; the Army leadership had taken a major decision on the strength of an action by the leader of a minority party in the National Assembly. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was already under considerable pressure from his supporters to take a more strident line. This was understandable against the background of the Awami League's fantastic victory, and the postponement of the Assembly merely served to remind the Sheikh and his followers that the Army was seeking to do them out of their due: their lion's share of power.
About The Author
At 42. S. Nihal Singh is The Statesman's European Correspondent with head-quarters in London. He has had varied experience in the field of journalism and international affairs over the past 20 years. Mr Nihal Singh is one of the best-travelled Indian political comment-ators. He was in South-East Asia and the Far East for five years and interpreted the dramatic American intervention in Vietnam. Soekarno's downfall and the conflict surrounding Malaysia. He then went on a six-month tour of duty in Pakistan-the first and only Indian correspondent permitted to be posted in Pakistan by Islamabad after the 1965 war with India. Mr Nihal Singh's next assign-ment was in Moscow, from where he saw the Soviet intervention in Czecho-slovakia. Mr Nihal Singh returned to India in May, 1969-just in time to catch the dramatic developments at home. His. Weekly Political Commentary in The Statesman is well known to readers in India and abroad. After two years in India, Mr Nihal Singh was recently posted in Europe. Mr Nihal Singh has written a book on the crisis surrounding Malaysia's formation-Malaysia: A Commentary Mr Nihal Singh is an honours graduate of Delhi University and received a Certificate of Proficiency in Russian from the University Russian Department.
About The Book
From the Thehem to the Volga is a two-part Odyssey of an experiences in two closed societies, Pakistan and the Union. not Although Soviet classed as a closed society, Pakistan is so for an Indian. particularly a journalist, after the 1965 war and Mr Nihal Singh was the first-and so far the last Indian Correspon-dent permitted to be posted in Pakistan by Islamabad after the war. Of major interest to readers will be the human aspects of the life of two peoples, either inimical to India or living in a world very different from ours. While Mr Nihal Singh is often caustic and ironical in his account of Pakistan and Russia, he is also sympathetic to the urges of the people of these countries. He is a perceptive observer. With Bangladesh now a reality, it is fascinating too see how Mr Nihal Singh's account of the Pakistan of 1967 anticipates events. The writing on the wall was there for all to see-except perhaps for Pakistan's military rulers. Moscow, now on the well-worn tourist track, looks different when one lives in it. With his knowledge of Russian. Mr Nihal Singh is able to delineate the reactions and urges of the neople who are a lovable people in spite of the system under which they Lives This book is the most perceptive nt of Pakistan and Russia written by Indian.
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