Pakistani Strife Said to Continue

By Sydney H. Schanberg Special to The New York Times

May 25, 1971

NEW DELHI, May 24—De spite official descriptions of normality in East Pakistan, guerrilla activity and the army crackdown continue according to reports from the area,

This picture of disrupted life has been provided by authoritative foreign sources inside East Pakistan, by foreigners who have recently visited the area and by information gathered by this correspondent on a recent tour of border regions. Foreign newsmen, except for six taken on a brief Government guided tour early this month, have been barred from the province since the army crackdown began on March 25. The foreign informants re port that the Pakistani Army has been able to widen its control of vital installations and major towns and cities. But they said that guerrilla and terrorist activity by Bengali in surgents—buttressed by Bengali non-cooperation in general— have prevented the army from establishing an effective civil administration in most of East Pakistan.

Evidence of Fighting

While the army asserts that “organized armed resistance has been liquidated all over the province,” the foreign sources say there is
considerable evidence to the contrary.

On May 12, they say, Bengali insurgents clashed with army troops only 15 miles northwest of Dacca, the provincial capital, at the town of Admin Bazar.

138 1971: RISE OF A NATION: BANGLADESH
Published: May 25, 1971, Copyright ©
The New York Times