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Source: ESPN
US largest donor aftermath of Liberation
News Desk :
In an effort to heal its battered relationship with Bangladesh, the United States has emerged as her biggest source of aid.
The development is viewed with some irony by both Bengalis and Americans. “The Bengalis don’t entirely trust us and some of them find this money we’re giving incomprehensible,” said one young American. “After all, two years ago our name was mud.”
At the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry, a senior official said: “The United States seems to have taken a very pragmatic view of the situation. It is all rather low key. They have not made any noise at all, but they have become our biggest benefactor.”
Washington’s decision to pour huge amounts of aid into this nation of 75 million people marks another turn in a onceangry relationship that began when the United States supported Pakistan in the war to keep control of her eastern wing, which nevertheless became Bangladesh. Washington opposed both the Bengali autonomy movement and India’s military efforts in behalf of it.
After the war in December 1971, however, Washington formally recognized Bangladesh and mounted an aid program that now totals more than $318 million (In today’s money adjusted for
US inflation, 318 USD is equivalent to 2.2 billion USD today). India is Bangalesh’s second largest donor with $262 million in aid. The Soviet Union has provided about $136 million worth of help.
Although Bengali officials are delighted and Americans are casually noncommittal, there seems to be no specific reason for the United States aid, which will probably total an additional $100 million this year. The aid seems to be based on a combination of humanitarian, political and pragmatic motives.
“Certainly the Administration was affected by the reaction in Congress from Senators Kennedy, Saxbe and Church, by the newspaper editorials, by the support that Bangladesh had,” said a Foreign Ministry official who has a law degree from Harvard. “We know that Pakistan had the Administration sewn up and we had the Congress.”
Beyond this, the United States was said to be worried about Moscow’s energetic campaign in Bangladesh. The Soviet Union not only supported the Bengali independence struggle but also was the first major power to recognize Bangladesh.
The largest amount of United States assistance has been food aid totaling more than $136?pillion. The remainer has been eants to various private voluntary agencies helping in the rehabilitation of Bangladesh.
There are only about 40 United States government employes in Bangladesh.
“We’re keeping a low profile and being very noninterventionist,” said one American. “We’re quite prepared to let this Government sort their own problems out. We will not fall into the trap of trying to manage a country or trying to win hearts and minds in the villages. It just won’t work. We’re just trying to help this desperately poor place.”
Although anger against the United States persists, especially among students, there is blunt evidence that the Prime Minister; Sheik Mujibur Rahman, is seeking to come to terms with the United States. After the United States invoked tough but discreet protests over the damaging by students of the United States Information Service offices in Chittagong, Rajshahi and Mymensingh, the Bangladesh Government dealt harshly with students who threatened to overrun the Information Service office in Dacca on New Year’s Day in protest against the American bombing of North Vietnam. In efforts to turn back the students the police killed two of them.
At the same time, Sheik Mujib is said to have ordered a halt to newspaper articles and allegations linking political opponents to the American Central Intelligence Agency.
It is quite clear that the Prime Minister and economists in the Government are seeking more American aid for this brutally poor country. The United Nations says that Bangladesh needs more than 2.5 million tons of food this year. It has appealed for 1.7 million tons of world aid, leaving it to Bangladesh to produce the rest.
“I am being quite frank when I say I hope that the United States helps with considerable grain imports this year” said a high official in the Government’s planning office. “India cannot help us because of their own food shortages. We hope that the world will respond to our needs. We need help badly.”
Edward Ploch, international cooperation specialist for the Agency for International Development, said today that of the $318 million given to Bangladesh since 1971, $177 million came from special appropriations in fiscal 1972 and 1973 for South Asian relief.
Food worth $136 million, he said, was given to Bangladesh under the Food for Peace Program. In addition, he added, $4.7 million was scheduled for the country, then East Pakistan, before the 1971 war broke out. This, Mr. Ploch said, came from the President’s Contingency Fund, an unlimited fund that Mr. Nixon may use for emergencies. The money was frozen until the war with India ended.
(The report was published on 9 March, 1973 in The New York Times).
In an effort to heal its battered relationship with Bangladesh, the United States has emerged as her biggest source of aid.
The development is viewed with some irony by both Bengalis and Americans. “The Bengalis don’t entirely trust us and some of them find this money we’re giving incomprehensible,” said one young American. “After all, two years ago our name was mud.”
At the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry, a senior official said: “The United States seems to have taken a very pragmatic view of the situation. It is all rather low key. They have not made any noise at all, but they have become our biggest benefactor.”
Washington’s decision to pour huge amounts of aid into this nation of 75 million people marks another turn in a onceangry relationship that began when the United States supported Pakistan in the war to keep control of her eastern wing, which nevertheless became Bangladesh. Washington opposed both the Bengali autonomy movement and India’s military efforts in behalf of it.
After the war in December 1971, however, Washington formally recognized Bangladesh and mounted an aid program that now totals more than $318 million (In today’s money adjusted for
US inflation, 318 USD is equivalent to 2.2 billion USD today). India is Bangalesh’s second largest donor with $262 million in aid. The Soviet Union has provided about $136 million worth of help.
Although Bengali officials are delighted and Americans are casually noncommittal, there seems to be no specific reason for the United States aid, which will probably total an additional $100 million this year. The aid seems to be based on a combination of humanitarian, political and pragmatic motives.
“Certainly the Administration was affected by the reaction in Congress from Senators Kennedy, Saxbe and Church, by the newspaper editorials, by the support that Bangladesh had,” said a Foreign Ministry official who has a law degree from Harvard. “We know that Pakistan had the Administration sewn up and we had the Congress.”
Beyond this, the United States was said to be worried about Moscow’s energetic campaign in Bangladesh. The Soviet Union not only supported the Bengali independence struggle but also was the first major power to recognize Bangladesh.
The largest amount of United States assistance has been food aid totaling more than $136?pillion. The remainer has been eants to various private voluntary agencies helping in the rehabilitation of Bangladesh.
There are only about 40 United States government employes in Bangladesh.
“We’re keeping a low profile and being very noninterventionist,” said one American. “We’re quite prepared to let this Government sort their own problems out. We will not fall into the trap of trying to manage a country or trying to win hearts and minds in the villages. It just won’t work. We’re just trying to help this desperately poor place.”
Although anger against the United States persists, especially among students, there is blunt evidence that the Prime Minister; Sheik Mujibur Rahman, is seeking to come to terms with the United States. After the United States invoked tough but discreet protests over the damaging by students of the United States Information Service offices in Chittagong, Rajshahi and Mymensingh, the Bangladesh Government dealt harshly with students who threatened to overrun the Information Service office in Dacca on New Year’s Day in protest against the American bombing of North Vietnam. In efforts to turn back the students the police killed two of them.
At the same time, Sheik Mujib is said to have ordered a halt to newspaper articles and allegations linking political opponents to the American Central Intelligence Agency.
It is quite clear that the Prime Minister and economists in the Government are seeking more American aid for this brutally poor country. The United Nations says that Bangladesh needs more than 2.5 million tons of food this year. It has appealed for 1.7 million tons of world aid, leaving it to Bangladesh to produce the rest.
“I am being quite frank when I say I hope that the United States helps with considerable grain imports this year” said a high official in the Government’s planning office. “India cannot help us because of their own food shortages. We hope that the world will respond to our needs. We need help badly.”
Edward Ploch, international cooperation specialist for the Agency for International Development, said today that of the $318 million given to Bangladesh since 1971, $177 million came from special appropriations in fiscal 1972 and 1973 for South Asian relief.
Food worth $136 million, he said, was given to Bangladesh under the Food for Peace Program. In addition, he added, $4.7 million was scheduled for the country, then East Pakistan, before the 1971 war broke out. This, Mr. Ploch said, came from the President’s Contingency Fund, an unlimited fund that Mr. Nixon may use for emergencies. The money was frozen until the war with India ended.
(The report was published on 9 March, 1973 in The New York Times).
