• “Moral Bankruptcy”: The Blood Telegram to Nixon from Dhaka, 1971

    Introduction On April 6, 1971, a confidential telegram arrived at the State Department in Washington, D.C., transmitted from the U.S. Consulate General in Dhaka, East PakistanEast Pakistan Full Description:The eastern wing of Pakistan from 1947 to 1971, separated from West Pakistan by over 1,000 miles of Indian territory. Home to the Bengali-speaking majority of Pakistan’s population, it was politically and economically subjugated despite producing the country’s main exports, including jute and tea. Critical Perspective:East Pakistan was less a province than a colony within a nation. The West Pakistani elite treated Bengali culture, language, and economic interests as inferior. The term…

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