NEW Delhi: India yesterday [June 11] announced plans to move 25,00,000 East Pakistan displaced persons away from border areas to 50 new camps with the help of an international airlift by planes of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and Australia. But the eastern state of Orissa turned down the Central Government request to take 30,000 [DPs] from the north-eastern border states.

There were also reports that the South Indian states of Tamilnad and Andhra Pradesh had also refused to take in displaced persons. Special trains carrying displaced persons have already started moving out of West Bengal to ... Mana in Central India. Fifty thousand are to go there. An American C-130 transport plane has made a trial run between Agartala, capital of Tripura, and Gauhati in Assam. ... Two Soviet Anatov-125 are standing by in Delhi. — Agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies in Dacca,] Indian Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi was put in an embarrassing position yesterday [June 11] when she visited some refugee camps at Karimganj (Assam) and later had to put off the programme. Over one hundred Muslims of the locality made a representation to [her] protesting against maltreatment of Muslims by Jana Sangh volunteers, assisted by the Assam police ... according to reports received here from across the border.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2021