Washington Star/Evening Star

JESSORE, EAST PAKISTAN.-Jubilant East Bengalis danced
around the bodies of their fallen oppressors as 1,000
doomed West Pakistan troops and their families fled
toward the sea and certain death or capture by Indian
"liberation" forces.

The road from Jessore, which fell to the Indians three
days ago without a fight south to the Bay of Bengal
yesterday was littered with Pakistani dead, burned out
Jeeps and trucks and abandoned enemy weapons.

Even if they manage to reach the sea, the fleeing
Pakistanis and their wives and children will have to
swim if they go any farther. For the Indian navy is
waiting for them there and the Indian air force, which
has undisputed control of the air, is having a field day
shooting up Pakistani shipping.

SURRENDER OR DIE

Isolated by land, sea and air, under attack from all
directions, and harassed by vengeful East Bengalis, the
60,000 West Pakistani troops in the East face the choice
of surrender or death.

With the fall of Jessore in the west and Comilla in the
east, two of their principal strongpoints, it was
doubtful if the Pakistanis will even make a fight for
Dacca, the capital and apex of their triangular defense
line.

Indian army officers, who seemed almost embarrassed by
the ease with which they vanquished the supposedly
fierce Pakistani fighters, said they were pursuing the
enemy with deliberate slowness.

"We keep urging them to surrender," said Maj. Sabhu
Singh, an artillery officer. "They haven't a chance
anyway: And we are refraining from using our air because
of the women and children."

The dark-skinned Bengalis lined the roadside to welcome
the advancing Indian troops and shouted "Hail Bangla
Desh," their self-proclaimed new nation which has been
recognized by New Delhi.

At one point along the road between Jessore and Khulna,
the Bengalis danced around the bodies of a dozen slain
Pakistani soldiers and shouted "Hail Bengal'' for the
benefit of foreign television cameras None of them ever
has seen TV. They don't even have electricity.

While they may have some reservations about their Indian
liberators, it was clear the Bengalis were overjoyed to
be free from the West Pakistanis, who for the past eight
months have slaughtered them by the tens of thousands in
a vain attempt to stamp out Bengali nationalism.

MASS KILLINGS CHARGED

The retreating Pakistanis left a trial of blasted
bridges and stories of mass atrocities. Indian army
engineers, with commendable efficiency, rigged pontoon
bridges and bypasses over the larger streams.

In town after town excitable Bengalis told of mass
murders by Pakistani troops. One man told how the
Pakistanis came in search of a Mukti Bahini (Bengali
freedom fighter) leader named Ghillal, a common name in
these parts. When they failed to find him they shot
everybody in the village by that name-10 people in all,
the Bengalis said.