Riots in East Bengal
view of these riots; firmly attributing them to " Communists and other elements inimical to Pakistan within and outside the country," whose interest it is to sabotage the country's attempt to modernise and develop its industries. While the riots were clearly wild, dangerous and destructive, Karachi seems to have leapt very swiftly to a somewhat biased inter- pretation of their cause. No doubt the Communists joined in —they always do. But it is doubtful whether they manufac- tured the initial incident, or organised the firing of workers' quarters that followed. Traditional religious hatreds between the mixed population of the area more probably account for this. Furthermore, the new United Front government of East Bengal which was recently elected by an overwhelming majority in place of the Moslem League (pro-central government) party is known to owe much of its support to the Communists. For the Communists to have started the Adamjee riots would imply an astonishingly quick tactical somersault. It looks therefore as if the central government's reaction was at least partially nervous; nervous both about the situation in East Bengal generally add about Communist activity which is thought to be on the increase since Mr. Mohammed Ali committed his country to the Western alliance through the Pakistan-Turkish pact. But the fact that the central government is nervous is in itself a significant fact which the West, when it is calcu- lating how much weight its potential allies in the East can carry, would do well to note and to sympathise with.
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