Abstract
The major part of this article was completed before the recent war between India and Pakistan and the establishment of an independent state of Bangladesh. Its aim was to gather evidence about one of the principal bones of contention between the east and west wings of Pakistan, the conflict of two cultures, and to show how a specific assault was made on Bengali culture and the Bengali intellectuals as part of a wider political and military assault on the people of East Pakistan. Events during the last days of the recent war have tragically confirmed the author's thesis and a postscript has been added dealing with the final massacre of intellectuals in Dacca. The names of witnesses have not been disclosed at their request. Editor.