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Home , Agartala Conspiracy Case, Awami League, February 1971, March 1971, Rehman Sobhan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Economic and Political Weekly 6, 52 (25 Dec 1971), 2555-2562.

SPECIAL ARTICLES

Sheikh Mujib and Deja Vu in East The Tragedies of

Harry W Blair

In the White Paper that the Government of published in , it was asserted that the of plotted in conspiracy with an uprising that was to take out of the Republic of Pakistan. Reports from the scere indicate otherwise. There seem to have been no contingency plans at all in case Yahya decided to crush Bangla Desh by force, and resistance to the troops in those early days of March and April was almost non-existent. Why did Sheilkh Mujib and the Awami League not include some plan for the worst? It is the thesis of this paper that they did not because the whole chain of events that took place in March of 1971 repeated almost exactly a similar sequence from March of 1969. Everything must have looked almost the same to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in early and mid- March of 1971 as it did two years previously. As to the immediate future, imposition of , forced cessation of political activity, and even a few firings on protesting mobs of students and workers had become the standard fare of politics in , after all, and would only set things back for awhile. After the hiatus, there would be time enough for continuing the Awami League drive for auto- nomy. In any event, the election showed that the League was uncontestably the will of the Bengali people, a will that would surely in the end prevail. P:eparations, then, were not made for what to do in case the army wanted to do more than merely keep order. But instead of reimposed martial law came cataclysm. IN the White Paper that the Govern- to strike in the early evening of March Sheikh Mujibur Rehman addressed ment of Pakistan published in August 25, the Sheikh himself was in the pro- huge public throngs, and became the 1971,1 it is asserted that the Awami cess of issuing directives to get the symbol of Bengali resistance to rule League of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman exports moving again after the admi- from the western wing of the country. plotted in conspiracy with India an up- nistrative paralysis of early March. Yet in some ways he was more led rising that was to take East Bengal When he learned that the army was than leader, for student pressure forced out of the Republic of Pakistan. "The shooting up the city and hunting down him into taking a more radical stance operational plan was worked out in all Awami League members, he waited in his negotiations with than meticulous detail: it was arranged that calmly at his home to be arrested." he would have preferred. Mujib's on a signal from the Awami League There seem to have been no contin- strongest political rival in the West, headquarters in Dacca, the armed up- gency plans at all in case Yahya de- , accelerated the rising would begin. . Early hours of cided to crush Bangla Desh by force, crisis by boycotting efforts to return Friday morning [] were fixed and resistance to the West Pakistan the country to popular rule. Against as the zero hour for the armed upris- troops in those early days of March this background, the army steadily in- ing." It was only a few hours before and April was almost non-existent. creased its troops and firepower in the this "zero hour", the White Paper Why did Sheikh Mujib and the East through emergency airlift and by continues, that President Awami League not include some plan ship, and in the end the military in- ordered the army into action to fore- for the worst? It is the thesis of this tervened. stall the plot, put down the insurrec- paper that they did not because the The denouement came on exactly tion, and thwart the treasonous seces- whole chain of events that took place the same day in both years, March 25. sionists.2 in March of 1971 repeated almost ex- In 1969 it was the imposition of mar- Reports from the scene indicate actly a similar sequence from March of tial law and a temporary cessation of otherwise. There were a number of 1969.5 In both years the regular bu- political activity, but soon afterward foreign correspondents present in Dacca reaucracy throughout the province had the Sheikh was able to resume his at the time to cover the talks going on come to a complete halt in its activi- campaign for provincial autonomy. between the Sheikh and President ties, and there were stories of peasant When the same pattern of events reap- Yahya over the formation of a govern- jacqueries in the countryside. Actually, peared in 1971, he may well have ment and constituent assembly, end these stories were highly exaggerated, thought that at worst there would be there is a consensus among their des- for a parallel de facto government another period of martial law after patches that the Awami League could under Awami League-oriented student which things would be back at the not have made any serious plans for in- groups managed to keep order in most starting point. He was wrong. Instead surrection and secession.3 As the army of the rural areas while they defied cur- of martial law came the slaughter of was fanning out over the city of Dacca fews and demonstrated in the cities. hundreds of thousands, the expulsyon

2555 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY December 25, 1971 of millions from the country, and the next day he dropped the case to the western wing, a disparity that spoliation of the province. and released Sheikh Mujib. The Sheikh was 'reflected in differential growth The underlying causes in both se- then agreed to attend the Round Table rates.12 In the summer of 1968, for quences were much the same, but the talks (though Bhutto still refused), held example, official figures were released immediately precipitating factors were on and again beginning showing that while in the West per somewhat different. In on . capita income had grown from Rs 366 pent-up resentment at the decade of In the second chain of events, Sheikh in 1959-60 to Rs 463 in 1966-67, it authoritarianrule of finally Mujib was active from the outset. Na- had increased in the East from Rs 278 broke loose with a series of student tional elections, postponed from their to only Rs 313 over the same period.13 riots in . Supported by the original date in October because of se- Certainly the fact that much of this charismatic Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, stu- rious flooding in East Pakistan, were western development was financed by dents and intellectuals elsewhere in the held in December, with those elected the retention of foreign exchange earn- w-estern wing joined in the dissent, and to be under a mandate to draw up a ings from East Pakistan's jute exports despite Bhutto's arrest, soon the rebel- new constitution for the country.9 De- did nothing to lessen feelings of exploi- lion had spread all over the piovince.6 cember 7, then, which in 1968 saw the tation. And Bengali underrepresenta- In December the unrest appeared in first of the strikes in East Pak- tion in the bureaucracy added consi- the East, and several general strikes istan, was in 1970 the date of the first derably to these feelings. Despite re- occurred, first in Dacca, and then in direct franchise national election ever peated official proclamations in favour the province as a whole. held in the country. The Sheikh's of parity for the two wings in govern- an Mujib was in jail at the time as part Awami League won overwhelming ment service recruitment, East Pakis- 72 cent of of the "" that victory, capturing some per tanis amounted to only 36 per cent of of 169 seats al- the Ayub government was pressing, the votes and 167 the the members of the elite Civil Service East in the charging that Rahman and others had lotted to Pakistan assembly, of Pakistan in 1968, and in other bran- 313 plotted with Indian government offi- over half of the country's total of ches of the bureaucracy, similar dispa- cials to detach the eastern wing of seats. rities prevailed, and Westerners, main- Pakistan. Leadership in the anti-Ayub The fact that the Awami League had ly , filled most of the posi- agitation fell to his leftist rival Maulana an absolute majority in the assembly tions.l" Against this background, the Khan Bhashani, who or- upset a number of calculations quite Awami League's Six-Point programme to con- ganised and publicised the general badly. When Yahya agreed for provincial autonomy had great ap- strikes.7 duct an election in which seats would peal in the East,15 and it was on the of As 1969 began, opposition leaders be allocated on the basis popula- basis of the Six-Points that the Sheikh Awami from both wings of the country form- tion, no one thought that the built his campaigns both times. League would win virtually all the ed a centre-right Democratic Action In both years, as March began to un- seats in the eastern wing. When this Committee to conduct more co-ordinat- fold, the patterns of events became did Sheikh had the ed agitation against Ayub, and student happen, Mujib more and more alike. In 1969 the ge- form a groups in East Pakistan converged to chance to government strictly neral strike had created an almost com- confined to his own party, and write establish a Student Action Committee plete vacuum of in the his own constitution. Bhutto's Pakis- authority pro- to do the same at the student level. vince. Monem Khan, the Governor, re- tan People's Party, though the largest Politicians, students and labour unions fused even to step outside his head- group from the West with 84 of its all participated in the growing crescen- quarters during March, and his autho- 144 seats (including about two-thirds of do of general strikes and demonstra- rity did not go beyond his office door. those assigned to Punjab) could be tions that paralysed the province. Police and civil servants away shut out entirely. On , stayed Events in the western wing proceeded from their posts, partly in obedience to Bhutto served notice that his party at more or less the same pace, and the strike call, partly out of fear of would boycott the National Assembly after initial reluctance, Ayub announc- peasant those who had when it was due to on reprisals against ed on that he was willing begin meeting used their under March 3. faced with the supposedly positions to meet with opposition political lead- Yahya, pos- the to exact exorbitant bri- of a constitution that would Ayub regime ers at a Round Table conference to dis- sibility bes and from the ci- leave interests out protection money cuss the current crisis and possible so- Punjab's of account, Stories of announced 48 hours before the assem- tizenry. lootings, arson, rape lutions. Bhutto was releaed from prison and summary executions by "people's bly was to meet that the meeting on , and Ayub proposed to courts" spread quickly.16 would be postponed. -1The mood of the allow the Sheikh to attend on parole Soon, however, it became apparent changed immediately from from prison (meanwhile continuing the that the whole province had not be- euphoria to outrage. Sheikh Mujib call- Agartala Conspiracy Case against him!). come consumed in an orgy of mob ed a general strike, which completely Bhutto declined to participate and, violence. The rampages, in fact, were paralysed the province for several days after some hesitation, Sheikh Mujib re- confined to only four of the more than and precipitated a number of firings by fused the offer also, demanding that the 70 subdivisions of the province. Foi the army. charges against him be dismissed alto- the most part, the Student Action Com- gether. Agitation continued to escalate Both the anti-Ayub agitation and the mittee, with its 300,000 and more ad- in the East, and on the night of Feb- smashing electoral victory of the Awa- herents under the direction of Tofail ruary 18, thousands of people ignored mi League sprang from the same root, Ahmad, a law student at Dacca Uni- the army curfew in Dacca and roamed the increasing discontent and resent- versity, managed to keep the peace. the city, the first such large-scale de- ment in the East over perceived exploi- Except for several well-publicised in- fiance in Pakistan.8 tation by the West, especially the Pun- cidents, student "peace committees" On , Ayub announced jab. During the first 20 years of Pak- were able to keep peasant discontent in that he would withdraw from politics istan's independence, the bulk of invest- check.17 after his present term of office, and the ment and budgetary resources had gone In the 1971 sequence, the halt in

2557 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY December 25, 1971

bureaucratic activity was even more nationalisation of banks and big indus- Bhutto refused to countenance any complete. Immediately after Yayha's tries, and withdrawal from the CENTO scheme whereby the Awami League postponement of the National Assem- and SEATO security pacts, scarcely would form a government, whether bly, Sheikh Mujib called for a general matters close to the heart of the middle- constituent assembly or parliament, with- strike. He renewed the call several class oriented Sheikh.23 In his nego- out him and his Pakistan People's Par- times and then at a mass rally in Dacca tiations with President Ayub at the ty. Mujib in turn, standing on customa- on requested a week-long Round Table conferences, Mujib ap- ry parliamentary procedure, would not strike over the whole province. The pears to have found himself rather box- accept the prime ministership of a first evidence of the totality of the res- ed in by his followers. Ayub is report- coalition government, but claimed his ponse came the very next day, when ed to have offered Mujib the prime right to organise the assembly by him- the Chief Justice of the Dacca High ministership if only he would moderate self, since he had an absolute majority Court (the highest judicial authority in his autonomy demands. But if the of seats.29 Probably as a compromise, the province) refused to administer the Sheikh were to retain his political fu- the Sheikh then broached a proposal oath of office to Yahya's new Governor ture, the least he could have settled for described later by .Yahya as a scheme for the East, General .'8 was full autonomy for the East accord- For the remainder of the month, civil to the Six whereby Martial Law would be ing Points (which included Provincial Governments their official withdrawn, servants abandoned posts. provincial control over taxation and set up and the National Assembly The province was governed through a assignment of tax revenues to the cen- would, ab initio, sit in two commit- series of directives issued from Awami tral government's military forces) and tees - one composed of members League headquarters. These directives a directly elected legislature based on from East Pakistan and the other the entire of composed of members from West spanned spectrum public population. Ayub refused to concede Pakistan.30 activity from keeping all schools closed this much, and the Sheikh had to re- When both the committees to specifying the hours during which turn empty-handed to Dacca in mid- provincial banks could communicate with the March.24 had finished their constitution drafting, western wing by teleprinter.'9 they would meet as a National Assem- Indeed, there is some indication that bly to frame the constitution for the There were numerous from charges Mujib's very freedom from jail was a country as a whole.31 The two men the West that mobs of were Bengalis result of his giving in to the will of seem to have tentatively agreed to this both and rampaging through city his following. Several sources report plan, but Bhutto, who arrived in Dacca in a manner reminiscent of countryside that at first he was willing to attend on , objected strongly, insist- the atrocities of 1969. Non- alleged the Round Table conferences on pa- ing that the proposal be changed so as and those who resisted the Bengalis role, but his militant followers would to provide that Awami League directives were beaten, have none of it: he would attend as a robbed and killed in another of no law or constitution could be orgy free man or not at all. Accordingly, in the National to re- presented Assembly violence, according government the Sheikh refused to come to Rawal- unless approved by a majority of ports.20 In fact, there does seem to pindi unless all the Agartala Conspira- the members of each wing.32 have been considerable violence and cy charges were dropped.25 In this way Bhutto would hang on even mayhem perpetrated against non- In 1971 there was a deal of to a veto power for himself, the Pun- Bengalis after the catastrophic events good speculation that the Sheikh's followers jab and presumably the rupee-hungry of March 25, but before that, the would pressure him into inde- army budget, which regularly consum- Awami League with its student allies declaring pendence right away on Febru- ed well over half of federal expendi- had the province under an almost conm- when, ary 28, Yahya postponed the National tures, and which would probably be plete parallel government, which kept Assembly meeting. There were cer- cut severely by a Bengali-dominated the peace reasonably well.2' tainly indications that something mo- parliament.33 As a crowd drawer, Sheikh Mujib mentous would occur at a rally planned The Sheikh was unwilling to back has had few equals anywhere. In the in Dacca for March 7.26 In the event, down, and at this point, with a sub- subcontinent, where perfervid political Mujib steered shy of proclaiming inde- stantial portion of his supporters cla- oratory is still a widely practiced and pendence. Instead, he demanded that mouring for an immediate declaration popular pastime, crowds of one hun- Yahya turn over power immediately to of independence, he probably could dred thousand are not uncommon. Mu- the elected National Assembly, rather not have given in. Thousands of jib's audiences have been variously es- than waiting until the assembly wrote workers and students were demonstrat- timated at up to two million.22 Even a constitution, as specified in Yahya's ing daily in Dacca and elsewhere, and allowing for the hyperbole that is a Legal Framework Order setting up the the annual "Pakistan Day" celebrations part of crowd counting, his popularity election and assembly.27 During the scheduled for almost turned has been immense. next few days the Awami League vir- into a Bangla Desh independence day. His remarkable hold on the public tually took over the administration of Bangla Desh flags went up all over affection did not give him the ability to East Pakistan, and on , Presi- Dacca (including Mujib's house), and dent act as a free agent in either sequence of Yahya flew to Dacca to confer demonstrators tore up the national with negotiations with the leaders of the Mujib .on the possibility of open. flag.34 It would have been difficult in- West, however. Just after his release ing the National Assembly on March deed to give the West a veto power in , he found that the 25. over Bengali hopes for autonomy at price of the enormous support he re- The available accounts of the confe- this stage. ceived from the Student Action Conm- rences are confusing. From the begin- Throughout both months of March, mittee was the widening of the Awami ning on down to the end on there was a steady influx of troops by League's Six Points to include an ele- the 25th, contradictory reports of pro- air and sea to beef up the small con- ven-point list of student demands. The gress, virtual agreement and deadlock tingent of soldiers on regular duty in added points included such items as emerged from Dacca.28 It appears that the East. At the onset of the 1969

2559 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAI, WEEKLY December 25, 1971 crisis, only the 14th Division of the NOTES of the events of . See inter army was stationed in the East, but alia, ibid, pp 207-209; S Harrison, "Ayub's 11th as the month wore on, C-130 GCovewrnm::ntof Pakistan, White Selig transport Paper on the Crisis in East Hour Move Failed", from the Pak- planes istlan, referred to hereafter as the Post, , 1969. were used to ferry in additional troops, White Paper (Islamabad: Ministry 9 The plan for elections and a new and there were reports of soldiers tra- of Information and National Af- constitution were laid out in Pre- velling in civilian clothes being flown fairs, August 5, 1971). An earliel sident Yahya's "Legal Framework and shorter version was circulated across India on commercial flights of Order 1970", which is reprinted in by the as the White Paper, pp 18-35 of the Pakistan International Airlines.35 In "The Present Crisis in East Pak- appendix. addition, several of istan: A Statement an shiploads troops by Officiai 10 For an account of the 1970 elec- Spokesman" (: Depart- and equipmetnutsailed the long route tions, see Craig Baxter, "Pakistan ment of Films and Publications, around India to reinforce units in the Votes-1970", Asian XI, 3 May 5, 1971). Survey eastern wing.'6 (), pp 197-218; also 2 White Paper, p 40. Sharif al Mujahid, "Pakistan: First In 1971 it was again the 14th Divi- 3 Some of the more detailed eye- General Elections", ibid XI, 2 sion that was on hand in the East when witness reports were filed by (), pp 159-171. the crisis began to build This Martin Adeney, "Why Mujib 11 For an insightful analysis of up.37 Failed", Manchester Guardian time it was a good deal more difficult Bhutto's role in the 1971 events, Weekly, April 3, 1971; Henry S see Hazelhurst, op cit, and his to fly in reinforcements from the West, Bradl.her, "East Pakistan in Agony "Pakistan on Brink of Violent Split though. On January 20, several hijac- Atter the Storm", (Washington); After Compromise Fails", Times kers had forced a plane of the Indian Ecening Star, , 1971, (), March 5, 1971. Also Simon "Dacca Airlines Corporation to fly to in Dring, Eyewitness: Mohammed Ayoob, "From Martial 3loodbath, Inferno", Daily Tele- Law to Bangla Desh", in West Pakistan, and had demolished the Pran graph (London), republished in Uhopra, ed, "The Challenge of plane after it had landed. In retalia- Washington Post, , 1971; Bangla Desh: A Special Debate", tion, the Indian government banned Peggy Durdin, "The Political (New York: Humanities Press, ' ictal Pakistani overflights, a still Wave That Struck East 1971), pp 40-59 at 51-54. Pakistan", New York Times in effect in Marclh.2 Thubs Pakistan had 12 See inter alia Magazine, and Arjun Sengupta, May 2, 1971; Selig for to fly its troops all the way around Cape S Hfarrison, "Eyewitness: Bloody "Planning Disparity", in Pran Chopra, cit, Edward Comorint to the eastern wing. Still, Blitz of Dacca", Washington Post, op pp 79-101; S Mason, Robert Dorfman, and available planes and ships were pressed , 1971. See also Peter "Secret Stephen A Marglin, "Conflict in into service, and thousands of soldiers lHazelhurst, Catalogue ol Ea.t Guilt and Disaster Over Pakistan", in ibid, pp 151- were flown East in, again in many cases Pakistan", Times 159; Richard S Wheeler, "The (London), June Politics of dressed as civilians for the flight.39 4, 1971; and Martin Pakistan: A Constitu- Woollacott, tional Quest", Cornell "1lakistan in Perspective", Manches- (Ithaca: In sum, everything must have looked ter Guardian University Press, 1970), pp 83-86, Weekly, July 17, 184-186, et almost the same to Sheikh Mujibur 1971. It will be a it passim; Aijaz Ahmad, long time, "The Bloody of Rahman in early and mid-March of ever, before versions of the March Surgery Pakistan", 1971 Nation, June 28, 1971. 1971 as it did two years previously. As events are available from any of the other 13 Wheeler, op 185. to the immediate future, imposition of participants than cit, p By 1970, Yahya Khan, and in the meantime this disparity had not changed sig- . martial law,40 forced cessation of poli- we are dependent on newspaper nificantly; see Mason et al, op cit, tical activity, and even a few firings on accounts. p 154. mobs protesting of students and work- 4 Bradsher, op cit; also Gerard 14 Wheeler, op cit, pp 129-130. See ers had become the standard fare of Viratelle, "Pakistan - The Week also Ralph Braibanti, "Research on politics in East Pakistan, after all, and of the Bloodbath", Le Monde the Bureaucracy of Pakistan: A of would only set things back for awhile. (Weekly English Edition), April Critique Sources, Conditions and 1-7, 1971. 'Ihe account of the Issues, with Appended Docu- After the hiatus, there would be time Sheikh's surrender is carried in ments". (Durham: Duke Univer- enough for continuing the Awami Lea- D ing, op cit, and P Durdin sity Press, 1966), pp 44-55. drive for cit. gue autonomy. In any event, op 15 An account of the Six Points is the election showed that the League 5 It is interesting to note that the given in M Rashiduzzaman, "The was uncontestably the will of the Ben- events of that put Awami League in the Develop- gali people, a will that Yahya Khan into power were in ment of Pakistan", Asian Survey would surely in 7 the end many ways similar to those that X, (), pp 574-584. prevail. Preparations, then, were resulted in Ayub Khan's assumnp- 16 See, for not made for what to do in case the tion of in 1958. instance, Cyril Dunn, power See Robert "Peasants Take a Bloody army wanted to do more than merely LaPorte, Jr, "Succession in Pak- Revenge", istan : Observer (London), March 23, keep order. Continuity and Change in 1969; Peter a Garrison State", Asian Hazelhurst, "Pakistan Instead of reimposed martial Survey Admits Mob Rule Prevails", Times law, IX, 11 (), 842-861. came cataclysm. Karl Marx observed (London), , 1969; Ernest 6 A thorough, somewhat that though Weatherall, "Pakistani Fragmenta- biased, account of the student role tion" Christian Science Monitor, in Hegel remarks somewhere that all the overthrow of Ayub Khan is , 1969. given by the facts and personages of great impor- expatriate student 17 leader Tariq All, who returned Joseph Lelyveld, "Violence Ebbing tance in world history occur, as it in East were, twice. He forgot to add: the Irom Britain to take part in the Pakistan", New York first time anti-Ayul) agitation. See his "Pak- Times, March 25, 1969; Harrison, as tragedy, the second as "Ayub's 11th farce.41 istan: Military Rule of People's Hour Move"', op Power", (New York: cit. Also , "What Marx may have been William wrong as well. Morrow, 1970), esp pp 156-216. Follows Ayub's Abdication?" New Perhaps he should have said, "the Statesman, March 28, 1969, first 7 Tariq Ali details his and time as role in ibid, his "East Pakistan's Revolt Against tragedy, the second as catas- pp 174-179. trophe", Ayub: Old Resentments and New 6 There are a number of accounts Needs", Round Table, 235 (July

25961 December 25, 1971 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

1969), 302-307; Cyril Dunn, "Why tion to Ali, passim, Aijaz Ahmad, Pakistan, Ministry of Finance, Pakistan Must Hold That Bengal "The Bloody Surgery of Pakistan", Economic Adviser's Wing, Pakis- ''iger", Observer (London), March Nation, June 28, 1971. tan Economic Survey 1969-70 9, 1969. There was considerable (Islamabad: Government of Pak- 24 "Turbulent Days in Pakistan", 44-45. speculation that the government New York Times, istan, 1970), appendix, pp the re- April 3, 1969; The 1970-71 saw a projected purposefully exaggerated Tomalin, op cit, Patrick Keatley, year ports of violence to justify the increase of about 12 per cent from "Martial Law in Pakistan as Ayub the 1969-70 and estimates declaration of martial law. See Goes", Manchester Guardian level, llarrison, "E Resent for the 1971-72 year are for spend. Weekly, , 1969. On the defence Army Takeover", Washington prime offer, see the ing increasing expenditures March and the two ministership by another 14 per cent. See Mili- I-ost, 30, 1969, New York Times article just cited pieces by Sobhan noted above. tary Balance 1970-71 (London: and Harrison, "Ayub's 11th Hour Institute for Move", op cit. Strategic Studies, 18 Tillman Durdin, "Military Gov- 1970), pp 67, 111; and New York ernor's Oath Blocked in East 25 Harrison, "Ayub's Foes Stiffen 'linles, June 28, 1971. The Times Pakistan", and "Army's Rule Cut Terms for Talks", Washington story gave the 1971-72 datum as in East Pakistan", both in New Post, , 1969; Lelyveld, being 38.7 per cent of the total York Times, March 9 and 10, "Four Foes of Ayub to Boycott government budget, whereas the 1971. Talks", New York Times, Febru- figures used for earlier years are ary 19, 1969; also Tariq Ali op for what the Government of Pak- 19 The directives are listed in the 206. White Paper, appendix, pp 37-46. cit, p istan reters to as "total expendi- 26 Cyril Dunn, "Pakistan: Will tures met from revenues" (cf Pak- Yahya istan 20 A day-by-day account is given in Use Army", Observer (London), Economic Survey), a term ibid, pp 29-41: see also "The Pre- March 7, 1971; Ronald Koven, which apparently excludes self- sent Urisis in East Pakistan", op "Breakup of Pakistan Believed Im- supporting agencies like the rail- cit, pp 6-7. President Yahya gave pending", Washington Post, March ways, or posts and telegraphs. The voice to the same charges in his 6, 1971; "East Pakistan May De- military has been, of course, hea- broadcasts of March 26 and June clare Secession", New York Times, vily Punjabi in composition, with 28, 1971, both reprinted in the March 7, 1971. the Bengalis having formed per- "Federal Intervention in 10 of the officer pamphlet 27 haps per cent takistan: A President Explains". "New Demands Set By East before March 1971. Information Service, Pakistanis", Reuters dispatch in (Washington: New 34 P Durdin, op cit; "Pakistan Agree- Embassy of Pakistan, 1971). York Times, March 8, 1971. Yahya's scenario set out in the iment Reported", op cit; also Hazel- 21 Tillma-n Durdin, "East Pakistan Legal Framework Order called for hurst, "Left Challenges E Pakistan Widens Self-Rule in Fight on Eco- the elected representatives to serve Leader on Independence", Times nomic Problems", New York only as a constituent assembly un- (London), , 1971. Timnes, , 1971; "Strikes til a constitution was prepared 35 John Hughes, "Pakistan Turnover" Continue in East Pakistan", Asso- and approved by Yahya himself. and "New Regime Bars Pakistani ciated Press dispatch in Washing- Only then would the assembly func- Split", both in Christian Science ton l'ost, March 16, 1971. Also tion as a parliament. See thQ AiMoitor,March 27 and April 3, Adeney, op cit, and P Durdin, op White Paper, appendix, pp 25-27. 1969. Also Lelyveld, "Ayub's Hopes cit. On the later violence against 28 Sometimes at the same time. See Dissolve into Martial Law", New non-Bengalis, see Anthony Mascar- "Pakistani Agreement YoorkTimes, March 30, 1969. the Reported", enhas, "Why Refugees Fled", Associated Press dispatch, and 36 Ernest Weatherall, "Pakistani Sunday T'imes (London), June 13, Harrison, "Pakistan "Bloodbath in Talks Hit Dead- Fragmentation?", Christian Science 1971; S R Ghauri, lock", both in Post. March 1969. Bengal", Manchester Guardian Washington Monitor, 19, Selig March 25, 1971. Harrison reported that a whole Weekly, May 15, 1971; Henry S 29 Hazelhurst, "Secret armoured division was transported Bradsher, "In East Pakistan, 'We Catalogue", in Are All op cit. Yahya claimed later that he "Ayub's 11th Hour Move", Afraid'", (Washington) op cit. Evening Star, July 19, 1971. had offered Sheikh Mujib the prime ministership "on a platter", but 37 Mascarenhas, op cit. 22 After his release from prison in that it was refused. See "Federal 38 As be the Pakis. is might expected, February 1969, Mujib reported Intervention in Pakistan", op cit, tan government later charged that to have spoken to over one million p 14; also Malcolm W Browne, the was of a at the Dacca race course. hijacking part plot people "Yahya Again Says Aim Is Civil between the Awami League and Ralph Blumenthal, "Undisputed Rule", New York Times, May 25, the Indian Government. See Leader of the New York Bengalis", 1971. White Paper, p 45. T'inmes,December 9, 1970; also P 30 In his broadcast of March 26, 39 H "East Pakis- Durdin, op cit. Even Tariq Ali, 1971. See Schanberg, who exhibits a marked distaste for "Federal Intervention in tani Spurns Plan for Inquiry", and Pakistan", op 5. A Sheikh Mujib, puts the crowd at a cit, p similar, "'All Part of a Game' -, A Grim though somewhat confusing ac- and both in New half million on that occasion, op count Deadly One", 210. A in is given in the White Paper, York Times, March 19 and April cit, p meeting January pp 19-20. 1971 was estimated at two million, 4, 1971; Bradsher, "E Pakistan in while an eyewitness put the crowd 31 White Paper, p 20. The "Awami Agony", op cit; and Adeney, at the Sheikh's March 7 speech League Draft Proclamation" des- op cit. at a half million. See "East Pakis- cribing the whole plan in detail 40 the in March is Actually, country tani Leader to Seek Autonomy", presented in ibid, appendix, pp 1971 was legally still under , January 4, 1971, 47-59. martial law imposed by Yahya Khan and P Durdin, op cit. 32 Ibid, p 21 (emphasis added). See in March of 1969. After the pro- 23 On the eleven see also Yahya's speech of March 26, mulgation of Yahya's Legal Frame- adding points, in work Order at the end of March Nicholas Tomalin, "Students Run "Federal Intervention in Pakis- Show in East tan," op cit, p 5. 1970, though, the practical effects Dying Pakistan", of martial law had ceased to exist. Sunday Times (London), repub- 33 Military expenditures, which had lished in Washington Post, March run over 60 per cent of total gov- 41 Karl Marx, "The Eighteenth Bru- 18, 1969; Wheeler, op cit, pp 272- ernment expenditures during the maire of Louis Bonaparte", in 273; and Tariq Ali, op cit, p 206. mid-1960s, actually declined to the Marx and Engels, "Selected Works Wheeler and Ali both list the ele- 53-55 per cent range during the in Two Volumes", (: For- ven points. On the middle-classness period 1967-1970. See LaPorte, eign Languages Publishing House, of the Awami League, see in addi- op cit, p 854, and Government of 1955), Volume I, p 247.

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