Political Events of 1971 The military, bureaucracy, and business, all West Pakistani-dominated, were shocked at the results because they faced the prospect that the central government’s power would be passed away to the Bengalis, if the Awami League were allowed to shape the constitution and form a government. The results of the election gave the Awami League the possibility of framing the constitution according to its 6-point program. The election put the Pakistani ruling elite in such a position that, if it allowed the democratic process to continue, then it would be unable to stop the Awami League from framing a constitution that would protect the Bengali interests. The month of December passed and yet there was no sign of the calling of the assembly. On the 3rd of January 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called a mammoth public meeting in which he administered an oath to the persons who had been elected to the national and provincial assemblies by which they swore allegiance to the party’s programme for provincial autonomy. Between the election results and this meeting apparently no effort was made by General Yahya khan to bring the leaders together for consultations, though later when he made such efforts the Sheikh adopted hard attitude. By and large most of the parties in the west did openly oppose the six points programme. It has been alleged that Pakistan people’s party alone did not. On the 7th of January 1971 with this background General Yahya went to East Pakistan. The evidence suggest that at this stage the presidential team did not have a copy of the six points programme and no serious efforts were done to convince Sheikh on his six points. Accordingly the meeting was held. Mujib presented his six pints and asked General Yahya: - “Sir you know what the six points programme is, please tell me what objections you have to this programme.” General Yahya said that he himself had nothing against the programme but the west Pakistanis does have some problems. However, the meeting ended with the reference from General Yahya to the Sheikh as his future prime minister. From Dacca the president came to Karachi and on 17th January 1971 went o Larkana to pay a visit to Mr. Bhutto. After this visit Mr. Bhutto went with some other members of his party to Dacca where he met the Sheikh on the 27th of January 1971. Mr. Bhutto returned from Dacca really having failed in his mission. Mr. Bhutto met General Yahya at Rawalpindi on the 11th February 1971, and reported to him the result of the discussions After this meeting, General Yahya announced that the assembly will met on the 3rd of march 1971. On the 15th of February, Mr. Bhutto called a press conference in Peshawar and said that the date has come as total surprise to him. On the 21st February, a convention of the party took an oath to abide by the party decision not to attend the assembly on the 3rd of March 1971. On the 22nd of February 1971, the president convened a meeting of the governors and martial law administrators at, which were present also, some high ranking military and civilian officers. He gave a review of current situation and the stand of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is also a fact that the president took the decision to postpone the national assembly as early as the 22nd February. On the 1st of March General Yahya announced the postponement of the national assembly meeting. The East Pakistanis reacted violently to the postponement and the immediate results were the violent demonstrations and disturbances in Dacca. The army was called to cope with this situation. Also, on that day Yahya named General Tikka Khan, as East Pakistan’s military governor. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the 7th of March 1971 announced a weeklong programme to continue non-cooperation movement starting on March 2nd. General Yahya reached Dacca on 15th march and met Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the same date. The proposals of Sheikh were:- Martial Law is lifted. National Assembly will start functioning both as a Constituent assembly and the legislature. Power transferred both at national and provincial levels. The second and third rounds were held on the 17th and 21st of March 1971 respectively. Mr. Bhutto on an invitation from Dacca on the 19th reached Dacca on the afternoon of the 21st and met the president. The next three days were occupied with discussions of president aides with the Pakistan People’s Party and the Awami League separately. On the 23rd March 1971, General Yahya summoned a conference of the leaders at Dacca for the 10th. Again, Mujib refused to attend and there after General Yahya fixed the 25th for the meeting of the assembly. Bengalis following Mujib’s lead defiantly celebrated “Resistance Day” in East Pakistan instead of the traditional all-Pakistan “Republic Day.” The new flag of Bangladesh was hoisted on all government and private buildings. On the 24th and 25th march, Mr. Bhutto met the president to discuss the proposals of Awami League. On the evening of the 25th the Pakistan’s People’s Party was informed about the final proposals of Awami League. At about midnight between the 25th and 26th Dacca was awakened to the nose of gunfire; military crackdown has started. General Yahya had already left Dacca. On the 28th June 1971, General Yahya made a broad cast to the nation again in which he spoke with sorrow of the recent happenings and emphasized once again that his aim had been to restore democracy in the country. Unfortunately due to the preplanned rebellious act of the Awami League situation as existed immediately after the military action was as follows:- Major portion of the territory of East Pakistan was in rebels hands. Civil servants were also actively associated with Awami League. A large fled to India or had left their work place. Communications had been badly disrupted due to sabotage by the rebels. Educational Institutions were the main centers of agitation and resistance. - See more at: storyofpakistan/fall-of-dhaka-1971/#sthash.it4M0VM8.dpuf
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 15:14:17 +0000
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