Pakistani military ruler General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan was enraged with Awami League chief Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the latter rejected his proposal of joining a round table conference on March 10, 1971, leaving no scope for East-West accommodation.
Bangabandhu's firmness followed Gen Yahya's treachery as he postponed the National Assembly scheduled for March 3, slapped a curfew to stem resistance and ordered the shooting of protesters.
Sensing that the military ruler had an evil plan, Sheikh Mujib told several foreign reporters working in Dhaka “off the record” that he would make an announcement equivalent to independence for East Pakistan on March 7.
A day before the historic rally at Suhrawardy Udyan, Gen Yahya in a radio speech blamed Sheikh Mujib for the situation and threatened the use of force. He announced March 25 as the new date for the National Assembly meeting and concluded the speech by warning that as long as he was in charge of the armed forces he would defend the integrity of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, he had already ordered troop mobilization in Dhaka via commercial flights and ships, apparently because there was pressure from some elements in the military to make a quick repressive strike against the East Pakistani leaders.
Gen Yahya Khan, who on January 14 said he would hand over power to Sheikh Mujib soon, started procrastinating after Pakistan People's Party chief Zulfikar Ali Bhutto refused to attend the National Assembly session scheduled for March 3 in Dhaka.
Sheikh Mujib had unparalleled political control, winning 167 of the 169 seats allotted for East Pakistan in a 313-seat national assembly in the 1970 election, to become the prime minister of Pakistan. But he was in favour of separate constitutions for the East and West wings.
The ‘tactical' declaration
At the rally, Sheikh Mujib called for a continuation of the “peaceful non-cooperation” movement against the government, including the closure of all government offices and educational institutions.
He said that he would consider attending the National Assembly session scheduled by President Yahya for March 25 if martial law were terminated, the troops in East Pakistan were withdrawn to their barracks, an inquiry was launched into the killings of civilians and power was transferred to the elected representatives of the people.
Though the speech averted an immediate showdown between East and West Pakistan, the prospects for reconciliation and settlement remained poor.
“While East Pakistani leader Mujibur Rahman has stepped back a bit from a declaration of independence, the full text of his March 7 speech conveys a harsher tone than the initial summary reports, and it seems apparent that his retreat was tactical,” said Henry Kissinger, the US presidentʼs assistant for National Security Affairs.
“He made clear that something very close to independence, i.e., ‘emancipation', is his goal and that his movement will not be deflected until that is achieved.
“Noteworthy also is the fact that Rahman quite openly took issue with Yahya, accusing him of submitting to the declaration of a minority (West Pakistan) and asserting that his own Awami League is the only legitimate source of authority in the country,” Kisinger said in a memorandum to then President Richard Nixon.
Kissinger observed that Sheikh Mujib had embarked on a Gandhian-type non-violent non-cooperation campaign which made it harder to justify repression, the West Pakistanis lacked the military capacity to put down a full-scale revolt over a long period.
He predicted that Sheikh Mujib would probably prefer to continue like this for a while longer so that he could gradually take de facto control of East Pakistan without forcing a showdown.
He added: “There might be more tactical political moves by Yahya, [Sheikh Mujibur] Rahman or Bhutto designed to probe for areas of accommodation and buy more time without giving up anything. This has been the mode of operation so far but it may be that just about all of the possibilities in this sphere have been played out.
“In short, the Pakistan crisis is far from over and could suddenly flare up again.”
