February 1: Two months after the Awami League's landslide victory in the general elections, Pakistani President General AM Yahya Khan says he did not intend to preside over the dissolution of Pakistan. Then-US Ambassador to Pakistan, Joseph Simpson Farland, assures him that it was US policy to respect the unity and integrity of Pakistan.
February 3: US President Richard Nixon approves the recommendation that the one-time exception military arms sale to Pakistan be conducted on a cash basis. Nixon also tells his Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry Kissinger, that Pakistan's credit requirements for non-lethal arms sales be sympathetically considered.
February 9: The US Consulate General in Dhaka, Archer Kent Blood, reports that East Pakistani leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was pessimistic about the chances of reaching an agreement on a new Constitution with Zulfikar A Bhutto, chief of West Pakistan's Pakistan People's Party. The Awami League wanted a Constitution providing provincial autonomy but feared that Bhutto and other Western politicians would block this proposal. If it failed, the AL had plans to propose separate constitutions for East and West Pakistan under a loose confederation. If that failed too, the AL would declare East Pakistan's independence. This message was delivered to Blood by Alamgir Rahman, a responsible member of the AL, who also inquired about the US attitude toward a unilateral declaration of independence by East Pakistan.
February 25: Gen Yahya asks Ambassador Farland to meet Sheikh Mujib in Dhaka and ask him to maintain the unity of Pakistan. Farland explains to Yahya that the one-time-exception arms package could not be financed on a credit basis, and he reports that Yahya was "saddened and depressed." Yahya notes that his government was without the necessary funds to take full advantage of the offer but says he will find the money to buy the armoured personnel carriers.
February 28: Ambassador Farland reports on meeting with Sheikh Mujib in Dhaka when the AL leader expressed his friendship for the US and the people of Bangladesh. Farland finds that Sheikh Mujib favoured a form of confederation rather than the separation of East Pakistan. However, he insists that "his people" be accorded their rights and not be kept in a "colonial status". Sheikh Mujib asks Farland about US aid to an independent East Pakistan and as a lever to prevent West Pakistan from intervening militarily against the secession movement. Gen Yahya and Bhutto oppose Sheikh Mujib's plan for a decentralized government. Bhutto, in a speech, says he felt the central government would have to retain control in these fields if its control of foreign affairs was to be realistic.
March 1: Gen Yahya postpones the National Assembly scheduled for March 3, characterizing the situation as Pakistan's "gravest political crisis". A general atmosphere of tension prevails throughout Dhaka, and numerous spontaneous processions and demonstrations calling for the independence of East Pakistan are underway.
March 2: Gen Yahya imposes curfew in Dhaka; Bangladesh's flag is raised at Dhaka University; and Sheikh Mujib calls hartal for March 3. US Consulate General Blood reports on the popular reaction in East Pakistan to the postponement, saying: "It would be impossible to overestimate the sense of anger, shock, and frustration which has gripped people of the east wing. They cannot but interpret postponement as an act of collusion between Yahya and Bhutto to deny the fruit of electoral victory to the Bengali majority."
March 3: Gen Yahya announces meeting with political leaders on March 10 while Sheikh Mujib announces non-cooperation, non-violent movement from Paltan rally.
March 4: Overnight reports from Pakistan indicate that the situation in East Pakistan is deteriorating. Sheikh Mujib rejects Yahya's March 10 conference of the prominent political leaders. He tells several foreign correspondents ‘off the record’ that he will announce the equivalent of independence for East Pakistan on March 7. He says the East and West wings should write their respective constitutions, and thereafter, discussions over the form of linkage could take place. At least one Pakistani Air Force C-130 is seen flying into Dhaka, while reports say forces are being flown into Dhaka via the Pakistani commercial airline and ship.
March 6: In a speech, Gen Yahya warns that force will be used against any move for separation, which are all indications in this direction.
March 7: 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 is tactical. He clarifies that something very close to independence, "emancipation," is his goal and that his movement will not be deflected until achieved. Sheikh Mujib calls for a continuation of the Gandhian-type "peaceful non-cooperation" movement against the government, including the closure of all government offices and educational institutions. He says he will consider attending the National Assembly session scheduled for March 25 if martial law is terminated, the troops in East Pakistan are withdrawn to their barracks, and power is returned to the elected representatives. He also openly takes issue with Yahya, accusing him of "submitting to the declaration of a minority" and asserting that his own Awami League is the only legitimate source of authority in the country.
March 14: In a speech in Karachi, Bhutto demands that power be turned over to majority parties in each wing—Bhutto's in the West, Mujib's in the East.
March 15: In defiance of Gen Yahya's Martial Law Administration, Sheikh Mujib announces 35 directives for assuming control of the administration in East Pakistan, saying the Awami League had a majority in the Provincial Assembly. He asks Bengalis to resist any force used against them by all possible means. Yahya flies to Dhaka to talk with Sheikh Mujib.
March 23: Sheikh Mujib and Gen Yahya reach a tentative agreement on a solution that involves the immediate establishment of provincial governments, temporary continuation of the central government under Yahya, and the drafting of a Constitution that would embody a division of power between the central government and the provinces in which central government control would be limited to defence, foreign affairs, and currency.
March 24: An agreement appeared near, but it broke down because of Sheikh Mujib's insistence on the immediate lifting of the martial law.
March 25: Pakistan military launches "Operation Searchlight" and massacres the Bengalis en masse in Dhaka as Gen Yahya declares emergency in East Pakistan and sends six C-130s carrying troops to join 20,000 others in Dhaka.
March 26: Sheikh Mujib is arrested in the early hours when two of his companions are killed. Later, a clandestine radio broadcasts his recorded declaration of the independence of Bangladesh.
