পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (চতুর্দশ খণ্ড).pdf/৬৫৮

626 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড Air Marshal Nur Khan, former air force commander became deputy martial law administrator and West Pakistan governor when General Yahya became President. He later resigned. One day after Yahya postponed the assembly session. Nur said: "The President must call the session again in March, otherwise irreparable damage will be done. The President is being wrongly advised by a highly placed person. If change of power does not take place. West Pakistan will always have army rule,. Air-Marshal Asghar Khan, former air force commander, said on March 6: "Power should immediately be transferred to Mujib. Our hearts are crying with tears of blood for the people in East Pakistan". On March 12 Major-General Sher Ali Khan, former information minister in Yahya's cabinet, cabled the President urging him to do nothing which would leave him with "the blame for putting an end to this Islamic republic". On March 20, five days before the armed action in East Pakistan the minority parties in West Pakistan held a convention at Karachi and the 40 memberselect of the National Assembly "endorsed for withdrawal of martial law and transfer of power to the public representatives. The Pakistan Students' Association of America on April 4, called for establishments of democracy throughout Pakistan, withdrawal of army from the cities, release of Mujib and the formation of government by the Awami League. As for the East Pakistanis, both before and after the elections many of them had condemned the rough methods of the Awami League. On February 1, 1970, a public meeting in Dacca was disrupted after which Pakistan Democratic Party president Nurul Amin. who was later elected to the assembly, said: "I have no words to condemn such activities by the Awami League which, it is clear, has planned the fascist methods to impose their plan on others. This is not the first occasion the Awami League has adopted this policy". The league ran a highly provocative election campaign. At one public meeting. East Pakistan Awami League General Secretary Tajuddin Ahmed said: "The flesh and blood of the Bengalis had been swallowed up by the exploiters and dacoits all these years. They must be wiped out from the body politic of the country through the ensuing polls," After the election power could have come to Awami League if they had displayed wisdom or even flexibility. But they became adamant and must share the blame for what happened. Yahya after the election invited all major leaders for talks. Mujib's refusal not only aroused suspicions in West Pakistan about his motives’ but it also gave Mujib's rival Bhutto a monopoly over Yahya's cars. While this does not justify Yahya's following Bhutto's advice, it helps explain why things happened the way they did. Yahya, by most accounts, blundered in postponing the assembly session. But East Pakistan's vehement reaction made Yahya reconsider and on March 3 he invited 12 elected members of parliamentary groups in the assembly to meet at Dacca to solve the crisis. Mujib refused. On March 6, Yahya announced, the session would take place on March 2S Mujib listed four demands, including the immediate transfer of power to the elected representatives at both the central and provincial levels, before he would consider whether to attend. In despair, Yahya flew to Dacca for talks with Mujib. Even the East Pakistanis working in the President's house were on strike and Yahya reportedly had an