পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (দ্বিতীয় খণ্ড).pdf/৬২৫

598 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ দ্বিতীয় খন্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ভুট্টোর মন্তব্যের পরিপ্রেক্ষিতে আওয়ামী পাকিস্তান অবজারভার ২২ ডিসেম্বর, ১৯৭০ লীগের বক্তব্য AWAMI LEAGUE COMPETENT TO FRAME CONSTITUTION Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed’s Rejoinder to Mr. Bhutto’s Statement of December 20, 1970. The following is the full text of the statement issued on December 21; by Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, General Secretary of the East Pakistan Awami League, as a rejoinder to Mr. Bhutto's assertion that neither the Constitution could be framed nor a Central Government could be formed without active co-operation of his party. The statement attributed to Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto that neither the country’s Constitution could be framed nor a Central Government could be formed without active co-operation of his party cannot be correct. The Punjab and Sind can no longer aspire to be ‘bastions of power’ The democratic struggle of the people has been aimed against such ‘bastion of power’ The people have voted to establish a real democracy in which power vests with the people, and the legislature is constituted on the basis of the ‘one man one vote principle. In such a system a party enjoying a comfortable indeed an absolute majority as the Awami League does with a clear electoral mandate is quite competent to frame the Constitution and to form the Central Government. This can be done with or without any other party. Such co-operation as may be obtained will be for the Awami League to choose and will be sought on he basis of adherence to and acceptance of the principles and the programme of the Awami League, which seeks to establish a new economic and social order, free from exploitation. An elected representative of a province cannot claim any special or superior status over that of any other province. To make such a claim is to hark back to the parochialism of the past when the Central Government was seen as the preserve of a ruling coterie drawn only from certain parts of West Pakistan. The people of Pakistan have rejected the past. If we are to move towards a better future, such claims should be avoided as they generate unnecessary and harmful controversy. The Awami League is fully aware of its responsibility to implement the will of the people of Pakistan and will spare no effort to do so.