Address to Pakistani nationals in Jeddah on June 2, 1972

There will be no Tashkent. Unlike Ayub, I will not hope into a plane and go and sign something. We will take stock of the external and internal events and under no circumstances will we do anything which can, even remotely, compromise Pakistan’s basic interests. Our problems are complicated. Those defeated and frustrated wise guys in Pakistan, who have taken upon themselves to render me advice, are inconsistent. What they say today, they go back on it tomorrow. One such person advised me on January 22 to recognize Bangladesh. He said this a day after Mujib had spoken in Dacca saying that there was no longer anything common between the East and West. And now when they think that there may be a faint possibility that we may do that, I am being told not to recognize Bangladesh. What is the moral? All that motivates them is a feeling of revenge and frustration. They have no principles. Who am I to recognize Bangladesh all by myself. I will only do so when the people want me to. The people are my only guide, my only masters and the only court in which I am answerable. Sometimes I am told that I should call the National Assembly. How can I ignore or by-pass the National Assembly. My party has majority there. They talk as if a settlement was to take place tomorrow. If I am going to Delhi on June 28, it does not mean that all maters will be decided in a day. We will talk and negotiate. Then I will come back to the people and take them into confidence and ask for their opinion and advice. I may even hold a referendum which is the greatest National Assembly. There should be no misgivings. These men of yesterday have no faith in the people nor are they their representatives. They have no logic, no rationality, only malice. One of them, who was kicked out of the presidency by the people and who then went into hiding, is now giving press interviews. He says we should not recognize Bangladesh. I ask him who sowed the seeds of Bangladesh? At a time when there were no Six Points and no movement for separation, he divided the railways and the PIDC between East and West. It was not demand of the people. Who incorporated the concept of two economies in the national development plan? What was the purpose? When you have two economies, you have two politics and ultimately two countries. When I called for a debate on the Six Points, who stopped it from being held? Instead the Danda and the bullet were used to silence debate. And now when it is all over, such people are throwing up proposals from the privacy of their homes. I say let the people and their representatives decide. Let nobody mislead them. Again some of these types demand that I bring back the POWs. Well I do not have the keys to the camps in which they have been placed. We are trying. Give us time. Have faith and patience. We will negotiate and try to find a just solution to the present situation. We have inherited the legacy of the past. We are facing a difficult adversary. There are the results of a lost war. But we know how to defend Pakistan. Those handful of individuals who are attacking me are negative people, motivated by feelings of revenge. Had their politics been right, we would not be in the mess in which we are today.

To Indian leaders I say respectfully “please stop advising me”. At the AICC session the other day, some of them said Bhutto should do this and do that. I tell them “if you do not want a settlement then do not have a settlement but stop advising me. There is no need for that”. Indian leaders should be reasonable. We are their neighbors and we believe in being fair. We are trying our best to have peace with justice. If they think that because they have won the war, they can take any advantage of Pakistan, they should realize that it will not work. They also said that Pakistan should not support minority groups in India. Well, I have not set eyes on a Sikh for 25 years. As for Mizos and Nagas and what India says about Pakistan trying to support them, I wish India had followed the same principle herself in East Pakistan and not invaded it and committed aggression against it with its armed forces. I do not believe in intervening in the affairs of other countries. This is known to India and to the rest of the world. Pakistan had never been an aggressor. It was India who had military intervention in Kashmir, Hyderabad, Junagadh and East Pakistan. Whom is India trying to fool? India says it will not and does not interfere in Pakistan’s internal affairs. It say that it is doing nothing in some of our provinces. Well, India has done what it could but our people in these provinces are happy and satisfied. They are running their own governments and look forward to the future with hope. So what does India mean by statements of this kind? We want friendly relations between our two countries. I think both our peoples wanted it also. There have been three wasteful wars in 25 years. But we do not want peace if it means compromising on fundamental principles it has been said that Pakistan should not support the Kashmiris right of self-determination. It was Nehru himself who supported this right and the entire world community. Remarks have been made in India that my present tours are in order to raise money. I want to tell them that we do not beg from our friends. We are a self-respecting nation. Such remarks should not be made. Some Indian leaders have also expressed fears of Pakistan arming itself. If their intentions are honest what are they afraid of. It has also been said that I change my stand every day. I say in reply what can I do when I have to deal with such treacherous and undependable people.