Address to workers at Tarbela on November 19, 1972

Addressing workers of the Tarbela Dam project at Tarbela, President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said that the country had suffered heavily in the past because of bad decisions and had lost not only Kashmir, Junagadh, Manavadar and Hyderabad but also half of itself. If it kept the “shutter down,” it would not be able to progress and repair past mistakes.

The President said: unless there was contact between Pakistan and Muslim Bengal, trade and traffic could not be resumed and, hence, relations could not improve. Pakistan could not afford to follow a tight policy and strain its relations with all its neighbors.

“If you hold a moth in a closed fist, it would suffocate. But if it is released, it will move about merrily,” the President remarked. If some contacts were not established with Muslim Bengal, “enabling us to talk and embrace each other, “how can we come close?” He asked. “Are we going to conquer them after traveling 1,000 miles? Even if that were possible, there will be Mukti Bahini.”

The President recalled that there was a time when Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan were ruptured. This political difficulty had its economic repercussions. But when the relations were restored, the situation improved.

Similarly, he said, relations with India stand sealed since 1965 and the same was the position now with regard to Muslim Bengal. Had France, Germany and the United States been placed in this situation, they would not have been what they were today.

The President said: in the situation that existed today, Pakistan would never be able to get rid of foreign debts and it would have to remain at the mercy of others. If America and Japan could talk to the Chinese, there was no reason why Pakistan should not talk to those with whom it had strained relations, he asserted.

The President said: Pakistan would have regained 5,000 square miles of its territory under the Simla Agreement were the conditions conducive to its full implementation; 10 lakh Pakistanis, dislocated from Sailkot and Sindh, could have gone back to their homes and jobs. He regretted that even though Pakistan was to get back a large territory, the Simla Agreement was opposed by certain elements.

The President called upon the workers to work hard to complete the Dam on schedule so that the country could start deriving its benefits and become self-sufficient in food.

As for their demands, he said those of an immediate nature would be accepted, and less important ones could be considered later. But he told them plainly that f their demands were found to be unreasonable, they would not be accepted.

The President said that he would never deceive his people and tell them lies; they had already suffered a lot because of lies in the past.