Address to members of National Assembly On February 22, 1973
Addressing members of the National Assembly. President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said that they had a tryst with destiny and they must keep it so that the coming generations should not blame as that they were not given a chance. He stressed that this Assembly of the people’s elected representatives must fulfill its trust and confidence which the people had reposed in it because stability and prosperity would come to the nation only when it had a permanent Constitution.
Referring to the threats of certain Opposition Parties, the President said that he had been and was still prepared to resolve all political issues through. Negotiations he emphasized that he had instructed the Law Minister to accept reasonable amendments moved by the Opposition, but warned that if anyone resorted to violence, as it was being threatened, he would not let it go unchecked and that violence would recoil on them and finish them off for ever. “This must be clearly understood.”
The president emphasized that he was not threatening anyone but wanted to caution those who spoke the language of violence that if they persisted in their designs then it would spell disaster for them.
The President repeatedly emphasized that he did not want violence in the country. He did not want haired in the country. He did not want tension I the country. He had been and was still prepared to negotiate and find solution of political problems through political negotiation, but “if you think that the story of East Pakistan will be allowed to be repeated here then you are sadly mistakes,” because the situation is not the same. The Government was fully aware of their plans and has everything under control.
The President said the present Government was not the usurper Government like Yakya Khan’s but one which derived its strength from the people.
Referring to Mr. Bizenjo’s remarks that Baluchistan was on fire, the President said there was no fire in Baluchistan but the fact was tht only. Mr.. Bizenjo’s geart was on fire because instead of a Governor now he was an ex-Governor.
Recalling the developments leading to the dismissal of the Governor of the NWFP and Baluchistan and the Cabinet of Baluchistan. The President pointed out that from the day he had lifted the ban on the NAP he took every possible measures to win over their cooperation and confidence. He pointed out that he took the unusual step of agreeing to their request to give them their own party Governors. He had left it to them to form their own coalition Government and did not in any way interfere in their administration not did he criticize them. On the other hand, day in and day out they have not only been criticizing the Central Government but also conspiring against the Central authority. He said that the two Governors were removed because as agents of the President they persistently ignored the directives of the Central Government and flouted federal laws.
He said that for the first time a representative Government was formed in Baluchistan and it was expected of them to run the Government in the interest of the people. Instead they embarked on tribal vendetta and went to the extent of not only killing but also taking calculated measures to starve the Baluchis in Lasbela. In this connection, he said that he took the constitutional steps in removing the two Governors and in dismissing the Baluchistan Provincial Government but even then be did not impose a bureaucrat or a military Governor but even then he did not impose a bureaucrat or a military Governor in the two Provinces, Mr. Mohammad Akbar Bugti is a Baluch and Mr. Mohammad Aslam Khatak is a Pathan. The two Provincial Assemblies were intact and would continue to function. The governments in the two Provinces would be formed soon through their elected assemblies.
Referring to the discovery of veritable arsenal at the Iraqi Embassy, the President said that some people say that these armaments were not to be used against Pakistan but were means for a third country which could that third country be? After all, God has given us brains and it is not difficult to understand that the third country could be none but Iran. Certainly, this was not going to be used against India. The question that arises is why Iraq could not send those armaments to Iran through its own borders or even through the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea or other routes open to them? Why at this critical juncture in our history, they had to choose Pakistan as a base for the transshipment of arms against a brotherly, neighboring country. “what kind of friendship is this “? The fact is that these arms were meant to be used in Pakistan and against us.
If these arms were to be used in the Frontier or Baluchistan, they why they were brought to Islamabad. We are aware of the fact that they have also distributed these arms in those two Provinces too. We also know to whom and where they have been sent. He pointed out that the purpose of sending these arms was that after 25 years, Pakistan was now at the verge of having a Constitution through its elected representatives and they wanted to subvert that possibility. Because once a permanent Constitution through the representative body was given to the nation, it would bring peace, stability and prosperity. Hence, they were waiting for the signal t create chaos not only in Baluchistan and the Frontier Province but also in Sind and the Punjab and particularly in Islamabad so that the attention of the entire world was focused on Pakistan as a nation locked in fratricidal conflict. Taking advantage of this situation, they would have declared that now they were independent.
The President said, give it any name but the fact is that this was a definite and well thought out plan. The president said that it was his faith that so long as the revolutionary Government was in power, no one would be able to damage the country. “This is my faith and I will continue to struggle for it till my last breath. I will fight for the integrity and solidarity of Pakistan even if I have to do it alone.”
Referring to the hostile attitude of some neighboring radio stations, the President pointed out that his should serve as an eye opener that they were expecting definite foreign help when such a situation was allowed to be created by them.
While referring to foreign relations, he said that he wanted to make it clear that “we would not allow any interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs.” He stressed that the Government had taken necessary steps to see that no foreign power would be able to interfere in our internal affairs. He said, if Yahya Khan was a fool, it did not mean that the same was true of other Governments of Pakistan.
Referring to India and the Simla Agreement, the President said that Pakistan wanted not only to implement the Simla Agreement in letter and spirit but hoped to make further progress in her relations with India. However if India tried to interfere in our internal affairs, then the Simla Agreement would go.
Pakistan, he said, had friendly relations with Afghanistan. We want these relations to further improve. However, we will not tolerate any interference in our internal matters. With the Soviet Union too, our relations will further improve. The President decried the attitude of the British Press and hoped that it would avoid exaggeration in reporting about even in Pakistan.