Speech at a public meeting in Karachi, On January 3, 1973

President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto declared that he would not recognize Bangla Desh until such time as the people of Pakistan approved of the decision.

The people of Muslim Bengal and those of Pakistan could decide what kind of relationship they are going to have in future . and this decision would be taken without any outside interference or pressure, Mr. Bhutto said.

He was addressing a mammoth public meeting at Nistar Park full one year after he had held a similar meeting in the city and had received a massive mandate from the crowd to release Sheikh Mujibur Rahman unconditionally.

However, at the meeting a section of the crowd reacted in the negative when the President put it to them whether or not Pakistan should recognize Bangladesh.

Responding to their reaction, the President said if the people disagreed with the proposition, he would also say ”Na Manzoor, Na Manzoor, Na Manzoor.”

The crowd spontaneously broke out into slogans of “Jiye Bhutto” And “Pakistan Zindabad” as Mr. Bhutto repeated that he would not recognize Bangladesh without the consent of the people.

This decision, he reiterated would be taken by the elected representatives of the people in the National Assembly.

But, he pointed out, Pakistan was shelling out Rs. 90 crore a year as debt servicing charges for the loans which had been invested in East Pakistan and this payment would Continue till Pakistan recognized Bangladesh.

He said, Mr. Mujib had categorically said that if Pakistan did not accord recognition to his administration, Bangladesh would not accept liability even worth a cent.

“By all means, don’t recognize Bagladesh if you don’t want to But also, don’t blame me when the prices of sugar and wheat flour register an increase and there is an overall shortage of commodities of daily use, With heavy expenditure on defence and an annual burden of Rs. 90 crore on account of Bangladesh, we can’t spare a great deal of resources for development and the country’s needs.” He added.

The President said, if Pakistan could save this huge expenditure it was incurring on account of not recognizing Bangladesh , the country could establish a number of sugar mills and meet the sugar shortage through increased production. It could also meet the deficit in wheat and other essential commodities.

The President expressed the view that the recognition of Bangladesh was still in the best interests of Pakistan and the repercussions of not recognizing the new state would be serious for Pakistan.

He, therefore, considered it his duty to forewarn the people of the complications that might arise should Pakistan decide not to recognize Bangladesh.

For one thing, it would put the question of the return of Pakistani POWs in jeopardy. For the other, it would help India tighten its strangle hold on Muslim Bengal.

The President said, Pakistan came into being with the objective of forging close and friendly relations with all the Muslim countries. How could it leave the 75 million people of Muslim Bengal to drift like a rudderless ship on the choppy waters of international politics, he asked.

Referring to his talks with Mrs. Indira Gandhi at Simla, he said the India Premier had told him plainly that India would not release Pakistani POWs until such time as Pakistan accorded formal recognition to Bangladesh. This, Mrs. Gandhi said, was the commitment she had made to Mr. Mujib and India could not go back on it.

It is for this reason alone that the Indian leaders, including Foreign Minister Swaran Singh, said time and again that Pakistan should recognize Bangladesh to facilitate the return of POWs.

But, the President said, Mr. Swaran Singh or any other leader had no business interfering in a matter which was strictly between the people of Pakistan and the Muslims of Bengal.

“Neither India nor Russia nor the United States nor any other country can pressurize Pakistan into taking this decision. This would be taken by the people of Pakistan and those of Muslim Bengal after mutual consulations and consent,” the president told a cheering crowd.

He also referred to the example of East and West Germanies who constituted part of one and the same country until World War II and were divided in the aftermath of the War.

The President said after almost 30 years of separation, the two Germanies were now normalizing their relations on the basic understanding that they were two separate countries and would like to stay as such.

He said he could never forget the first public meeting he had addressed in Karachi on this very date last year.

He said that some people were now saying that the decision to release Mr. Mujib was a wrong one and that he (Mujib) should have been kept as a “hostage.”

But, he said, history would prove that the decision was completely right. The people should not think that it had been incorrect, he added.

He said that much had happened in the past one year., and the position of this country today was substantially different from that obtaining when his Government came to power.

He recalled that one year ago Pakistan was still suffering from the shock of the tearing away of half of Pakistan through foreign aggression. President Bhutto said that at that time, Indian forces were in occupation of parts of Sindh and Punjab provinces.

He recalled that one year ago some persons were saying that there was no alternative but to recognize Bangla Desh at once.

But it had been the policy of his Government to ensure that others did not take advantage of the difficult times the country was then passing through, he added.

He said, now after a period of one year, Pakistan was full of life and vibrant once again, and the people were saying that while they were prepared to accept certain things they would not swallow everything.

This, he remark, was a sign of life and, therefore, welcome.

The greatest service his Government had so far been able to perform for Pakistan was to bring about the revival of the spirits of the people, and the country, he added.

He said, today public meetings and demonstrations were taking place and this was a sign of life and vigor.

He said the time had now come to decide what sort of relationship would be desirable with the people “living in what they call Bangaldesh.”

It was up to the people to decide this question, as he alone was not competent to do so, he remarked.

He said, if the younger generation wants to take such decisions, it should also shoulder the responsibility.

Referring to the Simla meeting the President said that he went there to hold talks with Mr. Gandhi. He explained to her Pakistan’s point of view and listened to Indian viewpoint.

Now it was the Indian Prime Minister’s turn to come to Pakistan and hold discussions on issues which were yet to be settled, he said.

However, now they say that she would not come because Pakistan had not recognized Banladesh.

He said he had extended this invitation to Mrs. Gandhi in all sincerity and it was for her to respond.

The President said, he knew Sardar Swaran Singh and added the Sardar’s threats would be f no use. He said India’s high-handedness (Sikha Shahi) would not cow down Pakistan.

Addressing himself to Sardar Swaran Singh the President said “you cannot threaten Pakistan. The decisions are to be taken by our nation. You have nothing to do with it.”

He said, Pakistan was created to safeguard the interests of the Muslims of the world, and if Bangladesh is not recognized, the Pakistanis will be answerable to God as to why the Muslims of East Pakistan were left in misery.

The President assured the students that their problems of transport and hostels were receiving due attention of the Government. He further assured them that more medical colleges and technical institutions would be opened for them.

The President disclosed that the provision in the draft Constitution calling for two-thirds majority to pass a vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister was included in last October’s all-party constitutional accord at the instance of the Opposition including NAP, JUI, Council Muslim League, Jamaat-i-Islami and Jamiatul Ulema-i-Pakistan.

“This wasn’t our proposal and we had not insisted upon this being incorporated in the constitutional accord,” he told the public at Nishtar Park.

The President chided the Opposition for trying to wriggle out of the accord and insisting upon having it amended.

“What kind of politics is this? First you sign an accord willingly. Then you praise it sky high in your public statements. And finally you try to wriggle out of it on second thoughts,” he added.

The President said he had invited all the political party leaders represented in the National Assembly for talks on the future constitutional set-up of the country with the express intention of having a national consensus on the fundamentals of the Constitution.

“We were not under any obligation to invite them. We have a clear majority in the House. But we thought since the Constitution was a basic documents, it would be better to associate all parties which are represented in the National assembly,” he said.

The President asked the Opposition not to indulge in the same kind of politics as they had done during the last 25 years, for it would only harm the broader national interests.

Referring to Tuesday’s uproar in the National Assembly, the President said, an Opposition leader had told one of the Central Ministers on the floor of the House: “I will shoot you and I will shoot your leader.”

“This is the love they have for democracy. This is the kind of democracy they believe in, “the President said and asked the leader concerned not to hold threats of shooting this or that person down.

“If you know how to shoot, the nation also knows how to pull the trigger. If you can strike me, the nation also knows how to strike you down,” the President said and bared his chest saying: “Who is it that wants to shoot me. Let him come and take a shot. I am not scared.”

The Opposition leaders’ efforts to topple his Government were a dangerous symptom which could lead to dictatorship and chaos in the country.

Dwelling at length upon the inconsistency of the Opposition leaders, Mr. Bhutto told his public meeting at Nishtar Park that he NAP chief, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, and his father, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, were speaking the language of violence and disruption while they preached democracy.

Their statements were full of contradictions and the people should take note of them, the President added.

He declared that the roots of the people’s Government were among the people, and it would fight the evil designs of these gentlemen with the might of the people.

Criticizing the role of the Opposition leaders, he declared that the country was today blessed with true democracy for the first time after 25 years. He said that ever since the death of Quaid-i-Azam and the Quaid-i-Millat, the democracy was never allowed to flourish in this country by these very leaders whose caliber and real intentions today stood exposed before the people.

The President said, that politics was a science and meant for those who were qualified and not for novices.

The President also referred to the statements of Sardar Akbar Khan Bugti, and said that the people should take note of what this Baluchi Sardar was saying. He said that all these facts were coming from him, only after an in-fight among themselves had taken place. And look at the record of the NAP in Baluchistan where all the jails were full of their political rivals. These people had one code for the Government and another one for themselves.

The President spoke in a bitter and hurt tone about his critics’ double standard, broken promises and blind opposition.

Without mentioning NAP’s Wali Khan, he said a party chief, who had propounded parliamentary democracy, now wanted the Senate to have more powers that the Prime Minister. This demand he said, was against the principles of parliamentary democracy and suggested the Presidential system.

But again did not they oppose the Presidential system tooth and nail and accused him (President Bhutto) of wanting to impose himself on the nation, he said, “how could I become a President under the new Constitution when the required age for that office is 45 and I will turn 44 after two months?

“Also a former colleague of us, who propagated the Presidential system, is today crying for parliamentary form,” he said.

President Bhutto also ridiculed an editorial, “Mountains don’t cry,” by a person who had always seen things from a bureaucrat’s chair.

“Look at the impoverished faces of the peasants of the Punjab and Sindh. If mountains don’t cry, how their tears come flowing down the rivers’, he said in a sentimental voice and added: “Of course, you (the editor) could not see the misery of our people and our land from your high perch.”

There was another editor, he said, who came showering praise on him but wanted to continue “a bit of criticism of the Government” in his newspaper.

Against all the mud-slinging on him and his Government in the newspapers, when a Rawalpindi journalist, wrote critically about the Opposition, a hurt leader created scenes in the National assembly.

“We are not foreigners. We are also Pakistanis and have the same temperament.” the President said.

The President said that he could not accept Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s offer of cooperation because Mr. Ghaffar Khan had equated the provinces of Pakistan with sovereign, independent states of Afghanistan and Iran.

“After returning from your self-imposed eight-year exile you dare to speak of cooperation with us in foreign friendship between Afghanistan, India, Iran, Punjab, NWFP, Baluchistan, and Sindh!” The President said during his public speech.

“I am a politician”, he reminded Mr. Ghaffar Khan and said he could see what the red-shirt leader meant when he equated the provinces of Pakistan with the sovereign states.”

The President invited all his opponents “from Khyber to Karachi” to join hands in opposing him. “But we won’t be shaken because we rely on the people, the masses.”

“What if we have to make sacrifices. But we will save the country,” the President declared.

He said he wondered what Mr. Ghaffar Khan had been doing in Kabul during the wars with India in 1965 and 1971, instead of doing any service to the country, the red-shirt leader had been making speeches from Kabul Radio.

The President said he could see through the game of the red-shirt leader and was absolutely unwilling to fall in to his trap.