Lift the Emergency Statement in High Court, Lahore, February 7, 1969

The situation has undergone a profound change since my writ petition was filed in this honourable Court, and most significantly in the last few days. I cannot forsake my duty to the people of Pakistan. I must do everything in my power to prevent the impending disaster. The opposition must not be divided, it must not be intimidated, it must not let itself be split into classes.

It must not be allowed that it should be taken to the conference table under the shadow of the Defence of Pakistan Rules. Whatever the consequences, the right of the people must prevail, their struggle must culminate in a genuine victory. I am prepared to lay down my life for the sake of this ideal, to join the ranks of those who have given their blood for the cause of the people.

The leadership of Pakistan must think of the morrow. In the name of the Pakistan People’s Party I give a solemn pledge to the people of Pakistan that my party will strive ceaselessly for the construction of a great and glorious future for our beloved homeland. This is my commitment to history.

How the great problem facing us today will be resolved cannot be forecast with precision. The problem cannot even be approached until the Defence of Pakistan Rules, which envelop it as in a cloud, are lifted. The essential prerequisite to whatever might follow is the lifting of the emergency first.

Nothing can be considered until this elementary precondition is satisfied. All other issues are at a standstill and cannot move forward until this preliminary condition is met. Nothing becomes relevant until the emergency is lifted.

In the context of the present situation in this struggle for democracy in its present form, as a protest against this tyrannical law which stands as a wall between the people and their freedom, I hereby withdraw my writ petition and declare that if within one week from today the emergency is not lifted, I will undertake a hunger strike unto death. In giving the Government a week’s time I am providing it with a reasonable opportunity to dispassionately conclude that it is in the national interest to lift the emergency.

This is not a personal demand. It is made in good faith with the purest motive and not in the spirit of an ultimatum. On me contrary my decision reflects the demand of the people of Pakistan from the depths of their being.

In the end I salute the youth of East and West Pakistan, the true heroes of this great movement.