Suggestions and Advice to Ayub Address at Karachi Press Club, January 18, 1969

On coming to Karachi my first impulse has naturally been to meet and address the people of this great city, which was once the capital of Pakistan and whose citizens originate from every pan of the subcontinent. Karachi is truly representative in this manner of all Muslims of Pakistan. I was profoundly moved by the extraordinary welcome all sections of the population accorded me yesterday on my arrival. I cannot find words to express my gratitude to them.

Yesterday, a large number of the local inhabitants at Liaquatabad had gathered in the expectation of my coming there to meet them. The long procession from the Railway Station to Quaid-i-Azam’s Mazar took many hours. Meanwhile troublemakers started provoking the people gathered at Liaquatabad. What followed later led to the loss of several lives and injuries to many people. On being reliably informed that mischief-makers were awaiting my arrival to use it as a pretext for using violence against the unarmed people of Liaquatabad, I decided not to give these provocateurs the opportunity to carry out their plan.

I am deeply grieved by the suffering of the people in Liaquatabad who have in the recent days gone through much tribulations. I extend my sympathy to the bereaved families of those who have been killed and to all those who have suffered injury and loss.

While the procession was going towards Quaid-i-Azam’s Mazar, it was attacked along the route by gangs of people, who had undoubtedly organized this affair well in advance. The police did not take action against these troublemakers, although they knew about the preparations a good while before. News about these preparations had been circulating for some time. This is an example of how the authorities are behaving, protecting the mischief-makers on the side of the regime and harassing the public.

The situation throughout the country is tense. In East Pakistan, disturbances of an alarming nature are continuing, with loss of life and damage to property. The people have been made victims of violence and brutality.

That the country is in the throes of a very serious crisis no one doubts. Nor is there any doubt that the people of Pakistan have risen against a regime which has for ten years deprived them of their liberties and has, in the course of those years, become progressively worse.

The meaning of the crisis is simply that the people want a change. The change, if it is to be for the better, must be for a new system free from the evils of corruption, social and economic injustices, and positively democratic, not merely giving the formal appearance of democracy. But the first task for all of us is to find a way of initiating this change in such a manner that a better system can come into being as quickly and as effectively as possible.

I do not know what result the leaders of political parties who are entering into negotiations with the President expect to obtain. They must know to what extent they are willing to compromise with the regime and how firmly they are resolved to stand on principles. I do not know their minds but for my pan I would not like to say anything that might be construed as not wishing them well should they be making a genuine effort in the cause of democracy according to their own lights.

I would like to take this opportunity to make certain suggestions which I think are necessary for the creation of a better atmosphere.

They are as follows:

1. The Government must make a commitment to free the press from restrictions and until the necessary legal changes are made to treat the repressive laws relating to the press as suspended.
2. The President has himself accepted that there is a need to remove the grievances of the people of the underdeveloped regions. The negotiating team on the Government side includes representatives from these regions. Therefore, the President should invite popular opposition leaders from these regions to express their views.
3. The Government should make a commitment to consult student leaders on all questions affecting the student community and before any laws relating to their rights and education are passed.
4. The Government should immediately release all political and labor leaders, workers and students who have not yet been released or have been rearrested under security laws.
5. The Government should announce that it will pay adequate compensation to the families of those who have been killed and to the persons who have been injured by the action of the authorities against the movement.
6. The Government should appoint a High Court judge or some other eminent member of the judiciary to conduct an independent enquiry into the desecration of mosques and the actions of brutality committed by the police and government officials.
7. An independent enquiry should be made by a High Court judge into the firing at Rawalpindi on the 7th of November last and the bring at Nowshera which began the series of repressive government actions.
8. The Government should make a commitment to repeal the Political Parties Act and, until the repeal is formally made, to treat that Act as nonexistent.
9. The sale of Government agricultural land to anyone except to landless peasants and small holders should be immediately stopped.
10. Consultations should begin with labor leaders to remove the restrictions against trade unions on the right to strike and with organizations which are against the accepted norms of trade unions and labor rights.