Heated parleys at President’s House

Syed Badrul AhsanSyed Badrul Ahsan
Published : 20 March 2016, 06:08 AM
Updated : 20 March 2016, 06:08 AM

Full-scale negotiations went underway at the President's House on this day, March 20, 1971. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led an Awami League team to the talks with General Yahya Khan and his advisors. On the AL team were Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Khondokar Moshtaque Ahmed, M. Mansoor Ali and Kamal Hossain. The president was assisted by Justice A. R. Cornelius, Lt.Gen. S.G.M.M. Peerzada and Col. Hasan.

The tenor of the talks was set off by General Yahya Khan, who was indignant over the fact that on the preceding day Bengali civilians had blocked the movement of troops in Joydevpur, an incident which had led to violence. He made it a point to let Mujib know that he was trying hard to find a way out of the crisis. Bangabandhu's response was that at such a volatile time the army should stay in the barracks. It was important, he said, that while the political negotiations were going on, the army stayed off the streets. Yahya's answer was that the army needed to keep its supply lines open, to which Bangabandhu said that it was precisely that kind of movement which provoked the public into fury. If the soldiers continued shooting innocent civilians, he argued, a time would soon be there when those civilians would fight back with their own arms.

Yahya Khan calmed down and the talks went back to a discussion on the ways of resolving the crisis. Yahya told Mujib that he was a simple man and wanted a quick solution to the problem, but his advisors had warned him that without a legal basis for a withdrawal of martial law, there was no way out. He also made it known that he needed to consult politicians in West Pakistan before a solution could be arrived at. The president wanted Bangabandhu to invite Bhutto to Dhaka, to which the Bengali leader made it clear he was in little mood to negotiate with the People's Party leader. However, he told Yahya that it was his prerogative as Pakistan's president to invite whoever he felt should be present in Dhaka.