Newsweek, April 5, 1971
PAKISTAN PLUNGES INTO CIVIL WAR
Until the very last moment, it looked as if the two proud men entrusted with Pakistan’s density might still be able to avert a head-on clash. From the East Pakistani capital of Dacca came optimistic reports that President Mohammed Yahya Khan and Mujib–as the leader of secessionist-minded East Pakistan is known-were about to reach a compromise. But then, with stunning suddenness, the pieces of Pakistan’s complicated political puzzle flew apart. In the East Pakistan cities of Rangpur and Chittagong, federal troops poured machine gun fire into mobs of demonstrating Bengali nationalists. Swiftly, Yahya issued orders to his army to “crush the movement and restore the full authority of the government”. In his turn, Mujib proclaimed East Pakistan the “Sovereign, independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali Nation)”. And with that, Pakistan was plunge into civil war.
