PAKISTAN OBSERVER
12th May 1955
SK. Mujibur Protests Mirza’s Statement
Mr. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman General Secretary, East Pakistan Awami Muslim League, has issued to the Press the following note of protest against the reported statement of Major-General Iskander Mirza as regards Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani. “My attention has been drawn to a news items served by the APP and published in the several local dailies of the 11th May 1955 in which Major-General Iskander Mirza was reported to have said in reply to a question that General Mirza ‘still held his previous convictions about the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League’s Chief, Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, that he was a Communist and of a different colour.”
“The reported news gave a rude shock to the entire populace of East Pakistan. It is very unfortunate that a man of General Mirza’s position and responsibility should make utterances which, instead of contributing towards better understanding, accelerate the process of further widening the gulf already in existence. Awami League is a constitutional political organisation of the country wielding greatest support at the moment of which Moulana Bhashani is the accredited leader. I could only demand of General Mirza just to refrain from making such unwarranted and baseless comments as would hamper the creation of a congenial atmosphere in the country which is a crying for the hour.”