Daily Dawn
25th June 1958
East Pakistan
The responsibility for the imposition of President’s rule on East Pakistan lies squarely on the Awami League. In their anxiety to remain in power in the Province, the Party’s leaders did not hesitate to say good-bye to their declared policies and become willing stooges of the NAP pressure group which is generally believed to be under Communist influence. The NAP, true to Communist traditions and employing the well known Communist tactics, has been constantly attempting to create political chaos and instability. In the first instance, to coerce the Awami League into accepting its demand for a neutral foreign policy and absolute autonomy, the National Awami Party withdrew its support from the Ataur Rahman Government and hastened the latter’s defeat. The Awami League General Secretary was thereby compelled to come to terms, and within a matter of hours, both the NAP and Awami League issued a joint statement proclaiming an agreement. The NAP also intimated to the Governor its decision again to support the Awami League Parliamentary Party, but it was too late, Mr. Abu Hossain Sarkar was sworn in only to be … on a censure motion … by the Awami League the East Pakistan Legislature. Had the Governor at this juncture called upon Mr. Ataur Rahman again to form the Ministry, he would have been guilty of transferring effective power to … handful of persons who would have made the continuance of the new Ministry completely and precariously dependent on their whims and caprices. It was, indeed, strange that Mr. Suhrawardy lightly brushed aside the agreement arrived at between Mr. Mujibur Rahman and the NAP leaders. Political observers cannot but interpret Mr. Suhrawardy’s pronouncements on this agreement as an attempt to hoodwink the public. The only other interpretation possible can be that Mr. Mujibur Rahman tried to bluff the National Awami Party by signing the declaration that he did. If the latter in the case, then that alone justifies the imposition of Article 193, for, sooner rather than later, the NAP would have withdrawn its support from the Awami League coalition, as it would not have taken the former long to become wise to the trickery played on it. One can quite understand the anxiety of the Awami Leaguers to stay in power till after the general elections. They expect to win the elections only by wielding the influence of authority and exploiting the opportunity that holding of office affords. They know full well that, out of power, their chances at the polls are bleak. For, not only do they not have anything to show on the credit side but, further, ever since their coming into power, all their “accomplishments” have been on the debit side. They have failed the people miserably in almost every sphere, and, to cover up their failings, they have not hesitated even to imperil the solidarity of the nation, by encouraging parochial tendencies. In their short term of office, they managed to kill thousands of people by callously neglecting to take proper precautions against the outbreak of epidemics. They allowed the destruction of a substantial portion of the livestock wealth of the Province by doing next to nothing to check the spread of cattle disease. Corruption was never so widespread in East Pakistan as it had been since the assumption of office by the Awami League. In short, the Party has dangerously vitiated the political atmosphere of the Province and has allowed the administrative machinery to become thoroughly corrupt and undependable. But, unfortunately, the East Pakistan MPAs are divided into so many groups and factions that no stable alternative to the shaky NAP-controlled Awami League coalition is possible. We have, therefore, no hesitation in saying that, if the Central Government desire fair general elections, they would be well advised to continue Article 193 in the Province till November, when the elections are due to be held.