Morning News
12th February 1966
Mujib Advocates federal Govt.
For Pakistan
(By Our staff reporter)
The General Secretary of the East Pakistan Awami League. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman yesterday advocated a constitutional framework for the country providing for a federation “in true sense on the basis of Lahore Resolution.
In the Six-point Programme which he released to the press on his return to Dacca he envisaged a Federal Government where all subjects except defence and Forewing Affairs “shall vest in the federating state”.
In his scheme the federating states “shall have the authority to raise and maintain under their own control Para military or territorial forces to prefect territorial integrity as well as the constitution”.
Talking to newsmen Shiekh sahib said that he had submitted this programme to the Lahore conference which did not discuss it.
Elaborating the stand of his party on his return from Karachi shiekh Mujibur Rahman said that East Pakistan Awami League delegation had attended the conference on assurance by a conference sponsor that Lahore moot would discuss, apart from Tashkent Declaration, all problems facing the nation, Particularly East Pakistan.
On joining the conference he however found that the sponsors were not in any mood to “listen to our points of view”.
Regarding the Tashkent Declaration sheikh Mujibur Rahman said he had told the conference leaders that “we cannot condemn the accord outright. Their stubborn refusal to condemn the accord, according to the General Secretary of East Pakistan Awami League, stemmed from two considerations. One was that the party’s Working Committee was yet to give its verdict on the issue. And secondly, “we believe in world peace and in the settlement of all disputes with our neighbour peacefully’.
Giving details of the difference of opinion with the conference sponsors which led to East Pakistan Awami League: complete disassociation with all the resolutions passed by the conference Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said that the West Pakistan Awami League delegates to the conference were also divided among themselves.
From the very beginning, Sheikh Mujib said, “we wanted to co-operate with the sponsors of the conference and had attended the meeting of the subjects committee with this end in view”.
COTERIE
He regretted that their offer of cooperation went by default because “unfortunatily a section of influential sponsors had created a coterie to force their views, on the conference”. They were not even in a mood to discuss the points raised by us, he added.
Although he would not identify the persons belonging to this “coterie”Shiekh Mujib later said that these persons had been associated with the Government for long during these 18 years and “were responsible for many of the ills of today”.
Continuing his statement about what “actually happened at the conference” Sheikh Mujib said that in spite of the initial adamance of the sponsors they had attended the first session and “allowed” Mr. Abdul Malek to preside over it. Shiekh Mujib was nominated to the subjects committee but when he attended the deliberations “I found that all the resolutions in sluding the one on Tashkent had been drafted”. “We told the members of the committee that we cannot outright condemn the Tashkent accord, particularly without discussing it in the working Committee meeting”.
He said that he had again made abortive attempt to raise discussion on a six-point programme which he had earlier submitted to the subjects committee. When the sponsors refused even to discuss these points Sheikh Mujib said, he requested them to either extend the conference by one day or adjourn it for the time being to be held later in Dacca. “After all we could not neglect the views of the majority population” he said.
Later replying to questions on the six-point programme, Shiekh Mujibur Rahman said that he disfavoured the idea of dissolution of parties in order to forge a united opposition in the country. Unless there was “ideological affinity” there could not be a merger of political parties.
He also said that Awami League did not favour one party on the basis one point programme. He said that there could be united effort, Keeping the parties alive, on the basis of a comprehensive programme. Such a programme for the co-operation of Awami League will have to include six-points he had raised at the Lahore conference.
সূত্র: সংবাদপত্রে বঙ্গবন্ধু তৃতীয় খণ্ড: ষাটের দশক॥ দ্বিতীয় পর্ব