Yahya shut assembly; freedom's bell rang

Pakistan was thrown into a major political crisis with the postponement of the National Assembly session the previous day. It was quickly becoming obvious that neither the Yahya Khan regime nor Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had anticipated the degree of Bangalee anger that could arise following the move by General Yahya Khan. All over Dhaka and elsewhere, especially among students and youths, demands began to arise for an outright declaration of Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan. It may be noted that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had in December 1969, at a meeting to observe the death anniversary of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, declared that thenceforth Pakistan's eastern province would be known as Bangladesh rather than East Pakistan. Now, with the crisis over the NA session breaking out, demands for Bangladesh's freedom began to be voiced loudly.
On March 2, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announced a general strike all over the province. It was also announced that a mourning day would be observed the next day in memory of those killed in police and army firing earlier.
In Bangladesh's history, March 2 remains a day of crucial and critical significance because of the move by students of Dhaka University, now grouped under the Swadhin Bangla Chhatra Sangram Parishad, to raise Bangladesh's flag, the first in history, on the university premises. Among those who played a leading part in the Sangram Parishad were Nur-e-Alam Siddiqui, Abdul Quddus Makhan, Shahjahan Siraj, ASM Abdur Rab and Sirajul Alam Khan.
In Dhaka, people spontaneously violated the curfew imposed by the military authorities a day earlier. At a number of places, demonstrating citizens were fired upon, which led to a number of people dying and being wounded.
The refusal of the Yahya Khan government to hold the National Assembly session as scheduled had the regime as well as politicians in West Pakistan scrambling for a solution. It was becoming clear to them that by deferring the NA session without prior consultation with Mujib had proved disastrous. In Dhaka, the Awami League was in no mood for compromise given especially the fact that President Yahya Khan had arbitrarily, after his meeting with Bhutto, reached his decision. All over the province, Bangalees were rapidly coming together against what they saw as a threat to their political identity. Educated sections of Bangalees were convinced that the regime did not mean to transfer power to the Awami League and that a conspiracy was underway to repudiate the results of the general election. There were also signs that senior figures in the military regime were unhappy with the decision, a point made manifest by the resignation of the mild-mannered Admiral SM Ahsan from the governorship of East Pakistan.