Malik cabinet resigns en masse
December 14, 1971
EAST PAKISTAN REGIME RESIGNS
The entire regional government of East Pakistan headed by Dr AM Malik resigned today, disassociating itself from the central administration of Pakistan President Yahya Khan.
Dr Malik wrote the draft of the resignation letter for his cabinet to Yahya with a shaking ballpoint pen on a scrap of office paper as Indian MIG-21s destroyed the Governor's House.
Governor Malik, surrounded by the ministers of his East Pakistani administration, showed the draft of his resignation to a United Nations official, John Kelly, and to Gavin Young of The Observer. They had been trapped with him in his bunker during an air raid.
All morning, Dr Malik and his regional cabinet had been unable to decide whether to resign or hang on. The air raids finally resolved the issue.
Earlier, 16 senior civil servants, led by the Inspector General of Police MA Chaudhry sought refuge in the Hotel Intercontinental which had been declared as a neutral zone.
Meanwhile, heads of seven political parties constituting the United Coalition headed by Prime Minister Nurul Amin appealed to the United States and China today "to urgently arrange for practical help to Pakistan".
SOVIET LEADERSHIP'S MESSAGE TO NIXON
Soviet leaders in a message to US President Richard Nixon said today that further aggravation of the situation in the Indian subcontinent demanded urgent measures be taken.
It added, "We are in constant contact with the Indian side. One of the results of these very contacts was the message transmitted to you on December 12 that India has no intention to take any military action in connection with West Pakistan. We have firm assurances by the Indian leadership that India has no plans of seizing West Pakistan territory.
"In the course of consultations the Indian side," continued the message, "has expressed the willingness to ceasefire and withdraw its forces if Pakistani government withdraws its forces from East Pakistan and peaceful settlement is reached there with the lawful representatives of East Pakistani population, to whom the power will be transferred and conditions will be created for return from India of all East Pakistani refugees. At the same time the Indians have no intentions to impose their will on the East Pakistani people who themselves will determine their fate."
Referring to the movement of an American naval squadron towards the Indian Ocean from the Gulf of Tonkin, Soviet leaders said, "It is even more difficult for us to understand how is it possible to combine striving for a constructive peaceful settlement of the problem by collective efforts of our countries with such unilateral actions like demonstrative movements of naval forces and so on. Suppose the other side will also embark on the path of taking similar measures -- what then will be the net result?"
The Soviet leaders concluded the message by urging Nixon to stress to the Pakistani government the necessity of embarking on the path towards political settlement in East Pakistan.
ON THE WAR FRONT
With the reported movement of American naval squadron, the 83rd Brigade of the 23rd Indian Division along with Mukti Bahini rushed to Chittagong assuming that the American task force might attempt to establish a beachhead somewhere near Chittagong. The Chittagong Port was severely pounded from the sea and the air. Many ships were damaged and sunk in the river completely blocking the shipping channel.
Mitro Bahini troops were advancing rapidly from the north and northwest and had reached within six miles of Dhaka. A Pakistani brigade commander close to the Dhaka garrison was reported to have surrendered.
The New York Times reported that Indian MIG jets flew back and forth across Dhaka city in the afternoon, strafing with rockets at low level and meeting virtually no resistance.
Shamsuddoza Sajen is a journalist and researcher. He can be contacted at [email protected]
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