that Pakistan faced a grave crisis. The President's Council of Ministers was dismissed. The Governors of West Pakistan Provinces were appointed as Martial Law Administrators for their respective areas. The Governor of East Pakistan was replaced by a new Martial Law Administrator.
At a news conference, Mujib condemned this postponement as a conspiracy. He regretted that the President had postponed the session without even caring to consult the majority party. He called for general strike throughout the country. Spontaneous protest demonstrations broke out in Dacca. As the demonstrators cried for retaliation, Mujib counseled patience and said, “we will launch a peaceful constitutional movement”. But violence erupted in Dacca as the Pakistani security forces fired on the people. Curfew was imposed in Dacca and to other towns and Martial Law Administration issued a decree clamping press censorship in East Pakistan. On March 3, Mujib announced start of non-violent non-cooperation movement which would continue “until the fundamental democratic rights of the people of East Pakistan were secured". On the same day. Yahya Khan invited the leaders of the two wings to a conference in Dacca on March 10, 1971 to thrash out their differences over the formulation of the Constitution. As hundreds of angry demonstrators as well as innocent people were being killed and injured by the troops. Mujib declined to attend the conference. He said, “we do not want to sit it with the perpetrators of mass murder.” He asked that the troops be sent back to the barracks. This request was not heeded, and may more demonstrators were killed in the next few days. While the military government reinforced troops in East Pakistan by planes and ships carrying more soldiers and equipment. Yahya Khan called the National Assembly session to meet on March 25. He however warned that the armed forces would maintain the 'complete and absolute' integrity of Pakistan.
Sheikh Mujib declared that his party would consider the question of attending the session only if Yahya Khan immediately (i) lifted the martial law, (ii) withdraw troops, (iii) restored civilian rule, and (iv)ordered an enquiry into the recent killing in East Pakistan. All the East Pakistanis strongly supported these four conditions of Mujib. Even the West Pakistani leaders with the exception of Bhutto and Abdul Qayum Khan, considered the four conditions as just and reasonable and advised the President to accept them. Among the West Pakistani leaders supporting Mujib's four points were Mian Mumtaz Daulatana, Chief of Council Muslim League; Maulana Mufti Mahmud. leader of the Jamiatul-Ulemai-Islam; Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Chief of National Awami Party; Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan of Council Muslim League; Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani of Jamiatul-Ulema-i-Pakistan; Prof. Abdul Ghafoor of Jamaat-l-Islami, Mr. Jamal Mohammed Koreja of Convention Muslim League; Maulana Zafar Ahmed Ansari; Independent M. N. A.; Sardar Maula Bux Soomro, Independent M. N. A.; Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan, Chief of Tehrik-i-Istiqlal party, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugati, Political leader of Baluchistan; Begum Tahira Masood of Bahawalpur United Front; Mr. Mahmud Ahmed Mintoo, President of Rawalpindi Council Muslim League; Mr. Mahmudul Huq Usmani, Secretary General of National Awami Party (Wali Group) and so on. All the political parties in West Pakistan, except Bhutto's Peoples Party and Abdul Qayum Khan's All Pakistan Muslim League, held Bhutto responsible for creating the
