বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ পঞ্চদশ খণ্ড
Sheikh Mujib then obtained from them a mandate to go to the Round table Conference, where he said that he should place the demands of the Bengali people. He pledged that if these demands were not accepted, he would return and continue the movement but would not compromise.
Sheikh Mujib accompanied by party leaders, left for Rawalpindi to join the opening session of the Round table Conference. I was asked to accompany the delegation by a curious coincidence, Bhutto and Sheikh Mujib were traveling by the same plane to Lahore. Bhutto and his colleagues were in the first class, while Sheikh Mujib and his delegation were in the economy class. This gave Sheikh an opportunity for the obvious dig that the Awami League was really the party of the people while the people’s party was the “big people’s party.” Bhutto had met Sheikh Mujib in Dacca, and taken the position that he would not go to the round table conference (RTC), as he felt that it was bound to fail. It is noteworthy in this context that Moulana Bhashani had taken the same position. I recall the meeting between Nawabzada Nasrullah and Maulana Bhashani in February when Maulana while reiterating that he would not go to the RTC, but he wished it success for if any good came out of it he would share in it He had then raised his hands and prayed for the Success Of RTC.
At Lahore airport separate groups had come to receive Bhutto and Sheikh Mujib. Among those to receive Sheikh Mujib were Air Marshal Asghar Khan and General Azam. Bhutto suggested that Sheikh Mujib should come down from the plane together with him. Those who had come to receive Sheikh opposed this. Bhutto therefore disembarked from the plane and boarded a truck which followed by a substantial crowd, left the airport. Sheikh Mujib and his party then came down and, followed by a very large crowd, left in a separate procession towards the city, where a short stop-over had been arranged.
The party reached Rawalpindi the same evening. A meeting of the Democratic Action Committee (DAC) was held but because of the constraints of time no substantive discussion could be held. The following morning the formal opening of the round table Conference took place. Since Eid-ul-Azha was in the offing and need was felt for consultations among participant it was agreed that the conference should be adjourned for about 10 days to reconvene on 10March. It was decided that the Democratic action Committee should meet in Lahore for a couple of days before the Round Table Conference was resumed in order to enable the participants to consult and formulate a common negotiating position.
On returning to Dacca, Sheikh Mujib suggested that I should sit with a working group of experts (mainly economists and other academics) to formulate constitutional proposals to give effect to the six point scheme. This was felt to be necessary to meet the criticism that the six point scheme was unworkable and that no viable federal structure could be designed around it. The working group held several meetings during which specific constitutional proposals and alternative negotiating positions were formulated. Attempts were made to anticipate the objections which would be raised and to prepare answers to them.
