পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (সপ্তম খণ্ড).pdf/৩৪০

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র : সপ্তম খণ্ড
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 However, as soon as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had secured the electorate's verdict in favor of autonomy, he started elaborating and interpreting the six points in a manner the electorate had not bargained for, and adopted a deliberate posture of rigidity that left no room for negotiations. His attitude now was; “take it or leave it" One political leader after another, including the leader of the largest political party of West Pakistan, flew to Dacca to negotiate a settlement with him. The President of Pakistan paid several visits, but to no avail. Publicly described as would be Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib showed no interest in the all-Pakistan role which the nation was willing-even eager-for him to assume. He refused even to visit West Pakistan. And he seized on it temporary adjournment of the National Assembly, announced with the object of facilitating talks among party leaders to pave the way for an agreed approach to Constitution-making within the House, to launch a massive defiance of law and order.

 What followed is well-known. All hell broke loose: mobs took to the Streets and indulged in arson, murder, rape and loot. According to a pre-arranged signal, as it were, workers walked out of factories, business houses closed down and Government servants began absenting themselves from offices. Those who failed to cooperate voluntarily were made to comply through strong arm tactics reminiscent of Nazi storm troopers. So great was the reign of terror that all normal life came to a standstill. Instead of the legally constituted Government running the administration, the Awami League headquarters issued edicts stopping the payment of taxes or transferring payments from the Central head to the provincial account, and depositing Government revenues in private banks rather than Government treasury. From March 1" to 25" the Civil Administration of the province was paralyzed. Reports poured in of murder, arson, rape and looting from towns across the province - Dacca, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and many other areas were subjected to a wave of fascist hysteria. The army although agonized and infuriated at the news and suffering the sight of the national flag being burnt and the Quaid-i/Azam's portraits being trampled underfoot, maintained a posture of complete nonintervention under strict orders from the top, to give a chance to political leaders to work out a settlement through negotiations.

 Not content with his own Six points, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman now added another four, including the demand for immediate lifting of Martial Law and immediate transfer of power through a Presidential Proclamation. Reversing his original stand that transfer of power could only take place through the National Assembly, he now declared that he would not even go to the National Assembly until power had been transferred-and this in spite of the fact that he enjoyed an absolute majority in the National Assembly which had been elected on the basis of universal adult franchise and one-man-one-vote.

 Understandably, other political parties insisted that transfer of power emanaate from the National Assembly which should meet, pass an interim Constitution and present it to the President for assent. They maintained that the proposed proclamation would have no legal sanction: it would neither have the cover of Martial Law nor would it be based on the will of the people, a vacuum would be created, and chaos would ensue.

 Once again, the President flew to Dacca and in ten days of negotiation, attempts were