602 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র : সপ্তম খণ্ড General Farman duly came around to the Hotel. As a foreigner and in any case I was acting privately and in no way as an intermediary, I withdrew from the discussion of such an internal nature and Dr. Malik General Farman and Colonel Gaffur conferred together. Subsequently they invited me back, and showed me the following proposals they had drawn up and which General Farman was taking to General Niazi for approval and transmission to President Yahya: “To bring an end to loss of further human lives and destruction we are willing to, under honorable conditions: a. Cease fire and stop all hostilities immediately in East Pakistan b. Hand over peacefully the administration of East Pakistan as arranged by the U.N.; c. The U.N. should ensure: I) safety and security of all armed personnel of both military and paramilitary forces of Pakistan pending their return to West Pakistan; II) safety of all West Pakistani personnel-civilian and civil servants pending their return to West Pakistan; III) safety of all non-locals settled in East Pakistan since 1947; IV) guarantee of no reprisals against those who helped and served the Government and cause of Pakistan since March 1971,” General Farman undertook to the Natural Zone later that day and let us knew the reactions of general Niazi and president Yahya to their proposals. General Farman did return about 2100 hours and informed US that, although General Niazi had approved these proposals, Islamabad had rejected them on item (b) “to hand over the administration of East Pakistan”. Thus ended yet another attempt at a case-fire in the hostilities. Thursday, 16 December Early on the morning of 16 December we learned of the ultimatum but the Indian Army to the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan to surrender 0930 hours Dacca time that morning. Colonel Gaffur, Dr. Malik, Mr. Sven Lampell of the League of Red Cross Societies and myself all made desperate efforts to contact Pakistan Army, Headquarters by telephone from the Hotel but were unable to get any contact. Having myself participated in the Second World War in North Africa and Europe as an infantry Officer in the British Army I am only too well aware of the appalling loss of life and destruction which an all-out attack on Dacca would entail. Colonel Gaffur told us that he knew that the Pakistan Army Communications Centre had been destroyed by the Indian air attacks the day before, and he was not sure, firstly, whether General Niazi accepted the ultimatum and, secondly, whether the Pakistan Army had been able to inform the Indian Army whether or not they accepted the ultimatum.
