RAWALPINDI: President Mohammad Ayub Khan today [March 22] fervently appealed to the nation to save Pakistan and its ideology and said: “Let us not destroy all the civilised institutions and instruments of an orderly society in the name of popular movements.”

In a message to the nation [on the eve of] Pakistan Day, the President said despite the Government-Opposition agreement at the Round Table Conference, the law and order situation continued to deteriorate at a “most alarming pace”. “People pass their days in terror and all economic life is coming to a standstill,” he added. ... He also urged the people to ask themselves whether they are living up to the “Unity, Faith and Discipline” motto given by ... Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

[Meanwhile,] Mr Z.A. Bhutto, Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, in a statement last night [March 22] said: “The law and order situation has deteriorated because the people have risen in revolt against the regime. Normal conditions can arise in the country only after the rejected regime steps aside. The people of the country have not shown alarm over the situation. Only the regime and handful of vested interests are alarmed and they are determined to frustrate the struggle of the people for better economic and social conditions.”

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2019