SIALKOT: The Council of Muslim League chief, Mian Mumtaz Mohammad Khan Daultana, today [July 29] said his party ardently believed in the restoration of democracy through transfer of power to the elected representatives, but not at the cost of the integrity and solidarity of Pakistan. He enlisted two conditions for effecting the process of democratisation — it should take place simultaneously in East and West Pakistan and secondly only after the conditions in the Eastern Wing had returned to normalcy.

Mian Daultana, who was addressing a workers meeting here this evening, was of the opinion that the present atmosphere in East Pakistan was not congenial to transfer of power, [until] the “subversive activities of the saboteurs came to a halt, the means of communications were restored and economy got going”, the conditions could not be described as normal, he said.

Criticising those who demanded unconditional and immediate transfer of power, Mr Daultana said that would only mean establishment of a civilian Government in West Pakistan and would only confirm the theory that “East and West Pakistan were completely different with nothing in common”. He said that while on the one hand his party wanted the restoration of democracy only after normalcy had returned, it would also brook no unjustified delay in the transfer of power. — Newspaper’s staff correspondent

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2021