KARACHI: President Mohammad Yahya Khan has said that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the defunct Awami League, would be put on trial. He said Sheikh Mujib was arrested for committing acts of treason and he would be dealt with under the law of the land. In a television interview telecast from all stations of Pakistan Television Corporation last night [Aug 4] the President said that being a citizen of Pakistan he [Mujib] should be dealt with according to the law of Pakistan.

The President said … that the leader of the defunct Awami League had deviated from his electoral campaign in which he demanded autonomy for East Pakistan. President Yahya said that after Sheikh Mujib got the mandate he and a coterie of his people … wanted secession. In other words, he said, Sheikh Mujib had committed “acts of treason, acts of open rebellion”…. — Agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies in Karachi,] The President … has expressed his determination to transfer power to the people’s representatives “as soon as possible”…. In an interview … the President said that he will announce in two to three weeks the names of the East Pakistani members who will retain their seats in the National Assembly and also of those who will not….

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2021