RAWALPINDI: President Gen Yahya Khan has granted general amnesty to “all those who have committed or alleged to have committed offences during the disturbances in East Pakistan beginning March 1 last and ending Sept 5”. According to a communique issued by the President’s Secretariat, this amnesty will also extend to personnel belonging to the Armed Forces, the East Pakistan Rifles, Police, Mujahids and Ansars.

The communique, however, did not mention specifically if this general amnesty order will also apply to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

[Meanwhile, as reported by a correspondent in Karachi,] A three-member Commission of Inquiry … has recommended purchase of the Flagstaff House owned by the Quaid-i-Azam to be turned into a national relic house where the personal belongings of the Father of the Nation should be preserved and displayed. The Commission … was appointed by the President in November 1969. … The Commission’s task was to ascertain the properties of the Quaid-i-Azam for preservation as national relic.

The Flagstaff House on Fatima Jinnah Road … was owned by the Quaid-i-Azam. The Commission is of the view that it would provide a homely atmosphere if the Relic House is established in that building which is lying vacant.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2021