DACCA: Tehrik-i-Istiqlal chief, retired Air Marshal Asghar Khan, suggested here today [Sept 30] that the general amnesty granted by the President “should be applied generally to include all MNAs and MPAs of the defunct Awami League whatever may be their status and wherever they may be”.

He told a news conference that the amnesty declared by the President had brought a new dimension to the political situation, and in his opinion its application in the “widest possible term” would help normalise the situation in the country. … He said if this suggestion was accepted there would be no need for the by-elections except those seats which had become vacant due to deaths of members.

The Tehrik chief said his party would define its stand and indicate whether it would participate in the by-elections, if the suggestions to extend the general amnesty to include all MNAs and MPAs was not accepted. — Staff correspondent

[Meanwhile, as reported by a staff correspondent in Karachi,] Mr Peter Frelinghuysen, a prominent Member of the US Congress and Deputy Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Commi­ttee, said … that the presence of United Nations in East Pakistan was a “very constructive step”….

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2021