There was no issue of the newspaper on Dec 26, 1971, on account of a holiday due to Quaid-i-Azam’s birthday. The following excerpt has been taken from the previous day’s edition.

LONDON: In an interview given to the BBC … Lt.Gen Niazi complained that he had been “tricked” by Gen Yahya Khan and some other Generals in Rawalpindi into laying down arms. A film about the fall of Dacca prepared by BBC “Panorama” team … brought out vividly that not only the Pakistani troops but local population were ready to fight to the last man. …

Indian officers interviewed in the programme admitted that Pakistani soldiers fought well and bravely and still had much fight left. Commenting on the humiliating ceremony at Dacca Race Course where Lt-Gen Niazi surrendered to the Indian Commander, correspondent Alan Hart said, “many of us felt sorry for Niazi and his men. We would have liked to see Yahya in their shoes”. — Overseas correspondent

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from the United Nations,] Pakistan … rejected as “utterly wrong” India’s contention that the acceptance of the Security Council resolution of Dec 21 on the situation in the sub-continent indicated Islamabad recognition of the so-called “Bangla Desh”… .

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2021