LARKANA: President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said here today [Jan 6] that he was in full agreement with the general thinking that Martial Law should be lifted, democracy restored and the National and Provincial Assemblies convened early. But he pointed out that there could be a difference of opinion on the timing of such ... steps. … In a special interview given to this correspondent at “Al Murtaza” ... the President said he had two objectives uppermost in his mind. These were: the unity and integrity of Pakistan and its frontiers must remain intact, and ameliorative measures were taken in the first phase to set the tone for socioeconomic and moral reconstruction.

… The President brushed aside any question about the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman... . His attention was drawn to the oft-repeated demand that the scope of the Hamoodur Rahman Enquiry Commission should be so extended as to include political aspects along with the causes underlying the military debacle in East Pakistan and the ceasefire in West Pakistan. Mr Bhutto ... assured that he has not laid down any qualification or precondition for the Commission. He said that instead of curtailing the powers of the Commission, he has given wide terms of reference to it to investigate the “extremely sensitive subject which in fact went into the very roots of statehood with all political and other relative implications”.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022