DACCA: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman today [March 18] attacked both the US and Pakistan Presidents in a speech made before about 2,00,000 people here. In an obvious reference to the US move to supply arms to Pakistan, the Bangladesh Prime Minister said: “Big Powers should not sell arms and they should stop the arms race.”

The Bangladesh leader, who has just won a landslide election victory, lashed out at President Bhutto for not recognising Bangladesh and be “reconciled to realities”. Sheikh Mujib warned Mr Bhutto that he would be “inviting trouble if he did not accept Biharis and return Bengalis”. He repeated a previous offer to repatriate 2,50,000 Biharis in Bangladesh, officially designated as Pakistanis, in exchange for 3,00,000 Bengalis in Pakistan.

A Rawalpindi report adds: Political circles in Pakistan today said that the latest outburst of Sheikh Mujib — even after he has won the elections — shows beyond doubt that he is no more than a mere stooge and puppet of India. These circles remarked that his statement on the situation in the Sub-continent is singularly lacking in statesmanship as it is devoid of concern for his own people, not to speak of the peoples of the Sub-continent. — News agencies

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2023