FORT SANDEMAN: Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto said here today [Sept 4] that Pakistan looked forward to having closest friendly ties with Muslim Bengal, and would leave it to the people there to decide what sort of relationship they would like to have with Pakistan. Making an unscheduled visit to the general repatriation camp here during his whirlwind tour of the northern areas of Baluchistan, Mr Bhutto told the Bengali internees that whatever were the mistakes in the past which brought about the separation of East Pakistan, they were the mistakes of the leaders, and the people in either wings of the country were not responsible for it.

He received a very cordial welcome at the camp as the Bengali internees lined themselves up in front to listen to him. Impressed by the Prime Minister’s forget-and-forgive appeal, they raised full-throated shouts of Hurrah and — unaware of the Constitutional changes in the country — they raised slogans of “Sadare Pakistan Zindabad” and “Mujibur Rahman Zindabad”. The Prime Minister said that he had not come there to make a speech as it would create misunderstanding, but to bid them farewell as their friend and well-wisher. — News agencies

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2023