LYALLPUR: Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto declared here today [March 21] that Pakistan does not want war with India or Afghanistan but if a war was thrust upon us, “we will fight to the last man and will never be coerced to agree to a cease-fire”. Maintaining that Pakistan stood for peaceful relations with her neighbours, he warned that armed conflict in the area might lead to a wider conflagration and could bring disaster to the whole of the sub-continent and Afghanistan. … Mr Bhutto said his Government had decided to ban the NAP after careful deliberations and would never lift it as demanded by the Opposition. … He said that the anti-national activities of the NAP were as old as Pakistan itself — in fact its leaders had bitterly opposed the establishment of Pakistan. … The Government had reached these conclusions … after thoroughly studying their activities. —

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Addis Ababa,] Ethiopia’s Left-wing Military Government … abolished the crown in an apparent move to prepare the grounds for the eventual proclamation of a socialist republic. A proclamation issued by the ruling Military council … cancelled the title of prince and princess.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2025