RAWALPINDI: Informed political observers have expressed … regret … over the discourtesy shown by the Opposition leaders who failed to attend the banquet given in honour of Their Imperial Majesties, the Shahanshah Aryamehr and Shahbanou of Iran by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at the Lahore Fort… . It will be recalled that the [PM] had invited representatives from various walks of life to the banquet… . Those invited included student leaders, representatives of different professions, parliamentarians as well as leading members of the Opposition.

Although most of the persons invited … attended … the Opposition leaders … were conspicuous by their absence. Only two of the Opposition leaders who had been invited … had the courtesy to reply… . They were Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi and Mian Tufail Mohammad, Amir of Jamaat-i-Islami, who expressed their inability to attend on account of ill health… . … The attitude of these Opposition leaders, observers said, showed their utter lack of understanding of diplomatic norms… . …[T]heir behaviour demonstrated their lack of interest in vital matters of foreign relations. — News agencies

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2026