LAHORE, Oct 24: Federal Minister Mahmud Ali has urged the people of Pakistan to forge unity among their ranks to save their independence and sovereignty.

The veteran politician was speaking at a meeting arranged jointly by the Nazaria-i-Pakistan Foundation and the Pakistan Movement Workers Trust to pay tributes to the companions of the Quaid-i-Azam.

He said that the foreign forces responsible for the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971 were active again to cause harm to the country. The need of the hour was to resist and foil their conspiracy.

He said that the people would not tolerate any interference from these forces in the internal affairs of the country nor would they accept any new constitutional framework.

He said that the people of Pakistan had achieved independence after offering great sacrifices. They had been struggling hard to preserve it and would spare no means in future as well to safeguard their hard earned independence and sovereignty.

“Pakistan will not be governed on the dictates of America and the western powers,” he warned. He said that by resisting the foreign pressures they could not only maintain their independence but would be able to achieve the objectives of Pakistan.

Mr Mahmud Ali discussed at length the circumstances under which Pakistan was dismembered in 1971 and Bangladesh was formed. He said that the common belief that the general elections held in December 1970 by the late Gen Yahya Khan were fair and free was wrong. Those elections had been rigged to secure the majority for the Awami League, led by Shaikh Mujibur Rahman.

He said that Mujib had prepared his own force of anti-social elements which had interfered in the elections while the army and other law enforcing agencies remain silent spectators and failed to check the interference by the Mujib’s men.

He said that despite the fact that Mujib had landslide victory in the elections no settlement was reached. Some hidden forces prevented a settlement as on many previous occasions in the history of Pakistan.

Mr Mahmud Ali recalled that when Nurul Amin lost the elections in East Pakistan in 1954 he decided to resign as chief minister of that province but the hidden forces asked him not to do so.

Nurul Amin resigned because he had lost the elections. This was followed by the resignation by Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman, the then central president of the Muslim League, who had refused to accept the hidden forces advice not to allow the United Front to form the government.

He said that first Iskandar Mirza declared the martial law in on Oct 7, 1958, and 20 days later Ayub Khan ousted him and himself became the CMLA. “Nobody bothered to know which were the forces behind Ayub Khan. Even today we are facing a similar situation as those very forces are at work,” he added.

Mr Mahmud Ali said that Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah was defeated by rigging the elections and Ayub Khan got himself elected president. But when Ayub Khan abdicated, he instead of handing over to the national assembly speaker under his constitution had asked Gen Yahya Khan to take over. Yahya abrogated Ayub’s constitution and dissolved the assembly and brought his own LFO, ignoring the advice of the politicians that the constitution of 1956 should be restored and elections be held under it.

All this was done by hidden forces. Yahya had abolished the principle of parity of both East and West Pakistan under his LFO and elections of 1970 were held under it which were rigged by Mujib.

Mr Bhutto released Mujib and later recognised Bangladesh which had been created without seeking the opinion of that part of the country and India had connived with Mujib to deprive Pakistan of its eastern wing.

Punjab University’s former vice-chancellor Dr Rafiq Ahmad recounted the achievements and the role of the main leaders of the Pakistan Movement.

He said that the nation must remember them as they played an important role in the movement and the politicians of the country should also know their principles, honesty of purpose and dedication with these leaders had worked for Pakistan.

The independence movement workers had no financial scandals, were fully committed to the ideology of Pakistan, were not plagued by the prejudices of provincialism, sectarianism and ethnic pride and had offered great sacrifices for the country. They were the true followers of Allama Iqbal and the Quaid-i-Azam.

Dr M.A. Soofi said that without the all out efforts of Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan in the Muslim League, which he had joined leaving the All India Congress, the people of NWFP would have not voted for Pakistan.

He said Abdul Qayyum Khan had put up a strong fight against the Congress’ Khan brothers and succeeded in winning the referendum.

Rich tributes were paid to Nawab Iftikhar Husain of Mamdot by Chaudhry Ishaq Khan, Khwaja Nazimuddin by Dr Shafiq Ahmad Jullandhri, Raja Sahib of Mahmudabad by Ali Mohtasham, Mir Ahmad Yar Khan of Kalat by Prof Sarfraz Mirza, Nurul Amin by Dr Miskeen Hijazi and Mahmud Ali by Ghazi Shahid Rashid.