The ratification of the Simla Accord was to be followed by the recognition of Bangladesh — a very thorny issue for Bhutto and his government. He knew that the rightists like Jamaat-i-Islami, Muslim League, Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP), JUP and Tehrik-i-Istaqlal were dead against such a move and wanted to derive maximum political benefit from it. Bhutto was quite conscious of this and to neutralise the problem he decided to create a consensus on the issue.
After returning from India, Bhutto took the initiative, and through his suave skills he got the ratification bill passed on July 15, 1972. Now it was the issue of taking practical measures to grant recognition to Bangladesh. This needed a united decision by all parties. To pave the way, the ruling party invited all party leaders to Murree; this meeting was also attended by the United Democratic Front (UDF).
These kind of talks were previously held before tabling the draft of the permanent constitution in April 1973. Reviewing the overall situation of the country, the opposition’s main lamentation was the demand for the restoration of Balochistan and KP governments. Bhutto assured them that it would be done in a few days. But after a few days it emerged that the Murree talks were aimed only at seeking their views on the issue of recognition of Bangladesh. The UDF leaders remembered that in a similar act Bhutto had sought their assistance in the passage of the Constitution, but later went back on his words.
Keeping this in mind, this time the UDF leaders decided that they would not raise the issue as one voice, but every component party was allowed to react to the proposal in its own way. Still undecided Bhutto used another ploy. He decided to seek an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court, so that any attempt from any party or objection against the recognition was blocked.
For this Bhutto assured the court that the government would seek all constitutional measures before recognition. To this the court opined that there was no legal bar to the National Assembly adopting the requisite resolution. However, the move was yet to pick up momentum as more developments took place. These included demands by the UDF including lifting of Section 144, restoration of fundamental rights, restoration of civil liberties, lifting ban on newspapers, end to governor’s rule in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, etc. They warned that if these demands were not met by August 24, the UDF would launch a countywide movement.
A brief skirmish between PPP and Tehrik-i-Istiqlal workers in Karachi also drew the attention of Bhutto who was otherwise supposed to lead a rally in support of the recognition of Bangladesh. It happened that retired Air Marshal Asghar Khan wanted to establish himself as an alternative to Bhutto; although he had not done well in Karachi in the 1970 elections, Asghar Khan considered himself a major player in Karachi politics. He decided to set up his Tehrik-i-Istiqlal offices in Karachi but these premises were attacked the same evening, allegedly by PPP workers. In retaliation Tehrik workers attacked a PPP office. This was followed by a series of violent acts leading to more than 200 people injured and large scale arrests.
In spite of the problems besetting him on the domestic front, Bhutto aimed at creating a conducive atmosphere for the recognition of Bangladesh to facilitate the release of over 90,000 POWs. The task appeared quite difficult as besides opposition parties some PPP men also opposed the move. Finally, he decided to take on the task. He had met Jamaat-i-Islami chief, Maulana Maudoodi before the permanent constitution was passed and sought his support; he had also spoken to him about recognition of Bangladesh. The maulana was anxious about the permanent constitution, to which he was told that it would be ready by March 1973.
Bhutto tried to convince him about the benefits of recognising Bangladesh but the maulana said that recognising Bangladesh meant legitimising the Indian aggression and its leadership might venture to take the rest of Pakistan. Even after a long spell of talks the maulana did not agree to support the move, however Bhutto was not dejected and decided to continue his efforts to seek support from every corner of the country.
Now he thought of going to the people, his last resort. He started addressing people’s rallies from November and before the chilly season in Khyber Phatunkhwa could block upcountry roadways, he began a tour of KP and other northern areas. He was quite swift in this regard. He addressed about two dozen public meetings in a few days.Bhutto’s addresses still followed his pre-1970 elections style. During these public meetings he told the people how important it was to recognise Bangladesh. Observers noted that Bhutto could still mesmerise people through his speeches.
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