Frequent meetings in Dacca between the wife of Shaikh Mujibur Rahman and Dr Abdul Malik, interim Governor of East Pakistan, have strengthened the belief in high Bengal quarters that the Awami League leader, now facing trial for treason in West Pakistan, will eventually be pardoned by President Yahya Khan.

A well-informed East Bengali, who has just arrived in Britain from Dacca, told me yesterday that Dr Malik, who is also a Bengali and a close friend of the President, is acting as intermediary between Shaikh Mujib and President Yahya in an effort to allow the Awami League leader, who has an enormous following in East Pakistan, to clear himself of the charge of treason.

There are persistent reports in official East Bengal circles that talks have been taking place between President Yahya and Shaikh Mujib despite the fact that the treason trial is still continuing somewhere in West Pakistan.

The likely outcome, according to the East Bengal source, is that Shaikh Mujib will be able to clear himself of the treason and secessionist charges and that, in the interest of winning popular East Bengal support he will be given a pardon.

The source told me that it was expected in well-informed circles in Dacca that Shaikh Mujib eventually will be permitted to re-enter the political scene and to campaign for greater autonomy for the Bengalis within a united Pakistan.

He said that Shaikh Mujib's wife and family in East Pakistan were being well treated.