Kayhan International (Iran)

The Presidential palace at Rawalpindi, Pakistan, looks like any other residence of a head of state in this part of the world. Vigilant guards at the gates maintain a constant sentry. A lieutenant-general paces the waiting room in measured, unhurried steps. A couple of brigadiers stroll on the deep-green lawn. Tall, turbaned waiters serve visitors deep black coffee. There are huge corridors and vast offices where faintly smiling officials rustle their way through the papers.

Then there is the Presidential office itself with the scarlet velvet furnishing that is somehow associated with authority. On the wall, there is a huge portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

SOLDIER AT HEART

The man who works in this room is four-star general Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, but at heart still a pure soldier who, one immediately gets the impression, would be happiest in his uniform as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces.

This, in fact, is the first point he emphasizes. His close associates remind friendly visitors that the President still prefers to sign himself in as the army C-in-C whenever he visits a club, an exhibition or any other "non-political establishment."

We met Yahya Khan the other day when he just returned from a few day’s working holiday in Abbottabad, the centre of his native part of the mountainous Northwest Frontier Province that has given Pakistan some of its bravest soldiers. In Abbottabad he presided over a meeting of the military chiefs and took time off to think about the turbulent events of the past civil war.

The 56 year old silver-haired Pathan soldier, who speaks in a deep untrained voice, was at pains to remind us that he did not seek the presidency and that he was put in the palace at ‘Pindi’ when Field-Marshal Ayub Khan stepped down under popular pressure just over two years ago. When Yahya Khan came to power, first as Chief Martial Law Administrator and later as President, he did not, perhaps even, dream of the day he would have to order his army into East Pakistan to crush what he describes as a secessionist movement inspired by India.

"Right from the start," he told us, "my sole objective was to restore law and order in the country and to hand over power to an elected civilian government. That objective remains unchanged."

FREE ELECTIONS

True to the Pakistani army’s tradition of staying out of politics he lifted the ban Ayub imposed on free political activity and allowed the old parties to return to the scene while new parties also came into being. Then Pakistan’s first free general election took place on the basis of universal adult franchise late last year. For a few months of glowing hope, Pakistan seemed to be heading for a democratic system in which the political parties would be free to fight each other for power and base themselves on popular backing.

A few months later, however, the Awami League, the East Pakistan party that had won a sweeping victory at the polls was banned and its chief leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman accused of secessionism and high treason.

The Pakistan People’s Party which won the election in the west wing of the geographically divided country was also told to forget the possibility of coming to power, at least for the time being.

"I was prepared to do all that was necessary, provided the unity of Pakistan would not be undermined," Yahya Khan told us in an unmistakably sad tone, "I was not interested in this chair and was all along waiting for the first chance to return to my life of a soldier".

With an air of dejection, he went on to say that he had been let down by the politicians who could not agree among themselves and who later brought the country to "the brink of partition".

COMPROMISE WITH MUJIB

He recalled how he had gone out of his way to reach a compromise with Sheikh Mujib. He had flown to Dacca, East Pakistan to meet the Sheikh although the latter should have gone to 'Pindi to see him’.

"I even said he would be Pakistan’s next Prime Minister," he reminisced "I did not believe what was said about the man and thought that all he was interested in was putting the situation in the east wing right. I knew that the East Pakistanis had legitimate grievances, and I was ready to hand over power to the Awami League provided I was assured that Pakistan would not be split into two separate countries."

Yahya Khan added that he had been prepared to give East Pakistan "the largest measure of autonomy ever thought of in politics" but that he had to take military action when he was convinced that Sk. Mujib had prepared a full plan for secession.

The President’s abortive attempt to give Pakistan a democratic system has already led to so many difficulties that many people, some in the army, seem convinced that no fresh experiments should be made.

And yet Yahya Khan insists that a civilian government must take over. He told us he hoped there would be such a government before the 2500th anniversary of the Iranian monarchy in October and in any case before the end of the current year.

"I am determined to hand over power to the elected representatives of the people", he emphasised.

BY-ELECTIONS IN THE EAST

At the moment he is busy preparing the grounds for a series of by-election in East Pakistan to fill vacancies created by the banned Awami League National Assembly members departure to India. The number of Awami League deputies who have fled to India is estimated to be 40, out of a total of 168. Some of them will be able to return and retain their seats since a general amnesty has been given to all people guilty of "political crimes."

The sole exceptions made about people charged with high treason or found guilty of "murder, rape, arson, loot, violence and armed robbery".

DISQUALIFIED DEPUTIES

The President refused to say how many Awami League deputies would be disqualified but assured us that an announcement would be made very soon. A special committee has been set up to decide on the matter.

The by-elections, he told us, would not take place on one day since he did not wish to have "forces of law and order stretched too thin" All AL members ‘not guilty of crimes’ would be able to stand as independents. The President will be visiting East Pakistan within the next few days and the by-elections are expected to take place in August.

Once all the vacancies are filled, the National Assembly will be immediately convened. It will no longer be charged with the tasks of drafting a constitution but would be asked to form a government. A draft constitution prepared by the President’s own advisors will be submitted to the Assembly as "a broad framework". The assembly will be able to amend it in whatever way it deems fit.

The draft constitution, Yahya Khan told us, "will be based on the demands of the parties. I know what the politicians want and I have asked my advisors to take all their demands into account, keeping in mind that whatever is necessary should be done to preserve the unity of the country".

We asked him if it was true that he had been advised to set up a "puppet civilian government" consisting of a number of highly unpopular figures in both wings. He said this was a rumour and that, as a soldier, he considered rumour-mongering as "a crime".

"I don’t listen to rumours", he emphasised. "I am a soldier and always speak my mind openly. I don’t use tactics like that".

CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT

We asked if he would consider forming a government with the help of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s People’s Party. He said that Bhutto had a majority only in the west wing, but a civilian government should consist of representatives of "the two parts of the country".

In any case, since a civilian government would be formed '"in a matter of months all the parties could wait a bit longer," he said. "I must have a full national assembly representing the nation as a whole" Yahya Khan said. "I will be prepared to accept a civilian government formed by such an assembly, but would Hot hand over power to any one individual or party before that is done".

Meanwhile, the President has given the green light for Pakistan’s Five-Pear Development Plan to continue. "I cannot throw the economy to the dogs, pending the formation of a civil government," he said, "The national economy cannot come to a standstill just because we have had political difficulties".

Once a civilian government is formed, however, the plan could be altered in accordance with the new government’s wishes and policies, he assured us.

We asked the President what would happen if AL members won ail the by-elections in East Pakistan, if they formed a majority once again, and if they tried to put into effect the same policies that, according to the army, would have led to a division of Pakistan.

He replied that the Awami League had won the previous election through the use of "intimidation, terror and malpractices" We asked why he did not stop the general election as soon as it became clear that Sheikh Mujib’s party was breaking the game.

Election malpractices occurred in every country, including the most advanced—the President said. In any case, he said he did not have accurate information about Awami League activities at that time. "It is now that we realize what Mu jib was doing to win every seat," he said. "Most of his men were returned unopposed because people were afraid of challenging the Awami League. He won mainly due to the Hindu minorities vote in East Pakistan; no more than 20 per cent of the Muslim electorate backed his men".

HIGH TREASON

He said "Mujib would be tried for high treason very soon —that is, as soon as the case against him is complete".

We asked whether the Awami League leader would be tried and possibly executed before the new national assembly convened. The President said the matter was in the hands of military justice and he could not give any exact date for the trial. "He would be court-martialed, and I cannot say whether or not he would be alive when the assembly meets," he added.

Asked what his government intended to do about the East Pakistan refugees now living in India, Yahya Khan said that he had invited all of them to return but was not sure that his invitation had been communicated to the displaced persons. "Some 80,000 refugees had already returned home and about 1000 were coming in every day through ‘unofficial channels". India, however, was doing its best to prevent the refugees from returning home, Yahya Khan said. It was doing so because Mrs. Gandhi wished to use the issue as a political weapon against Pakistan.

"India," the President said, "has set up training camps for rebels in its territory. Some 35,000 rebels are being trained and the displaced persons are being used as a means of pressure on Pakistan."

We asked if it was true that a "new Tashkent" had been proposed by the Soviet Union. The President said he had no official information on this. "I am ready to meet the Indian leaders anywhere and anytime, provided we discuss the return of the displaced persons, treating the issue as a humanitarian one and not political", he said. "But they have refused all our offers of negotiations and sabotaged the work of the United Nations in this respect. They hope to break Pakistan and think they have no interest in talking to us".

He added that India was openly saying it would not allow the refugees to return to "Yahya Khan’s Pakistan but only to Mujib’s Bangla Desh".

UNDER PRESSURE

"This", he said, "is clear intervention in our internal affairs and, obviously, we reject it".

He repeated that he was a soldier and would not give in to any pressure. "They say", he went on, "that I am under pressure from this or that big power. That is nonsense. Those who say it don’t know me. A man can be subjected to pressure only if he is interested in this chair. I am not, and I have made it clear that I shall throw any aid back in the donor’s face if there are any strings attached".

Yahya Khan said that the Soviet and American governments had adopted "a correct policy" towards Pakistan right from the start of the crisis but he could not say the same about Britain.

"The British government" he said, "has been openly hostile to us, trying to meddle in our internal affairs. Their foreign secretary has made this clear. As a member of the Commonwealth, we had expected Britain to remain at least neutral and not back India so openly".

We told Yahya Khan of talks we had heard in Pakistan about keeping him President at least for a few more years.

"I am not interested," he said. "My mandate is clear: it is to keep the country united and to give it a civilian government and then leave".

We reminded him that the People’s Party, the main political force in the west wing, wanted him to stay on as President, provided a civilian government is formed.

"The People’s Party" he said, "represents only one part of the country. If the national assembly, that is the collective will of the people, wants me to stay on. I will. Otherwise, I would be too glad to return to the army".

President Yahya Khan spoke warmly of Iran during our meeting, which lasted nearly 75 minutes. He described the Shahanshah as "Pakistan’s greatest well-wisher" and Iran as ""a great source of strength for us". He recalled Iran’s help to Pakistan throughout its history and said Pakistan always took heart in knowing that Iran, now "the strongest power in this region, stands behind it.

"We are not two countries" he said quoting a Persian verse that says, "We are the same soul in two bodies".

"I myself am an Iranian," he said. "My ancestors came to the sub-continent from Iran. At home, our language is Persian and we take pride in our nation’s cultural affinity and unshakable bonds with Iran. I have not been talking to you as an outsider but as my own brother or my own son. My message to the people of Iran is just the salaam of one member of the great family to the other members….. Having come to our country you have, in fact, travelled in another part of Iran. We thank God for having given Iran increasing economic and defence strength, and we pray to the Almighty for the greater success of the Shahanshah — a success which will be that of Iran, Pakistan, the whole Muslim World".