"I AM not pro-Peking or pro-America or pro-India. I am pro-Pakistan and I believe in God. I am a pure Mussalman" - Maulana Abdul Hameed Bashani explaining why the world press invariably refers to him as East Pakistan's pro-Peking leader.

American magazines, running up against unfamiliar oriental foreheads, often feel a compelling desire to stick neat labels on them as an easy magical way to comprehension. In Bashani's case it was enough that he had appreciated some of China's achievements. He also has a record of what sounds like familiar leftism. As Bashani says: "From my childhood I have hated imperialism and monopoly capitalism ."

But this never was the London School of Economics kind of leftism so fashionable in the subcontinent. "It is part of the lesson I have learned from my religion," he explains. "Islam says all resources belong to God and that they should be equally distributed among men whatever their religion. God has given no right to man to exploit man in the name of caste, creed or colour."

If there is such a thing as Islamic socialism, therefore, it was projected rather before Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made it a paying electoral slogan -- in fact some 30 years before Bhutto was born. The Maulana's age is not precisely determinable. Most estimates put it at 89 though some prefer 87. He looks a well preserved 60 and has the mental agility of a man of 40.

The agility comes through as he analyses the political situation and builds up his case for a sovereign East Pakistan. While others say this demand is new fangled, the Maulana points out that 13 years ago when he was president of the Awami League the party passed a resolution asking for a separate East Pakistan. And that resolution, he argues, was merely a follow up of the Lahore Resolution, the cornerstone of his present political platform.

The Lahore resolution was passed in 1940 by the (then, All-India) Moslem League. It was a resolution demanding the division of India into Hindu and Moslem states and it said inter alia: "The areas where the Moslems are numerically in a majority, as in the northwestern and eastern zones of India, should be grouped to constitute independent states in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign." The sentence lends itself to any number of interpretations and one day the politicians of NWFP (North West Frontier Province) can argue that, as a constituent unit- of West Pakistan, it must be sovereign. Maulana Bashani for one sees the resolution as a clear mandate for a sovereign East Pakistan.

The Lahore Resolution, he says, was not adopted under any duress. It conceived two sovereign Pakistans because the founding fathers knew very well that development of the country was not possible from one centre.

But if East Pakistan controls that centre, will development not be possible? The Maulana's answer is as ready as it is clear. First, "if the National Assembly forms a constitution on the basis of the Lahore Resolution, we shall welcome it. But I am not very hopeful they will do this". Second, "the Awami League is now popular because of issues (such as autonomy) and not because of personalities. If the issues are pursued by the party, it will continue to be popular, but not otherwise. The Moslem League which was most powerful and which founded Pakistan was wiped out soon after independence because it betrayed the Lahore Resolution. Nobody in East Pakistan dare betray the people".

The December election results are seen by the Maulana as an expression of the people's overwhelming desire for "a separate homeland". This is an interesting turn of phrase. In the earlier era, the demand was for a homeland for Moslems. Now when an East Pakistani leader calls for a homeland he can only mean a homeland for the Bengali-speaking people. Today it means Bengali Moslems. Tomorrow it could mean all Bengalis - including those in India.

"The election in 1946 in India showed that the minorities wanted a separate homeland. Similarly this election shows that East Pakistan wants to be separate. This was not the victory of an individual or a party. It was not even the victory of the six-point programme or the 11-point programme. It was a plebiscite the verdict of which is clear."

Pressed on his precise concept of a separate East Pakistan, Maulana Bashani said he meant an entirely different country The only "concession" he would make is that he would retain the name East Pakistan. For the rest, it will have nothing in common with .West Pakistan However, "as a separate country, we may consider the possibility of a loose confederation". (The fluent interpreter first used the word federation whereupon the Maulana, who understands English, promptly corrected him and said he meant confederation. He then turned to me and said what he had in mind was something as loose as the links now existing between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey).

Bashani speaks without emotion. But visions of "the militant Maulana" rose before me as he said: "People of East Pakistan will not hesitate to make any sacrifices necessary to achieve their goal. Pakistan was achieved through struggle. Similarly East Pakistan's freedom can only be won through struggle."

He then spoke of the plans he had drawn up for a province-wide convention to launch his freedom campaign. A committee of action set up by the convention would decide details of procedure of the mass movement. The Maulana has asked Mujibur Rahman to join this movement (which he calls "my last fight") so that "East Pakistanis can frame their own constitution through their won election without looking for the mercy of tyrants and betrayers who have oppressed East Pakistan for 23 years".

In the euphoria produced by the Awami League's success, Maulana Bashani's call sounds like that of a leader overtaken by events. But the Maulana has a reputation for sound political assessments, and he may well have the last laugh. That is, if he lasts. His more able lieutenants have all left him and, should he die now, there is hardly anyone of stature to carry on his campaign.

But the issue, as he says, is more important than the individual. The tide of Bengali nationalism is so strong now that even Mujibur Rahman will be unable to swim against it. Since the December election peasants in East Pakistan have been working in the fields singing the song "Jai Banglar, Jai" (Victory to Bengal, Victory); when rolls are called in classes schoolboys respond with "Jai Banglar". If Maulana Bashani is around for another year, his campaign may yet transform Bengali emotion into a potent political force.