MURREE: President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto decla­red before a gathering of lawyers here today [June 23] that the only pressure he recognised was the pressure of the people of Pakistan. “As far as I am concerned, all foreign pressures are irrelevant,” he said amid cheers. The President said that the question of Bangladesh and of concluding a settlement with India was not an election issue. It was an issue of destiny. As such, he could not ride roughshod over the people’s wishes. “Finally”, he declared, “it is the nation’s views which are going to prevail, not mine.”

He reiterated his determination to take the question of the recognition or otherwise of Bangladesh to the National Assembly, which, he added, was the only recognised and democratically accepted forum for ascertaining the national will. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by the staff correspondent from Peshawar,] Khan Abdul Wali Khan said today [June 23] that his party did not want to give the impression to the outside world that President Bhutto had a divided house and did not enjoy the full support of all the Provinces. He clarified that he did not want national interest to be compromised for the sake of internal differences, the resolution of which, he said, could wait.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2022