RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto presided over a meeting here today [Dec 23] to consider the supplementary report of the Hamoodur Rehman Commission on Inquiry on the 1971 war and directed that two Sub-committees begin examination of the full report. … A Press note … said the [PM] also directed that the Sub-committees, dealing respectively with the foreign affairs implications and those of national security and defence, make their recommendations by the middle of February next at the latest. …

The Press note said: It may be recalled, that, in its report of 8 July, 1972, the Commission submitted that its findings on the cause of the debacle in East Pakistan were tentative and recommended that … when the Commander, Eastern Command, and other senior officers, now prisoners of war in India, are available, a further inquiry should be held. … Although these facts were well known, certain political groups sought to exploit the report by asking for its premature release. Obviously, the Government could not contemplate the publication of tentative … report, especially in view of the continued captivity of over 90,000 prisoners of war and the threat of Bangladesh to stage war crimes trials.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024