RAWALPINDI: Mr Justice Hamoodur Rah­man, Chief Justice of Pakistan, presented the supplementary report of the War Enquiry Commission to Prime Minister Bhutto this eve­­ning [Nov 25] at the Prime Minister’s House, according to a Press release. … After careful study of the report, the special committee constituted for the purpose will take a final decision… . The supplementary report consists of four volumes: a supplementary report, staff studies, written statements by witnesses and oral evidence recorded by the Commission.

The Commission was constituted in December, 1971 and it commenced its proceedings in Rawalpindi in February, 1972. The Commission presented its first report in July, 1972 in which it said its findings about the causes of the surrender in East Pakistan were tentative and that when the major personalities connected with the surrender, who were then prisoners of war in India, had been repatriated, it would want to meet again to record their evidence. After the repatriation of the POWs the Government, in May, reactivated the Commission…. It examined 73 witnesses till Sept. 5 … [including] Lt-Gen. A.A.K. Niazi, Commander of the Eastern Command… . — News agencies

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2024