Times of India (Bombay)

The military junta in Islamabad is deeply split and President Yahya Khan is under increasing pressure to quit, according to highly-placed Pakistani sources. Most of the junta is united behind its aim to prevent the secession of East Bengal. They are as “hawkish” as the President himself. But they have come to realise that a political settlement to prevent secession will be impossible without a change of leadership at the top. In other words, they want to make President Yahya Khan and his commander in East Bengal until recently, General Tikka Khan, scapegoats in a murky behind-the-scenes drama. The split in the junta has deepened with the conclusion of the Indo-Soviet treaty and the knowledge that China, even though it has publicly expressed its support for Pakistan, may not be quite willing to give it military aid. These sources recall that China had laid down certain impossible conditions when Pakistan asked for military assistance during the 1965 war with India.

President Yahya Khan’s recent trip to Iran may not be unconnected with developments at home, the sources say. It was prompted by the President’s desire to get a reaffirmation of solidarity from an ally which has helped Pakistan in the past. It is possible that Pakistan has secured Iran’s backing for its case at the United Nations and may even get military hardware on a small scale. Progressive elements in West Pakistan are certain that the army cannot keep East Bengal under its heel for long because of the difficult "communication and supply lines, the increasing guerrilla activity and the hostility of almost the entire population of the province. Pakistan army officers and soldiers are fighting almost for the first time away from the comforts of their home and, since the Bengalis refuse to sell them meat and chicken, do not quite like the idea of subsisting on “dal” and “chapati” . Some of them at least may also have a genuine revulsion at the mass killing of their own Muslim brethren. In the circumstances, their morale is bound to crack up sooner or later.

In West Pakistan, too, faint murmurs of rebellion are being heard. Mr. Z. A. Bhutto’s threats of mass agitation may not be taken very seriously. But the widespread pentup feeling in the country against military dictatorship has been accentuated by the hardships caused by certain recent economic measures. It will be an exaggeration to say that economic life in West Pakistan has been disrupted. But shortages of commodities specially tea have begun to make their impact felt. Pakistan normally produces 80 million pounds of tea a year, wholly for internal consumption. This year there is a shortfall of 66 per cent, and it is problematical whether the authorities will spend precious foreign exchanges on buying tea in the world market.