Pakistani President Yahya Khan on March 22, 1971 again announced to postpone the March 25 session of the National Assembly, saying it had been deferred to bring the political parties and leaders in consensus through discussion.

In the morning, Awami League chief Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and President Yahya Khan sat in a meeting at the President’s house.

At the beginning of the meeting, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman asked the President whether he had gone through the Awami League’s proposal regarding a proclamation about the meeting outcome and whether his government agreed to it.

Yahya had said before the proclamation, he needed consent of the PPP chairman.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman told the President to put pressure on Bhutto to accept the idea of proclamation as early as possible, saying or else the situation would deteriorate further.

At the end of the meeting, Bangabandhu noted that the ongoing non-cooperation movement was the struggle for total emancipation of seven crore Bangalees.

He told journalists that the movement would continue until the final goal was achieved.

They had opposed the demand of Awami League to withdraw the martial law and transfer power before the session of the National Assembly on the plea of legal complexities.

Besides, President Yahya Khan had met some other leaders from West Pakistan and discussed the whole political situation.

On the same day, Bhutto, in a news conference in Dhaka, had said his party was examining the draft proclamation Awami League and the government had been discussing over the last several days.

He had also said they were examining the broad agreement reached between the President and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and assured that his party would engage all efforts to reach an understanding to end the crisis.