Tashkent Agreement, were there any secret clauses?

On January 11, 1966, when the members of the Pakistani delegation were sleeping in their rooms after signing the Tashkent Agreement as a result of seven days of long negotiations, they were suddenly awakened from their sleep and informed that Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri Dil. Died due to a stroke.

After the Indo-Pak war of 1965, on January 3, 1966, the President of Pakistan, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, along with his 16-member delegation, arrived in Tashkent, the capital of the Russian Republic of Uzbekistan. Foreign Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Information and Broadcasting Minister Khawaja Shahabuddin were in his delegation. Besides Commerce Minister Ghulam Farooq, high civil and military officials were involved.

On the same day, Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri also reached Tashkent with his delegation. The purpose of the visit of these two heads of state to Tashkent was to end the gulf that has formed between the two countries after the September 1965 war. The Soviet Union was acting as a mediator in these negotiations.

These historic talks between Pakistan and India continued for seven days. During this time, the talks were stalled several times because the Prime Minister of India, Shastri, flatly refused to include the mention of Kashmir in these talks. According to them, the issue was fixed and the talks were only taking place to resolve the issues that had arisen from the recent war.

On the other hand, the Pakistani delegation was of the opinion that under such circumstances these negotiations would be futile and the Pakistani delegation should return without making any agreement.

Qudratullah Shahab has written in his book “Shahab Nama” that “probably due to the intervention of the Russians, Shastriji was somewhat relieved and the Pakistani delegation was allowed to mention the name of Kashmir during these negotiations, however, the attitude of the Indian Prime Minister remained strict and Remained unmoved. According to him, the issue was settled and there was no need to stir it up again. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mr. Bhutto was of the opinion that under such circumstances these talks would be futile and the Pakistani delegation should return without making any agreement. In the beginning, President Ayub probably also agreed with this idea, but the Russian Prime Minister, Mr. Kosigan, after a few meetings with President Ayub Khan, cast some spell on him that his attitude changed dramatically and he immediately became a supporter of the idea. It doesn’t suit us to go back from Tashkent without signing an agreement.’

‘There will be someone who knows Urdu in the Russian delegation’

Qudratullah Shahab further writes that ‘Mr. Bhutto tried to give some advice to President Ayub on some point during the negotiations, when the President’s coconut suddenly cracked. In anger, he scolded Mr. Bhutto in Urdu and said, “Stop the donkey muscle nonsense.” Mr. Bhutto protested in suppressed words, “Sir, don’t ever forget that there must be someone who knows Urdu in the Russian delegation.”

Shahab Sahib writes that ‘probably this is the starting point from which President Ayub and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s paths practically diverged.’

According to Shahab Saheb, ‘Prime Minister Kosigan did magic or pressure on President Ayub, so far no trace has been found. This was probably because the two leaders had one or two meetings in which no other member of the Pakistani delegation was present. Under the guise of this, Mr. Bhutto left a rumor against President Ayub that there are some issues hidden in the Tashkent Agreement which are still secret and they are going to reveal them very soon.

Qudratullah Shahab further writes that ‘I think it was just a political trick aimed at nothing but a public accusation against President Ayub. However, after the ouster of President Ayub, Mr. Bhutto stopped pointing to this allegation because he knew very well that the allegation was baseless from the beginning.

On January 10, 1966, President Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Shastri signed the Tashkent Agreement and Mr. Kosigan testified to it. Under this agreement, it was decided that the armed forces of both the countries will go back to the position before August 5, 1965 in the next one and a half months and both countries will resolve the Kashmir issue on the basis of mutual negotiations while adhering to the UN Charter. .

The joy of death

After that, two events were held to celebrate, one was a press conference reception for international journalists and the other was a grand dinner hosted by Mr. Kosigan for both delegations. In these two events, the members of the Pakistani delegation were a bit dull and depressed, but the Indian members were not bursting with joy and expressed their joy and happiness by chirping.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was also full of joy. It is said that after dinner, when he went back to his villa, he talked to Delhi on the telephone for some time. Probably they will be announcing their success and victory. After that, death overtook him and he died of cardiac arrest within two or three hours.

A child from a poor family

Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1904 in a poor family in Mughal Sarai, Uttar Pradesh. After independence, he was elected as the Parliamentary Secretary of Uttar Pradesh. Later, he was appointed as an advisor and provincial minister during the tenure of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Govind Balabhat. He worked hard for the success of the Congress in the general elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962, in recognition of which Jawaharlal Nehru appointed him in his cabinet. First held the position of Minister of Interior and then Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru on November 9, 1964, he assumed the post of Prime Minister of India. The most important event of his rule was the Indo-Pak war. After this war, under the pressure of world powers, an agreement was signed at Tashkent on 10 January 1966 and Lal Bahadur Shastri died of a heart attack on the same night on 11 January 1966.

After the Tashkent Agreement, the differences between Bhutto and Ayub Khan came to the fore. Bhutto believed that without a fair solution to the Kashmir issue, Pakistan had signed the Tashkent Agreement and put Kashmir in the cradle of India forever. On the other hand, the Pakistani people and the politicians of the opposition also had the same idea and only three days after the Tashkent Agreement, protest demonstrations against the Tashkent Agreement started in West Pakistan from January 13, 1966.

The movement soon spread to various colleges and universities. In Lahore, police opened fire on a large crowd of protesters, resulting in the death of two students. All educational institutions were closed on January 14.

Bhutto at this stage wanted to cautiously support the anti-Tashkent movement without detracting from Ayub Khan’s declaration, his game was clear, if the administration failed to control the movement, he would join the protesters to overthrow the government. and if the movement is suppressed, they will cling to the chair of the ministry as long as possible.

Avoid useless talk

Bhutto and Ayub Khan’s differences over the Tashkent Agreement soon became public. Altaf Gohar has written in his book ‘Ayub Khan’s first ten years of military rule’ that ‘Bhutto gave the surprising advice to Ayub Khan to declare independence from the Tashkent Agreement. Ayub Khan reprimanded Bhutto in harsh words for this proposal and asked him to refrain from such nonsense.

Lataf Gohar writes that ‘Bhutto went to Larkana for a few days where he started making various stories about the Tashkent Agreement. While talking informally to some foreign journalists, he said that Ayub Khan did not sign only one agreement in Tashkent, but there was another agreement in addition to the Tashkent declaration, which was kept secret.

According to Altaf Gohar, ‘because this revelation was being made by the foreign minister himself, the majority of journalists accepted it as true. Bhutto knew that his days under the Ayub regime were numbered, so he was busy trying to exonerate himself from the Tashkent Declaration. The fact was that Bhutto had fully participated in the negotiations in Tashkent. His claim that Ayub Khan had signed any secret agreement apart from the Tashkent Declaration was an absolute lie, but Bhutto was well aware of this lie. took advantage.’

True rumours

Rumors spread throughout the country that Bhutto was being removed from Ayub Khan’s cabinet. These rumors became so entrenched that on 29 January 1966, Ayub Khan issued a statement denying them, saying that there was no difference between him and Bhutto and that the rumor of a cabinet reshuffle was false.

But these rumors were not wrong. On one hand, Bhutto had decided to separate himself from Ayub Khan’s cabinet and on the other hand, Ayub Khan was also ready to dismiss him. After the Tashkent Agreement, Bhutto remained in the cabinet for a few months, but on June 17, 1966, the government announced that the President of Pakistan had allowed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to go on long leave due to ill health.

This news created a stir in the political atmosphere of Pakistan. Bhutto also decided to take full advantage of this opportunity and left Rawalpindi by train for Karachi. On June 22, 1966, he reached Lahore in the first phase, where he was received enthusiastically by the people. He reached Larkana on June 23 and Karachi on June 24.

Bhutto was welcomed everywhere and everywhere. Inspired by this enthusiastic reception, Bhutto decided to enter the field of politics and then Pakistan’s politics and Bhutto became inseparable. Till today, the politics of Pakistan revolves around Bhutto.

The signing of the Tashkent Agreement proved to be the worst decision of President Ayub Khan’s political life. It was this agreement that created a wave of anger among the Pakistani people against him and eventually Ayub Khan had to leave his post.

The Pakistani people still believe that Pakistan buried the Kashmir issue forever on the soil of Tashkent and that the war, which was won on the ground according to the government’s own claims, was lost at the treaty table.