With the formal surrender of the Pakistan army at its headquarters in Dacca, the war in the eastern sector has ended without unnecessary bloodshed, as Gen. Manekshaw suggested. At the same time, the new State of Bangla Desh has truly arrived as a “free country” as our Prime Minister crisply put it when announcing the good news to the Lok Sabha. The acting President, Syed Nazrul Islam, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, have been functioning at Jessore. Now their government can make its triumphant progress to the capital city where a thousand Mukti Bahini guerillas had been fighting the Pakistan army. Bangla Desh has already been recognised by India and Bhutan. It now awaits recognition from other countries many of which have watched its struggle for liberation with sympathy. It will eventually seek membership of the United Nations whose Charter it has already accepted. Though its chief leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, is nowhere near the scene of rejoicing — he is reported to be in a Pakistani prison at Lyallpur — the other leaders have already drafted a democratic, secular and socialist constitution which will in due time be discussed and passed into law by the members of the provincial and central assemblies who were elected last December.
