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'''Ahsan's Formula''' (or the '''Admiral Ahsan Mission''') was a peace initiative mission dispatched by the [[Government of Pakistan|Pakistani government]] to [[East Pakistan]] in early 1971.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham" />{{rp|102–103}} The mission was led by Vice-Admiral [[Syed Mohammad Ahsan]], then-governor of East Pakistan and commander of the [[Pakistan Eastern Command|East-Pakistani military]], to work out a peace initiative to end the political crises in east Pakistan.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham">{{cite book|last1=Ehtisham|first1=S. Akhtar|title=A Medical Doctor Examines Life on Three Continents: A Pakistani View|date=1998|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=9780875866345|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IuseZxgbn8oC&q=admiral+ahsan+formula&pg=PA109|access-date=9 December 2022}}</ref>{{rp|109–110}}

The mission came in the wake of increasingly strained and difficult foreign relations between Pakistan and East Pakistan since the civil unrest had gripped East Pakistan as Awami League's demonstrations and demands for the provincial autonomy against Pakistan's central administration after the [[1970 Pakistani general elections|general elections]] held in 1970.<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Rao">{{cite book|last1=Rao|first1=K. V. Krishna|title=Prepare Or Perish: A Study of National Security|year=1991|publisher=Lancer Publishers|page=156|isbn=9788172120016}}</ref> Following the [[1971 Dhaka University massacre|violent raids]] in [[Dhaka University]] by the East-Pakistani police supported by the military stationed in East, and ultimatum issued by India to intervene in the conflict, Pakistan had authorized Admiral Ahsan to carry out the investigations into a possible Indian intervention through a cable communication to work out a possible peace solution to end violence in East.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham" />{{rp|102}}

The recommendations based on the studies were roughly based on [[Six point movement|six-point movement]] proposed by the [[Awami League]] in 1969 and called for:
* [[Islamabad|Center]] would control the [[Ministry of Defence (Pakistan)|defence]], [[Pakistan Armed Forces|military]], [[Foreign relations of Pakistan|foreign]], [[National Security Council (Pakistan)|national security]], and the [[Pakistani rupee|currency]].<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham" />{{rp|102}}
* Province(s) would have the authority to raise revenue and would fund the subject of the federation.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham" />{{rp|102}}
* [[Repatriation]] of [[West Pakistan|Western Pakistanis]] citizens and bureaucrats to Pakistan with [[East Pakistan|Eastern Pakistanis]] stationed back to East.
* Equal divisions of national assets between Pakistan and East Pakistan based on population census.

The mission also called for Pakistan becoming a co-federation with Yahya Khan as president with Mujib being the Prime Minister of East while Bhutto being Prime Minister of Pakistan.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham" />{{rp|102}} Civil servants from Pakistan stationed in East would repatriated to Pakistan and the national assets would equally be divided between East and West Pakistan.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham" />{{rp|102}} The proposal was met with strong support from the [[United Nations|international community]] and India fell in line though reluctant.<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham" />{{rp|102}}

The formula was supported by the political leaders of West Pakistan, with the exception of [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], and by the international community, including, reluctantly, India.{{rp|102}}<ref name="Algora Publishing, Ehtisham" /> However, the Mission was not supported by the military elements in the [[Yahya Khan#President of Pakistan|Yahya administration]] who debated acrimoniously over the scope of the mission's recommendations among the advisors in Yahya administration.<ref name="University Press, Ahmad">{{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Moudud|title=Bangladesh: constitutional quest for autonomy, 1950-1971|date=1979|publisher=University Press|pages=206–207|isbn=3515029087}}</ref>

By the fall of 1971, the mission's recommendations were bypassed with Admiral Ahsan submitting his resignation and posted back to Pakistan, followed by the resignation of Lieutenant-General [[Sahabzada Yaqub Khan|Yaqub Ali Khan]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Salik, PA|first=Brigadier Siddiq|author-link=Siddique Salik|date=1997|orig-year=First published in 1977|title=Witness To Surrender|publisher=Oxford University Press|chapter=§The Man of Honor and Integrity: Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan, Unified Commander of Pakistan Armed Forces in East Pakistan|pages=60–90|isbn=978-0-19-577761-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Shariff|first1=Admiral Mohammad|title=Admiral's Diary: Battling Through Stormy Sea Life for Decades|date=2010|publisher=Army Press|pages=415|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UbS5YgEACAAJ&q=admiral's+diary}}

{{Indo-Pakistani War of 1971}}
{{Bangladesh–Pakistan relations}}

[[Category:Causes and prelude of the Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:1971 in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Peace processes]]
[[Category:Bangladesh–Pakistan relations]]

Admiral Ahsan Mission - Revision history

Bot at 14:46, 6 June 2022