Ahsan's Formula (or the Admiral Ahsan Mission) was a peace initiative mission dispatched by the

Pakistani government The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territories, ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

in early 1971. The mission was led by Vice-Admiral

Syed Mohammad Ahsan Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan ( ur, سید محمد احسن b. 1920 – d. 1990) often known as S. M. Ahsan, was a senior admiral of the Pakistan Navy who was the Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Navy, serving under President Ayub ...

, then-governor of East Pakistan and commander of the army in the Eastern Theatre, to work out a peace initiative to end the political crises in east Pakistan. 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

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held in 1970. Following the violent raids in

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

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. The recommendations based on the studies were roughly based on six-point movement proposed by the

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

in 1969 and called for: *

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would control the

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

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foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

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, and the

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. * Province(s) would have the authority to raise revenue and would fund the subject of the federation. *

Repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

of Western Pakistanis citizens and bureaucrats to Pakistan with 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. Civil servants from Pakistan stationed in East would repatriated to Pakistan and the national assets would equally be divided between East and West Pakistan. The proposal was met with strong support from the

international community The international community is an imprecise phrase used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. As a rhetorical term Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is ...

and India fell in line though reluctant. The formula was supported by the political leaders of West Pakistan, with the exception of

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

, and by the international community, including, reluctantly, India. However, the Mission was not supported by the military elements in the Yahya administration who debated acrimoniously over the scope of the mission's recommendations among the advisors in Yahya administration. 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 Yaqub Ali Khan.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Bangladesh–Pakistan relations Causes and prelude of the Bangladesh Liberation War 1971 in Pakistan Peace processes Bangladesh–Pakistan relations