New Delhi, March 22 -- President Yahya Khan flew into Dacca, capital of East Pakistan, on March 15, 1971, shortly after Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman issued a set of 35 directives that amounted to a unilateral declaration of the autonomy his party had been seeking for the province.

The directives came at the hour the Martial Law authorities fixed for civilian employees of the defence services to return to work or face dismissal and court martial. On Rahman's advice, the employees ignored the ultimatum.

Rahman, in issuing the directives, said he was assuming control of Bangla Desh (as the East Pakistanis have been calling their homeland) and declared it would be "in consonance with the declared wishes of the people of Bangla ...