EDITORIAL: The enthusiasm and gusto with which the National Integration Day was observed throughout the length and breadth of East Pakistan made it once again manifest that the unity and solidarity of the country ... were more powerful elements in national life than the slogans and shibboleths of narrow-minded agitators. Coinciding with the Integration Day was the nineteenth anniversary of the birth of Pakistan; and the crowds converging in public places ... had freshly had the opportunity of listening to the President`s stirring call for unity and his warning against the machinations of the disruptionists. ... Through his weeklong tour of East Pakistan the President had been hailed as ... a far-sighted leader striving to rekindle and nourish the flame of national unity. .

The President emphasised in his public utterances that the unity of the country was indivisible and since the vast majority of the people subscribed to it ... it was their duty to do all in their power to counteract the evil designs of those whose activities might lead to the dismemberment of Pakistan. The people of both the wings have `common hazards and common destiny`, as the President said on one occasion; and they must march together in unity to keep their date with destiny. .

[T]he President warned the people against the misleading slogans and mischievous designs of those seeking to subvert the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan. While Government would doubtless keep a watchful eye on the possible transgressions of these disruptive elements, it was also for the people, he observed, `to launch a Jehad to frustrate their nefarious designs in the interest of the survival of the country`. It is clear that no political group, under whatever name operating, and whatever its professions or pretentions, can be allowed to convert the natural scepticism of a segment of opinion into general bitterness and frustration that can have the effect of striking at the very roots of national unity. . .