February 4, 1979, Forty Years Ago: Khomeini’s Call

The front page of Indian Express. (Archives)

Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini said a new constitution for an Islamic republic of Iran had been completed and warned of holy war if the Shah-appointed government did not resign. In his first news conference since returning from 14 years of exile, Khomeini said he would appoint a provisional government to prepare for national elections to ratify his constitution. The prime minister, Shahpour Bakhtiar, has pledged to remain in power “in the fortress of the constitution”. He has promised to ignore any rival government established by Khomeini, the architect of the uprising against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In an effort to avert a possible coup, Khomeini said there had been contacts between his supporters and the military and if necessary, there will be contacts later on. ‘‘We want the army to be independent,” Khomeini said. “They are our sons and we love them. We want them to come in to the arms of the people and we will embrace them,” he said.

CM In A Soup

Ram Naresh Yadav will be asked to face a no-confidence motion in the legislature party or resign from the chief ministership. These options will be offered to the UP chief minister when Yadav calls on Chandra Shekhar. The party high command, it seems, has made up its mind that Yadav should “better quit and make way to someone who can run the UP administration on non-factional lines. The Jana Sangh is spearheading the attack on Yadav.

Flashpoint UP

The political crisis in UP reached a flash point with the resignation by eight Jana Sangh ministers and the collection of signatures of the majority of the Janata Legislature Party by the pro-changers. The resignations of the eight cabinet ministers, six of whom were served with virtual quit notice last night by the chief minister, are being taken to Delhi for being handed over to the party president.