injuring several students and leaders, including A. K. Fazlul Huq. Continuing strikes were observed the following four days. Under such circumstances, the chief minister Nazimuddin signed an accord with the student leaders agreeing to some terms and conditions, without complying to the demand that Bengali be made a state language. Liaquat Ali Khan's visit to Dhaka On November 18, 1948, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan visited East Pakistan. On November 27, he addressed a student meeting at the playground of Dhaka University. In that meeting, the demand for Bengali language in the certificate issued by the Dhaka University Central Student Union was again raised, but he refrained from making any comments. In a meeting of the National Language Working Council held under the chairmanship of Ataur Rahman Khan on November 17, Aziz Ahmad, Abul Kashem, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Kamruddin Ahmed, Abdul Mannan, Tajuddin Ahmed and others drafted a memorandum and sent it to Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. The Prime Minister did not respond to this either. Ali Jinnah's visit to Dhaka In the height of civic unrest, Governor-General of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah arrived in Dhaka on 19 March 1948. On 21 March, at a civic reception at Racecourse Ground, he claimed that the language issue was designed by a "fifth column" to divide Pakistani Muslims. Jinnah further declared that "Urdu, and only Urdu" embodied the spirit of Muslim nations and would remain as the state language, labelling those who disagreed with his views as "Enemies of Pakistan". Jinnah delivered a similar speech at Curzon Hall of the University of Dhaka on 24 March. At both meetings, Jinnah was interrupted by large segments of the audience. He later called a meeting of a state language committee of action, and overruled the contract that was signed by Khawaja Nazimuddin with the student leaders. Before Jinnah left Dhaka on 28 March, he delivered a speech on radio reasserting his "Urdu-only" policy. Proposal for Arabic language Muhammad Shahidullah believed that Bengalis could learn Urdu at the same time as learning English, he also believed that: "When Arabic becomes the state language of Pakistan, the creation of the state of Pakistan will be justified." Therefore, in December 1949, he assumed the presidency of the East Pakistan Arabic Language Association, approved a draft memorandum to be submitted to the Assembly, where it was requested to government for Arabic to be