After the disastrous Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the third war with India, Khan joined the National Assembly, only to be served in the Opposition bench led by Wali Khan of the communist Awami National Party. After Yahya administration turned over the civilian government to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as President, Khan accused Bhutto of escalating the situation that led to the creation of Bangladesh and noting that: "We are living virtually under one-party state... The outstanding feature is suppression."