Ghost of 1971 war still looms large on Pakistan India vs disinformation 04 Dec 2022
Ghost of 1971 war still looms large on Pakistan India vs disinformation 04 Dec 2022
General Bajwa, a few days before he retired, stated in an address, ‘I want to correct some facts here. Former East Pakistan was a political failure and not a military one.’ He also mentioned that Pakistan only had 34,000 soldiers in East Pakistan, and these confronted the Indian army, much larger in size. Bajwa went on to state, ‘Against these heavy odds, our army fought bravely and gave exemplary sacrifices which were acknowledged by Indian army chief field marshal Manekshaw.’ Bajwa once again raised the ghost of 1971, which continues to rile the Pak army even after fifty plus years.
Bilawal Bhutto, whose father Zulfikar Bhutto became President as also Pakistan’s first civilian martial law administrator post the 1971 war disagreed with General Bajwa. He stated, ‘he (Zulfikar Bhutto) rebuilt the nation, restored the confidence of the people and finally brought our 90,000 troops back home who had been made prisoners of war due to ‘military failure’. Those 90,000 soldiers were reunited with their families.’ In one sentence Bilawal tore apart Bajwa’s narrative on numbers and failure. Bajwa, nor any of his generals had a response.
General Bajwa had ignored facts when he spoke. General Yahya Khan held both posts, martial law administrator and Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan’s army in 1971. Yahya Khan ordered his forces in East Pakistan to launch Operation Searchlight to suppress the agitation. Over 3 million were killed, 200,000 women raped and ten million sought refuge in India. All decisions taken in East Pakistan were by military leaders sitting in Islamabad.
Their confidence flowed from support emanating from President Nixon of the US, who was a Pak ally, as Islamabad had acted as the link between Washington and Beijing. It was Yahya who ordered the Pak air force to initiate operations against India, assuming the US would come to Pakistan’s aid. Till the end of the war, the military leadership in Pakistan hoped that the US Seventh Fleet would come to its rescue. Pakistan, under pressure of the army, has yet to release the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report on the causes of debacle in 1971.
Indian government records mention 79,676 uniformed POWs including 55,692 from the army, 16,354 paramilitary, 5,296 police, 1000 navy and 800 air force. The balance 13,324 were Pak civilians and family members. The paramilitary was deployed alongside the Pak army. Figures of Pak soldiers killed are not available. From where Bajwa obtained a figure of 34,000 remains a mystery.
The crackdown ordered by Yahya was against all advice rendered by those then responsible for East Pakistan, Admiral SM Ahsan, Governor of East Pakistan and Lt General Yaqub Khan, Commander of Eastern Command in Dhaka, both of whom were unceremoniously removed from command. They were aware of the anger growing within East Pakistan and knew that any military action could rebound. They also realized that they lacked resources to contain any Indian offensive.
Pak history books paint a different picture of 1971. Pakistan’s Punjab history textbook for secondary classes states, ‘There were a large number of Hindus in East Pakistan. They had never truly accepted Pakistan. Many of them were teachers in schools and colleges. They created a negative impression among students. No importance was attached to explaining the ideology of Pakistan to the younger generation. They went around depicting the central Government and (the then) West Pakistan as enemy and exploiter. Political aims were thus achieved at the cost of national unity.’ Pak twists history by blaming India for inciting the Bengali’s, ignoring its own dubious role.
There is no mention of the genocide as also the role of Zulfikar Bhutto nor the political events which acted as the catalyst for the war. Bangladesh history books blame Pakistan’s step motherly treatment of Bengali’s and East Pakistan as primary causes for the breakaway. Most of Pakistan’s GDP flowed from East Pakistan, which in turn was ignored. Bangladesh books specifically mention no relief from West Pakistan when the 1970 Bhola cyclone hit them resulting in over 500,000 casualties. This is closer to the truth than what Pakistan attempts to project.
The manner in which General Bajwa mentioned 1971 appears that it only concerns India and Pakistan. Pakistan has always attempted to gloss over the role of the Mukti Bahini with whom India jointly celebrates victory every year on 16th Dec. Factually, the largest sufferers of the war were Bangladeshis. Bangladesh has for decades been pushing for global recognition of the genocide committed on them by Pakistan. It has approached the UN to declare March 25th as the global genocide day. Within Bangladesh, the government has declared March 25th as the national genocide day. China will always act as a roadblock against this declaration as it attempts to shield Pak from further embarrassment.
The month of December holds immense value for both India and Bangladesh. Soldiers from both nations fought together under India’s Eastern Command to defeat Pak forces which were responsible for the genocide. It was Field Marshall Manekshaw who used all his skills to save Pak troops from being tried for crimes against humanity. Had he not acted, many Pak soldiers would have been sentenced to death for their brutality against innocent civilians. It has been over half a century and the Pak government has yet to apologize to Bangladesh for their brutality, rapes and massacre of innocents.
On the contrary, Pakistan’s army chief raises the issue of soldiers involved and responsibility for the debacle. While India and Bangladesh celebrate victory, Pakistan fights to overcome the ghost of 1971, which was the largest surrender since the second world war. No matter what Pakistan tries, the stigma of surrender can never be removed.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army
Sir , you have analyzed in very logical and systemic way . Role of Bhutto has not been understood by most of the analyst . He had a definite role in perpetuating the misery of Pak Army when they were trying to negotiate the surrender through IRC / UNO but could not succeed . Though Bhutto smartly handled Shimla agreement discussion and Mrs. Gandhi failed there . Every body is criticizing Gen Bajwa but I do appreciate him for avoiding war with India . He made lot of assets for himself so does every body in Pakistani Army . No big deal about it .
Thank you. Agree with you fully