SCRIPT

In December 1971, a short but fierce war was fought between India and Pakistan

that lasted a little less than two weeks. The war changed the importance of Indian

Navy in the eyes of the defence planners forever. It was crucial from the maritime

standpoint as the Indian Navy played a decisive role in defeating the enemy. It all

began with a feeble attempt by Pakistan as a pre-emptive strike on Indian airfields

and elsewhere at dusk on the 3rd of December 1971 and ended with an

UNCONDITIONAL surrender of the East Pakistan's Armed Forces to their Indian

counterparts on 16th December 1971. Hence, was born a new South Asian nation,

Bangladesh. The conflict of 1971 for the liberation of Bangladesh remains one of the

most significant chapters in the history of Indian military. The war not only forged the

contemporary constitution of Bangladesh but also continues to shape the mind-set of

Bangladeshi citizens till this very day.

Respected ________________________________________, a very warm welcome

to all. Team Dega stands before you today, to deliver a talk on Indian Navy's

Operations in the Bay of Bengal during the 1971 War.

The aim of this presentation is to bring out the significance of Maritime Operations

during the 1971 Indo-Pak War while deriving valuable lessons for the leaders of the

future.

SCOPE
To analyze and understand an event, it is crucial to look into its genesis and history.

Therefore, we would like to start off the presentation by emphasizing upon the

political developments leading up to the war.

Having familiarised with the historical events, we will elaborate the intricacies

involved in the planning and conduct of the Indian Naval Operations on the Eastern

Seaboard and their aftermath.

We will then advance on to the analysis of the campaign while drawing comparisons

with the Principles of War, so as to derive valuable lessons which can be imbibed for

a better conduct of operations in the future.

1. Political Developments

a. Partition

Following the devastating effects of World War II, the British had to give up their

control over the Indian subcontinent leading to its partition in 1947. The partition was

eventually set forth in the Indian Independence Act of 1947, resulting in the

dissolution of the British Raj. Being a Muslim majority area, Bangladesh was

integrated as East Pakistan. Despite the massive geographical distance, cultural and

linguistic differences, religious affinity was given priority.

b. Discrimination by West Pak

The partition itself, according to leading politicians such as Mohammed Ali Jinnah

(leader of the All India Muslim League), and Jawaharlal Nehru (leader of the Indian

National Congress), should have resulted in peaceful relations. The Muslims of

standard of life. Given their past inferiority to Hindu landlords, Bengal Muslims were

looking forward to the West-Pakistani government to ensure their fundamental rights.

However, events did not unfold as the Bengali people had hoped. The West-

Pakistani government proved even more discriminatory towards the people of East-

Pakistan in all spheres of life - social, political and economic.

c. Political Discrimination :-

The political representation of the different ethnic groups was not equal in the central

government in West Pakistan and was dominated by the elite groups. The

government’s headquarters were established in the Western Wing. Minority ethnic

groups, such as the Bengali population, did not have significant representation in the

government. Consequently, control over state-owned organizations, governmental

mechanisms and the armed forces were in the hands of the dominant ethnic group.

The Bengali population did not even have satisfactory political representation in their

own province. Even for higher government posts such as “Governor-General,”

Bengalis were not considered good enough.

At the initial stages of the government’s creation, the West-Pakistanis sought various

mechanisms to avoid handing over power to East Bengal, which harboured the

majority in terms of population size. The elites of West-Pakistan tried several ways to

capture the control and succeeded in their attempts to dominate East Bengal through

the central government in West-Pakistan. However, the power struggle continued

between different political parties and the Western elites were forced to accept the

role of Bengalis in politics, through the process of creating and abandoning several

drafts of the National Assembly, that gave Bengalis a satisfactory share of

outcome for the unification of the two wings of Pakistan, the country fell prey to

military rule and previous assemblies were again dissolved.

d. Social Discrimination:-

Since the very formation of Pakistan, the Western part branded the Eastern as

inferior, because it considered the Muslims in the Eastern Wing subordinate due to

their social and cultural affiliation with the Hindu population, which were powerful,

rich and dominating in East-Pakistan before the partition of the subcontinent. The

West-Pakistani government was critical about the intimacy between the Muslim and

the Hindu population. Even though the Muslims of the East Wing supported the

partition, they were not willing to give up their own culture or language for the sake of

becoming a Pakistani as envisioned by the elite of West-Pakistan. The West-

Pakistani government remained insensitive to the cultural sentiments of the East-

Pakistani people. The selection of a national Pakistani language became a

contentious issue since the onset of its genesis. Denying Bengali its status of a State

language and its intended extinction were unacceptable to the Bengali people.

Continuous political, economic and social exploitation took part before Bangladesh

could achieve its Independence.

e. International Developments.

The developments in the international arena were also taking place very rapidly. In

June 1971, the US administration informed PM Indira Gandhi that in the event of a

Chinese attack on India, the US won't be able to come to her rescue like it did during
1962 war. This led to the conclusion of the Indo-Soviet treaty of friendship, peace

and cooperation in the month of August 1971. One of the main objectives of India in

concluding the treaty with Soviet Union was to make sure that the Soviets would stop

arms supply to Pakistan and that India would be the sole beneficiary of Soviet

military hardware. The Indian government also expected unqualified Soviet support

in its confrontation with Pakistan

PRECURSOR TO THE REAL ACTION

a. Triggering Point

It was not until 1970 that the Bengalis saw a ray of hope, when General Yahya Khan

came to power. He promised to hold the first General Elections in Pakistan and

eventually fulfilled his pledge in 1970. For the first time in history, a political group

from East Pakistan was to gain power in Pakistan. However, dominant political

leaders of the political parties in the Western Wing including Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of

Pakistan’s Peoples Party and other army officials convinced Gen Yahya Khan to

cancel the National Assembly. The cancellation announcement on 1st March 1971,

triggered a civil unrest spread over East Pakistan and mass demonstrations flooded

the streets. The spark of Liberation War of Bangladesh was ignited.

b. Operation Searchlight

It was a planned campaign of mass genocide in East Pakistan aimed to arrest and

kill unarmed, innocent Bengalis in a single night to suppress the Bengali nationalist

movement, and subsequently eliminate all opposition, political or military, within a

of Dhaka University as well as political activists of East Pakistan. They planned to

disconnect East Pakistan from the entire world by capturing radio stations, telephone

exchanges, armed force bases and disrupting the foreign consulates. The

operational premises were very clear and conditions for success was to eliminate

any one with any connection with Awami League or those who supported the

movement of the martial law. On the night of 25th Mar 1971, East Pakistan witnessed

one of the cruellest genocides and massive bloodsheds in history. East Pakistan

Army under General Tikka Khan struck against the Bengali community with the

vengeance and brutality that has few parallels in history. The immediate fallout of the

military operations was the mass exodus of Bengalis into India, a vast majority of

them being Hindus, which were particularly targeted by the military. By the end of

Operation Searchlight, civilian death toll was estimated to be three million, with

roughly 10 million refugees fleeing to India.

THE REAL BATTLE

a. Pre-Planning

There was phenomenal requirement of logistics for the entire administrative and

military machinery. Pakistan would be facing a dire situation in the East with respect

to the line of retreat from the land back to west. If Indian Navy could exercise some

level of control of the Bay of Bengal, it would ensure that there would be neither a

line of ingress nor egress to and from East Pakistan. Troops and logistic support

together with their naval escorts at sea could be annihilated, thus bottling up East
Pakistan completely. The entire area of Bay of Bengal was considered to be the

Area of Operations for the Indian Navy in the Eastern Seaboard. Denial of use of the

oceanic route to and from East Pakistan was the focus area of the Indian Navy and

thereafter graduating to carrying out strikes from sea towards the latter part of the

engagement.

Tasks allotted to the IN. The task allotted to the IN were:-

(a) Carry out strikes on airfields, fuel dumps, installations at Cox’s Bazaar,

Chittagong, Khulna & Chalna.

(b) Choking the SLOCs of East Pak.

(c) Provide gunfire support.

(d) Encircle retreating Pak forces through amphibious landings south of

Cox’s Bazaar.

b. Plan of Action

The security of the aircraft carrier Vikrant had to be ensured at all costs. By a careful

analysis of the submarine threat, it became evident that Pakistan would deploy its

most powerful submarine PNS Ghazi with the sole aim of destroying Vikrant. There

would be more reliance on deception and other measures against the underwater

threat, while the air threat would be tackled by the Indian Air Force. The plan of

action for the Eastern Fleet would constitute of the following actions: -
 (a) Attack from sea on Chittagong harbour.

(b) Attack from sea on Cox’s Bazaar, Chulna, Khulna and Mongla.

(c) Destruction of enemy shipping off the ports of East Pakistan and at sea.

(d) Subsequent and similar offensive actions on opportunity targets

(e) Diversionary or real amphibious landing.

c. Onset of War

On the evening of 3rd December 1971, Pakistan attacked several Indian cities by

aerial strikes. The administrative authorities of Vishakhapatnam were asked to order

a total and immediate blackout switching off all navigational lights including the

Dolphin Nose lighthouse by Eastern Naval Command. The orders for

commencement of hostilities against Pakistan had been received in ENC Maritime

Operations room. The shore defences of Vishakhapatnam were put on alert and the

coast battery was brought to the first degree of readiness.

d. The Lurking Hunter and the Destroyer.

The Pakistan Navy had deployed its Daphne class submarine PNS Ghazi on a

mission to target INS Vikrant. PNS Ghazi left Karachi on 14 November on her

marauding mission

….to be decided
e. Aerial Strike on East

On the morning of 4 December, Vikrant and her ships were within striking distance of

Cox’s Bazaar. At 11 AM the eight Seahawks screamed off the deck of Vikrant and

pounded the Cox’s Bazar airfield, which was heavily devastated. The continuing

night raids by the Alizes kept up the unceasing pressure. Orders were given for

continuous raids on the port towns of Chittagong, Dohazari, Chalna, Khulna and

Mongla.

On 8th December, the Alizes carried out a night attack under moonlight conditions. A

strike of six Seahawks was undertaken on the Barisal, Bakarganj and Patuakhali

areas. Three enemy barges, laden with troops, arms and equipment were destroyed

and, in addition, substantial damage was imparted on the Pakistani troop

concentration and gun positions.

The Birth of MuktiBahini.

On 9th December, a commando operation was launched under Commander M. N.

Samant of Indian Navy in which men from MuktiBahini took part. Commander

Samant was appointed as the senior officer of ‘Force Alpha’ with instruction to

liberate Khulna, Mongla and Chalna. They entered the ports of Chalna and Khulna

and attacked the enemy forces.

General

The campaign that was conducted for the liberation of Bangladesh in the East

and containing our adversary in the West was a great achievement by any

standards. While recounting the program of ops through the 14 day long Indo - Pak

war of 1971, one comes across a series of imp lessons for the posterity. Some of

these lessons are enumerated in succeeding paras. The entire Indian state worked

in harmony & stood united to thwart Pak attempts at the political, diplomatic &

military level.

Defence Mechanism

The imp principles on which country’s higher defence mechanism should be

based on are as under: -

(a) The civ authority must be supreme & well informed & conversant with

the mechanism of defence. It should have well organised institutions to

impose its will through direct orders & continuation of funds.

(b) There should be a well-defined civil machinery consisting of qualified

(c) The organisation for giving professional military advice to the national

policy makers, through stat assessments, should consist of the persons who

should also be responsible for executing the country’s mil policy.

(d) The relationship between b & c above, i.e., between the civ machinery

and the professional advisers must be well defined & unambiguous. Team

work between the civ & the mil experts within the given resources is as imp as

coop amongst the three services, to generate military effort of any

consequence.

Selection & Maintenance of Aim

Selection of Dhaka as the final objective to meet the political aim in the East was

maintained throughout & all the ops were directed towards that end. In the

final analysis, it was abundantly clear that Pak was forced into war w/o any national

aim. Planning at the national level was altogether missing. This reinforced the

principal of sound political aim & effective military strategy to win war.
Direct Style of Command

There was no adhering to a rigid plan. Instructions given were that whichever thrust

or thrusts looked like being the winner, should be explored. The Army Cdr had

implicit faith in the Cdrs & troops which laid the foundation of the victory. In Pak

between 1955 & 1971, those in the higher ranks who showed some independence of

outlook were invariably removed from service. As a result, Yahya Khan was

surrounded by a coterie of officers who were incapable of taking decisions & not

morally strong to use their authority.

Security & Intelligence

In the Eastern Sector, we had developed an efficient intelligence network with the

help of Mukti Bahini & local population. Unlike on the previous two occasions this

time the nature of security threat & the countermeasures needed to neutralise it,

were clearly discernible to our political & military planners’ months in advance. Indian

forces from the earliest days of confrontation on the borders were almost invariably

in possession of detail info regarding LOC. The lightening campaign proved the imp

of intelligence. One of the reasons why the swift bypassing moves during the

campaign were so effective was the availability of info at every stage of the battle.

Once the Indians had broken the Pakistani code, India was able to conduct an

intelligence action by a combination of psychological warfare & deception to adopt a

course beneficial to Indian interest.

This was a major battle winning factor. The morale of Indian troops was very high

from the word go & continued to be same throughout. On the other hand, Pak had a

poor state of morale due to weak leadership, inconsistent policies & lack of faith in

the cause of the war.