HISTORY PROJECT

SETH M.R. JAIPURIA SCHOOL, LUCKNOW

HISTORY PROJECT

LIBERATION WAR OF BANGLADESH

Name: Gauri
Class: XII-E
Roll no.: 19
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me immense pleasure to be associated with this project. The project was
a joyous learning process and helped me learn and link my theoretical
knowledge with practical knowledge. The present project has been completed
under the supervision of my History teacher, Dr. Roli Pandey ma’am. I would
also like to express my gratitude to my Principal, Mrs. Promini Chopra ma’am,
for the moral support extended during the completion tenure of the project.
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INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT......................................................................................

INDEX......................................................................................................................

INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................

BACKGROUND......................................................................................................

CAUSES THAT LED TO THE BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR...........

(A) LANGUAGE CONTROVERSY..............................................................................

(B) DISPARITIES....................................................................................................

(C) POLITICAL DIFFERENCES................................................................................

(D) RESPONSE TO THE 1970 CYCLONE..................................................................

OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT............................................................................

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE..............................................................

SURENDER AND AFTERMATH........................................................................

RESEARCH QUESTION.......................................................................................

FOREIGN REACTION..........................................................................................

UNITED NATIONS.......................................................................................................

USA AND USSR.........................................................................................................

CHINA........................................................................................................................

BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................
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INTRODUCTION
The Bangladesh Liberation War (Muktijuddho) was an armed conflict over a
duration of about nine months, putting East Pakistan and India against the State
of Pakistan. The war started on 26th March, 1971 between the State of Pakistan
and East Pakistan; India intervened on 3rd December, 1971. The Armed conflict
ended on 16th December, 1971 and resulted in the secession of East Pakistan,
which became the independent nation of Bangladesh.

Fig: Map of Partitioned India

The war broke out when army units directed by the State of Pakistan (then
controlled by West Pakistan) launched a military operation called Operation
Searchlight in East Pakistan against Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia,
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and armed personnel who were demanding the military regime to honour the
results of the first ever 1970 democratic elections in Pakistan won by an East
Pakistan party or to allow separation of the East from West Pakistan. Bengali
military, paramilitary, and civilians formed the Mukti Bahini (“Liberation
Army”) on 26th March, 1971, in response to Operation Searchlight and used
Guerrilla Warfare tactics to fight against the West Pakistan army. India provided
economic, military and diplomatic support to the Mukti Bahini rebels, leading
West Pakistan to launch Operation Chengiz Khan, a pre-emptive attack on the
western border of India that started the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

On 16 December 1971, the allied forces of the Indian army and the Mukti Bahini
defeated the West Pakistani forces deployed in the East. The resulting surrender
was the most significant number of prisoners of war since World War II.
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BACKGROUND
In August 1947, the Partition of British India gave rise to two new states; the
Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan, the latter intended to be a
homeland for the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent. The Dominion of
Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas to the east
and the west of India. The western zone was popularly (and for a period of time,
also officially) termed West Pakistan and the eastern zone (modern-day
Bangladesh) was initially termed East Bengal and later, East Pakistan. Although
the population of the two zones was close to equal, political power was
concentrated in West Pakistan and it was widely perceived that East Pakistan
was being exploited economically, leading to many grievances. The
administration of two discontinuous territories was also seen as a challenge.

Fig: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Lord Mountbatten and M.A. Jinnah

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On 25th March, 1971, rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in East
Pakistan was met by brutal suppressive force from the ruling elite of the West
Pakistan establishment, in what came to be termed Operation Searchlight. The
violent crackdown by West Pakistan forces led to Awami League leader Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman declaring East Pakistan’s independence as the state of
Bangladesh on 26th March, 1971. Pakistani President Agha Mohammed Yahya
ordered the Pakistani military to restore the Pakistani government’s authority,
beginning the civil war. The war led to a sea of refugees (estimated at the time to
be about 10 million) flooding into the eastern provinces of India. Facing a
mounting humanitarian and economic crisis, India started actively aiding and
organising the Bangladeshi resistance army known as the Mukti Bahini.
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CAUSES THAT LED TO THE BANGLADESH

LIBERATION WAR
(a) Language controversy

In 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s first Governor-General, declared in

Dhaka (then usually spelt Dacca in English) that “Urdu, and only Urdu” would
be the common language for all of Pakistan. This proved highly controversial
since Urdu was a language that was only spoken in the West by Muhajirs and in
the East by Biharis, although the Urdu language had been promoted as the
lingua franca of Indian Muslims by political and religious leaders such as Sir
Khwaja Salimullah, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk and Maulvi
Abdul Haq. The language was considered a vital element of the Islamic culture
for Indian Muslims; Hindi and the Devanagari script were seen as fundamentals
of Hindu culture. The majority of groups in the western wing of the Dominion of
Pakistan (provinces, states and tribal areas merged in 1956 as West Pakistan)
spoke Punjabi, while the Bengali language was spoken by the vast majority of
East Bengalis (from 1956, East Pakistan). The language controversy eventually
reached a point where East Bengal revolted while the other part of Pakistan
remained calm even though Punjabi was spoken by the majority of the
population of the western wing. Several students and civilians lost their lives in
a police crackdown on 21st February, 1952. The day is revered in Bangladesh
and in West Bengal as the Language Martyrs’ Day. Later, in memory of the
1952 deaths, UNESCO declared 21st February as the International Mother
Language Day in 1999. In the Western wing, the movement was seen as a
sectional uprising against Pakistani national interests and the founding ideology
of Pakistan, the Two-Nation Theory. West Pakistani politicians considered Urdu
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a product of Indian Islamic culture, As Ayub Khan said, as late as 1967, “East
Pakistanis... still are under considerable Hindu culture and influence.”
However, the deaths led to bitter feelings among East Bengalis, and they were a
major factor in the push for independence in 1971.

(b) Disparities

Although East Pakistan had a larger population, West Pakistan dominated the
divided country politically and received more money from the common budget.

Bengalis were underrepresented in the Pakistan military. Officers of Bengali

origin in the different wings of the armed forces made up just 5% of the overall
force by 1965; of these, only a few were in command positions, with the
majority in technical or administrative posts. West Pakistanis believed that
Bengalis were not “martially inclined” unlike Pashtuns and Punjabis; the
“martial races” notion was dismissed as ridiculous and humiliating by Bengalis.
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Moreover, despite huge defence spending, East Pakistan received none of the
benefits, such as contracts, purchasing and military support jobs. The Indo-
Pakistani War of 1965 over Kashmir also highlighted the sense of military
insecurity among Bengalis, as only an under-strength infantry division and 15
combat aircraft without tank support were in East Pakistan to thwart any Indian
retaliations during the conflict.

(c) Political differences

Although East Pakistan accounted for a slight majority of the country's

population, political power remained in the hands of West Pakistanis. Since a
straightforward system of representation based on population would have
concentrated political power in East Pakistan, the West Pakistani establishment
came up with the “One Unit” scheme, where all of West Pakistan was
considered one province. This was solely to counterbalance the East Wing's
votes. After the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan's first prime
minister, in 1951, political power began to devolve to the President of Pakistan,
and, eventually, the military. The nominal elected chief executive, the Prime
Minister, was frequently sacked by the establishment, acting through the
President.

The East Pakistanis observed that the West Pakistani establishment would
swiftly depose any East Pakistanis elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, such as
Khawaja Nazimuddin, Muhammad Ali Bogra, or Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
Their suspicions were further influenced by the military dictatorships of Ayub
Khan (27 October 1958 – 25 March 1969) and Yahya Khan (25 March 1969 –
20 December 1971), both West Pakistanis. The situation reached a climax in
1970, when the Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by
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Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections. The
party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of
the 313 seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the
constitutional right to form a government. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (a
Sindhi and former professor), the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, refused to
allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Instead, he proposed
the idea of having two Prime Ministers, one for each wing. The proposal elicited
outrage in the east wing, already chafing under the other constitutional
innovation, the “one unit scheme”. Bhutto also refused to accept Rahman's Six
Points. On 3rd March, 1971, the two leaders of the two wings, along with
President General Yahya Khan met in Dhaka to decide the fate of the country.
After their discussions yielded no satisfactory results, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
called for a nationwide strike. Bhutto feared a civil war, therefore, he sent his
trusted companion, Dr. Mubashir Hassan. A message was convened, and Mujib
decided to meet Bhutto. Upon his arrival, Mujib met with Bhutto, and both
agreed to form a coalition government with Mujib as Premier and Bhutto as
President. However, the military was unaware of these developments, and
Bhutto increased his pressure on Mujib to reach a decision.

On 7th March, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (soon to be the prime minister)
delivered a speech at the Racecourse Ground (now called the Suhrawardy
Udyan). In this speech, he mentioned a further four-point condition to consider
at the National Assembly Meeting on 25th March:

• The immediate lifting of martial law.

• Immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks.

• An inquiry into the loss of life.

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• Immediate transfer of power to the elected representative of the people before

the assembly meeting on 25 March. He urged his people to turn every house into
a fort of resistance. He closed his speech saying, “Our struggle is for our
freedom. Our struggle is for our independence.” This speech is considered the
main event that inspired the nation to fight for its independence. General Tikka
Khan was flown into Dhaka to become Governor of East Bengal. East Pakistani
judges, including Justice Siddique, refused to swear him in. Between 10 and 13
March, Pakistan International Airlines cancelled all their international routes to
urgently fly “government passengers” to Dhaka. These “government
passengers” were almost all Pakistani soldiers in civilian dress. MV Swat, a ship
of the Pakistan Navy carrying ammunition and soldiers, was harbored in
Chittagong Port, but the Bengali workers and sailors at the port refused to
unload the ship. A unit of East Pakistan Rifles refused to obey commands to fire
on the Bengali demonstrators, beginning a mutiny among the Bengali soldiers.

(d) Response to the 1970 cyclone

The 1970 Bhola cyclone made landfall on the East Pakistan coastline during the
evening of 12 November, around the same time as a local high tide, killing an
estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people. Though the exact death toll is not known,
it is considered the deadliest tropical cyclone on record. A week after the
landfall, President Khan conceded that his government had made "slips" and
"mistakes" in its handling of the relief efforts due to a lack of understanding of
the magnitude of the disaster. A statement released by eleven political leaders in
East Pakistan ten days after the cyclone hit charged the government with "gross
neglect, callous and utter indifference". They also accused the president of
playing down the magnitude of the problem in news coverage. On 19
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November, students held a march in Dhaka protesting the slowness of the

government's response. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani addressed a rally
of 50,000 people on 24 November, where he accused the president of
inefficiency and demanded his resignation.

As the conflict between East and West Pakistan developed in March, the Dhaka
offices of the two government organisations directly involved in relief efforts
were closed for at least two weeks, first by a general strike and then by a ban on
government work in East Pakistan by the Awami League. With this increase in
tension, foreign personnel were evacuated over fears of violence. Relief work
continued in the field, but long-term planning was curtailed. This conflict
widened into the Bangladesh Liberation War in December and concluded with
the creation of Bangladesh. This is one of the first times that a natural event
helped to trigger a civil war.
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OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT
A planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army – codenamed
Operation Searchlight – started on 25 March to curb the Bengali nationalist
movement by taking control of the major cities on 26 March, and then
eliminating all opposition, political or military, within one month. Before the
beginning of the operation, all foreign journalists were systematically deported
from East Pakistan. The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall
of the last major town in Bengali hands in mid-May. The operation also began
the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities. These systematic killings served only to enrage
the Bengalis, which ultimately resulted in the secession of East Pakistan later in
the same year. The international media and reference books in English have
published casualty figures which vary greatly, from 5,000–35,000 in Dhaka, and
200,000–3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole, and the atrocities have been
referred to as acts of genocide.

According to the Asia Times

At a meeting of the military top brass, Yahya Khan declared: "Kill 3 million of
them and the rest will eat out of our hands." Accordingly, on the night of 25
March, the Pakistani Army launched Operation Searchlight to "crush" Bengali
resistance in which Bengali members of military services were disarmed and
killed, students and the intelligentsia systematically liquidated and able-bodied
Bengali males just picked up and gunned down.

Although the violence focused on the provincial capital, Dhaka, it also affected
all parts of East Pakistan. Residential halls of the University of Dhaka were
particularly targeted. The only Hindu residential hall – the Jagannath Hall – was
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destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces, and an estimated 600 to 700 of its
residents were murdered. The Pakistani army denied any cold-blooded killings
at the university, though the Hamood-ur-Rehman commission in Pakistan
concluded that overwhelming force was used at the university.

Fig: Plight during Operation Searchlight

Atrocities of Operation Searchlight

This fact and the massacre at Jagannath Hall and nearby student dormitories of
Dhaka University are corroborated by a videotape secretly filmed by Prof. Nurul
Ullah of the East Pakistan Engineering University, whose residence was directly
opposite the student dormitories. The scale of the atrocities was first made clear
in the West when Anthony Mascarenhas, a Pakistani journalist who had been
sent to the province by the military authorities to write a story favourable to
Pakistan's actions, instead fled to the United Kingdom and, on 13 June 1971,
published an article in the Sunday Times describing the systematic killings by
the military. The BBC wrote: "There is little doubt that Mascarenhas' reportage
played its part in ending the war. It helped turn world opinion against Pakistan
and encouraged India to play a decisive role", with Indian Prime Minister Indira
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Gandhi herself stating that Mascarenhas' article has led her "to prepare the
ground for India's armed intervention".

Hindu areas suffered particularly heavy blows. By midnight, Dhaka was

burning, especially in the Hindu-dominated eastern part of the city. Time
magazine reported on 2 August 1971, "The Hindus, who account for three-
fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the
Pakistani military hatred." Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested by the
Pakistani Army. Yahya Khan appointed Brigadier (later General) Rahimuddin
Khan to preside over a special tribunal prosecuting Mujib with multiple charges.
The tribunal's sentence was never made public, but Yahya caused the verdict to
be held in abeyance in any case. Other Awami League leaders were arrested as
well, while a few fled Dhaka to avoid arrest. The Awami League was banned by
General Yahya Khan.
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DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The violence unleashed by the Pakistani forces on 25 th March, 1971, proved the
last straw to the efforts to negotiate a settlement. Following these outrages,
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration that read:

Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday

night, West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at
Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent
and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh.
Violent clashes between E.P.R. and Police on the one hand and the armed
forces of Pakistan on the other are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the
enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May Allah aid us
in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla.

At 19:45 hours on 27th March, 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman broadcasted the
announcement of the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur.
On 28th March, 1971 Major Ziaur Rahman made another announcement, which
was as follows:

This is Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendro. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the

direction of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that the
independent People's Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his
direction, I have taken command as the temporary Head of the Republic. In
the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I call upon all Bengalis to rise against
the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the last to free our
Motherland. By the grace of Allah, victory is ours. Joy Bangla.
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Fig: Declaration of Independence

26th March, 1971 is considered the official Independence Day of Bangladesh,

and the name Bangladesh was in effect henceforth. In July 1971, Indian Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi openly referred to the former East Pakistan as
Bangladesh. Some Pakistani and Indian officials continued to use the name
"East Pakistan" until 16 December 1971.
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LIBERATION WAR
March to June

At first, resistance was spontaneous and disorganised and was not expected to be
prolonged. However, when the Pakistani Army cracked down upon the
population, resistance grew. The Mukti Bahini became

increasingly active. The Pakistani

military sought to quell them, but

increasing numbers of Bengali

soldiers defected to the underground

“Bangladesh Army”.

These Bengali units slowly merged

into the Mukti Bahini and bolstered

their weaponry with supplies from

India. Pakistan responded by airlifting

two infantry divisions and reorganizing

their forces. They also raised paramilitary

forces of Razakars, Al-Badrs and Al-Shams (who were mostly members of the
Muslim League, then the government party, and other Islamist groups), as well
as other Bengalis who opposed independence, and Bihari Muslims who had
settled during the time of partition.

On 17th April, 1971, a provisional government was formed in Meherpur district

in western Bangladesh bordering India with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was
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in prison in Pakistan, as President, Syed Nazrul Islam as Acting President,

Tajuddin Ahmed as Prime Minister, and General Muhammad Ataul Ghani
Osmani as Commander-in-Chief, Bangladesh Forces. As fighting grew between
the occupation army and the Bengali Mukti Bahini, an estimated 10 million
Bengalis, sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.

June to September

Bangladesh forces command was set up on 11 July, with Col. M. A. G. Osmani

as commander-in-chief (C-in-C) with the status of Cabinet Minister, Lt. Col.,
Abdur Rabb as chief of Staff (COS), Group Captain A K Khandker as Deputy
Chief of Staff (DCOS) and Major A R Chowdhury as Assistant Chief of Staff
(ACOS).

General Osmani had differences of opinion with the Indian leadership regarding
the role of the Mukti Bahini in the conflict. Indian leadership initially envisioned
Bengali forces to be trained into a small elite guerrilla force of 8,000 members,
led by the surviving East Bengal Regiment soldiers operating in small cells
around Bangladesh to facilitate the eventual Indian intervention,[48] but the
Bangladesh Government in exile and General Osmani favoured the following
strategy:

• Bengali conventional force would occupy lodgment areas inside Bangladesh

and then the Bangladesh government would request international diplomatic
recognition and intervention. Initially, Mymensingh was picked for this
operation, but Gen. Osmani later settled on Sylhet.

•Sending the maximum number of guerrillas inside Bangladesh as soon as

possible with the following objectives:
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• Increasing Pakistani casualties through raids and ambush.

• Cripple economic activity by hitting power

stations, railway lines, storage depots and

communication networks.

• Destroy Pakistan army mobility by

blowing up bridges/culverts, fuel depots,

trains and river crafts.

• The strategic objective was to make

The Pakistanis spread their forces

inside the province, so attacks could be

made on isolated Pakistani detachments.

Fig: Sectors of Liberation War

Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors in July, each with a commander
chosen from defected officers of the Pakistani army who joined the Mukti
Bahini to conduct guerrilla operations and train fighters. Most of their training
camps were situated near the border area and were operated with assistance from
India. The 10th Sector was directly placed under the Commander in Chief (C-in-
C) General M. A. G. Osmani and included the Naval Commandos and C-in-C's
special force. Three brigades (11 Battalions) were raised for conventional
warfare; a large guerrilla force (estimated at 100,000) was trained.

Three brigades (8 infantry battalions and 3 artillery batteries) were put into
action between July – September. During June – July, Mukti Bahini had
regrouped across the border with Indian aid through Operation Jackpot and
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began sending 2000 – 5000 guerrillas across the border, the so-called Moonsoon
Offensive, which for various reasons (lack of proper training, supply shortage,
lack of a proper support network inside Bangladesh etc.) failed to achieve its
objectives. Bengali regular forces also attacked BOPs in Mymensingh, Comilla
and Sylhet, but the results were mixed. Pakistani authorities concluded that they
had successfully contained the Monsoon Offensive, which proved a near-
accurate observation.

Guerrilla operations, which slackened during the training phase, picked up after
August. Economic and military targets in Dhaka were attacked. The major
success story was Operation Jackpot, in which naval commandos mined and
blew up berthed ships in Chittagong, Mongla, Narayanganj and Chandpur on 15
August 1971.

October to December

Bangladesh's conventional forces attacked border outposts. Kamalpur, Belonia

and the Battle of Boyra are a few examples. 90 out of 370 BOPs fell to Bengali
forces. Guerrilla attacks intensified, as did Pakistani and Razakar reprisals on
civilian populations. Pakistani forces were reinforced by eight battalions from
West Pakistan. The Bangladeshi independence fighters even managed to
temporarily capture airstrips at Lalmonirhat and Shalutikar. Both of these were
used for flying in supplies and arms from India. Pakistan sent another 5
battalions from West Pakistan as reinforcements.
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SURENDER AND AFTERMATH

On 16th December, 1971, Lt. Gen A. A. K. Niazi, CO of Pakistan Army forces
located in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of Surrender. At the time of
surrender, only a few countries had provided diplomatic recognition to the new
nation. Over 93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian forces, making it
the largest surrender since World War II. Bangladesh sought admission to the
UN with most voting in its favour, but China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key
ally. The United States, also a key ally of Pakistan, was one of the last nations to
accord Bangladesh recognition.

To ensure a smooth transition, in 1972, the Shimla Agreement was signed

between India and Pakistan. The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognised the
independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani PoWs.
India treated all the PoWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule
1925. It released more than 93,000 Pakistani PoWs in five months. Further, as a
gesture of goodwill, nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war crimes by
Bengalis were also pardoned by India. The accord also gave back more than
13,000 km2 (5,019 sq mi) of land that Indian troops had seized in West Pakistan
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during the war, though India retained a few strategic areas; most notably Kargil
(which would in turn again be the focal point for a war between the two nations
in 1999). This was done as a measure of promoting "lasting peace" and was
acknowledged by many observers as a sign of maturity by India. However, some
in India felt that the treaty had been too lenient to Bhutto, who had pleaded for
leniency, arguing that the fragile democracy in Pakistan would crumble if the
accord was perceived as being overly harsh by Pakistanis.
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RESEARCH QUESTION
Question:

India’s role in the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

Contribution of People and Government

The contribution of the Indian people, government and eventually armed forces
are unforgettable fact of history. When Bangladeshi mass people were murdered
by the military of Pakistan, India intervened and sent an army to fight against
Pakistani soldiers and supported freedom fighters. When the American Navy
came to help Pakistan, the Soviet Union assured full support to India by sending
their Navy. On 27th March 1971, the Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira
Gandhi, expressed full support of her government to the Bangladeshi struggle
for independence. The Bangladesh- India border was opened to allow the
Bangladeshi refugees safe shelter in India.

The governments of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura

established refugee camps along the border. Exiled Bangladeshi army officers
and voluntary workers from India immediately started using these camps for the
recruitment and training of Mukti Bahini guerrillas.

Almost 10 million men and women who were forced to leave their motherland
to save themselves entered various states like West Bengal, Tripura, Assam,
Meghalaya, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh where they lived as refugees.

India willingly took the responsibility for taking care of unfortunate men,
women and children for nine months. India also provided training, arms and
ammunition for the freedom fighters. Not only for the freedom of Bangladesh
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but also for the release of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the
prison of Pakistan, the then Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi
erstwhile travelled around the world to gather support for the cause. India not
only spent seven thousand crores of rupees for the liberation war of Bangladesh
but also sacrificed the lives of 3630 officers and soldiers of her army. About
9856 officers and soldiers. were wounded, and more than 213 officers and
soldiers. Are missing till today.

India’s external intelligence agency, the RAW, played a crucial role in providing
logistic support to the Mukti Bahini during the initial stages of the war. RAW’s
operation, in the then East Pakistan, was the largest count. Operation in the
history of South Asia.

Fig: Shimla Agreement

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FOREIGN REACTION
United Nations

Though the United Nations condemned human rights violations during and
following Operation Searchlight, it failed to defuse the situation politically
before the start of the war. Following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's declaration of
independence in March 1971, India undertook a worldwide campaign to
drum up political, democratic and humanitarian support for the people of
Bangladesh for their liberation struggle. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi toured
a large number of countries in a bid to create awareness of the Pakistani
atrocities against Bengalis. This effort proved vital later during the war, in
framing the world's context of the war and to justify military action by India.
Also, following Pakistan's defeat, it ensured prompt recognition of the newly
independent state of Bangladesh. Following India's entry into the war, Pakistan,
fearing certain defeat, made urgent appeals to the United Nations to intervene
and force India to agree to a cease-fire. The UN Security Council assembled on
4 December 1971 to discuss the hostilities in South Asia. After lengthy
discussions on 7 December, the United States made a resolution for "immediate
cease-fire and withdrawal of troops". While supported by the majority, the
USSR vetoed the resolution twice. In light of the Pakistani atrocities against
Bengalis, the United Kingdom and France abstained on the resolution.

On 12 December, with Pakistan facing imminent defeat, the United States

requested that the Security Council be reconvened. Pakistan's Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was rushed to New York
City to make the case for a resolution on the cease-fire. The council continued
deliberations for four days. By the time proposals were finalised, Pakistan's
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forces in the East had surrendered and the war had ended, making the measures
merely academic. Bhutto, frustrated by the failure of the resolution and the
inaction of the United Nations, ripped up his speech and left the council. Most
UN member nations were quick to recognise Bangladesh within months of its
independence.

USA and USSR

The United States supported Pakistan both politically and materially. U.S.
President Richard Nixon denied getting involved in the situation, saying that it
was an internal matter of Pakistan, but when Pakistan's defeat seemed certain,
Nixon sent the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal, a move
deemed by the Indians as a nuclear threat. Enterprise arrived at the station on 11
December 1971. On 6 and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups
of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok; they trailed U.S. Task
Force 74 in the Indian Ocean from 18th December until 7th January, 1972.
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Fig: Nixon and Henry Kissinger

Nixon and Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast
Asia. Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom
Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and which he intended to visit in
February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would
mean total Soviet domination of the region and that it would seriously
undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of
America's new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China, the bona fides
of the United States as an ally, and in direct violation of the US Congress-
imposed sanctions on Pakistan, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan and
routed them through Jordan and Iran, while also encouraging China to increase
its arms supplies to Pakistan.

The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the genocidal

activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood
Telegram. The Soviet Union supported Bangladesh and Indian armies, as well as
the Mukti Bahini, during the war, recognizing that the independence of
Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals – the United States and
China. It gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States
or China developed, the USSR would take countermeasures. This was enshrined
in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971.

The Soviets also sent a nuclear submarine to ward off the threat posed by the
USS Enterprise in the Indian Ocean. At the end of the war, the Warsaw Pact
countries were among the first to recognise Bangladesh. The Soviet Union
accorded recognition to Bangladesh on 25th January, 1972. The United States
delayed recognition for some months, before, according it on 8th April, 1972.
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China

As a long-standing ally of Pakistan, the People's Republic of China reacted with

alarm to the evolving situation in East Pakistan and the prospect of India
invading West Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Believing that just
such an Indian attack was imminent, Nixon encouraged China to mobilise its
armed forces along its border with India to discourage it. The Chinese did not,
however, respond to this encouragement, because unlike the 1962 Sino-Indian
War when India was caught entirely unaware, this time the Indian Army was
prepared and had deployed eight mountain divisions to the Sino-Indian border to
guard against such an eventuality. China instead threw its weight behind
demands for an immediate ceasefire. When Bangladesh applied for membership
to the United Nations in 1972, China vetoed their application because two
United Nations resolutions regarding the repatriation of Pakistani prisoners of
war and civilians had not yet been implemented. China was also among the last
countries to recognize independent Bangladesh, refusing to do so until 31
August 1975.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
● http://britanica.com/

● The Hindu Newspaper

● Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War