1971: A few good books

Society Military and Strategic Issues
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This post is to discuss and expand our knowledge about 1971, Zaavia’s post gave me this idea. After all many of us know little of what exactly happened in those dark days. The Dawn has doen a series of book reviews in honour of this sad chapter. If any Guppies ahve any personal experiences or family stories about 1971 that they would like added please feel free. The same goes for any other books they would like to point out. At the very least this post can generate some money for a few Desi writers;) (btw do check the link out at the end!)

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/books5.htm
“Instead of its generals, Pakistan can be proud of those who actively opposed the genocide the army had conducted in 1971 in the erstwhile East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh,” says Afsan Chowdhury , a 50-year old Bangladeshi researcher, who is presently working on the conflict of the two erstwhile wings of Pakistan that led to the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971
*Many of those who closely know Afsan Chowdhury love to believe that his book on 1971 will shed light on some of the yet-to-be-revealed aspects relating to the emergence of Bangladesh. The book is expected to be published by the middle of 2003. *

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/books3.htm
**Maj Gen Hakeem Arshad Qureshi commanded an infantry battalion in East Pakistan through the 1970 general election, the civil war in East Pakistan and the 1971 war with India. He retired from the army in 1990 when he was appointed member of the Punjab Public Service Commission, a position he held till 1995. ** *The 1971 Indo-Pak war: a soldier’s narrative *

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/books1.htm
**A charge against Bhutto that does not go away is that had he not declared at a Nishtar Park Karachi public meeting, addressing Mujibur Rehman, “Uddhar tum, iddhar hum.” (You stay there, we stay here), Pakistan would have remained united. These words are said to have set the seal on Pakistan’s dismemberment. The truth is that these words were never said by Bhutto. It was Abbas Athar, news editor of the Lahore Urdu daily Azad, who ran the Bhutto speech under this brilliant though misleading headline. ** Rearview mirror: four memoirs
By Khalid Hasan
Alhamra Publishing, Saudi Pak Tower, Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad.

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/books4.htm
**But the battle raging inside me was even more intense. I was being pilloried by my own conscience, day and night. Shame that I was marshalling all my faculties to defend the indefensible. It was a colossal calling. **
*And, one sultry morning in July - barely weeks after my arrival on the scene - Ambassador Khurram Khan Panni walked out on Pakistan and defected to the cause of Bangladesh. He called a press conference at the embassy residence, but had the grace to tell me in advance what he was going to do. *

“We Shall fight for a thousand years” ..an amazing speech, and it probably ended any chance of a ceasefire and a withdrawal.
www.historychannel.com/speeches/speeches.html

http://www.historychannel.com/cgi-bin/frameit.cgi?p=http%3A//www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_19.html

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Allah(SWT) Bless Free Print Media of Pakistan!

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Family history:

2 Uncles fought in the Bangladesh war, not the ill fated eastern garrison but the West Pakistan facing Indian held Kashmir. "The defense of the east, lies in the west" was the thought at that period, when Pakistan opened up the Western front. One was part of the 23 division based in Jehlum, which I believe (correct me if I am wrong), the only Pakistani front to take the offensive into J&K. They captured Chamb and were leading on to hit the jugular at Akhnur, but the decrepit GHQ pulled them back. The Azad Kashmiris brigades were also instrumental in the capture of Chamb town. My uncle still curses his commanding officiers and the GHQ for pulling back to take a more defensive role. They recieved virtually no air support and faced the Indian head-on. That uncle suffered permenant back injuries leaving him wheelchair, but he was lucky, the list of Shaheeds only from his town (Attock) was great not to mention the rest of Pakistan.

The other uncle was in the Sindh sector, the RahimyarKhan-Longewal axis. From 18 division (Hyderabad), they launched an attack into Rajasthan that went horribly wrong due to poor planning, miscommunication, etc. The Indian AF took complete control of the sky and started picking out our tanks that they wanted to destroy, eventually 18 division pulled back to Sindh and held positions there. According to my uncle, had they not taken the offensive, he and his fellow soldiers feared that the indians would knockout RY Khan and possibly threaten Karachi.

One general theme that I noticed when I was dicussing the war was the role of the PAF. I mean does anyone know what he hell they were doing?Sleeping?? No air cover was provided at all! Anyways, both uncles were deeply troubled by what was going on the Eastern theater and their aim was to insure the integrity of the truncated Pakistan. The Chamb sector was a good indicator of performance, as the general thought at the time (and forgive me for saying this) was that they had already written Bangladesh off so their goals was to strike deep within Indian Held Kashmir so the loss of E.Pak. would be somewhat balanced by Kashmir. I am very proud of my uncles, as they were lower ranked soldiers at the time who fought to win and it clearly the leadership that failed them and Pakistan.

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Salam RF...btw I read about your upcoming wedding in Spring; The Pakistan affairs board insists that we all get invites without exception!;)

My Maternal Uncles fathers in Law, served in East Pakistan. I used to talk to him about what happened. The way the forces were let down was pretty shocking. The East Pakistan Force only had 12 aircrafts out of the 150 total, and those were mostly antique Sabres, they also had no Naval crafts. The sad part was that many of the soldiers who came back who did fight bravely and committed no crimes were "rewarded" by being retired. Some with the worst reputations were promoted!

The Defence in the East lies in the West was the biggest mistake in Military thinking, Yayha Khan ordered the PAF to attack Indian bases in the hope they would catch the indian Airforce on the ground. I believe the PAF command did not agree with the order but had no choice. Similarly there was abolsutely no co ordination between various commands. The soldiers fought has hard as they could, and as usual were let down by bad leadership.

Whats sad is that the Defence of the East idea has been done again, but in a different form nowadays. The Army seems to think the defence of South Punjab and Sindh lies in the North.

Another person I knew about who served there, died recently, he was very well known by reputation in Peshawar for his boasts about the "lesson" his troops taught those "Bingos."
Very very sick stories, anyway for someone so cruel I think God has a way of settling the score. The man ended up seeing two of his sons die in very shocking ways and at times of celebration before his own death.

What goes around comes around in the end.

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Following is a full detail, and worth reading article about East Pakistan.

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The separation of East Pakistan, 1971

The Separation of East Pakistan [1971]

The separation of East Pakistan was a great set back to Pakistan. By 1970 sentiments for national unity had weakened so much in East Pakistan and the constant conflict among East and West Pakistanis dramatically erupted into mass civil disorder, resulting tragically in the most brutal and violent amputation of Pakistan’s Eastern wing.

**The fact of physical separation of one thousands miles between the two wings, without a common border, surrounded by Indian territory and influences led to constant political, economic and social conflicts between the two wings thus embittering the relations and bringing the country on the verge of collapse. **

As a result of the separation of Eastern wing, the Pakistani’s international credit was depleted; its most powerful institution - the military suffered. Even the idea of Pakistan as the homeland for the Muslims in South Asia no longer appeared valid.

**Trouble started right at the inception of Pakistan in 1947. Almost immediately, East Pakistan’s claimed that as their population (55% as opposed to 45 percent in the West) was greater, they were in a majority. Democratically, therefore, the Federal Capital should have been in Dacca and not in Karachi.

Since Karachi was the seat of the National Government, ministers, government officials and industrialists, exerted immense influence on national and regional affairs which brought them many benefits. But the East Pakistanis were enable to extract the same kind of advantages as they were a good thousand miles away from the Capital. Moreover, the Capital, attracted initially the wealthy industrialists, businessman, administrators, doctors etc. who had fled from India. **

The location of the Capital, it was said, created great economic imbalance, uneven distribution of national wealth and privileges, and better jobs for Westerners because they were able to sway decisions in their own favor.

**Secondly, Bengalis resented to the way vast sums of foreign exchange, earned from the sale of jute from the East, were being spent on defense. They were unable to see how this expenditure for the Kashmir cause, which otherwise could have been productively used to build dams, barriers to control floods, eradication of poverty, illiteracy and supply of food for the ever-growing population. **

Thirdly, the people of the East believed that it was sheer regional prejudice that all the white-collar jobs were taken by the West Pakistanis.

There is no doubt that many mistakes were made early in the short history of Pakistan, but many of these grievances, though genuine enough, were often exaggerated to foster anti-Western Pakistani feelings which would eventually create a kind of Bengali nationalism or a separatist tendency.

**It must not be forgotten that there lived in East Pakistan about 15 million Hindus who, with the help of their fellow West Bengali Indians from across the border, were able to exploit the East-West regional differences. Some political leaders went around depicting the Central Government and West Pakistan as hostile and exploiters. **

No effective effort was made to check the anti-national trends.

In 1970 elections, the Awami League (formed in 1951 in East Pakistan) was headed by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. He had always been an ardent Bengali nationalist and began to attract attention of the oppressed Bengalis in the East.

Sheikh Mujibur Rehman put forward his “Six Points” which demanded autonomy for East Pakistan.

**Mujib gained wide publicity for his “Six Points” plan for East Pakistan in Dacca. But he was arrested in April, 1966, soon released, only to be re-arrested and imprisoned in June, 1966 and languished in prison until February, 1969. **

Being deeply aware of the explosive political situation in the country, the then President Yahya Khan, set in motion moves to transfer power to the elected representatives of the people and announced that the general elections would be held on October 5, 1970.

In all his election speeches, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman stepped up his demand for the “Six Points” and provincial autonomy plans.

**In September, 1970, elections were postponed, from October to December, due to heavy floods which caused immense destruction and havoc in the province of East Pakistan. The sheer enormity of the disaster attracted world-wide attention. This gave Sheikh Mujibur Rehman a golden opportunity to hammer home for the benefit of the foreigners his anti-western feelings. He accused West Pakistan of brutal callousness. **

The Awami League gained much sympathy and benefit out of this suffering and Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and his people arrived on the international scene as the victims of West Pakistan’s indifference.

…Continue…

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Mukti Bahini

However, the general elections were held for the National and the Provincial Assemblies in December, 1970. *The result was an overwhelming victory in the East for the Awami League, which captured 167 seats. In the West, the Pakistan’s People Party had won 85 seats. The way was now open to draw up a new constitution. *

The Awami League, now overwhelmingly a victor, stood firm on its "Six Points" plans. It refused to compromise an inch on that issue. The People’s Party in the West maintained that the "Six Points" did not really permit a genuine federation. It was, in fact, a unique constitutional proposal which proposed a federation which had power only over defense and foreign policy.

Efforts were made to start a constitutional dialogue and narrow the differences between the two wings, but all in vain. The adamant stand of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in support of his *"Six Points", * and his proposal that East Bengal should have sovereign status independent of Pakistan, further aggravated the situation.

**The Awami League leader, Mujib launched a non-cooperation movement. The civil administration was totally paralyzed. All government and educational institutions were closed. People were asked not to pay the taxes. The transport system came to a standstill. Factories and shops were shut. All government activities between both the wings ceased.

In fact, the Awami League had setup a parallel government. Gangs of local Awami League freedom fighters known as Mukti Bahini led violent demonstrations, howled racial and anti-West Pakistani feelings and slogans, and thereby inciting the people to more violence. **

Amongst these disturbances, President Yahya decided to convene the National Assembly in March, 1971. But Sheikh Mujibur Rehman unexpectedly put forward other demands as lifting of martial law immediately and power transfer to the elected representatives of the people, prior to the National Assembly session.

Unfortunately, on March 23, the Republic Day of Pakistan, *the Awami League declared a Resistance Day and Bangladesh flags flew all over the province. There was great massacre. East Pakistan had reached a point of no return. *

To prevent the armed rebellion of the Awami League militants, the Pakistan Army struck their first blow on March 27,1971. *President Yahya Khan used force to bring law and order in the country. The real force of the Army was directed against the millions of Hindus living in East Pakistan and the Indian infiltrations who had crossed the border to cause trouble in the cities. *

India, exploited to the full Pakistan’s dilemma. It sought to wring the full propaganda value out of Bengali suffering and misery.

In the meantime, India launched their attack on East Pakistan on November 22, 1971. *The help of modern Soviet missiles, the local Army, Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army - made Pakistan’s military defeat in the East almost certain. *

On December 10, 1971, the first feeler for surrender in East Pakistan was conveyed to the United Nations. On December 17, 1971, a formal surrender was submitted and accepted.

Forty-five thousand troops and an almost equal number of civilians of West Pakistan were taken prisoners of war.

*Though the Pakistan Army suffered a defeat in East Pakistan but it was not because of want of courage, but because of lack of supply and re-enforcement, and the geographical separation by 1000 miles lying across the hostile Indian territory. *

The surrender lead to the disintegration of East and West Pakistan and the establishment of Bangladesh.

After 25 years, the East Pakistanis declared themselves independent and renamed their province Bangladesh.

*Pakistan finally recognized Bangladesh at the Islamic Conference in Lahore on February 22, 1974. *

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Salam RF…btw I read about your upcoming wedding in Spring; The Pakistan affairs board insists that we all get invites without exception!:wink:

Wa’Salaam Zakk. Without a doubt, open invitations for all the interlletual folks at Pak. Affairs. Maybe the wedding could turn into a political forum afterwards, with the mrs approval ofcourse :hehe:

**The Defence in the East lies in the West was the biggest mistake in Military thinking, Yayha Khan ordered the PAF to attack Indian bases in the hope they would catch the indian Airforce on the ground. I believe the PAF command did not agree with the order but had no choice. Similarly there was abolsutely no co ordination between various commands. The soldiers fought has hard as they could, and as usual were let down by bad leadership. **

:k: your statements say it all! If there PAF was rendered ineffective, any gains on the ground would be faced with substantial adversity. In some of the sorties the indians flew, all they needed was 4 fighters to take complete control of the sky! That is pathetic.

Whats sad is that the Defence of the East idea has been done again, but in a different form nowadays. The Army seems to think the defence of South Punjab and Sindh lies in the North.

I certainly hope that is not true. We cannot repeat the same mistakes. I am not sure what you mean the defense of Sind/S. Punjab? Are you speaking on pure military terms or political?

Another person I knew about who served there, died recently, he was very well known by reputation in Peshawar for his boasts about the “lesson” his troops taught those “Bingos.”

yes. I know who your talking about. He is rather famous in Attock as well. I think the only time Attock has been dived, it has been on his reputation. Certain groups of people support his actions glazing over the history and hail him as a hero, because they were beneficiaries of his patronage. While others speak out in his true light. All of this ofcourse, is done privately in military families.

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*I certainly hope that is not true. We cannot repeat the same mistakes. I am not sure what you mean the defense of Sind/S. Punjab? Are you speaking on pure military terms or political? *

Dear RF...I was speaking purely in military terms, that side is the weakest, because of the danger of cutting of the Indus Highway. The Pakistani Army has never had a problem in achieving a breakthrough in Kashmir. India always preferred attacking across the International border. The only exception was their January 2002 attack plan, which called for a short limited atatck and the capture of the Haji Pir pass.

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Victims of history

Dr Moonis Ahmar

The writer is Associate Professor,

Department of International Relations, University of Karachi

[email protected]

When December 16 comes every year a deep sense of grief and sorrow grips some people of Pakistan. On that day, Jinnah’s Pakistan was disintegrated as a result of a shameful process of violence and bloodshed. The legacy of 1971 still looms large both in Bangladesh and Pakistan because still there are millions of people who had suffered heavily on account of that great tragedy.

Much has been said and written about the unfortunate events of 1971 but still in Pakistan there exists confusion on who broke Pakistan: was it the ruthless military operation from March 25 till the surrender of Pakistan army before a joint command of the Indian army and the Bangladeshi freedom fighters called as Mukti Bahini or the intransigent and uncompromising attitude of Awami League high command vis-a-vis West Pakistan, particularly on famous six points. Or was it Bhutto, who because of his huger for power didn’t care about the unity of Jinnah’s Pakistan and created conditions whereby military had to intervene and use colossal force to keep the country together. Nevertheless, in the last 32 years several conspiracy theories have been presented in Pakistan and also in Bangladesh to prove who broke Pakistan and who created Bangladesh. Some theorists hold India responsible for that act; others feel that the United States and the Soviet Union allowed the dismemberment of Pakistan because of their vested interests. However, in the process of presenting various conspiracy theories, finding scapegoats and putting allegations against each other on the break-up of Pakistan, very few people have touched the humanitarian aspect of that tragedy.

If millions of Bengalis had suffered as a result of brutal military operation from March 25 onwards, there are at least two sorts of people who are still suffering because of the unfortunate events of 1971. They can truly be called as the “real victims” of 1971. First. around 300,000 stranded Pakistanis (commonly known as Biharis) and almost one million Pakistanis of Bengali origin living in today’s Pakistan. While, the plight of stranded Pakistanis is obvious to many because of frequent demands and demonstrations made for their repatriation to Pakistan, not much is known about one million Bengalis who are living in Pakistan since decades and who despite their loyalty and allegiance to their country are still facing an identity crisis and humiliation from official circles.

One vivid example of the plight of Pakistani Bengalis could be gauged from the fact that on the occasion of last elections held on October 10 this year, a major issue on the question of nationality of these Bengalis was raised by the government. They were asked to either register themselves or face deportation. The children of those Bengalis who were born in present day Pakistan and whose forefathers had fought for Pakistan movement suddenly realised that they had to prove their allegiance to their country. As a result of growing insecurity and pressure, Bengali Muslims living in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi were forced to raise their voice, hold demonstrations and file petitions before the government to respect their loyalty to Pakistan and exempt them for registration and other humiliatory requirements.

In order to help Pakistani Bengalis from further hardships some political organisations of Pakistan also raised their voice and demanded from the government that the illogical requirement for seeking registration for the Bengalis should be withdrawn. They also questioned the rationale on the part of Federal Interior Ministry to ask Bengalis to fill various forms and get white passports so that they can visit their country of origin – Bangladesh. It is strange that why only Bengalis have been singled out to prove their identity when millions of Afghans and other foreign nationals are living in Pakistan illegally and why all such policies are being formulated and implemented when Pakistan claims that it has excellent relations with Bangladesh.

For the purpose of providing justice to Pakistani Bengalis who have a claim in this country because of their forefather’s role in the creation of Pakistan, an important initiative was launched by a veteran lawyer and a respectable citizen Barrister Samin Khan. Well known to many people owing to his mediation and conflict resolution skills for Afghanistan and Indo-Pakistan relations, Barrister Samin Khan approached the then Interior minister Lt. General (Retd) Moinuddin Haider by writing a letter under the title, “Citizenship of Islamic Republic Pakistan” arguing that under the Citizenship Act of 1951 and its amended version of 1952, “the people of East Pakistan, then most important Province of Pakistan, became ipso facto because of their birth, became the citizens of Pakistan and remained as such till now.” Given the fact that in accordance with the various cases in the High Courts and Supreme Court of Pakistan there has been no substantial change in the Laws of Pakistan and hence Bengalis living in Pakistan should be deemed as the rightful and legal citizens of Pakistan.

The question is why the nationality issue of Bengalis living in Pakistan since decades has been raised? Who is behind playing this dirty game? Is it not possible that by challenging the nationality of Bengalis living in Pakistan, only enemies of Pakistan will benefit? And why this issue has been raised at a time when the visit of Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf to Bangladesh from July 29-31 has been termed very successful? These are the questions, which require careful examination because there is something intriguing as far as this matter is concerned, and there are forces who want to negatively affect Bangladesh-Pakistan relations under the cover of the nationality issue of Bengalis living in Pakistan since decades.

Despite the tragic separation of East Pakistan and the growing realization among the people of “New Pakistan” that great injustice was done to Bengalis in all walks of life and a new era of friendship and cooperation should be unleashed between Dhaka and Islamabad, there still exists a strong lobby in Pakistan who is not in favour of giving a fair deal to those who are the genuine heirs of united Pakistan. For such people, an element of superiority complex vis-a-vis Bengalis still exist and they look down upon that community as they used to do when East Pakistan was with us. To them, Bengalis were unpatriotic people and should not be given any scope in remaining Pakistan. When in 1995 and 1996, some officials of Federal Interior Ministry of Pakistan Government used to say that they will deport thousands of illegal Bangladeshis, Dhaka protested and denied the presence of illegal Bengalis in Pakistan and argued that such people were the genuine citizens of that country. Bangladesh also argued that instead of raising the issue of so-called Bengali aliens in Pakistan, Islamabad should do something serious to take back more than 250,000 stranded Pakistan who are languishing in inhuman conditions in 66 camps spread all over Bangladesh since last three decades. As a result, the attitude held by chauvinistic sections of bureaucracy against the Bengalis led to some unpleasantness in Bangladesh-Pakistan relations.

Ironically, those officials and others who have a deep rooted bias against Bengalis forget the fact that had the election results of December 1970 been implemented and power transferred to the majority party, i.e. Awami League, Bengalis would have had an upper hand in the power structure of United Pakistan. But, being fearful of the predictable rule of Bengalis and feeling guilty of endless exploitation of the eastern wing of Pakistan, the West Pakistani elite, particularly those representing the interests of Punjab dominated military, bureaucracy and feudal elite refused to accept the result of 1970 elections and transfer power to the majority party. The result was the eruption of bloody civil war and the dismemberment of Jinnah’s Pakistan on December 16, 1971.

Based on historical facts, the government should be very careful while forcing the Bengali origin Pakistanis to prove their loyalty or to register themselves as aliens. Pakistan has already suffered enough because of ethnic and sectarian discords and the chapter of exploitation on the basis of race or religion should be closed once and for all. In this regard, the services of eminent persons like Barrister Samin Khan should be sought who can act as a bridge between the two opposing parties. The recommendations given by him to the Federal Interior Ministry on doing justice with the Bengali population of Pakistan needs to be implemented so that a community which beyond any shadow of doubt is loyal to Pakistan and had played a vital movement during Pakistan movement should be respected and given its due rights. If East Pakistan has separated it is not because the Muslim Bengalis of the then East Pakistan wanted separation but cruel circumstances were created by the West Pakistani military, bureaucratic and political elite which resulted into the forced dismemberment of Pakistan. Even Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the leader of Awami League, was not against separation but when the military, which was supposed to protect its own citizens started killing its own people, the stage was set for the dismemberment of Pakistan. The rest is history.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Zakk: *
Dear RF...I was speaking purely in military terms, that side is the weakest, because of the danger of cutting of the Indus Highway. The Pakistani Army has never had a problem in achieving a breakthrough in Kashmir. India always preferred attacking across the International border. The only exception was their January 2002 attack plan, which called for a short limited atatck and the capture of the Haji Pir pass.
[/QUOTE]

Salaam Zakk,

Very insightful statement regarding Indus Highway. I was not aware of such a problem existing, but then again I'm not a military man. I mean historically we have done well in Sindh-S.Punjab sectors...thinking of 1965 and 1971. As you know india has hit us on the population centers of Punjab, including Lahore city. I will definately bring it up with family members currently in the armed services, appreciate your opinions.

As for Kashmir, your right Pak. Army hasn't had trouble making breakthroughs but we are very much at a disadvantage. Our Azad Kashmir sector has population in the Neelum & Leepa valleys where it is very easy for the Indians to pick and shoot at civilians. I witnessed as much on my visit to AJK. I recall that period when Indian infiltrators had entered Azad Kashmirs Kotli district and massacred families including young children..it was a horrendous period. I also saw the forward positions at Rawalakot where the indians were literally on top of us and the poor shepherds and farmers were being made targets. During my afternoon stay there, there was heavy fire on civilian targets such the school and adjoining houses, at which the Pakistani side retaliated with their firepower and things died down at that time, but the soldiers there told me that the cycle would be repeated that afternoon. I think Azad Kashmiris are the bravest people in Pakistan to withstand it every day.