Pakistan
held General Elections in Dec. 1970, its first and fair since Independence
under the scrutiny of military government of General Yahya Khan.
Total turnout of voting was 63.1%
the highest turnout ever.
Awami League headed by Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman won 160 seats (74.9%) in East Pakistan out of total allocation
of 162 seats for East Pakistan.
Pakistan People Party headed by
Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto won 81 seats (27%) out of total seats of 138 for West
Pakistan.
PPP failed to win any seat in East
Pakistan.
AL failed to get any seat from West
Pakistan.
All leaders from West Pakistan,
including PPP leaders, strongly resisted the notion of an East Pakistani-led
government.
Bhutto voiced his infamous phrase, “Udhar
tum, idhar hum” (there you, here me) – thus dividing Pakistan verbally. The
same attitudes and emotions were expressed in East Pakistan.
Gen. Yahya convened National
Assembly first session in Dacca on March 3, 1971. Z.A.Bhutto and some rightist leaders denied
to attend the N.A session in Dacca.
On 12 Jan. 1971, General Yahya Khan
held a decisive meeting with Sheikh Mujib.
Sheikh Mujib was not prepared to concede an inch on any ground and the
President closed the meeting in digust. He left Dhaka in anger and went
straight to Larkana where he was hosted by Bhutto for two days. There they were
joined by Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan. During the next two days, momentous decisions
were taken about the fate of the country. A lot has been written about this
meeting but it is all guess work. None is alive now and nothing on official
records of their meeting proceedings.
During Jan. and Feb. 1971, Gen.
Yahya had visualized the possibility of a military crackdown accompanied by the
suspension of all political activity. He
therefore prepared a plan called Operation Blitz. It meant the suspension of
all political activities in the country and a reversion of Martial Law rule in East
Pakistan.
Gen. Yahya backed up from convening
National Assembly session in Dhaka and on 6th March he blamed Sheikh
Mujib for the crisis by not allowing any concessions in his six points
manifesto.
On 7th March the army
was put on full alert to go into action in the event of Mujib’s declaration of
Independence in his public speech.
On March 7, Mujib successfully
contained in his public speech the pressure of the extremist wing of his party
to announce Independence, and left the room of negotiations with Pakistan army
open within the framework of united Paksitan (Stranger in My Own Country, by
Lt. Gen. Khadim Hussein Raja).
Tikka Khan sent out to put down the
unrest swelling in East Pakistan.
On 25th March Tikka Khan
diected the brutal military crackdown (Operation Searchlight) with the help of
Major Gen. Rao Farman Ali and other Army Generals that stunned the Bengalis
with gross violence, atrocities and massive human rights abuses.
Lt. General Yaqub Khan, the then commander
of East Command insisted that Gen. Yahya must not postpone the session of the
National Assembly elected after the 1970 Elections. He insisted that the
President should visit Dhaka in person at the earliest, and take decisions that
only he could take. Yaqub sent several
messages, via telephone and in writing but President was not convinced tht his
presence would help. Gen. Yaqub informed to Peerzada, the personal secretary of
the President, that since the President’s visit did not materialize, he was
unable to carry on with his responsibilities; he was resigning from his post,
and that the written resignation would be communicated on the morning of 5th
March, 1971.[1]
Gen. Niazi was sent to Dhaka to
replace Gen. Yaqub Khan and he took the command of East Pakistan.
Hartal and boycott started
countrywide March 7, countrywide on call from Awami League. Mujib house in
Dhanmandi, Dhaka, became the focal point of all political activities and Awami
League high command went into round-the-clock session there. Responsibilities
were delegated for all functions of the government including the public utility
services, banks, transportation and the information media. Even the buses and railway trains were left
at wayside stations where they were deserted by their staff. The Dhaka airport staff also went on strike
and disappeared. The unity of action and
purpose demonstrated by the entire province was surprisingly complete. The Martial Law Administrator, at this stage,
was left with no one to answer his commands, except his troops. In fact, it seemed obvious that on a clarion
call from Sheikh Mujib, they would even take up arms in his support.
However, with every passing day
Awami Leave tightened its grip on the administration in East Pakistan. All organs fo the government reported to
Sheikh Mujib's headquarters for instructions.
Even Inspector General of Police stopped coming to Martial Law
headquarters, but started reporting to Sheikh Mujib’s residence. Sheikh Mujib had, in the meantime, announced
that he would address a public rally at the Ramna Race Course on 7 March 1971 at
4 p.m.
Tikka Khan had settled down for
barely a weekwhen President Yahya Khan arrived on 15 March He called fact finding conference the evening
he arrived. He was explained the details
of the prevailing situation. On 16
March, he went into negotiations with Sheikh Mujib.
“At about 10 p.m. on 17 March,
Tikka Khan informed Maj. Gen. Ferman, Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan and me that the negotiations
with Sheikh Mujib were not proceeding satisfactory and the President, therefore,
wanted us to be ready for military action and to prepare a plan accordingly. No further verbal or written directions were
issued.
On the morning of 18 March, Farman
and I assembled in my office to work on the plan. Short of time, we agreed on the broad details
of the plan. The President had his own plan—to flee from Dhaka prior to the
military action.”[2]
“On 21 March Mr. Bhutto arrived
with his party advisers and lieutenants and joined negotiations with Sheikh Mujib
which reportedly failed. On failure of
negotiations, he returned to West Pakistan safely.
The new plan, prepared by Farman
Ali and me was named ‘Searchlight’. I
was instructed to put Operation Searchlight into action on the night between 25
and 26 of March 1971. This was a
momentous decision and I was very sad for the country. The President had apparently decided to dump
East Pakistan and let it go its own way. He seemed to be concerned about his
personal safety only. Therefore, he left Dhaka under some sort of a cover plan
at about 7 p.m. on 25th March, which fooled nobody except, probably,
himself.”[3]
After disarming of almost all
centers of the East Pakistan Rifles, elements of the East Bengal Regiment and
the Reserve Police, the Pakistan Army, in collusion with religious extremist
razakars of Al-Badr and Al-Shams, engaged in the systematic genocide and
atrocities of Bengali civilians, particularly nationalists, youth and religious
minorities.[4] Neighboring India provided economic, military
and diplomatic support to Bengali nationalists.
Bangladesh government-in-exile was set up in Calcutta. Mujib was arrested and flown to West
Pakistan. Most of the Awami League
leaders fled and set up a government-in-exile in Calcutta, declaring Bangladesh
an independent state.
The civil was created a widespread
displacement of civilians in East Pakistan and widespread violations of human
rights – carried out by the Pakistan Army with support from political and
religious militias, beginning with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25th
March 1971. Independent researchers put
the toll at 300,000 to 500,000. A
further eight to ten million people fled the country to seek safety in India.[5] Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000
women raped, giving birth to thousands of war babies.[6]
Wary of the growing involvement of
India, the Pakistan Air Force launched a pre-emptive strike, called Operation Chengiz
Khan, on Indian Air Force planes on the
ground. The strike was seen by India as
an open act of unprovoked aggression.
This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistan War. Three Indian corps was involved in the liberation
of East Pakistan. They were supported by
nearly three brigades of Mukti Bahini fighting alongside them, and many more
fighting irregularly.
This was far superior to the
Pakistani army of three divisions. The
Indians quickly overran the country selectively engaging or bypassing heavily
defended strongholds. Pakistani forces
were unable to effectively counter the Indian attack, as they had been deployed
in small units around the border to counter guerrilla attacks by the Mukti
Bahini. Unable to defend Dhaka, the
Pakistanis surrendered on 16 December 1971.[7]
On 16 Dec. Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi,
CO of Pakistan Army forces located in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of
Surrender. Over 93000 Pakistani troops
surrendered to the Indian forces, making it the largest surrender since World
War II.
To ensure a smooth transition, the
Simla Agreement was signed in 1972, between India and Pakistan. The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognized
the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani
93000 PoWs.[8]
For full episodes of Army actions,
failure of political negotiations, faulty political decisions of the leadership
of Pakistan Peoples Party, and for fact finding search, it is highly
recommended to read through the pages of Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report.
ISRAR HASAN
14 Dec.
2014
[1] Lt. Gen.
Khadim Hussein Raja; “Stranger in My Own Country”; p.57
[2] Ibid.
Khadim Hussein Raja; p.71.
[3] Ibid.
p.79.
[4] “Leading
News Resource of Pakistan”, Daily Times, May 17, 2010; and
GenocideBangladesh.org. Retrieved
Dec. 14 2014.
[5] Rummel,
Rudolph J., “Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900”
Chap.8, Table 8.2 Pakistan Genocide in Bangladesh Estimates, Sources, and
Calculations.
[6] Menen,
Aubrey (23 Jul.1972). “The Rapes of Bangladesh”, The New York Times.
[7]
Encyclopedia Wikipedia, Chap. Bangladesh Liberation War 1971.
[8] Ibid.
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