The courageous Pakistan army stand on the eastern front —Sarmila Bose

[Ray]

On March 25, 1971 the Pakistani military forcibly confined all foreign reporters to the Hotel Intercontinental (currently the Dhaka Sheraton) in Dhaka. That night after 11pm the military launched its genocide campaign against the Bengali civilian population of then East Pakistan. The reporters were able to see the tank and artillary attacks on civilians from their hotel windows.

Two days later, as Dhaka burned the reporters were expelled from the country – their notes and tapes were confiscated. One of the expelled reporters was Sidney Schanberg of the New York Times. He would return to East Pakistan in June 1971 to report on the massacres in Bengali towns and villages. He would again be expelled by the Pakistan military at the end of June.

Two foreign reporters escaped the roundup on March 25. One of them was Simon Dring of the Daily Telegraph. He evaded capture by hiding on the roof of the Hotel Intercontinental. Dring was able to extensively tour Dhaka the next day and witness first hand the slaughter that was taking place. Days later Simon Dring was able to leave East Pakistan with his reporter's notes. On March 30, 1971 the Daily Telegraph published Simon Dring's front page story of the slaughter in Dhaka that the army perpetrated in the name of "God and a united Pakistan".

Click here for selected quotes from different international Newspaper reports. You can find various chronological reports in the tables below. Click the live links to read the reports.

The massacres in Dacca were only part of the story however. The Pakistan army had begun a campaign of genocide that extended to all major cities and towns in Bangladesh and then moved out into the countryside to terrorize, murder and rape Bengali villagers. With foreign reporters expelled and a complete news censorship in place, the Pakistan army declared that the situation in East Pakistan was "normal".

However as Bengali refugees fled to neighboring India they brought with them stories of horror. The refugee flow had reached millions and by December 1971 about 10 million Bengalis had fled East Pakistan.

In April 1971 the Pakistan army flew in 8 Pakistani reporters from West Pakistan for guided tours with the military. Their mission was to tell the story of normalcy. The reporters went back to West Pakistan after their military guided tours and dutifully filed stories declaring all was normal in East Pakistan. However, one of the 8 reporters had a crisis of conscience. This reporter was Anthony Mascarenhas, the assistant editor of the West Pakistani newspaper Morning News.

On May 18, 1971 Mascarenhas flew to London and walked into the offices of the Sunday Times offering to write the true story of what he had witnessed in East Pakistan. After getting agreement from the Sunday Times he went back to Pakistan to retrieve his family. On June 13, 1971 with Mascarenhas and his family safely out of Pakistan the Sunday Times published a front page and center page story entitled "Genocide". It was the first detailed eyewitness account of the genocide published in a western newspaper.

In June of 1971, under pressure and in need of economic assistance, Pakistan allowed a World Bank team to visit East Pakistan. The World Bank team reported back that East Pakistan lay in ruins. One member of the team reported that the East Pakistani town of Kushtia looked "like a World War II German town having undergone strategic bombing attacks" as a result of the Pakistani army's "punitive action" on the town. He also reported that the army "terrorizes the population, particularly aiming at the Hindus and suspected members of the Awami League". The Word Bank president, Robert McNamara, suppressed the public release of the report. To no avail. The report was leaked to the New York Times.

Dispite the Pakistani military's best efforts at hiding the truth about their genocide campaign against Bengalis, reports filtered out of East Pakistan to the outside world thanks in part to the efforts of determined foreign news reporters. Following are foreign newspaper reports from the beginning of the genocide in March 1971 to its end. They chronicle the bloody birth of Bangladesh.

 

[Ray]

March 1971
3/27/1971 Daily Telegraph Civil war flares in E. Pakistan
3/27/1971 Daily Telegraph EDITORIAL: Pakistan's civil war
3/27/1971 Daily Telegraph Jinnah's dream of unity dissolves in blood
3/27/1971 The Age (Australia) Dacca breaks with Pakistan
3/27/1971 The Times of London Heavy fighting as Sheikh Mujibur Declares E. Pakistan independent.
3/27/1971 The Boston Globe East Pakistan secedes: civil war breaks out
3/27/1971 The New York Times Leader of rebels in East Pakistan reported seized
3/28/1971 Sunday Telegraph Army take over after night of shelling
3/28/1971 Sunday Telegraph EDITORIAL: The victims
3/28/1971 Sunday Telegraph Pakistani bombers 'hit rebel town'
3/28/1971 New York Times Army expels 35 foreign newsmen from Pakistan
3/28/1971 New York Times Artillary used
3/28/1971 New York Times Toll called high
3/29/1971 Daily Telegraph Army in complete control
3/29/1971 Daily Telegraph Casualties likely to be heavy
3/29/1971 Daily Telegraph East wing sealed off
3/29/1971 Daily Telegraph EDITORIAL: Divide or rule
3/29/1971 Daily Telegraph No mercy in Pakistan fighting
3/29/1971 New York Times Sticks and spears against tanks
3/29/1971 The Age (Australia) EDITORIAL: Pakistan tragedy
3/29/1971 The Age (Australia) Pakistanis rally to Sheik's call
3/29/1971 The Age (Australia) War comes at last to a divided nation
3/29/1971 The Age (Australia) When tanks took over the talking
3/29/1971 The Sydney Morning Herald EDITORIAL: Plunge into chaos
3/30/1971 Daily Telegraph Tanks crush revolt in Pakistan
3/30/1971 Daily Telegraph Reporter slips net
3/30/1971 New York Times Heavy killing reported
3/31/1971 The Guardian Heavy fighting and burning in Chittagong
3/31/1971 New York Times EDITORIAL: In the name of Pakistan
April 1971
4/1/1971 New York Times Appaling tragedy in East Pakistan
4/3/1971 New York Times A resistance fighter tells his story
4/4/1971 The Sunday Times Nicholas Tomalin witnesses a massacre
4/4/1971 New York Times Britons tell of killings
4/4/1971 New York Times EDITORIAL: 'All part of a game' – a grim and deadly one
4/4/1971 Sunday Telegraph Starvation threat to E. Pakistan
4/5/1971 Newsweek Pakistan plunges into civil war
4/7/1971 New York Times EDITORIAL: Bloodbath in Bengal
4/9/1971 New York Times Families flee town
4/13/1971 The Guardian PICTURE: Refugees flee Kushtia
4/14/1971 The Guardian EDITORIAL: Rhetoric and reality
4/14/1971 New York Times Bengalis form a cabinet as the bloodshed goes on
4/16/1971 CBS Evening News East Pakistani Refugees Fleeing to India
4/17/1971 New York Times Hours of terror for a trapped Bengali officer
4/18/1971 New York Times In this case, war is hell for one side only
4/18/1971 New York Times Keating report stirs Pakistanis
4/19/1971 Newsweek Pakistan: Reign of Terror
4/25/1971 New York Times Refugees worry Indian officials
4/26/1971 Newsweek Pakistan: Vultures and Wild Dogs
May 1971
5/1/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review India-Pakistan: warclouds mass
5/2/1971 New York Times The political tidal wave that struck East Pakistan
5/6/1971 New York Times Foreign news reports criticized
5/7/1971 New York Times Pakistani general disputes reports of casualties
5/7/1971 Washington Post Aide admits massacre in East Pakistan
5/9/1971 New York Times Bengalis depict how a priest died
5/10/1971 New York Times All serious opposition seems ended in East Pakistan
5/12/1971 New York Times EDITORIAL: The vultures of Bengal
5/12/1971 Washington Evening Star Vultures too full to fly: East Pakistani Calamity defies belief
5/13/1971 New York Times Army men in Pakistan see heresy in Western style education there
5/13/1971 The Baltimore Sun US asked not to aid Pakistan
5/14/1971 The Baltimore Sun EDITORIAL: Pakistan story
5/16/1971 New York Times That shadow in the sky is a vulture – a fat one
5/16/1971 The Boston Globe "Jai Bangla" A Bengali cry of national pride, now muted
5/22/1971 Saturday Review Genocide in East Pakistan
5/25/1971 New York Times Pakistani strife said to continue
5/27/1971 The Guardian LETTER: East Bengal atrocities
June 1971
6/9/1971 New York Times Disease, hunger and death stalk refugees along India's border
6/10/1971 Le Monde, France Bengal corpses in the wake of a crusading army
6/10/1971 Reuters Move to cut Aid to Pakistan
6/10/1971 Washington Post East Pakistan : A Wound Unhealed
6/13/1971 The Sunday Times EDITORIAL: Stop the killing
6/13/1971 The Sunday Times Genocide (Front Page story)
6/13/1971 The Sunday Times Genocide (Center Page story)
6/13/1971 New York Times Pakistani charges massacre by army
6/18/1971 LIFE They are dying so fast that we can't keep count
6/20/1971 New York Times The only way to describe it is hell
6/21/1971 New York Times East Pakistan is reopened to newsmen
6/23/1971 New York Times EDITORIAL: Abetting repression
6/25/1971 Hong Kong Standard EDITORIAL: Another Genghis
6/28/1971 Newsweek (Page 43-44) The Terrible Blood Bath of Tikka Khan
July 1971
7/1/1971 New York Times Correspondent of the Times ousted from East Pakistan
7/3/1971 New Yorker The talk of the town; Notes and Comments
7/4/1971 New York Times An alien army imposes its will
7/4/1971 New York Times Hindus are targets of army terror in an East Pakistani town
7/11/1971 The Sunday Times A regime of thugs and bigots
7/11/1971 The Sunday Times The Repression of Bengal
7/13/1971 New York Times World Bank unit says Pakistan aid is pointless now
7/13/1971 New York Times Excerpts from World Bank group's report on East Pakistan
7/14/1971 New York Times EDITORIAL: Pakistan condemned
7/14/1971 New York Times West Pakistan pursues subjugation of Bengalis
7/14/1971 The Boston Globe Plea from CARE
7/16/1971 New Statesman, London West Both Sides of Disaster : On refugees
7/17/1971 New York Times A Pakistani terms Bengalis 'chicken hearted'
7/23/1971 Wall Street Journal A Nation Divided
7/31/1971 The Economist, London Time is running out in Bengal
August 1971
8/1/1971 New York Times Why they fled
8/1/1971 St. Louis Post-Dispatch EDITORIAL: Obligations in Pakistan
8/5/1971 New York Times 14 Pakistani aides quit missions in US
8/5/1971 New York Times The ravaged people of East Pakistan
8/12/1971 Daily Telegraph PICTURE: Senator Kennedy visits refugee camp
8/14/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review A people's war
8/14/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review Pakistan – Blow to Confidence Page 1, Page 2
8/17/1971 Daily Telegraph Halt US aid for Yahya, says shaken Kennedy
8/17/1971 New York Times Kennedy in India terms Pakistani drive genocide
8/17/1971 Washington Post Kennedy charges genocide in Pakistan
8/28/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review Who is my neighbor?
8/28/1971 Los Angeles Times Pakistan Arms Dispute Exaggerated, U.S. Says
8/28/1971 Los Angeles Times India Priest Pleads for Aid in Pakistan Crisis
September 1971
9/3/1971 The Times, London Statement by Dr. Peter Shore, British M.P.
9/4/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review East Pakistan: the avengers
9/4/1971 Los Angeles Times East Pakistan leaders sworn in
9/11/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review Pakistan, a little hope
9/19/1971 Los Angeles Times Agha Khan Yields on Constitution
9/23/1971 New York Times Bengali refugees say soldiers continue to kill, loot and burn
9/25/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review Fighters of Darkness
October 1971
10/6/1971 Los Angeles Times Pakistan Tells U.N. of Acts of War by India
10/10/1971 The Sunday Times Pakistan: The propaganda War Page 1, Page 2
10/14/1971 New York Times Horrors of East Pakistan turning hope into despair
10/17/1971 New York Times The grim fight for Bangla Desh
10/18/1971 The Guardian Dhaka Guerillas start offensive
10/24/1971 New York Times Pakistan offers seized TV films
10/26/1971 The Sunday Times Stop the slaughter
November 1971
11/5/1971 New York Times Wave of Sabotage in East Bengal as border tension rises
11/9/1971 New York Times Bengal Guerillas set up number of assassinations and bombings
11/13/1971 Los Angeles Times Rogers Fears Indo-Pakistan War Soon
11/13/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review India-Pakistan: UNDECLARED WAR
11/16/1971 Los Angeles Times India, Pakistan May Go to War Over East Bengal–and Add to the Suffering
11/17/1971 New York Times East Pakistan town after raid by army
11/20/1971 Far Eastern Economic Review Faith in Bengal's Fighters
11/21/1971 New York Times Razakars: Pakistani group helps both sides
11/27/1971 Los Angeles Times Jessore May Hold Key to Pakistani Outcome
11/27/1971 Los Angeles Times U.S. Says It Is Trying to Ease Crisis
11/27/1971 Los Angeles Times Heavy Pakistan Fighting reported
December 1971
12/4/1971 New York Times Mrs. Gandhi's statement
12/6/1971 New York Times The wringing of hands
12/7/1971 New York Times Dacca listens and waits
12/9/1971 New York Times Bengalis dance and shout at liberation of Jessore
12/9/1971 New York Times Pakistan's holy war
12/10/1971 New York Times India reports foe in rout in East as encirclement of Dacca gains
12/10/1971 The Harvard Crimson Pakistanis Retreat to Dacca
12/10/1971 The Evening Star (Washington) Jubilant Begalis celebrate freedom
12/12/1971 New York Times The crucial fact is that Pakistanis are hated
12/15/1971 New York Times Forces closing in
12/15/1971 Washington Post Witness called E. Pakistan terror beyond description
12/16/1971 New York Times Bhutto denounces council and walks out in tears
12/16/1971 New York Times Text of message from General Manekshaw to General Niazi
12/16/1971 New York Times Bombing is halted
12/16/1971 The Times of London Pakistani General, near to tears, signs at racecourse ceremony
12/16/1971 The Times of London Parliament's joyful ovation for Mrs. Gandhi
12/17/1971 New York Times 2 men at a table; march to Dacca
12/17/1971 New York Times In Dacca killings amid the revelry
12/17/1971 New York Times Statements by Mrs. Gandhi on truce and surrender
12/17/1971 New York Times The surrender document
12/19/1971 New York Times 125 slain in Dacca area believed elite of Bengal
12/20/1971 New York Times Not to be forgotten
12/21/1971 New York Times A village ablaze, a blown bridge
12/22/1971 New York Times Who knows how many millions have been killed
12/29/1971 New York Times Guerrillas seek lost relatives
12/29/1971 New York Times Hindu refugees return, find ruins in East Pakistan
12/30/1971 New York Times A day of terror for 50,000 Bengalis
January 1972
1/3/1972 New York Times A journalist is linked to murder of Bengalis
1/6/1972 New York Times Texts of secret documents on top level US discussions of Indian-Pakistani war
1/9/1972 Daily Telegraph Sheikh Mujib flies in and sees Heath
1/9/1972 New York Times Backstage with the crisis managers
1/10/1972 Daily Telegraph Yahya Khan accused of sex orgies
1/10/1972 Washington Post The killings at Hariharpara
1/11/1972 New York Times Sheik Mujib home
1/14/1972 New York Times Text of memo on Indian-Pakistan war
1/16/1972 New York Times Hindu refugees back in Dacca find themselves without homes
1/18/1972 New York Times Bengali wives raped in war are said to face ostracism
1/23/1972 New York Times 'I'm alive!' is still big news
1/24/1972 New York Times Bengalis land a vast cemetery
1/30/1972 Washington Post Bengalis bodies found
February 1972
2/5/1972 New York Times US sent arms to Pakistan despite pledge to Congress
March 1972
3/5/1972 New York Times Killing of babies feared in Bengal
3/18/1972 New York Times India opens way for Dacca trials
3/22/1972 Washington Post UN asked to aid Bengali abortions
May 1972
5/12/1972 New York Times Dacca raising the status of women while aiding rape victims
July 1972
7/23/1972 New York Times The rapes of Bangladesh

Original: Mashuqur Rahman, MMR Jalal & NY Bangla with updates of more links

 

[Ray]

Other reports:

TIME Magazine:

1969:

April 04, 1969: The army takes over Pakistan

1970:

December 6, 1970: East Pakistan: The Politics of Catastrophe

1971:

April 5, 1971: Pakistan -toppling over the brink

Raise your hand and join me

April 12, 1971: Pakistan: Round 1 to the West

April 26, 1971: Pakistan: The Push toward the Borders

May 3, 1971 : Dacca – The city of the dead

June 21, 1971: The Bengali Refugees: A Surfeit of Woe

July 5, 1971: The most fearful consequence

August 2, 1971: Pakistan: The Ravaging of Golden Bengal

August 23, 1971: Mujib's secret trial

Oct 25, 1971: East Pakistan: Even the Skies Weep

Dec. 6, 1971: Conflict in Asia: India v Pakistan
# A letter from the publisher
# India and Pakistan: Poised for War
# Hindu and Moslem: The Gospel of Hate

Dec. 13, 1971:
# India and Pakistan: Over the Edge

Dec. 20, 1971 The Bloody Birth of Bangladesh
# Out Of War, a Nation is Born
# The U.S.: A Policy in Shambles

Dec. 27, 1971:
# India: Easy victory, Uneasy Peace
# "We Know How the Parisains Felt"
Time correspondent Dan Coggin, who covered the war from the Pakistani
side, was in Dacca when that city surrendered. (His report)

1972:

January 3, 1972: Ali Bhutto Begins to Pick Up the Pieces

Vengeance in Victory

January 10, 1972: Painful adjustment.

January 17, 1972: Mujib's Road from Prison to Power

Great man or Rabble-Rouser?

January 24, 1972: A hero returns home

February 14, 1972: Recognizing reality

February 28, 1972: Bleak Future

April 3, 1972: Not yet a country

1973:

January 1, 1973: Not Yet Shonar Bangla

September 17, 1973: Wrapping Up the War

1974:

April 12, 1974: End of a Bad Dream

1975:

September 1, 1975: After the Massacre

December 8, 1975: The Border of Tension

The New York Times article abstracts:

April 1st week, 1971 article abstracts with ISBN No.

April 2nd week, 1971 article abstracts with ISBN No.

April 3rd week, 1971 article abstracts with ISBN No.

April 4th week, 1971 article abstracts with ISBN No.

May 1st week, 1971 article abstracts with ISBN No.

Genocide!

 

[Ray]

I could append many more reports.

So, Sarmila Bose is right and all others are bogus!

Right?

Research is important before sensation!

I would only request all to read all my posts right from my reply to Ajtr at post # 13 and use the links for more details which I may have missed!

In another thread I had written about the power of disinformation!

So, who has gone off the tangent?

Sarmila Bose, the Indian and now the heroine of Pakistan, or the rest of the world?

 

[pmaitra]

I am seriously beginning to doubt that the writer is indeed Sarmila Bose. I am also not discounting the possibility of an impostor writing such reports, or Sarmila Bose has been offered a lot of money to carry out a propaganda or that she has lost her mind. In any event, whosoever wrote this article must be relegated to the back-burner. It's a shame, if true, that she is even remotely related to Netaji.

 

[anoop_mig25]

why is that Indian writes something very much opposite to what what has already been written verified by previouslly by various autors. i see this attitude only among Indians. i have never see such thing in any Pakistani they never diverge far away form official stand .

Indian goi as usual spineless

is such thing as taken as freedom of speech

 

[alone]

If it was not Sharmila Bose the niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose i would've ignored this article. I'm not sure if Shramila Bose is in same league of Romila thapar and arundhati roy et.al or not!!!!!!!

The courageous Pakistan army stand on the eastern front —Sarmila Bose​

Sarmila Bose - The author is the niece of Subhas Chandra Bose or Netaji of Indian National Army fame who fought against the British supporting the Japanese. He is considered as a great hero in Bengal and India.

There is much for Pakistan to come to terms with what happened in 1971. But the answers don't lie in unthinking vilification of the fighting men who performed so well in the war against such heavy odds in defence of the national policy. Rather, in failing to honour them, the nation dishonours itself. My introduction to international politics was 1971, as a schoolgirl in Calcutta.

Many images from that year are still etched in my mind, but the culminating one was the photo on Ramna racecourse of two men sitting at a table — the smart, turbaned Sikh, 'our' war-hero, Jagjit Singh Aurora, and the largeman in a beret, A A K Niazi, commander of the other side, signing the instrument of surrender.

Nearly a generation later, a chance interview for the BBC with Lt Gen.Aurora took me back to 1971. The interview was not about 1971, but about injustices suffered by Sikhs at the hands of the state General Aurora had served.

I thought he was a bigger hero for what he had to say then. That view was reinforced as I read — with incredulity — the disparaging remarks by other Indian officers about him, and each other, in their books. If this is what happened to the winning commander, I wondered what had happened to the other man in the photo. The result was a revelation. It turns out that General Niazi has been my 'enemy' since the Second World War.

As Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army fought on the Burma front in 1943-45 in their quest for India's freedom, Niazi was fighting on the other side, for the British Indian Army, under the overall command of General (later Field Marshal) William Joseph Slim. Slim and his 14th Army halted the advance of the INA and the Japanese at the Imphal campaign and turned the course of the war.

In the process of inflicting military defeat upon my ancestor, Niazi's performance was so exceptional that the British awarded him an on-the-spot Military Cross for action on the Assam-Burma front in June 1944.

On another occasion they wanted to award a DSO, but he was too junior, so a Mention in Despatches was recorded. In the original record of his MC signed by his commanding officers all the way up to Slim, which I obtained from the British Ministry of Defence, the British commanders describe Niazi's gallantry in detail: "He organized the attack with such skill that his leading platoon succeeded in achieving complete surprise over the enemy." They speak of how he personally led his men, the 'great skill and coolness' under fire with which he changed tactics with changing circumstances, created diversionary attacks, extricated his wounded, defeated the enemy and withdrew his men by section, remaining personally at the rear in every case
The British honoured Niazi for "personal leadership, bravery and complete disregard for his own personal safety." On 15 December 1944 the Viceroy Lord Wavell flew to Imphal and in the presence of Lord Mountbatten knighted Slim and his corps commanders Stopford, Scoones and Christison. Only two 'Indian' officers were chosen to be decorated by the Viceroy at that ceremony — 'Tiger' Niazi was one of them. In 1971 Niazi was a highly decorated Pakistani general, twice receiving theHilal-e-Jurat..

He was sent to East Pakistan in April 1971 — part of a sorry tradition in South Asia of political rulers attempting to find military solutions to political problems. By then Tikka Khan had already launched the crackdown of 25 March for which he has been known to Bengalis as the 'butcher of Bengal ' ever since. The population of East Bengal was completely hostile and Pakistan condemned around the world.

Authoritative scholarly analyses of 1971 are rare. The best work is Richard Sisson and Leo Rose's War and Secession. Robert Jackson, fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford, wrote an account shortly after the events. Most of the principal participants did not write about it, a notable exception being Gen. Niazi's recent memoirs (1998). Some Indian officers have written books of uneven quality — they make for an embarrassing read for what the Indians have to say about one another.

However, a consistent picture emerges from the more objective accounts of the war. Sisson and Rose describe how India started assisting Bengali rebels since April, but "the Muktib Bahini had not been able to prevent the Pakistani army from regaining control over all the major urban centers on the East Pakistani-Indian border and even establishing a tenuous authority in most of the rural areas."

From July to October there was direct involvement of Indian military personnel. ""¦mid-October to 20 November"¦ Indian
artillery was used much more extensively in support "¦and Indian military forces, including tanks and air power on a few occasions, were also used"¦Indian units were withdrawn to Indian territory once their objectives had been brought under the control of the Mukti Bahini — though at times this was only for short periods, as, to the irritation of the Indians, the Mukti Bahini forces rarely held their ground when the Pakistani army launched a counterattack." Clearly, the Pakistani army regained East Pakistan for their masters in Islamabad by April-May, creating an opportunity for a political settlement, and held off both Bengali guerrillas and their Indian supporters till November, buying more time — time and opportunity that Pakistan 's rulers and politicians failed to utilise.

Contrary to Indian reports, full-scale war between India and Pakistan started in East Bengal on 21 November, making it a four-week war rather than a 'lightning campaign'. Sisson and Rose state bluntly: "After the night of 21 November"¦Indian forces did not withdraw. From 21 to 25 November several Indian army divisions"¦launched simultaneous military actions on all of the key border regions of East Pakistan , and from all directions, with both armored and air support." Indian officers like Sukhwant Singh and Lachhman Singh write quite openly in their books about India invading East Pakistani territory inNovember,which they knew was 'an act of war'. None of the outside scholars expected the Eastern garrison to withstand a full Indian invasion.

On the contrary, Pakistan 's longstanding strategy was "the defense of the east is in the west". Jackson writes, "Pakistani forces had largely withdrawn from scattered border-protection duties into cleverly fortified defensive positions at the major centres inside the frontiers, where they held all the major 'place names' against Mukti Bahini attacks, and blocked the routes of entry from India"¦"

Sisson and Rose point out the incongruity of Islamabad tolerating India's invasion of East Pakistani territory in November. On 30 November Niazi received a message from General Hamid stating,

"The whole nation is proud of you and you have their full support." The same day Islamabad decided to launch an attack in the West on 2 December, later postponed to 3 December, after a two-week wait,but did not inform the Eastern command about it. According to Jackson,the Western offensive was frustrated by 10 December.Though futile, the Western offensive allowed India to openly invade the East,with overwhelming advantages. " "¦despite all these advantages, the war did not go as smoothly and easily for the Indian army"¦", but Sisson andRose come to the balanced judgment that "The Pakistanis fought hard and well; the Indian army won an impressive victory." Even Indian officers concede the personal bravery of Niazi and the spirited fight put up by the Pakistanis in the East. That the troops fought so well against such overwhelming odds is a credit both to them,and to their commanders, for an army does not fight well in the absence of good leadership.

However, as Jackson put it, ""¦ India 's success was inevitable from the momentthe general war broke out — unless diplomatic intervention couldfrustrate it." As is well known, Pakistan failed to secure military or diplomatic intervention.Sisson and Rose also say, "The outcome of the conflict on the eastern front after 6 December was not in doubt, as the Indian military had all the
advantages." On 14 December Niazi received the following message fromYahya Khan: "You have fought a heroic battle against overwhelming odds. The nation is proud of you "¦

You have now reached a stage where further resistance is no longer humanly possible nor will it serve any useful purpose"¦

You should now take all necessary measures to stop the fighting and preserve the lives of armed forces personnel, all those from West Pakistan and all loyal elements"¦"Sisson and Rose naturally describe this message as "implying that the armed forces in East Pakistan should surrender".

No matter how traumatic the outcome of 1971 for Pakistan , the Eastern command did not create the conflict, nor were they responsible for the failure of the political and diplomatic process. Sent to do the dirty work of the political manoeuvrers, the fighting men seem to have performed remarkably wellagainst overwhelming odds.

It is shocking therefore to discover that they were not received with honour by their nation on their return. Their commander, Niazi, appears to have been singled out, along with one aide, to be punished arbitrarily with dismissal and denial of pension, without being given the basic right to defend himself through a court-martial, which he asked for. The commission set up allegedly to examine what had happened in 1971 was too flawed in its terms of reference and report to have any international credibility.

However, even its recommendations of holding public trials and court-martials were ignored. There is much for Pakistan to come to terms with what happened in 1971. But the answers don't lie in unthinking vilification of the fighting men who performed so well in the war against such heavy odds indefence of the national policy. Rather, in failing to honour them, the nation dishonours itself.

Sarmila Bose is Assistant Editor, Ananda Bazar Patrika, India & Visiting Scholar, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

How can you even think of posting this article from delhi times aka islamabad times.Pakistanis abroad runs this site under pseudo name of delhi times.Please look at all the articles on this site,you people will get the clear picture.

One important point to be noted here that only Pakistanis write "Delhi" as "Dehli" i.e. its too common among Pakistanis to misplace 'HL' with 'LH' in "Delhi" due to Urdu/Punjabi influence

I agree with pmaitra regarding doubt about Sarmila bose writing this article.You never know Pakistanis they can fake names too in their propaganda.

 

[neo29]

Irrespective of who wrote this article ... the writer forgets that the so called courageous Pak army was famous for its genocide and mass rapes in Bangladesh. Besides courageous army fight till death and dont surrender shamefully.

 

[destiny]

It seems Sarmila Bose's article has pricked and deflated the boosted egos of lot many Indians here.The article is written by renowned/reputed Indian so people here can not term it as propaganda piece so what better way is to defame author by cheap talks by questioning her intentions and terming her to be a sold out.Its a good tactic by Indians and they employ is well deviously.Indians don't like authors like Arundhati Roy,Sarmila bose etc. coz they dont massage inflated Indian egos and they dare to call a spade a spade.So Internet warriors Indians attack them coz these versatile ladies to tell truth about darkest side of Indians.

 

[Ray]

It seems Sarmila Bose's article has pricked and deflated the boosted egos of lot many Indians here.The article is written by renowned/reputed Indian so people here can not term it as propaganda piece so what better way is to defame author by cheap talks by questioning her intentions and terming her to be a sold out.Its a good tactic by Indians and they employ is well deviously.Indians don't like authors like Arundhati Roy,Sarmila bose etc. coz they dont massage inflated Indian egos and they dare to call a spade a spade.So Internet warriors Indians attack them coz these versatile ladies to tell truth about darkest side of Indians.

There is no bloated ego involved.

It is just that facts of history and the world opinion of the time as it happened has been appended. Not generalities of Bose, which does not hold a candle in lights of the facts presented.

It does appear that you apparently are not near bred to logic.

You may revisit what the Bangladeshis have stated in their articles and that too with mathematical precision debunking Bose.

Since you wish to be clever than half and instead was over enthusiastic in your two penny, ha'penney glee, it escaped your logic and reading prowess that Bose, in a later paper, admitted to genocide, though contested the figures.

Since you have the pretensions that you are not an internet warrior, could you produce some evidence to debunk the various newspaper reports that have been appended in the posts, rather than sit in Judgement that you are Allah or God Almighty and you having spoken, that is the Gospel Truth!

Please debunk each of the posts if you can!

As they say in English, if you can't, then you had better put up or clam up!

Do spare us your dubious generalities that have no facts to prove itself.

And disabuse yourself of the pretentious assumption that you are some sort of an Oracle!

It is interesting that you fly the Australian flag and yet you post from Hyderabad!!

Too many people seem to be flying flags of convenience like tramp steamers on dubious and clandestine missions!

Your are right on one count - Indeed Sarmila Bose and A Roy do not massage Indian egos. They sure do massage Pakistan's ego and some!

 

[Virendra]

Bang on target Ray.

It is interesting that you fly the Australian flag and yet you post from Hyderabad!!
Too many people seem to be flying flags of convenience like tramp steamers on dubious and clandestine missions!

I'd say this kind of mischief should be brought to the notice of Mods and action be taken accordingly.:angry_6: