WAR 1971

[W.G.Ewald]

Re: Was Nixon Gay ?

Gay-rights activist and award-winning author Larry Kramer is 79 and in failing health, but that won't defuse the impact of his latest bombshell project: the first 800-page instalment of a two-part history of America that tells of the secret gay life of figures from Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to Mark Twain, Herman Melville and Richard Nixon.

Were Lincoln and Nixon gay? The 'history' book that is dividing America | World news | The Guardian

Just to be on topic, is Chuck Yeager on that list?

 

[Bhadra]

Re: Was Nixon Gay ?

Just to be on topic, is Chuck Yeager on that list?

Oh Yah.... Just thought if Richard Nixon were to be gay ... his attitude towards Indira Gandhi and his world view could have been affected by that .... as also his liking for the Pakistanis - specially Yahya Khan --

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.ucanews.com/news/black-property-law-still-haunts-bangladesh-minorities/73664

'Black' property law still haunts Bangladesh minorities

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Israel helped India in 1971 war, reveals book



http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...n-1971-war-reveals-book/article1-1146011.aspx

India may not have had diplomatic ties with Israel but New Delhi quietly sought and got arms from Tel Aviv as it prepared to go to war with Pakistan in 1971, a book has revealed.

The book, 1971, by scholar Srinath Raghavan offers fresh insights into the 14-day war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Raghavan accessed the PN Haksar papers maintained at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi. These papers document startling aspects of a war that is probably India’s finest military moment but has not been documented adequately. A diplomat, Haksar was also an adviser to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Raghavan’s research reveals that India’s ambassador to France DN Chatterjee began the process to get Israeli arms with a note to the external affairs ministry on July 6, 1971, saying assistance from Israel for “propaganda, finance and even procurement of armament and oil” would be “invaluable”.

Gandhi immediately accepted the proposal and through the country’s external intelligence agency R&AW began the process to get the arms through the tiny principality of Liechtenstein.

India didn’t have diplomatic ties with Israel at that time, having voted against its creation in 1948, and consistently supported the Arabs in the Israel-Palestine conflict.


Israel was in middle of an arms shortage but prime minister Golda Meir stepped in to divert arms meant for Iran to India. She sent a note addressed to Gandhi in Hebrew through Shlomo Zabuldowicz, the director of the firm handling the secret transfers, with a request for diplomatic ties in return for arms. The diplomatic ties, however, could only be established in 1992 when Narasimha Rao was the Indian PM.

Another note -- from then R&AW chief RN Kao on August 4, 1971 to Haksar — also finds mention in Raghavan’s book. The note detailed how the arms would be airlifted with a batch of Israeli instructors. The arms would eventually land up with the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini, the guerilla force of Bengalis who would force the Pakistanis to surrender.

Other revelations in the book include a secret agreement between Iran and Pakistan to give air cover to Karachi in case of an Indian attack. But the Shah of Iran reneged on the agreement, fearing retaliation from the Soviet Union.

Interestingly, while Gandhi was worried about Chinese intervention, the then charge de affairs of the Indian embassy, Brajesh Mishra, who would go on to be the national security adviser in the Vajpayee government, sent an authoritative assessment that China would stay out of the war.

Finally, the US move to send in the seventh fleet to “intimidate” India proved counter-productive. As soon as the American ships arrived, India decided to step up the offensive and para-dropped troops in Tangail to make a dash for Dhaka. As the capital fell, India forced a surrender before any international power could intervene.

 

[Ind4Ever]

Bangladesh stands by India; slams Pakistan for statement that India interfered during 1971 crisis
Published June 11, 2015 | By admin
SOURCE: ECONOMIC TIMES

Bangladesh on Wednesday came out strongly in India’s support, slamming Pakistan for its statement that India interfered during the 1971 political crisis in East Pakistan.

The assertion came a day after Pakistan’s foreign ministry issued a statement referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks during his Dhaka trip that India had supported Bangladesh’s freedom movement. The ministry criticised Modi’s “acknowledgement” of India’s “involvement” in the 1971 war and said his statemeent confirmed India’s negative role in the affairs of a sovereign neighbouring state.

“The Indian PM was candid to say that India supported the 1971 war of liberation. But this is not tantamount to interference in Pakistan, as New Delhi, as a friendly neighbor, stood by Bangladesh whose independence was proclaimed on March 26, 1971. Therefore, it was support from one country to the other against its fight with a third country (Pakistan),” Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanal Haq Inu told ET over phone from Dhaka.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Qazi M Khalilullah had said, “Indian politicians not only indulge in actions that are in violation of the United Nations’ Charter, but also take pride in recalling their interference in the internal affairs of other states.”

Claiming that Islamabad has been maintaining this stance since Bangladesh’s independence, Inu said that after the March 1971 declaration, the Sheikh Mujib government was recognized by other countries of South Asia as well. He said the then Indian government had stood by the newly formed regime of Bangladesh and, therefore, the question of intervention as claimed by Pakistan does not arise.

Inu claimed that Pakistan’s intelligence service ISI had encouraged and supported growth of radical forces and terror groups in Bangladesh, putting security of the region at peril. “The Hasina government has several and concrete evidence that Pakistan’s spy agency had propped up groups with support of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. Several of these elements participated in the Afghan war and then returned to foment trouble. The groups prospered under the regime of Khleda Zia between 2001 and 2006. And the erstwhile Khaleda government was waging a proxy war against India on behalf of Pakistan,” he said.


The minister pointed out that after Sheikh Hasina returned to power in 2008, she had taken tough steps to eliminate and control radical elements and groups in Bangladesh. It is no secret that Hasina also fulfilled a long-standing demand by deporting several insurgent leaders from the north east and dismantled their infrastructure, setting a new example in counter-terror cooperatation.

Inu reiterated Bangladesh’s long-standing demand that Pakistan should own up to atrocities committed against the Bangla-speaking people and tender an unconditional apology. Independent study estimates that 300,000-500,000 Bangladeshis were killed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army.


The Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson had also claimed that Islamabad believed in peaceful co-existence and maintaining good neighbourly relations with India, and that characterisation of bilateral relations by Prime Minister Modi as “nuisance” was unfortunate.

http://idrw.org/bangladesh-stands-b...ent-that-india-interfered-during-1971-crisis/

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatime...as-treatment-of-the-1971-pakistani-prisoners/

Modi reminds the world of India's treatment of the 1971 Pakistan prisoners

 

[aliyah]

if countries leadership have will,they can do anything

 

[Bhadra]

@Khagesh..
A Communist detected ....

 

[jackprince]

http://www.defencenews.in/defence-news-internal.aspx?id=2$$3/ZDbdMJQ=


Exactly 40 years ago, India won a famous victory over Pakistan due to its brilliant soldiers, an unwavering political leadership, and strong diplomatic support from Moscow. Less well known is Russia’s power play that prevented a joint British-American attack on India.

In 1971, India won a famous victory over Pakistan due to its brilliant soldiers, an unwavering political leadership, and strong diplomatic support from Moscow. Less well known is Russia’s power play that prevented a joint British-American attack on India.


Washington DC, December 3, 1971, 10:45am ::

US President Richard Nixon is on the phone with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, hours after Pakistan launched simultaneous attacks on six Indian airfields, a reckless act that prompted India to declare war.

Nixon: So West Pakistan giving trouble there.

Kissinger: If they lose half of their country without fighting they will be destroyed. They may also be destroyed this way but they will go down fighting.

Nixon: The Pakistan thing makes your heart sick. For them to be done so by the Indians and after we have warned the bitch (reference to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi). Tell them that when India talks about West Pakistan attacking them it's like Russia claiming to be attacked by Finland.


Washington, December 10, 1971, 10:51 am ::

A week later the war is not going very well for Pakistan, as Indian armour scythes through East Pakistan and the Pakistan Air Force is blown out of the subcontinent’s sky. Meanwhile, the Pakistani military in the west is demoralised and on the verge of collapse as the Indian Army and Air Force attack round the clock.

Nixon: Our desire is to save West Pakistan. That's all.

Kissinger: That's right. That is exactly right.

Nixon: All right. Keep those carriers moving now.

Kissinger: The carriers—everything is moving. Four Jordanian planes have already moved to Pakistan, 22 more are coming. We're talking to the Saudis, the Turks we've now found are willing to give five. So we're going to keep that moving until there's a settlement.

Nixon: Could you tell the Chinese it would be very helpful if they could move some forces or threaten to move some forces?

Kissinger: Absolutely.

Nixon: They've got to threaten or they've got to move, one of the two. You know what I mean?

Kissinger: Yeah.

Nixon: How about getting the French to sell some planes to the Paks?

Kissinger: Yeah. They're already doing it.

Nixon: This should have been done long ago. The Chinese have not warned the Indians.

Kissinger: Oh, yeah.

Nixon: All they've got to do is move something. Move a division. You know, move some trucks. Fly some planes. You know, some symbolic act. We're not doing a goddamn thing, Henry, you know that.

Kissinger: Yeah.

Nixon: But these Indians are cowards. Right?

Kissinger: Right. But with Russian backing. You see, the Russians have sent notes to Iran, Turkey, to a lot of countries threatening them. The Russians have played a miserable game.

If the two American leaders were calling Indians cowards, a few months earlier the Indians were a different breed altogether. This phone call is from May 1971.

Nixon: The Indians need—what they need really is a—

Kissinger: They’re such bastards.

Nixon: A mass famine. But they aren't going to get that…But if they're not going to have a famine the last thing they need is another war. Let the goddamn Indians fight a war.

Kissinger: They are the most aggressive goddamn people around there.


The 1971 war is considered to be modern India’s finest hour, in military terms. The clinical professionalism of the Indian army, navy and air force; a charismatic brass led by the legendary Sam Maneckshaw; and ceaseless international lobbying by the political leadership worked brilliantly to set up a famous victory. After two weeks of vicious land, air and sea battles, nearly 100,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered before India's rampaging army, the largest such capitulation since General Paulus' surrender at Stalingrad in 1943. However, it could all have come unstuck without help from veto-wielding Moscow, with which New Delhi had the foresight to sign a security treaty in 1970.

As Nixon’s conversations with the wily Kissinger show, the forces arrayed against India were formidable. The Pakistani military was being bolstered by aircraft from Jordan, Iran, Turkey and France. Moral and military support was amply provided by the US, China and the UK. Though not mentioned in the conversations here, the UAE sent in half a squadron of fighter aircraft and the Indonesians dispatched at least one naval vessel to fight alongside the Pakistani Navy.

However, Russia’s entry thwarted a scenario that could have led to multiple pincer movements against India.


Superpowers Face-Off ::

On December 10, even as Nixon and Kissinger were frothing at the mouth, Indian intelligence intercepted an American message, indicating that the US Seventh Fleet was steaming into the war zone. The Seventh Fleet, which was then stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin, was led by the 75,000 ton nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise. The world’s largest warship, it carried more than 70 fighters and bombers. The Seventh Fleet also included the guided missile cruiser USS King, guided missile destroyers USS Decatur, Parsons and Tartar Sam, and a large amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli.

Standing between the Indian cities and the American ships was the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet led by the 20,000-ton aircraft carrier, Vikrant, with barely 20 light fighter aircraft. When asked if India’s Eastern Fleet would take on the Seventh Fleet, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Vice Admiral N. Krishnan, said: “Just give us the orders.” The Indian Air Force, having wiped out the Pakistani Air Force within the first week of the war, was reported to be on alert for any possible intervention by aircraft from the Enterprise.

Meanwhile, Soviet intelligence reported that a British naval group led by the aircraft carrier Eagle had moved closer to India’s territorial waters. This was perhaps one of the most ironic events in modern history where the Western world’s two leading democracies were threatening the world’s largest democracy in order to protect the perpetrators of the largest genocide since the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. However, India did not panic. It quietly sent Moscow a request to activate a secret provision of the Indo-Soviet security treaty, under which Russia was bound to defend India in case of any external aggression.

The British and the Americans had planned a coordinated pincer to intimidate India: while the British ships in the Arabian Sea would target India’s western coast, the Americans would make a dash into the Bay of Bengal in the east where 100,000 Pakistani troops were caught between the advancing Indian troops and the sea.

To counter this two-pronged British-American threat, Russia dispatched a nuclear-armed flotilla from Vladivostok on December 13 under the overall command of Admiral Vladimir Kruglyakov, the Commander of the 10th Operative Battle Group (Pacific Fleet). Though the Russian fleet comprised a good number of nuclear-armed ships and atomic submarines, their missiles were of limited range (less than 300 km). Hence to effectively counter the British and American fleets the Russian commanders had to undertake the risk of encircling them to bring them within their target. This they did with military precision.

In an interview to a Russian TV programme after his retirement, Admiral Kruglyakov, who commanded the Pacific Fleet from 1970 to 1975, recalled that Moscow ordered the Russian ships to prevent the Americans and British from getting closer to “Indian military objects”. The genial Kruglyakov added: “The Chief Commander’s order was that our submarines should surface when the Americans appear. It was done to demonstrate to them that we had nuclear submarines in the Indian Ocean. So when our subs surfaced, they recognised us. In the way of the American Navy stood the Soviet cruisers, destroyers and atomic submarines equipped with anti-ship missiles. We encircled them and trained our missiles at the Enterprise. We blocked them and did not allow them to close in on Karachi, Chittagong or Dhaka."

At this point, the Russians intercepted a communication from the commander of the British carrier battle group, Admiral Dimon Gordon, to the Seventh Fleet commander: “Sir, we are too late. There are the Russian atomic submarines here, and a big collection of battleships.” The British ships fled towards Madagascar while the larger US task force stopped before entering the Bay of Bengal.

The Russian manoeuvres clearly helped prevent a direct clash between India and the US-UK combine. Newly declassified documents reveal that the Indian Prime Minister went ahead with her plan to liberate Bangladesh despite inputs that the Americans had kept three battalions of Marines on standby to deter India, and that the American aircraft carrier USS Enterprise had orders to target the Indian Army, which had broken through the Pakistani Army’s defences and was thundering down the highway to the gates of Lahore, West Pakistan’s second largest city.

According to a six-page note prepared by India's foreign ministry, "The bomber force aboard the Enterprise had the US President's authority to undertake bombing of the Indian Army's communications, if necessary."


China in the Box ::

Despite Kissinger’s goading and desperate Pakistani calls for help, the Chinese did nothing. US diplomatic documents reveal that Indira Gandhi knew the Soviets had factored in the possibility of Chinese intervention. According to a cable referring to an Indian cabinet meeting held on December 10, “If the Chinese were to become directly involved in the conflict, Indira Gandhi said, the Chinese know that the Soviet Union would act in the Sinkiang region. Soviet air support may be made available to India at that time.”

Interestingly, while the cable is declassified, the source and extensive details of the Indian Prime Minister’s briefing remain classified. “He is a reliable source” is all that the document says. There was very clearly a cabinet level mole the Americans were getting their information from.


Cold Warriors ::

Another telephone conversation between the scheming duo reveals a lot about the mindset of those at the highest echelons of American decision making:

Kissinger: And the point you made yesterday, we have to continue to squeeze the Indians even when this thing is settled.

Nixon: We've got to for rehabilitation. I mean, Jesus Christ, they've bombed—I want all the war damage; I want to help Pakistan on the war damage in Karachi and other areas, see?

Kissinger: Yeah

Nixon: I don't want the Indians to be happy. I want a public relations programme developed to piss on the Indians.

Kissinger: Yeah.

Nixon: I want to piss on them for their responsibility. Get a white paper out. Put down, White paper. White paper. Understand that?

Kissinger: Oh, yeah.

Nixon: I don't mean for just your reading. But a white paper on this.

Kissinger: No, no. I know.

Nixon: I want the Indians blamed for this, you know what I mean? We can't let these goddamn, sanctimonious Indians get away with this. They've pissed on us on Vietnam for 5 years, Henry.

Kissinger: Yeah.

Nixon: Aren't the Indians killing a lot of these people?

Kissinger: Well, we don't know the facts yet. But I'm sure they're not as stupid as the West Pakistanis—they don't let the press in. The idiot Paks have the press all over their place.


*************

A good, brief article showing why the double faced Americans can never be trusted by the Indians. It may be old news for most of us, but there's been some new members and this article is to the point and concise. So @mods you may merge it with some existing thread if there is any, and pardon me for not doing extensive search for an existing one.

This was perhaps one of the most ironic events in modern history where the Western world’s two leading democracies were threatening the world’s largest democracy in order to protect the perpetrators of the largest genocide since the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. However, India did not panic. It quietly sent Moscow a request to activate a secret provision of the Indo-Soviet security treaty, under which Russia was bound to defend India in case of any external aggression.

And, people wonder why India still doesn't leap with joy when those western nations send out feelers, and reluctant to part with Russia even now? India knows better than Pakistan to be treated like toilet paper. The USSR was a valued friend, and its heir Russia is our natural ally.

 

[Capricorn]

A good, brief article showing why the double faced Americans can never be trusted by the Indians.

There is no ' trust' in international relations. There are only interests.

India has done well thus far by not ' trusting' any nation by putting all its eggs in one basket.

Networking is the key.

 

[The enlightened]

There was a lot of posturing by the Americans and Russians. Neither would have eaten a single nuke for either India or Pakistan.

 

[Capricorn]

There was a lot of posturing by the Americans and Russians. Neither would have eaten a single nuke for either India or Pakistan.

Of course not.

They were posturing for their respective galleries.

 

[Sakal Gharelu Ustad]

Why is US double-faced in this case? They supported their stupid ally Pakistan as much as they could.

 

[Capricorn]

Why is US double-faced in this case? They supported their stupid ally Pakistan as much as they could.

That's how the world runs, no one is double faced.

Pk was China's protege , they had facilitated the ping pong diplomacy which the US wanted.

Breaking up of Pk completely as IG wanted was not in US interests , halving it was.

 

[I_PLAY_BAD]

There is no ' trust' in international relations. There are only interests.

India has done well thus far by not ' trusting' any nation by putting all its eggs in one basket.

Networking is the key.

The term "India has done well" doesn't go down well with me.

 

[I_PLAY_BAD]

Why is US double-faced in this case? They supported their stupid ally Pakistan as much as they could.

Then why are they trying suck ours now ? Why don't they continue sucking Pakis ?
That is why we call them double-faced.

 

[Anikastha]

Ya thanks for posting this article...

 

[Sakal Gharelu Ustad]

Then why are they trying suck ours now ? Why don't they continue sucking Pakis ?
That is why we call them double-faced.

Everyone is double-faced then. Nothing is static in this world.

 

[I_PLAY_BAD]

Pakistan was bisected even with lot of muscles behind it and they called Indians cowards ???
Pakistanis are the real cowards. They didn't have the balls to stand up against us. Only pure vocal rhetoric nothing else. They sucked USA's, sucking China's and going to suck Russia's.....
Suck nation Pakistan !!

 

[I_PLAY_BAD]

Everyone is double-faced then. Nothing is static in this world.

No one can overtake the bloody Americans in playing double games.