<b>December 10, 1941</b>:
Flag of Independent India raised by Captain Preetam Singh in the Hadyai village of Siam-Malaya border, an event signifying the beginning of the attempt of INA soldiers in collaboration with Japanese towards Indian mainland to liberate it from British.
<b>December 12, 1911</b>:
Delhi replaced Calcutta as the Indian capital. This was the result of increased violent resistance faced by British administrators in Calcutta, due to the rising hot nationalism among Bengalis after the failed British attempt to partition Bengal and carve out a separate East Bengal for Muslims. Delhi offered a safer option.
<b>December 13, 2001:</b> Indian Parliament attacked by Jehadis.
<b>December 13 1971:</b>
USA moved a resolution at the United Nations Security council through their Anglo-French cousins that called for a cessation of hostilities in East Pakistan, the urgent conclusion of a comprehensive political settlement and the appointment by the UN Secretary General of a special representative to âlend his good offices, in particular for the solution of humanitarian problemsâ.
The resolution was summarily vetoed by the USSR, and Poland moved an alternative resolution that called for peaceful transfer of power in the eastern theatre of conflict to âthe representatives of the people lawfully elected in December 1970â. It also called for negotiations between India and Pakistan for troop withdrawals in the western theatre.
The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet on December 15th and Z. A. Bhutto, the then foreign minister of Pakistan was sent to represent Pakistani side. (We shall come to it further below in this post.)
Meanwhile, USS Enterprise was closing in on Bay of Bengal, and the radio signals from Islamabad to the Pakistani forces in the east, intercepted by Indian intelligence, were saying, "Fight on, you are getting help from yellow (China) from the north, and white (America) from the south."
Seeing the international maneuvering, the Chief of the Army Staff S H F J Manekshaw reacted and sent an urgent order to Indian Armed forces to immediately capture "all the towns in Bangladesh except Dhaka", listing every single one that Indian Army had bypassed so far, in a view to finish off the war in next 48 hours on the ground, before Americans and Chinese can make any move.
<b>December 14 1971</b>:
As a result, the end of 1971 war started with a joint push by IAF and Army.
On early morning of 14th, IAF got an intelligence through communication intercepts which was confirmed by the Mukti Bahini men on ground, that an important meeting of top Pakistani officials and East Pakistan Cabinet was scheduled inside the Governor House in Dhaka. IAF decided to bombard the Governor House exactly at the time when the cabinet meeting was supposed to be in session.
Within a couple of hours, four MiG-21s of 28 Sqn were flying in from Gauhati for the operation, and as Dr. Malek, the Governor of the then East Pakistan, began the meeting with his cabinet and high officials, roaring MiGs came screaming down with perfect precision and accurately fired rounds of salvo into the Darbar Hall for several minutes.
The startled and freightened cabinet of East Pakistan immediately rushed to the Hotel Intercontinental (now Sheraton), to seek shelter under the UN Flag. Traumatized Governor resigned then and there.
By the psychological push delivered by this defining moment of 1971 war, the Pakistani civil administration in the East Bengal ceased to exist, paving way for Mukti Bahini to take over the civil administration, while Indian Army now got into act to flush out the remaining Pakistani Army on ground holed up inside East Bengal.
Almost simultanuously with the above IAF operation, Maj. Gen. G.S. Nagra, GOC Indian Army Eastern Command, ordered Brig. Sant Singh to advance with 2nd Div and capture Dhaka city. Advancing rapidly along the Mymensingh-Madhupur axis, âFJ Forceâ comprising 13 Guards, 2 Para and 6 Bihar covered about 55 km before reaching the Bhuri Ganga river on the outskirts of Dhaka on the morning of December 15. The Paras wrestled control of the sole bridge over it and the force dislodged Pakistani gunners entrenched on a piece of high ground on the other side, who were tasked to protect the bridge.
Following calls by the Indian top brass to surrender, Pakistani Major-Gen Jamshed Khan, responsible for the defence of Dhaka, drove over with a white flag. He was stripped of his official flag, weapons and badges of rank. Indian Army commandeered his car and drove over to the Pakistani headquarters in Dhaka.
When Indian force swooped to Lt. General A.A.K. Niaziâs headquarters, Pakistanis were busy destroying documents and maps. When he was captured, Niazi kept silent. He was anxious as to what course the events would take. Ground reality was that Mukti Bahini was openly and repeatedly demanding the Indian Army to hand over Niazi along with 94,000 men of Pakistani army to Bahini to "take care of them". And unlike India, Mukti Bahini was not bound by any International Conventions, therefore the general perception was that not only Niazi but also a huge number of Pakistani Soldiers, if handed over to Mukti Bahini, would be simply slaughtered. Such was the well recognized perception because of the sentiment of revenge in Bengalis due to the general slaughter of thousands of Bengalis by Pakistanis earlier that year in the month of March.
Therefore, it was a matter of much relief for Niazi when he heard Brig. Sant Singh declare, âGeneral, we declare you a prisoner of war.â The surrender would ceremoniously take place the next day, on December 16.
(In the hind sight, it might have been a better decision to let Bangladeshis handle their coreligionists during the heat of emotion of revenge - at least in part - paving way for a long term solution. A policy which Marathas had followed, and a policy which US is following in Iraq and Afghanistan.)
==
<b>December 15 1971</b>:
Bhutto entered the Security Council looking grim and made the most emotional, though well-prepared, speech of his career. It was in that speech that he said, âI have not come here to accept abject surrender. If the Security Council wants me to be a party of the legalization of abject surrender, then I say that under no circumstances, shall it be so. The United Nations resembles those fashion houses which hide ugly realities by draping ungainly figures in alluring apparel.
âThe Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union talked about realities. Mr Permanent Representative, look at this reality. I know that you are the representative of a great country. You behave like one. The way you throw out your chest, the way you thump the table, you do not talk like Comrade Malik, you talk like Czar Malik. I see that you are smiling, well, I am not because my heart is bleeding.
âI am leaving your Security Council. I find it disgraceful to my person and to my country to remain here a moment longer than necessary. I am not boycotting. Impose any decision, have a treaty worse than the Treaty of Versailles, legalise aggression, legalise occupation, legalize everything that has been illegal up to December 15, 1971. I will not be a party to it. We will fight. We will go back and fight. My country beckons me. Why should I be a party to the ignominious surrender of a part of my country? You can take your Security Council. Here you are. I am going.â EXCERPTS: Did Bhutto break up Pakistan? -- Khalid Hasan
==
Almost at the same time, Manekshaw asked Major General Jack Frederick Ralph Jacob to fly into Dhaka and arrange the surrender of East Pakistani Army to Gen J S Aurora. Maj. Gen. Jacob gave Niazi 30 mins to decide whether he wanted to sign the proposed instrument of surrender or be ready to face consequences.
(What a historic moment it would have been! A pArasIka army chief and a yahUdI general negotiating the surrender of the army of the faithful to the Hindu army at a table headed by a Sikh!!! wow!)
Flag of Independent India raised by Captain Preetam Singh in the Hadyai village of Siam-Malaya border, an event signifying the beginning of the attempt of INA soldiers in collaboration with Japanese towards Indian mainland to liberate it from British.
<b>December 12, 1911</b>:
Delhi replaced Calcutta as the Indian capital. This was the result of increased violent resistance faced by British administrators in Calcutta, due to the rising hot nationalism among Bengalis after the failed British attempt to partition Bengal and carve out a separate East Bengal for Muslims. Delhi offered a safer option.
<b>December 13, 2001:</b> Indian Parliament attacked by Jehadis.
<b>December 13 1971:</b>
USA moved a resolution at the United Nations Security council through their Anglo-French cousins that called for a cessation of hostilities in East Pakistan, the urgent conclusion of a comprehensive political settlement and the appointment by the UN Secretary General of a special representative to âlend his good offices, in particular for the solution of humanitarian problemsâ.
The resolution was summarily vetoed by the USSR, and Poland moved an alternative resolution that called for peaceful transfer of power in the eastern theatre of conflict to âthe representatives of the people lawfully elected in December 1970â. It also called for negotiations between India and Pakistan for troop withdrawals in the western theatre.
The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet on December 15th and Z. A. Bhutto, the then foreign minister of Pakistan was sent to represent Pakistani side. (We shall come to it further below in this post.)
Meanwhile, USS Enterprise was closing in on Bay of Bengal, and the radio signals from Islamabad to the Pakistani forces in the east, intercepted by Indian intelligence, were saying, "Fight on, you are getting help from yellow (China) from the north, and white (America) from the south."
Seeing the international maneuvering, the Chief of the Army Staff S H F J Manekshaw reacted and sent an urgent order to Indian Armed forces to immediately capture "all the towns in Bangladesh except Dhaka", listing every single one that Indian Army had bypassed so far, in a view to finish off the war in next 48 hours on the ground, before Americans and Chinese can make any move.
<b>December 14 1971</b>:
As a result, the end of 1971 war started with a joint push by IAF and Army.
On early morning of 14th, IAF got an intelligence through communication intercepts which was confirmed by the Mukti Bahini men on ground, that an important meeting of top Pakistani officials and East Pakistan Cabinet was scheduled inside the Governor House in Dhaka. IAF decided to bombard the Governor House exactly at the time when the cabinet meeting was supposed to be in session.
Within a couple of hours, four MiG-21s of 28 Sqn were flying in from Gauhati for the operation, and as Dr. Malek, the Governor of the then East Pakistan, began the meeting with his cabinet and high officials, roaring MiGs came screaming down with perfect precision and accurately fired rounds of salvo into the Darbar Hall for several minutes.
The startled and freightened cabinet of East Pakistan immediately rushed to the Hotel Intercontinental (now Sheraton), to seek shelter under the UN Flag. Traumatized Governor resigned then and there.
By the psychological push delivered by this defining moment of 1971 war, the Pakistani civil administration in the East Bengal ceased to exist, paving way for Mukti Bahini to take over the civil administration, while Indian Army now got into act to flush out the remaining Pakistani Army on ground holed up inside East Bengal.
Almost simultanuously with the above IAF operation, Maj. Gen. G.S. Nagra, GOC Indian Army Eastern Command, ordered Brig. Sant Singh to advance with 2nd Div and capture Dhaka city. Advancing rapidly along the Mymensingh-Madhupur axis, âFJ Forceâ comprising 13 Guards, 2 Para and 6 Bihar covered about 55 km before reaching the Bhuri Ganga river on the outskirts of Dhaka on the morning of December 15. The Paras wrestled control of the sole bridge over it and the force dislodged Pakistani gunners entrenched on a piece of high ground on the other side, who were tasked to protect the bridge.
Following calls by the Indian top brass to surrender, Pakistani Major-Gen Jamshed Khan, responsible for the defence of Dhaka, drove over with a white flag. He was stripped of his official flag, weapons and badges of rank. Indian Army commandeered his car and drove over to the Pakistani headquarters in Dhaka.
When Indian force swooped to Lt. General A.A.K. Niaziâs headquarters, Pakistanis were busy destroying documents and maps. When he was captured, Niazi kept silent. He was anxious as to what course the events would take. Ground reality was that Mukti Bahini was openly and repeatedly demanding the Indian Army to hand over Niazi along with 94,000 men of Pakistani army to Bahini to "take care of them". And unlike India, Mukti Bahini was not bound by any International Conventions, therefore the general perception was that not only Niazi but also a huge number of Pakistani Soldiers, if handed over to Mukti Bahini, would be simply slaughtered. Such was the well recognized perception because of the sentiment of revenge in Bengalis due to the general slaughter of thousands of Bengalis by Pakistanis earlier that year in the month of March.
Therefore, it was a matter of much relief for Niazi when he heard Brig. Sant Singh declare, âGeneral, we declare you a prisoner of war.â The surrender would ceremoniously take place the next day, on December 16.
(In the hind sight, it might have been a better decision to let Bangladeshis handle their coreligionists during the heat of emotion of revenge - at least in part - paving way for a long term solution. A policy which Marathas had followed, and a policy which US is following in Iraq and Afghanistan.)
==
<b>December 15 1971</b>:
Bhutto entered the Security Council looking grim and made the most emotional, though well-prepared, speech of his career. It was in that speech that he said, âI have not come here to accept abject surrender. If the Security Council wants me to be a party of the legalization of abject surrender, then I say that under no circumstances, shall it be so. The United Nations resembles those fashion houses which hide ugly realities by draping ungainly figures in alluring apparel.
âThe Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union talked about realities. Mr Permanent Representative, look at this reality. I know that you are the representative of a great country. You behave like one. The way you throw out your chest, the way you thump the table, you do not talk like Comrade Malik, you talk like Czar Malik. I see that you are smiling, well, I am not because my heart is bleeding.
âI am leaving your Security Council. I find it disgraceful to my person and to my country to remain here a moment longer than necessary. I am not boycotting. Impose any decision, have a treaty worse than the Treaty of Versailles, legalise aggression, legalise occupation, legalize everything that has been illegal up to December 15, 1971. I will not be a party to it. We will fight. We will go back and fight. My country beckons me. Why should I be a party to the ignominious surrender of a part of my country? You can take your Security Council. Here you are. I am going.â EXCERPTS: Did Bhutto break up Pakistan? -- Khalid Hasan
==
Almost at the same time, Manekshaw asked Major General Jack Frederick Ralph Jacob to fly into Dhaka and arrange the surrender of East Pakistani Army to Gen J S Aurora. Maj. Gen. Jacob gave Niazi 30 mins to decide whether he wanted to sign the proposed instrument of surrender or be ready to face consequences.
(What a historic moment it would have been! A pArasIka army chief and a yahUdI general negotiating the surrender of the army of the faithful to the Hindu army at a table headed by a Sikh!!! wow!)