BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR

The 'Bangladesh Liberation War'⁽ⁱ⁾ ('''Mukti Juddha''' in Bangla), incorporating the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, was an armed conflict between West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) that lasted for roughly nine months, from 26 March until 16 December 1971. The war resulted in Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan.

Background

British rule in India ended in August 1947. This was accompanied by the Partition of India, whereby Muslim-majority areas in the far east and far west of the Indian subcontinent were constituted into a separate country, Pakistan. The Western zone was popularly (and for a period of time, also officially) termed West Pakistan and the Eastern zone (modern-day Bangladesh) was initially termed East Bengal and later, East Pakistan. The two zones were separated by over thousand miles of Indian territory in the middle, and had vastly different culture. It was widely perceived that the west zone dominated the country, leading to the effective marginalization of the east zone.

Economic exploitation

West Pakistan (consisting of four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province) dominated the divided country politically and received more money from the common budget than the more populous East.

Year	Spending on West Pakistan (in crore Rupees)	Spending on East Pakistan (in crore Rupees)	Amount spent on East as percentage of West
1950/51-54/55	1,129	524	46.4
1955/56-59/60	1,655	524	31.7
1960/61-64/65	3,355	1,404	41.8
1965/66-69/70	5,195	2,141	41.2
Total	11,334	4,593	40.5
''Source: Reports of the Advisory Panels for the Fourth Five Year Plan 1970-75, Vol. I, published by the planning commission of Pakistan (Quick reference: crore = 10⁷, or 10 million)''

Political differences

Although East Pakistan accounted for a majority of the country's population, political power remained firmly in the hands of West Pakistanis, specifically the Punjabis. Since a straightforward system of representation based on population would have concentrated political power in East Pakistan, the West Pakistani establishment came up with the "One Unit" scheme, where all of West Pakistan was considered one province. This was solely to counterbalance the East wing's votes. Ironically, 'after' the East broke away to form Bangladesh, the Punjab province insisted that politics in the rump West Pakistan now be decided on the basis of a straightforward vote, since Punjabis were more numerous than the other groups, such as Sindhis, Pashtuns, or Balochs.
After the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, political power began to be concentrated in the President of Pakistan, and eventually, the military. The nominal elected chief executive, the Prime Minister, was frequently sacked by the establishment, acting through the President.
East Pakistanis noticed that whenever one of them, such as Khawaja Nazimuddin, Muhammad Ali Bogra, or Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy were elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, they were swiftly deposed by the largely West Pakistani establishment. The military dictatorships of Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan, both West Pakistanis, only heightened such feelings.
Finally, when Sheikh Mujib's Awami League won a clear majority in the elections of 1970, the West Pakistan establishment refused to allow Mujib to form a government. This finally convinced the East that independence was necessary.

Military imbalance

Yet another issue was that apart from economic and political exploitation, there was gross underrepresentation of Bengalis in the Pakistan military. Officers of Bengali origin in the different wings of the armed forces made up just 5% of overall force by 1965; of these, only a few were in command positions, with the majority in technical or administrative posts.^[2] West Pakistanis believed that Bengalis were not "martially inclined" unlike Pashtuns and Punjabis; the "martial races" notion was dismissed as ridiculous and humiliating by Bengalis.² Moreover, despite huge defence spending, East Pakistan received none of the benefits, such as contracts, purchasing and military support jobs. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 over Kashmir also highlighted the sense of military insecurity among Bengalis as only an under-strength infantry division and 15 combat aircraft without tank support were in East Pakistan to thwart any Indian retaliations during the conflict.^[3]^[4]

Language controversy

Main articles: Bengali Language Movement

Close ties existed between East Pakistan and West Bengal, one of the Indian states bordering Bangladesh, as both were composed mostly of Bengalis. West Pakistan viewed East Pakistani links with India unfavourably as relations between India and Pakistan had been very poor since independence.
In 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared in Dhaka (then usually spelled Dacca in English) that "Urdu, and only Urdu" would be the sole official language for all of Pakistan.^[5] This proved highly controversial, since Urdu was a language that was only spoken in the West by Muhajir and in the East by Biharis. The majority groups in West Pakistan spoke Punjabi and Sindhi, while Bangla was spoken by the majority of East Pakistanis. The language controversy eventually reached a point where East Pakistan revolted. Several students and civilians lost their lives in a police crackdown on February 21, 1952. The day is revered in Bangladesh and in West Bengal as the Language Martyrs' Day. Later, in memory of the 1952 killings, UNESCO declared February 21 as the International Mother Language Day. The deaths led to bitter feelings among East Pakistanis, and they were a major factor in the push for independence.

Impact of the tropical cyclone

The already tense situation was further aggravated by the 1970 Bhola cyclone that struck East Pakistan. It was a particularly devastating year, as the deadliest cyclone on record claimed nearly half a million lives. The apathy of West Pakistan leadership and its failure in responding quickly led to further growth of the Awami League. The Pakistan Army failed to do relief work of any significance to alleviate the problem, further antagonising the already estranged Bengali populace.

Prelude to war

The political prelude to the war included several factors. Due to the differences between the two wings of the country, a nascent separatist movement developed in East Pakistan. This was curbed with harshness, especially when martial law was in force between 1958 and 1962 (under General Ayub Khan) and between 1969 and 1972 (under General Yahya Khan). These military rulers were of West Pakistani origin and continued to favour West Pakistan in terms of economic advantages.

Political climax

The situation reached a climax when in 1970 the Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections. The party won 160 of the 162 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 300 seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the constitutional right to form a government. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Instead, he proposed the idea of having two Prime Ministers, one for each wing. The proposal elicited outrage in the east wing, already chafing under the other constitutional innovation, the "one unit scheme." Bhutto also refused to accept Rahman's Six Points. On 3 March 1971, the two leaders of the two wings along with the President General Yahya Khan met in Dhaka to decide the fate of the country. Talks failed. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a nation-wide strike.

Historic Speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 7, 1971

Mujib's speech of 7 March

On March 7 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered a speech at the Racecourse Ground (now called the Suhrawardy Udyan). In this speech he mentioned a further four-point condition to consider the National Assembly Meeting on March 25:
# The immediate lifting of martial law.
# Immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks.
# An inquiry into the loss of life.
# Immediate transfer of power to the elected representative of the people before the assembly meeting March 25.
He urged "his people" to turn every house into a fort of resistance. He closed his speech saying, ''"Our struggle is for our freedom. Our struggle is for our independence."'' This speech is considered the main event that inspired the nation to fight for their independence.

Military preparation in West Pakistan

General Tikka Khan was flown in to Dhaka to become Governor of East Bengal. East-Pakistani judges, including Justice Siddique, refused to swear him in.
MV ''Swat,'' a ship of the Pakistani Navy, carrying ammunition and soldiers, was harboured in Chittagong Port and the Bengali workers and sailors at the port refused to unload the ship. A unit of East Pakistan Rifles refused to obey commands to fire on Bengali demonstrators, beginning a mutiny of Bengali soldiers.
Between 10 and 13 March, Pakistan International Airlines cancelled all their international routes to urgently fly "Government Passengers" to Dhaka. These "Government Passengers" were almost all Pakistani soldiers in civilian dress.

Violence of 25 March

Main articles: Operation Searchlight

According to the Asia Times,^[6]

At a meeting of the military top brass, Yahya Khan declared: "Kill 3 million of them and the rest will eat out of our hands." Accordingly, on the night of 25 March, the Pakistani Army launched 'Operation Searchlight' to "crush" Bengali resistance in which Bengali members of military services were disarmed and killed, students and the intelligentsia systematically liquidated and able-bodied Bengali males just picked up and gunned down.

Before the beginning of Operation Searchlight, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from Bangladesh. Regarding violence against women, in ''Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape'', Susan Brownmiller writes "... 200,000, 300,000 or possibly 400,000 women (three sets of statistics have been variously quoted) were raped."
Although the violence focused on the provincial capital, Dhaka, the process of ethnic elimination was also carried out all around Bangladesh. Residential halls of University of Dhaka were particularly targeted. The only Hindu residential hall — the Jagannath Hall — was destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces, and an estimated 600 to 700 of its residents were murdered. The Pakistani army denies any cold blooded killings at the university, though the Hamood-ur-Rehman commission in Pakistan states that overwhelming force was used at the university. This fact and the massacre at Jagannath Hall and nearby student dormitories of Dhaka University are corroborated by a videotape secretly filmed by Prof. Nur Ullah of the East Pakistan Engineering University, whose residence was directly opposite the student dormitories.
Hindu areas all over Bangladesh suffered particularly heavy blows. By midnight, Dhaka was literally burning, especially the Hindu dominated eastern part of the city. Time magazine reported on August 2, 1971, "The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Pakistani military hatred."
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested by the Pakistani Army. Yahya Khan appointed Brigadier Rahimuddin Khan (later General) to preside over a special tribunal charging Mujib with multiple charges. Rahimuddin sentenced Mujib to death, but Yahya put the verdict into abeyance. Other Awami League leaders were arrested as well, while a few fled Dhaka to avoid arrest. The Awami League was banned by General Yahya Khan.

Declaration of independence

The violence unleashed by the Pakistani forces on March 25, 1971, proved the last straw to the efforts to negotiate a settlement. Following these outrages, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration that read:
: ''Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night, West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between E.P.R. and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pakistan on the other, are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May Allah aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy^[7] Bangla.''^[8]
Sheikh Mujib also called upon the people to resist the occupation forces through a radio message.^[9] Mujib was arrested on the night of March 25-26, 1971 at about 1:30 a.m. (as per Radio Pakistan’s news on March 29, 1971).
A telegram containing the text of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's declaration reached some students in Chittagong. The message was translated to Bangla by Dr. Manjula Anwar. The students failed to secure permission from higher authorities to broadcast the message from the nearby Agrabad Station of Radio Pakistan. They crossed Kalurghat Bridge into an area controlled by an East Bengal Regiment under Major Ziaur Rahman. Bengali soldiers guarded the station as engineers prepared for transmission. At 19:45 hrs on 27 March, 1971, Major Ziaur Rahman broadcast another announcement of the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur which is as follows.
: ''This is Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendro. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction of Bangobondhu sheikh Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that the independent People's Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his direction, I have taken command as the temporary Head of the Republic. In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I call upon all Bengalis to rise against the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the last to free our Motherland. By the grace of Allah, victory is ours. Joy Bangla.'' Audio of Zia's announcement (interview - Belal Mohammed)
The Kalurghat Radio Station's transmission capability was limited. The message was picked up by a Japanese ship in Bay of Bengal. It was then re-transmitted by Radio Australia and later by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
M A Hannan, an Awami League leader from Chittagong, is said to have made the first announcement of the declaration of independence over the radio on 26 March 1971^[10]. There is controversy now as to when Major Zia gave his speech. BNP sources maintain that it was the 26th of March, and there was no message regarding declaration of independence from Mujibur Rahman. Pakistani sources, like Siddiq Salik in "Witness to Surrender" had written that he heard about Mujibor Rahman's message on the Radio while Operation Searchlight was going on, and Maj. Gen. Hakeem A. Qureshi in his book "The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Soldier's Narrative", gives the date of Zia's speech as 27 March 1971 in Annex M (Oxford University Press, 2002 ISBN 0-19-579778-7).
March 26, 1971, is considered the official 'Independence Day of Bangladesh', and the name Bangladesh was in effect henceforth. In July 1971, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi openly referred to the former East Pakistan as Bangladesh.^[11] Some Pakistani and Indian officials continued to use the name "East Pakistan" until 16 December, 1971.

The war

Leaflets and pamphlets played an important role in driving public opinion during the war.

As political events gathered momentum, the stage was set for a clash between the Pakistan Army and the Liberation Forces. At the call of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the people of East Pakistan joined in a peaceful movement for non-cooperation from 3 March 1971 onward which lasted up to midnight of 25 March 1971 on which date the Pakistani Army cracked down upon unarmed civilians to take control of the administration. During the non-cooperation movement side by side youth training camps with dummy rifles started to function to prepare the youth for an upcoming war. During that time the Bengali members of the Army were also defecting and gathering on various pockets in the country. So, as soon as when the Pakistani Army cracked down upon the population, the Mukti Bahini were becoming increasingly visible. Headed by Colonel Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani, a retired Pakistani Army officer, this band was raised as Mujib's action arm and security force before assuming the character of a conventional guerrilla force. After the declaration of independence, the Pakistani military sought to quell them, but increasing numbers of Bengali soldiers defected to the underground "Bangladesh army". These Bengali units slowly merged into the Mukti Bahini and bolstered their weaponry. The Mukti Bahini comprised of several factions. The foremost one was organized by the members of the regular armed force, who were generally known as Freedom Fighters (FF). Then, there was Bangladesh Liberation Forces (BLF) led by four youth leaders of the political wing of Sheikh Mujib's Awami League and the third one was generally known as Special Guerilla Forces (SGF) led by the pro-Moscow Communist Party of Bangladesh, National Awami Party (Muzaffar) and Bangladesh Students Union.
They then jointly launched guerilla operations against the Pakistani Army killing many in the process. This setback prompted the Pakistani Army to induct Razakars, Al-Badrs and Al-Shams (who were mostly members of Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamist groups), as well as other Bengalis who opposed independence, and Bihari Muslims who had settled during the time of partition. This helped Pakistan stem the tide somewhat as the monsoon approached in the months of June and July.

Sectors of Liberation War

The eleven sectors

Immediately after formation, the new government of Bangladesh shifted its focus on organizing the war against Pakistan Army. Cabinet meeting of Bangladesh government of July 11, 1971 appointed Col. M A G Osmani as Commander in Chief, Lt. Col. Abdur Rab as chief of Army Staff and Group Captain A K Khandker as Deputy Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Force.
In this meeting Bangladesh was divided into Eleven Sectors and each Sector was assigned a Sector Commander. The 10th Sector was directly placed under Commander in Chief (C-in-C) and included the Naval Commandos and C-in-C’s special force.^[12]
The Sector Commanders were chosen from defected officers of Pakistan army who joined the Mukti Bahini. These trained officers directed the guerrilla warfare as well as trained the freedom fighters who lacked formal training on military operations. Most of these training camps were situated near the border area and were operated with direct assistance from India.
For better efficiency in combat operations, each of the sectors were divided into a number of sub-sectors. The table below provides a list of the sectors along with name of the sector commanders.

Sectors of Bangladesh Liberation War
'Sector '	'Area'	'Sector Commander'
'1'	Chittagong District, Chittagong Hill Tracts, and the entire eastern area of the Noakhali District on the banks of the river Muhuri.	Major Ziaur Rahman, later replaced by Major Rafiqul Islam
'2'	Districts of Dhaka, Comilla, Faridpur, and part of Noakhali District.	Major Khaled Mosharraf, later replaced by Major ATM Haider
'3'	Area between Churaman Kathi (near Sreemangal) and Sylhet in the north and Singerbil of Brahmanbaria in the south.	Major KM Shafiullah, later replaced by Major ANM Nuruzzaman.
'4'	Area from Habiganj District on the north to Kanaighat Police Station on the south along the 100 mile long border with India.	Major Chittarajan Datta, later replaced by Captain A Rab.
'5'	Area from Durgapur to Danki (Tamabil) of Sylhet District and the entire area upto the eastern borders of the district.	Major Mir Shawkat Ali
'6'	Rangpur District and part of Dinajpur District.	Wing Commander M Khdemul Bashar
'7'	Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra and part of Dinajpur District.	Major Nazrul Haq, later replaced by Subedar Major A Rab and Kazi Nuruzzaman.
'8'	In April 1971, the operational area of the sector comprised the districts of Kushtia, Jessore, Khulna, Barisal, Faridpur and Patuakhali. At the end of May the sector was reconstituted and comprised the districts of Kuhstia, Jessore, Khulna, Satkhira and the northern part of Faridpur district.	Major Abu Osman Chowdhury, later replaced by Major MA Manzur.
'9'	Barisal, Patuakhali, and parts of the district of Khulna and Faridpur.	Major M A Jalil later replaced by Major MA Manzur and Major Joynal Abedin.
'10'	This sector was constituted with the naval commandos.	Indian commander MN Sumanta.
'11'	Mymensingh and Tangail.	Major M Abu Taher, later replaced by Squadron Leader Hamidullah.
'Source:' ''Sectors of the War of Liberation''; Shirin, S. M.; Banglapedia.

Indian Involvement

Mukti Bahini grouped and regrouped as they gained in strength and capability. Aided by the Indian government in West Bengal, they were equipped and trained to counter the Pakistan Army. As there was no frontal battle action during the monsoon but isolated guerilla assaults in the rise strategically aimed to impose restriction of movement by Pakistani Army during full scale war, nevertheless it was seen by the Pakistan military brass as a weakening of the Bangladesh cause. It was merely the lull before the storm. After sensing the magnitude of the issue, the army was bolstered as troop strength was increased to more than 80,000. This caused a rise in tensions across the border as India realised the gravity of the situation. The Indian military were preparing for the eventual onslaught with the aid of the separatists and waited for the end of the monsoon season to enable easy passage. The Indians aimed to bypass the villages and towns and instead concentrate on the cities and the highways which ultimately would lead to the capture of Dhaka.

Indian Army troops in action during the war

Pakistan decided to nullify such an attack and on December 3, launched a series of preemptive air strikes. The attack was modelled on the Operation Focus employed by Israel Air Force during the Six-Day War. However, the plan failed to achieve the desired success and was seen as an open act of unprovoked aggression against the Indians. Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi then ordered the immediate mobilisation of troops and launched the full scale invasion. This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War, with fighting commencing in West Pakistan. The Indian Army, far superior in numbers and equipment to that of Pakistan ^[13], executed a three-pronged pincer movement on Dhaka launched from the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura.

Indian Lt. Gen J.S. Aurora and Pakistani Lt. Gen A.A.K. Niazi's signatures on the Instrument of Surrender.

In all these places the Mukti Bahini and the local Bengalis played a vital role in aiding the Indian Army. Many soldiers were ferried in the night by the locals across rivers and valuable information on the location and whereabouts of different military strongholds were gleaned. It was backed up by the Indian Air Force which achieved near total air supremacy towards the end of the war as the entire East Pakistan airbase with all the flights were destroyed. The Indian Navy also annihilated the eastern wing of the Pakistan Navy and blockaded the East Pakistan ports, thereby cutting off any escape routes for the stranded Pakistani soldiers. The fledgling Bangladesh Navy (comprising officers and sailors who defected from Pakistani Navy) aided the Indians in the marine warfare, carrying out attacks, most notably Operation Jackpot.
Meanwhile, on the ground, nearly 3 brigades of Mukti Bahini along with the Indian forces fought in a conventional formation. This was supplemented by guerrilla style attacks on Pakistanis who were facing hostilities on land, air, water in both covert and overt ways. Pakistan tried to fight back and boost the sagging morale by incorporating the Special Services Group commandos in sabotage and rescue missions. This however could not stop the juggernaut of the advancing columns whose speed and power were too much to contain for the Pakistani Army. On 16 December, within just 12 days, the capital Dhaka fell to the ''Mitro Bahini'' — the allied forces. Lt. Gen. A A K Niazi surrendered to the combined forces headed by its commander Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora by signing the Instrument of Surrender at Ramna Racecourse, 16:31 Indian Standard Time. Bangladesh became liberated.

Phases of the War in Bangladesh

The war is considered to have 4 phases:

Phase 1: March 25 to June

Illustration showing refugee and troop movements during the war.

Operation Searchlight was launched by Pakistani forces on the 25th of March. There was spontaneous and disorganized resistance from the Bengali soldiers and volunteers. Surprise and superior firepower helped the Pakistani forces overwhelm the disorganized Bengali resistance in conventional warfare by June. Pakistan airlifted two infantry divisions and reorganized their forces. The Bangladesh government-in-exile was formed on April 17 at Mujib Nagar. The country was divided into four sectors to conduct the war.

Phase 2: June-September

Bangladesh forces command was set up in July, with Col. MAG Osmani as commander in chief. Bangladesh was divided into 11 sectors with 11 sector commanders to conduct guerrilla operations. Three brigades (11 Battalions) were raised for conventional warfare; a large guerrilla force (estimated 100,000) was trained. Guerrilla operations, which slacked during the training phase, picked up after August. Economic and Military targets in Dhaka were attacked. The major success story was Operation Jackpot, in which naval commandos mined and blew up berthed ships in Chittagong on August 16, 1971. Pakistani reprisals claimed lives of thousands of civilians. The Indian army took over supplying the Mukti Bahini from the BSF. They organised 6 sectors for supplying the Bangladesh forces.

Phase 3: October - December

Bangladesh conventional forces attacked border outposts. Kamalpur, Belonia and Battle of Boyra are a few examples. 90 out of 370 BOPs fell to Bengali forces. Guerrilla attacks intensified, as did Pakistani and Razakar reprisals on civilian populations. Pakistani forces were reinforced by eight battalions from West Pakistan. The Bangladeshi freedom fighters even managed to temporarily capture airstrips at Lalmonirhat and Shalutikar.^[14] Both of these were used for flying in supplies and arms from India. Pakistan sent 5 battalions from West Pakistan as reinforcements.

Phase 4: December 3-December 16

Pakistani forces were gradually becoming disorganised due to the sudden and quick guerrilla attack by the Bengali freedom fighters in most of the areas. The former East Pakistan, its terrain being covered by dense forests crisscrossed by many streams and rivers, was quite uncomfortable for the Pakistani Army. The Pakistani Army was in a dreadful condition and gradually lost the will to fight because most of their major fortresses had fallen to the allied Bengali-Indian forces. The agility and strategy of the Mukti Bahini, aided by Indian forces, overwhelmed the Pakistani forces and within 10 days of India's joiníng the war, the Pakistani Army was compelled to an unconditional surrender on December 16, 1971.

Major battles and operations

'Eastern Theatre'

★ Clash over Boyra

★ Battle of Garibpur

★ Battle of Dhalai

★ Battle of Hilli

★ Battle of Kushtia

★ Operation Jackpot

★ East Pakistan Air Operations

Foreign intervention

India

Indian Army's T-55 tanks on their way to Dhaka. India's military intervention played a crucial role in turning the tide in favour of the Bangladeshi rebels.

Main articles: Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Due to the ongoing violence, millions of Bangladeshis fled to neighbouring India creating a huge refugee crisis there. The sheer number of Bangladeshi refugees and their demographic profile threatened both social and political repercussions on the Indian polity. On December 3, 1971, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, declared war on Pakistan and in aid of the Mukti Bahini. India's external intelligence agency, the R.A.W., played a crucial role in providing logistic support to the Mukti Bahini during the initial stages of the war. RAW's operations in then East Pakistan, was the largest covert mission in the history of South Asia.
Wary of the growing involvement of India, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched a pre-emptive strike on India. In retaliation, the Indian Air Force carried out several sorties against Pakistan and within a week, IAF aircraft dominated the skies of East Pakistan. In the meantime, Pakistan launched a number of armoured thrusts along India's western front in attempts to force Indian troops away from East Pakistan. However, these were repelled in the decisive Battles of Basantar and Longewala, resulting in Indian victory.
Backed by the Indian Air Force and the Navy, the Indian Army, supported by the Mukti Bahini, launched a multipronged offensive in the West, North-West, North and the East of the country which involved speedy movement, manouvre, bypassing of heavily defended strongpoints and within 14 days reached the Dacca, the capital of erstwhile East Pakistan, leading to the capitulation of all military forces in East Pakistan. The Indian Army won several battles on the eastern front including the famous Battle of Hilli.
On December 16, 1971, the Indian Army entered Dhaka and more than 93,000 Pakistani soldiers and their abettors surrendered to joint forces (Mitro Bahini) and were taken as prisoner of war by the Indian Army, the largest surrender since World War II.

USA and USSR

The United States supported Pakistan both politically and materially. U.S. President Richard Nixon denied getting involved in the situation, saying that it was an internal matter of Pakistan. But when Pakistan's defeat seemed certain, Nixon sent the ''USS Enterprise'' to the Bay of Bengal, a move deemed by the Indians as a nuclear threat. ''Enterprise'' arrived on station on December 11, 1971. On 6 December and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok; they trailed U.S. Task Force 74 in the Indian Ocean from 18 December until 7 January 1972.

The Nixon administration provided support to Pakistan President Yahya Khan during the turmoil.

Nixon and Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia. Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been negotiating a ''rapprochement'' and where he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America's new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China the ''bona fides'' of the United States as an ally, and in direct violation of the US Congress-imposed sanctions on Pakistan, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan and routed them through Jordan and Iran,^[15] while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan.
The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the genocidal activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram.
The Soviet Union had sympathized with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini during the war, recognizing that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals - the United States and China. It gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, the USSR would take counter-measures. This was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971. The Soviets also sent a nuclear submarine to ward off the threat posed by ''USS Enterprise'' in the Indian Ocean.

China

As a long-standing ally of Pakistan, the People's Republic of China reacted with alarm to the evolving situation in East Pakistan and the prospect of India invading West Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Believing that just such an Indian attack was imminent, Nixon encouraged China to mobilize its armed forces along its border with India to discourage such an eventuality; the Chinese did not, however, respond in this manner and instead threw their weight behind demands for an immediate ceasefire. China did, however, continue to supply Pakistan with arms and aid. It is believed that had China taken action against India to protect West Pakistan then the Soviet Union would have taken military action against China. One Pakistani writer has speculated that China chose not to attack India because Himalayan passes were snowbound in the wintry months of November and December.^[16]

United Nations

Though the United Nations condemned the human rights violations, it failed to defuse the situation politically before the start of the war. The Security Council assembled on December 4 to discuss the volatile situation in South Asia. USSR vetoed the resolution twice. After lengthy discussions on December 7, the General Assembly promptly adopted by a majority resolution calling for an "immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of troops." The United States on December 12 requested that the Security Council be reconvened. However, by the time it was reconvened and proposals were finalised, the war had ended, making the measures merely academic.
The inaction of the United Nations in face of the East Pakistan crisis was widely criticized. The conflict also exposed the delay in decision making that failed to address the underlying issues in time.

End of the war: Pakistan's surrender

Pakistan's Lt. Gen A. A. K. Niazi signs the instrument of surrender on December 16, surrendering his forces to Lt. Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora representing the Mitro Bahini.

After Pakistan's surrender late in 1971, people in Bangladesh rejoiced at their liberation. This was followed by a need to get international acceptance for Bangladesh, as only a few countries recognized the new nation. Bangladesh sought admission in the UN with most voting in its favor, but China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally.^[17] However, the United States was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition^[18] To ensure a smooth transition, in 1972 the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan. The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognized the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani PoWs. India treated all the PoWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule 1925. It released more than 90,000 Pakistani PoWs in a record five months. Nonetheless, as a gesture of goodwill, nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war crimes by Bengalis were also pardoned by India. The accord also gave back more than 13,000 km² of land that Indian troops had won in West Pakistan during the war, holding on to a few strategic places;^[19] most notably Kargil (which would in turn again be the focal point for a war between the two nations in 1999). This was done as a measure of ensuring "lasting peace" and was acknowledged by many observers as a sign of maturity by India. But some in India felt that the treaty had been too lenient to Bhutto, who had pleaded for more leeway as he felt that the fragile democracy in Pakistan would crumble if the accord was perceived as being too harsh in Pakistan.

Reaction in West Pakistan to the war

Reaction to the defeat and dismemberment of half the nation was a shocking loss to top military and civilians alike. No one had expected that they would lose the formal war in under a fortnight and were also very angry at what they perceived as a meek surrender of the army in East Pakistan. Yahya Khan's dictatorship collapsed and gave way to Bhutto who took the opportunity to rise to power. General Niazi, who surrendered along with 93,000 troops, was viewed with suspicion and hatred upon his return to Pakistan. He was shunned and branded a traitor. The war also exposed the shortcoming of Pakistan's declared strategic doctrine that the "defence of East Pakistan lay in West Pakistan".^[20] Pakistan also failed to gather international support, and were found fighting a lone battle with only the USA providing any external help. This further embittered the Pakistanis who had faced the worst military defeat of an army in decades.
The debacle immediately prompted an enquiry headed by Justice Hamdoor Rahman. Called the Hamoodur Rahman Commission, it was initially suppressed by Bhutto as it put the military in poor light. When it was declassified, it showed many failings from the strategic to the tactical levels. It also condemned the atrocities and the war crimes committed by the armed forces. It confirmed the looting, rapes and the killings by the Pakistan Army and their local agents although the figures are far lower than the ones quoted by Bangladesh. According to Bangladeshi souces, 200,000 women were raped and over 3 million people were killed, while the Rahman Commission report in Pakistan claimed 26,000 died and the rapes were in the hundreds. However, the army’s role in splintering Pakistan after its greatest military debacle was largely ignored by successive Pakistani governments.

Atrocities

Main articles: 1971 Bangladesh atrocities

The Bangladesh War witnessed widespread atrocities committed against the Bengali population of East Pakistan, at a level that within Bangladesh, ‘genocide’ is the term that is still used to describe the event in almost every major publication and newspaper.^[21]^[22] The actual extent of the atrocities committed is not clearly known, and opinions vary, as the next section discusses. However, there is little doubt that numerous civilians were tortured and killed during the war. A large section of the intellectual community of Bangladesh were murdered mostly by the Al-Shams and Al-Badr forces,^[23] at the instruction of the defeated Pakistani Army.^[24] There are many mass graves in Bangladesh, and newer ones are always being discovered, such as one in an old well near a mosque in Dhaka located in the non-Bengali region of the city which was discovered in August 1999.^[25] The first night of war on Bengalis, which is documented in telegrams from the American Consulate in Dhaka to the United States State Department, saw indiscriminate killings of students of Dhaka University and other civilians.^[26]

Casualties

The number of civilians that died in the Bangladesh War is not accurately known. There is a great disparity in the casualty figures put forth by Pakistan on one hand (26,000, as reported in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission^[27]) and India and Bangladesh on the other hand. (From 1972 to 1975 the first post-war prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, claimed on several occasions that at least three million died).^[28] The international media and reference books in English have also have published figures which vary greatly: varying from 5,000–35,000 in Dhaka, and 200,000–3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole.^[29] It is believed in certain quarters that the figure of three million has its origins in comments made by Yahya Khan to the journalist Robert Payne on February 22, 1971, "Kill three million of them, and the rest will eat out of our hands".^[30]^[31]
The Office of the Historian of the United States State Department held a two-day conference in late June 2005 on U.S. policy in South Asia between 1961 and 1972. The State Department invited international scholars to express their views on declassified documents recently published in the ''Foreign Relations of the United States'' series. According to a newspaper report published in both Pakistani and Bangladeshi newspapers, Bangladeshi speakers at the conference stated that the official Bangladeshi figure of civilian deaths was close to 300,000, which was wrongly translated from Bengali into English as three million. Ambassador Shamsher M. Chowdhury acknowledged that Bangladesh alone cannot correct this mistake and suggested Pakistan and Bangladesh should form a joint commission to investigate the 1971 disaster and prepare a report. "Almost all scholars agreed that the real figure was somewhere between 26,000, as reported by the Hamoodur Rahman Commission, and not three million, the official figure put forward by Bangladesh and India."^[32]^[33]^[34]
In 1997 R. J. Rummel published a book which is available on the web called ''Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900'', In Chapter 8 called ''Statistics Of Pakistan's Democide - Estimates, Calculations, And Sources'' he states:
: In East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) [General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan and his top generals] also planned to murder its Bengali intellectual, cultural, and political elite. They also planned to indiscriminately murder hundreds of thousands of its Hindus and drive the rest into India. And they planned to destroy its economic base to insure that it would be subordinate to West Pakistan for at least a generation to come. This despicable and cutthroat plan was outright genocide.^[35]
Rummel goes on to collate what he considers the most credible estimates published by others into what he calls democide. He writes that "Consolidating both ranges, I give a final estimate of Pakistan's democide to be 300,000 to 3,000,000, or a prudent 1,500,000."
The Guinness Book of Records lists the Bengali atrocities as one of the top 5 genocides in the 20th century.^[36]

Violence against women and minorities

Numerous women were tortured, raped and killed during the war. Again, exact numbers are not known and are a subject of debate. Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000 women raped, giving birth to thousands of war-babies. Some other sources, for example Susan Brownmiller, refer to an even higher number of over 400,000. Pakistani sources claim the number is much lower, though having not completely denied rape incidents.^[37]^[38]^[39]
The Pakistan Army also kept numerous Bengali women as sex-slaves inside the Dhaka Cantonment. Most of the girls were captured from Dhaka University and private homes.^[40]
Apart from Brownmiller's, another work that has included direct experiences from the women raped is ''Ami Birangona Bolchhi'' ("I, the heroine, speak") by Nilima Ibrahim. The work includes in its name from the word ''Birangona'' (Heroine), given by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after the war, to the raped and tortured women during the war. This was a conscious effort to alleviate any social stigma the women might face in the society. How successful this effort was is doubtful, though.
The minorities of Bangladesh, especially the Hindus, were specific targets of the Pakistan army.^[41] There was widespread killing of Hindu males, and rapes of women. More than 60% of the Bengali refugees that had fled to India were Hindus.^[42] It is not exactly known what percentage of the people killed by the Pakistan army were Hindus, but it is safe to say it was disproportionately high.^[43] This widespread violence against Hindus was motivated by a policy to purge East Pakistan of what was seen as Hindu and Indian influences. The West Pakistani rulers identified the Bengali culture with Hindu and Indian culture, and thought that the eradication of Hindus would remove such influences from the majority Muslims in East Pakistan.^[44]
In October 2005 Sarmila Bose, (a Harvard-educated Indian academic related to the Indian Freedom Struggle leader Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose), published a paper suggesting that the casualties and rape allegations in the war have been greatly exaggerated for political purposes.^[45] This work has been criticised in Bangladesh and her research methods have been attacked by expatriate Bengalis as shoddy and biased.^[46]
The period also saw a wave of sectarian violence carried out by Bengali nationalists against non-Bengali minorities, especially Biharis, in the period of December 1970 — March 1971, when Biharis were subject to systematic persecution. It is estimated that between 15,000 and 50,000 Biharis were killed in this period, and is believed by some that both Mujibur and Ziaur Rahman intentionally incited and then failed to stop the violence against the Biharis.^[47]

Killing of intellectuals

During the war, the Pakistan Army and its local collaborators carried out a systematic execution of the leading Bengali intellectuals. A number of university professors from Dhaka University were killed during the first few days of the war.^[48] However, the most extreme cases of targeted killing of intellectuals took place during the last few days of the war. Professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers, writers were rounded up in Dhaka, blindfolded, taken to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different sections of the city; and executed en masse in the killing fields, most notably at Rayerbazar and Mirpur. Allegedly, the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and its paramilitary arm, the Al-Badr and Al-Shams forces created a list of doctors, teachers, poets, and scholars.^[49] Some sources also allege the role of the CIA in devising the plan.^[50]
On December 14, 1971, only two days before surrendering to the Indian military and the Mukhti Bahini forces, the Pakistani army with the assistance of local collaborators systematically executed well over 200 of East Pakistan's intellectuals and scholars. Even after the official ending of the war on December 16 there were reports of firing from the armed Pakistani soldiers or their collaborators. In one such incident, notable film-maker Jahir Raihan was killed on January 30, 1972 in Mirpur allegedly by the armed Beharis. In memory of the persons killed, December 14 is mourned in Bangladesh as Shaheed Buddhijibi Dibosh ("Day of the Martyred Intellectuals").^[51]^[52]
Several noted intellectuals who were killed from the time period of 25th March to 16th December, 1971 in different parts of the country include Dhaka University professors Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev (Philosophy), Dr. Munier Chowdhury (Bengali Literature), Dr. Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (Bengali Litterateur), Dr. Anwar Pasha (Bengali Literature), Dr M Abul Khair (History), Dr. Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta (English Literature), Humayun Kabir (English Literature), Rashidul Hasan (English Literature) and Saidul Hassan (Physics), as well Dr. Hobibur Rahman (Professor of Mathematics at Rajshahi University), Dr. Fazle Rabbi (Cardiologist), Dr. Alim Chowdhury (Opthalmologist), Shahidullah Kaiser(Journalist), Nizamuddin Ahmed (Journalist), Selina Parvin (Journalist), Altaf Mahmud (Lyricist and musician), Dhirendranath Datta (Politician) and RP Saha (Philanthropist).

Allegations of genocide

After the minimum 20 countries became parties to the Genocide Convention, it came into force as international law on 12 January 1951. At that time however, only two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council were parties to the treaty, and it was not until after the last of the last five permanent members ratified the treaty in 1988, and the Cold War came to an end, that the international law on the crime of genocide began to be enforced. As such, the allegation that genocide took place during the Bangladesh War of 1971 was never investigated by an international tribunal set up under the auspices of the United Nations, so the alleged genocide is not recognised as a such under international law. However, the word ‘genocide’ was and is used frequently amongst observers and scholars of the events that transpired during the 1971 war. Within Bangladesh, ‘genocide’ is the term used to describe the event in almost every major publication and newspaper.
On December 16, 2002, the George Washington University’s National Security Archives published a collection of declassified documents, mostly consisting of communications between US officials working in embassies and USIS centers in Dhaka and in India, and officials in Washington DC.^[53] These documents show that US officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms ‘selective genocide’^[54] and ‘genocide’ (Blood telegram) to describe events they had knowledge of at the time. They also show that President Nixon, advised by Henry Kissinger, decided to downplay this secret internal advise, because he wanted to protect the interests of Pakistan as he was apprehensive of India's friendship with the USSR, and he was seeking a closer relationship with China, who supported Pakistan.^[55]
In his book “The Trials of Henry Kissinger”, Christopher Hitchens elaborates on what he saw as the efforts of Henry Kissinger to subvert the aspirations of independence on the part of the Bengalis. In elaborating, Hitchens not only claims that the term ‘genocide’ is appropriate to describe the results of the struggle, but also points to the efforts of Henry Kissinger in undermining others who condemned the then ongoing atrocities as being a genocide.^[56]
A case was filed in the Federal Court of Australia on 20 September 2006 for alleged crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1971 by the Pakistani Armed Forces and its collaborators. Raymond Solaiman & Associates acting for the plantive Mr. Solaiman, have released a press statement which among other things says:^[57]

Violence against Biharis

After the defeat of the Pakistani forces and in particular after the withdrawal of Indian forces who had protected the Biharis, Bangladeshi nationalist forces, most notoriously the Kader Bahini militia led by Abdul Kader Siddique, exacted revenge on those who had been viewed as 'collaborators' of the Pakistani forces. In particular, Biharis, some of whom had formed Razakars and ''al Shams'' Islamist militias in support of the Pakistani Army, were subjected to massive reprisal attacks. A large numbers of Biharis were killed by Mukti Bahini soldiers, while hundreds of thousands were placed in refugee camps where they languished for many years. Fearing continued persecution in the new state of Bangladesh, they sought refuge in Pakistan, however the Pakistani government was reluctant to recognize their citizenship, making them effectively a stateless people.

Recipients of military awards

Main articles: Recipients of Bangladeshi military awards in 1971

Four categories of gallantry awards were created after the war in Bangladesh to honour those who had demonstrated outstanding bravery in the war. These were: Bir Sreshţho, Bir Uttom, Bir Bikrôm, and Bir Protik. Seven soldiers were awarded the ultimate award for gallantry, Bir Sreshţho.
Recipients of Bir Sreshtho during the entire Liberation War were :-

★ Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir

★ Sepoy Mostafa Kamal

★ Sepoy Hamidur Rahman

★ Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf

★ Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh
Receipients of Bir Sreshtho during the declared state-of-war between December 3- December 16 include:

★ Engineroom officer Ruhul Amin

★ Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman
All the recipients of this award died in action ''Note: When referring to martyrs, the word 'shaheed' is often put before each individuals name as a mark of respect''.

Timeline

Main articles: Timeline of the Bangladesh War

The conflict as depicted in arts and media

Bangladesh's national monument, Jatiyo Smriti Soudho, located in Savar, Dhaka, is a tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War

Naturally, the liberation war on 1971 has been a major source of inspiration for a wide number of artistic works in Bangladesh, including some by international artists as well. The following list includes some, if not all, of the major works about the war:

★ Films

★
★ ''Stop Genocide'' – documentary by Zahir Raihan, (1971)

★
★ ''Nine Months to Freedom: The Story of Bangladesh'' – documentary by S. Sukhdev (1972)

★
★ ''Shei Rater Kotha Bolte Eshechi'' ("I Have Come to Speak of That Night") – documentary by Kawsar Chowdhury (2001).

★
★ ''Muktir Gaan (Song of Freedom), Muktir Katha'' and ''Narir Katha'' – three different Bangla documentaries by Tareque and Catherine Masud

★
★ ''Matir moina (The Clay Bird)'' directed by Tareque Masud, (2002) - winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival

★
★ ''Border'' – a Bollywood movie on the India-Pakistan side of the war.

★
★ ''Aguner Parashmani'' – feature film by Humayun Ahmed

★
★ ''Shyamal Chhaya (Greenish Shade (of Bangladesh)'' – feature film by Humayun Ahmed

★
★ ''Ekattorer Jishu (Jesus of 71)'' – feature film by Nasiruddin Yusuf

★
★ ''Joy Jatra (Victory Procession)'' – feature film by Tauqir Ahmed

★
★ ''Arunodoyer Agnishakshi (Witness of the Sun Rise)''

★
★ ''Dhire Bohey Meghna (The Meghna River Flows Slowly...)''

★
★ ''Raktakto Bangla (The Blood-stained Bengal)''

★
★ ''Ora Egaro Jon (They were a group of 11..)''

★
★ ''Shangram (Struggle)''

★
★ ''Bagha Bangali (Bengal Tigers)''

★
★ ''Kolmilata''

★
★ ''Megher Anek Rang (Clouds have Many Shades)''

★ Bangla literature and memoirs

★
★ ''Ami Virangana Balchhi (I am the Heroine of War, Speaking...)'' – memoir by Nilima Ibrahim

★
★ ''Ghum Nei (Sleepless Nights)''– memoir by Nasiruddin Yusuf

★
★ ''Ami Bijoy Dekhechi (I have witnessed the Victory)''– memoir by M. R. Akhtar Mukul

★
★ ''A Tale of Millions''– memoir by Major (R) Rafik Ul Islam

★
★ ''Ekattorer Dinguli (Days of 71)''– memoir by Jahanara Imam(1986)ISBN 984-480-000-5

★
★ ''Maa (The Mother)'' – novel by Anisul Hoque(2003)ISBN 984-458-422-1

★
★ ''Jochhna o Janani'r Galpo (The Tale of Moonlight and the Motherland)''– novel by Humayun Ahmed(2004)ISBN 984-8682-76-7

★
★ ''Ekatture Uttar Ronangaon (The Battlefields of 71)'' - Factual Accounts by M. Hamidullah Khan

★
★ ''Of Blood and Fire''

★ International arts and media

★
★ ''The Concert for Bangladesh'', New York, 1971

★
★ ''September on Jessore Road'' – a poem by Allen Ginsberg

★
★ Joan Baez: ''Song for Bangladesh'' (Song) Lyrics

★
★ George Harrison: ''Bangla Desh'' (Song)

★
★ Tahmima Anam: ''A Golden Age'' (Novel)

★ Sculptures and monuments

★
★ Jatiyo Smriti Soudho (National Monument for Remembrance) in Savar, Dhaka

★
★ Aparajeyo Bangla (Invincible Bengal) – sculpture in Dhaka University

★
★ Shabash Bangladesh (Bravo, Bangladesh) – sculpture in Rajshahi University

★
★ Shoparjito Shadhinota (Self Achieved Freedom) – sculpture in Dhaka University

★ Museums

★
★ Liberation War Museum, Dhaka

★
★ Shahid Smriti Sangrohoshala (Martyr Memorial Museum), Rajshahi

Footnotes

1. Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway By Owen Bennett-Jones, Lindsay Brown, John Mock, Sarina Singh, Pg 30
2. Library of Congress studies
3. Demons of December — Road from East Pakistan to Bangladesh
4. Pakistan: Failure in National Integration, Rounaq Jahan, , , Columbia University Press, 1972, ISBN 0-231-03625-6 Pg 166-167
5. Al Helal, Bashir, Language Movement, Banglapedia
6. 'Indians are bastards anyway' Debasish Roy Chowdhury
7. "Joy" is Bengali Word that means win
8. J. S. Gupta ''The History of the Liberation Movement in Bangladesh'' Page ??
9. The Daily Star, March 26, 2005 Article not specified
10. Virtual Bangladesh
11. India, Pakistan, and the United States: Breaking with the Past By Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli ISBN 0-87609-199-0, 1997, Council on Foreign Relations. pp 37
12. Bangladesh Liberation Armed Force, Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh.
13. Bangladesh: Out of War, a Nation Is Born
14. India - Pakistan War, 1971; Introduction By Tom Cooper, with Khan Syed Shaiz Ali
15. Shalom, Stephen R., The Men Behind Yahya in the Indo-Pak War of 1971
16. http://www.defencejournal.com/2000/nov/pak-army.htm The Pakistan Army From 1965 to 1971 ''Analysis and reappraisal after the 1965 War''] by Maj (Retd) Agha Humayun Amin
17. Section 9. Situation in the Indian Subcontinent, 2. Bangladesh's international position - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
18. Guess who's coming to dinner Naeem Bangali
19. The Simla Agreement 1972 - Story of Pakistan
20. Defencejournal, Redefining security imperatives by M Sharif - Article in Jang newspaper, General Niazi's Failure in High Command
21. Editorial ''The Jamaat Talks Back''in The Bangladesh Observer December 30, 2005
22. Dr. N. Rabbee ''Remembering a Martyr'' Star weekend Magazine, The Daily Star (Bangladesh) December 16, 2005
23. Many of the eyewitness accounts of relations that were picked up by "Al Badr" forces describe them as Bengali men. The only survivor of the Rayerbazar killings describes the captors and killers of Bengali professionals as fellow Bengalis. See 37 Dilawar Hossain, account reproduced in ‘Ekattorer Ghatok-dalalera ke Kothay’ (Muktijuddha Chetona Bikash Kendro, Dhaka, 1989)
24. Asadullah Khan ''The loss continues to haunt us'' in The Daily Star (Bangladesh) December 14, 2005
25. DPA report Mass grave found in Bangladesh in The Chandigarh Tribune August 8, 1999
26. Sajit Gandhi ''The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971 National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79'' December 16, 2002
27. Hamoodur Rahman Commission, Chapter 2, Paragraph 33
28. "3 MILLION Slaughtered Sheik MUJIB Charges 'Greatest Massacre'" The Portsmouth Herald, Monday, January 17, 1972, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
29. Virtual Bangladesh: History: The Bangali Genocide, 1971
30. Pierre Stephen and Robert Payne References needs a page number
31. Scott Lamb ''Never Again?'' in Der Spiegel January 26, 2005
32. U.S Department of State South Asia in Crisis: United States Policy, 1961-1972 June 28-29, 2005, Loy Henderson Auditorium, Tentative Program
33. Anwar Iqbal Sheikh Mujib wanted a confederation: US papers, The Dawn, July 7, 2005
34. Anwar Iqbal '' US State Department's declassified documents'' in Financial Express, 16 December 2005.
35. Rummel, Rudolph J., "Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900", ISBN 3-8258-4010-7, Chapter 8, table 8.1
36. Guinness Book of Records 2007, pp 118-119
37. Debasish Roy Chowdhury '''Indians are bastards anyway''' in Asia Times June 23, 2005
"''In Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, Susan Brownmiller likens it to the Japanese rapes in Nanjing and German rapes in Russia during World War II. "... 200,000, 300,000 or possibly 400,000 women (three sets of statistics have been variously quoted) were raped."''"

38. Brownmiller, Susan, "Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape" ISBN 0-449-90820-8, page 81
39. Hamoodur Rahman Commission, Chapter 2, Paragraphs 32,34
40. East Pakistan: Even the Skies Weep, Time Magazine, October 25, 1971.
41. U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Sitrep: Army Terror Campaign Continues in Dacca; Evidence Military Faces Some Difficulties Elsewhere, March 31, 1971, Confidential, 3 pp
42. US State Department, "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976", Volume XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971", Page 165
43. Kennedy, Senator Edward, "Crisis in South Asia - A report to the Subcommittee investigating the Problem of Refugees and Their Settlement, Submitted to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee", November 1, 1971, U.S. Govt. Press, page 66. Sen. Kennedy wrote, "Field reports to the U.S. Government, countless eye-witness journalistic accounts, reports of International agencies such as World Bank and additional information available to the subcommittee document the reign of terror which grips East Bengal (East Pakistan). Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked 'H'. All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad."
44. The Sunday Times, London, June 13, 1971, ""The Government's policy for East Bengal was spelled out to me in the Eastern Command headquarters at Dacca. It has three elements: 1. The Bengalis have proved themselves unreliable and must be ruled by West Pakistanis; 2. The Bengalis will have to be re-educated along proper Islamic lines. The - Islamization of the masses - this is the official jargon - is intended to eliminate secessionist tendencies and provide a strong religious bond with West Pakistan; 3. When the Hindus have been eliminated by death and fight, their property will be used as a golden carrot to win over the under privileged Muslim middle-class. This will provide the base for erecting administrative and political structures in the future."
45. Sarmila Bose ''Anatomy of violence: An Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971'', later published in the Indian Journal, Economic and Political Weekly, issue October 8, 2005
46. Salma Khatun ''Sarmila Bose Rewrites history'' website of Drishtipat "A non-profit, non-political expatriate Bangladeshi organization ... registered public charity in the Unitied States."
47. Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: the Bihari Refugees of South Asia, Part 1, , Sumit, Sen, International Journal of Refugee Law, 1999
48. Ajoy Roy, "Homage to my martyr colleagues", 2002
49. Dr. Rashid Askari, "Our martyerd intellectuals", editorial, the Daily Star, December 14, 2005
50. Dr. M.A. Hasan, ''Juddhaporadh, Gonohatya o bicharer anneshan'', War Crimes Fact Finding Committee and Genocide archive & Human Studies Centre, Dhaka, 2001
51. Shahiduzzaman ''No count of the nation’s intellectual loss'' The New Age, December 15, 2005
52. Killing of Intellectuals Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
53. Gandhi, Sajit (ed.), The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971: National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79
54. U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Selective genocide (PDF) March 27, 1971
55. Memorandam for the Record(PDF) August 11 1971
56. Christopher Hitchens The Trials of Henry Kissinger References Pages 44,50
57. Raymond Faisal Solaiman v People's Republic of Bangladesh & Ors In The Federal Magistrates Court of Australia at Sydney.

References

★ Pierre Stephen and Robert Payne: ''Massacre'', Macmillan, New York, (1973). ISBN 0-02-595240-4

★ Christopher Hitchens “The Trials of Henry Kissinger”, Verso (2001). ISBN 1-85984-631-9

★ Library of Congress Country Studies

Dramatization

; Films

★ ''Border'', a 1997 Bollywood war film directed by J.P.Dutta. This movie is an adaptation from real life events that happened at the Battle of Longewala fought in Rajasthan (Western Theatre) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

★

External links

★ Banglapedia article on the Liberation war of Bangladesh

★ Video Streaming of 5 Liberation war documentaries

★ Picture Gallery of the Language Movement 1952 & the Independence War 1971 of Bangladesh

★ Bangladesh Liberation War. Mujibnagar. Government Documents 1971

★ Images of genocide committed by Pakistan Army in Bangladesh _{Graphic images, viewer discretion advised}

★ Virtual Bangladesh: History: Holocaust 1971

★ Case Study: Genocide in Bangladesh, 1971 from Gendercide.org

★ Torture in Bangladesh 1971-2004 (PDF)

★ Eyewitness Accounts: Genocide in Bangladesh

★ Genocide 1971

★ The women of 1971. Tales of abuse and rape by the Pakistan Army.

★ Eyewitness account of the massacre at Dhaka University

★ Mathematics of a Massacre, Abul Kashem

★ The complete Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report

★ 1971 Massacre in Bangladesh and the Fallacy in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, Dr. M.A. Hasan

★ Women of Pakistan Apologize for War Crimes, 1996

★ Pakistan Army not involved in 1971 Rapes, by Khalid Hasan, Daily Times, June 30, 2005.

★ Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape by Susan Brownmiller, 1975

★ Sheikh Mujib wanted a confederation: US papers, by Anwar Iqbal, Dawn, July 7, 2005

★ Page containing copies of the surrender documents

★ A website dedicated to Liberation war of Bangladesh

★ Video clip of the surrender by Pakistan

★ Bangladesh Liberation War Picture Gallery _{Graphic images, viewer discretion advised}

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