From East Pakistan to Bangladesh: Recollections of 1971 Liberation War

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Whereas India and West Pakistan won their freedom from the British in 1947, East Pakistan got new colonial masters. So the story has to begin, as has been done in this book for the first time, from the personalities who created Pakistan, the military coups and assassinations that led to political instability, the ruling cliques that jostled for power and pelf, and the misdeeds which created fault-lines between the two wings of Pakistan. This was the backdrop to the genocide carried out by Pakistan's army, which initially led to the resistance of East Pakistani troops and eventually necessitated India's training and equipping of Mukti Bahini and joint operations with India's armed forces.

At the same time, dramatic events were also taking place on the world stage, in New York at the UN, in Washington, Dhaka and Islamabad which make for riveting reading. These developments had repercussions on international relations that were felt for decades, such as the unnatural axis between Washington, Beijing and Islamabad and the enduring ties between India and Bangladesh.

Brig RP Singh, who was then a Captain in the Indian Army, was associated with the Bangladesh liberation struggle from start to the end. The book is a valuable addition to the literature on geopolitics as well as the subcontinent's military history. The author provides an insightful, first-hand account of the challenges faced by the war-torn newly independent nation.

As a young Captain in the Indian Army in 1971, retired Brigadier RP Singh was involved in the Bangladesh Liberation War from its beginning till V-Day. Over 267 days from 26 March, he wore different hats from commanding a rifle company on the international border to helping civil administration run refugee camps to being an instructor in Officers Training Wing (OTW) of the Mukti Bahini to leading a wing of 850 freedom fighters into the battle on 4-16 December inside then East Pakistan. Amongst the officers trained by him was Captain Sheikh Kamal, the brother of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

An alumnus of Defence Services Staff College Wellington, and National Defence College, New Delhi, Brig R P Singh has authored numerous books.

Hitesh Singh is a freelance writer who contributes to various papers and periodicals on military history and defence- related issues. He studied History at Sri Venkateshwara College, Delhi University and has diplomas in Defence Studies and Human Rights Law.

If blood was the price of independence, then the Bangladeshis had to pay it twice-once during the Pakistan Movement and the second time for liberation from Pakistani colonial masters who were much more brutal than the British. On 14 August 1947, the British Government divided India into two nations and three geographical units. On 15 August 1947, India got independence along with two wings of Pakistan, 1800 kilometers apart, in the West and East. The East Pakistanis (Bangladeshis) were discriminated against in every field. In 1970, the first and last free and fair elections based on universal adult franchise were held in united Pakistan which gave a clear mandate to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's party, Awami League to rule the whole country. But the Punjab dominated West Pakistanis ruling clique refused to hand over power to a Bengali. Instead of being made the PM Sheikh Mujib was put in jail and the most heinous genocide, 'Operation Searchlight' was launched on 26 March 1971 in which more than three lakh innocent Bangladeshis were killed and ten million took refuge in India. More than four hundred thousand women were raped resulting in the birth of over 70,000 war babies. World media and eminent citizens all over the globe decried the genocide of the Pakistan army. But barring India and USSR (Russia) all others watched the holocaust in silence. Whereas USA, China, and the Islamic Countries openly connived with the perpetrator of this savagery-Pakistan's Army Dictator Yahya Khan.

I was involved in the Liberation War from the first day, 26 March, till the last day, 16 December 1971. My unit had moved to West Bengal in December 1970 when elections were being held in the neighboring East Pakistan. The local media was giving wide coverage to these events which I followed thoroughly. My unit was deployed on the Indo-East Pakistan border when the Pak Army launched the brutal 'Operation Searchlight' at zero hours on 26 March 1971. On 17 April 1971, I was in-charge of security during the swearing-in ceremony of the Bangladesh Provisional Government aka Mujibnagar Government. From 20 April 1971 onwards my company was tasked to help the civil administration in setting up and running the camps for Bangladesh refugees. During this period, I met large numbers of victims of the Pakistan Army's brutalities and interacted with numerous international charitable and non-governmental organizations, and human rights agencies, as well as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.