16th December 1971: From East Pakistan to Bangladesh

[Lavrentiy]

The fall of Dhaka was a well-deserved slap on the GT Road mentality of some Punjabis and hubris of the Pothohari military officers who consider themselves as a Marshall race.

The "small, weak, dark-skinned, and uncultured Bengalis" gave the "superior warrior race" a thrashing they will never forget. These are the same terms that were used by the Generals for Bengalis.

Yet, their egos remain as inflated as ever despite the disasters (terrorism, Afghanistan) that continued after 1971.

 

[Lavrentiy]

Dude calm down. Bhutto was a Sindhi. At that time Bhutto was the strongman in West Pakistan. Yahya was in fact willing to reach a deal with Mujeeb. But Bhutto didn't let that happen. I consider him the main culprit

Bhutto's role cannot be ignored but he was emboldened by hesitation of Yahya to hand power over to Mujeeb.

Bhutto may be Sindhi but he won overwhelmingly from Punjab which never wanted Mujeeb to come to power.

Anyways, history will only remember the utter spanking of the Marshall race and surrender of Tiger Niazi.

 

[Banglar Bir]

• • Mukti Bahini, the forgotten terrorists
    Home / Today's Paper / National / Mukti Bahini, the forgotten terrorists
    By Farrukh Saleem
    March 14, 2016
    Print : National
    https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/105117-Mukti-Bahini-the-forgotten-terrorists
    
    
    
    
    
    In the sub-continent, India laid the foundation of cross-border terrorism. The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), which was established on 21 September 1968, was preceded by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and back in 1968 IB operatives had already begun sowing cross-border seeds to what would later become the Mukti Bahini.
    
    For the record, the Mukti Bahini was preceded by the Mukti Fauj which in return was preceded denominationally by the Sangram Parishad. Mukti Bahini guerillas-along with RAW operatives and regulars from the Indian Army-operated training camps in the Indian states of West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura.
    
    By late 1970, the Mukti Bahini, armed and trained by India, had begun undertaking subversive activities targeting power plants, railways, industries, bridges, fuel depots, looting banks, raiding warehouses, mining ships and killing non-Bengalis. On 26 March 1971, Pakistan Army initiated Operation Searchlight-a law-and-order enforcement operation to safeguard the lives and properties of East Pakistanis and establish the writ of the state. As of March 1971, the total strength of Pakistan army troops posted in East Pakistan stood at 12,000 (armed only with small weapons).
    
    By late-April 1971, Operation Searchlight had managed to throw the Mukti Bahini across the border back into India. Mukti Bahini’s ‘Monsoon offensive’ was also neutralized.
    
    On 15 May 1971, Indian Army’s Eastern Command officially initiated ‘Operation Jackpot’ to reorganize the Mukti Bahini who were on the run. The Indians equipped the Mukti Bahini with Italian howitzers, Dakota DC-3 aircraft, Otter DHC-3 fighter planes and Allouette helicopters (Italian howitzers used by the Mukti Bahini are now preserved at the Bangladesh Military Museum in Dhaka).
    
    Operation Jackpot began churning out up to 5,000 trained guerilla fighters every month. Mukti Bahini guerillas along with RAW operatives and Indian Army regulars would enter East Pakistan through forward bases that were set up in Tripura and West Bengal.
    
    According to Archer Blood, an American career diplomat who served as the last American Consul General to Dhaka, “Indian soil was made available for training camps, hospitals and supply depots for the Mukti Bahini” and the Mukti Bahini had a “safe haven to which it could retire for rest, food, medical supplies and weapons….”
    
    In Nagaland, the Indian Armed Forces established a jungle airstrip for the Mukti Bahini from where Indian Air Force trained pilots conducted sorties by Otter DHC-3 aircraft. India’s Eastern Command trained more than 400 naval commandos and frogmen to drown vessels in Chittagong, Chandpur and Narayanganj.
    
    In Dehra Dun, Major-General Oban “selected the best personnel from the Mukti Bahini” and gave them political and military training. One Mukti Bahini Sector Commander, Quazi Nooruzzaman, writes: “Having received the training, political commandos found it embarrassing to identify themselves as products of the Indian authorities. So they gave themselves the name of Bangladesh Liberation Force.”
    
    The Mukti Bahini killed anywhere from 100,000 Biharis (according to the ‘Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh’) to 150,000 Biharis (according to the ‘Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict; page 64). Qutubuddin Aziz, in ‘Blood and Tears’, has documented 170 eye-witness accounts of the ‘atrocities committed on Biharis and other non-Bengalis’ across 55 towns, covering ‘110 places where the slaughter of the innocents took place’.
    
    According to Lawrence Lifschultz, South Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Mukti Bahini leader, Abdul Kader Siddiqui, “personally bayoneted” non-Bengalis to death and the entire incident was filmed by foreign film crews whom Siddiqui had invited to witness the spectacle.
    
    For the record, as per the 1951 census there were 671,000 Biharis in East Pakistan-and imagine up to 20 percent of the entire Bihari population was massacred by the Mukti Bahini. According to Yasmin Saikia’s ‘Women, War and the Making of Bangladesh’, thousands of Bihari women were raped and tortured by the Mukti Bahini (Duke University Press; page 41).
    
    As of 16 December 1971, the total strength of the Pakistani army troops posted in East Pakistan stood at 34,000 (of which 23,000 were infantry). By December 1971, the total strength of Indian troops around East Pakistan stood at between 150,000 and 400,000 with an additional 100,000 Indian-trained Mukti Bahini. The Indian air force deployed four Hunter Squadrons, one Sukhoi Squadron, three Gnat Squadrons and three MiG-21 Squadrons.
    
    The Indian navy deployed Aircraft Carrier Vikrant comprising 47 aircraft, eight destroyers, two submarines and three landing ship tanks. In December 1971, India’s 4 Infantry Division, 9 Infantry Division, 20 Mountain Division, 6 Mountain Division, 8 Mountain Division, 57 Mountain Division and 23 Division invaded East Pakistan.
    
    The old saying is that “no one has been able to strike terror into others and at the same time enjoy peace of mind”. The Mukti Bahini terrorists may have been forgotten but the terror that they unleashed on innocent Biharis and other non-Bengalis cannot be whipped off the history books.
    

 

[Banglar Bir]

Nurul Kabir
15 hrs ·

My piece on Victory day in New Age e-paper
Stealing of a people’s victory: Reclaiming the spirit of Bangladesh’s independence war.

http://epaper.newagebd.net/16-12-2016/25

kindly log in the site to read the whole article.

 

[Banglar Bir]

RTNews24 and RTNBD shared a link.

‘হাজার বছরের প্রতিশোধ নিলাম আজ’ একথা কেনো বলেছিলেন ইন্দিরা গান্ধী?
১৯৭১ সালের ১৬ ই ডিসেম্বর বাংলাদেশ নামে প্রিয় মাতৃভূমির অভ্যুদয় হয়। নতুন জীবনের জয়গান…
Share
RTNBD.NET|BY RTNBD

 

[Banglar Bir]

Tuhin Malik
10 hrs ·

আমাদের মুক্তিযুদ্ধকে হেয় করে ভারত ও পাকিস্তানের ক্রমাগত ঔদ্ধত্য বন্ধ করতেই হবে।

ভারতীয়রা প্রতিবছর ১৬ ডিসেম্বরে আমাদের মুক্তিযুদ্ধকে ভারত-পাকিস্তান যুদ্ধ বলে দাবী করে আসছে। শুধু তাই নয় তাদের সরকার, ক্ষমতাসীন দল ও মিডিয়া বুক ফুঁলিয়েই আমাদের মুক্তিযুদ্ধ ও মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের অবদানকে তুচ্ছ-তাচ্ছিল্য ও হেয় প্রতিয়মান করেই চলেছে।

এবারও হিন্দত্ববাদী ভারতীয় জনতা পার্টি (বিজেপি) দাবী করেছে, ১৬ ডিসেম্বর ভারতীয়ের বিজয় দিবস । বিজেপির প্রচার মাধ্যমে ১৬ ডিসেম্বরকে তাদের বিজয় হিসেবেই প্রচার করা হচ্ছে। বলা হচ্ছে পাকিস্থানীরা এই দিনে ভারতীয় বাহিনীর হাতেই আত্নসম্পর্ন করেছে। বিজেপির প্রচারে বাংলাদেশ বা মুক্তিবাহিনীর কোন উল্লেখ নেই। বিজেপির ফেসবুকে এই কথা লিখে ছবি প্রচার করছে।

এদিকে আজ শুক্রবার ১৬ ডিসেম্বর মহান বিজয় দিবসকে নিজেদের বিজয় হিসেবে উল্লেখ করে প্রতিবেদন প্রকাশ করেছে ভারতের প্রভাবশালী হিন্দি দৈনিক জাগরণ। পত্রিকাটির অনলাইন সংস্করণে প্রকাশিত ওই প্রতিবেদনে বলা হয়েছে, ১৯৭১ সালের আজকের এই দিনে (১৬ ডিসেম্বর) ভারত পাকিস্তানকে হারিয়ে ইতিহাস রচনা করেছিল। প্রতিবছর আজকের এই দিনে ভারতে বিজয় দিবস হিসেবে পালিত হয়।
লিংক-http://www.facebd.net/newsdetail/detail/200/266804

অন্যদিকে পাকিস্তান ডিফেন্সের পেইজে দেয়া ভিডিওতে দেখানো হচ্ছে, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ ভারত এবং রাশিয়ার যোগ সাজসে একটা ষড়যন্ত্রের চেয়ে বেশি কিছু না। ১৯৭১ সালে বাংলাদেশে ৩০ লাখ বাঙালি মারা যায়নি, যারা মারা গিয়েছিলো তাদের ৯০ শতাংশই বিহারি এবং পাকিস্তানি।

ভিডিওটি পাকিস্তানি প্রতিরক্ষা সংস্থা স্পন্সর করে ব্যাপক প্রচারের চেষ্টা করছে।
‘দি ফরগটেন চ্যাপ্টার- স্টোরি অব ইস্ট পাকিস্তান’ শিরোনামের সাত মিনিটের ভিডিওটিতে ড. জুনাইদ আহমেদ নামের এক পাকিস্তানি লেখকের ‘ক্রিয়েশন অব বাংলাদেশ: এক্সপ্লোডিং মিথস’ এর উপর ভিত্তি করে তৈরি করা হয়েছে।
লিংক-http://www.facebd.net/newsdetail/detail/200/266837

আমাদের মুক্তিযুদ্ধ ও বীর মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের অসামান্য অবদান ও গৌরবজনক আত্মত্যাগকে হেয় প্রতিপন্ন করে ভারত ও পাকিস্তানের ক্রমাগত এইসব ঔদ্ধত্য অবিলম্বে বন্ধ করতেই হবে।

অবিলম্বে আমাদের সরকার ও পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রনালয়ের এ ব্যাপারে কঠোরতম প্রতিবাদ করতে হবে।

অনতিবিলম্বে বাংলাদেশে নিযুক্ত ভারত ও পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্রদূতকে তলব করে বুঝিয়ে দিতে হবে-
বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা কারো দানে পাওয়া কোন দয়া নয়।
লক্ষ প্রানের আত্মত্যাগের বিনিময়ে পাওয়া বাংলাদেশ একটি স্বাধীন, সার্বভৌম ও আত্মমযার্দাশীল রাষ্ট্র।

খুদে মুক্তিযোদ্ধা’র প্রশ্ন, মুক্তিযোদ্ধারা অবহেলিত কেন?

http://www.facebd.net/newsdetail/detail/31/266918

17 Dec, 2016

সাত দফা দাবি নিয়ে র‌্যালিতে ‘খুদে মুক্তিযোদ্ধা’ ইছামবিজয় দিবস উপলক্ষে ক্ষমতাসীন আওয়ামী লীগের বিজয় র‌্যালিতে মুক্তিযোদ্ধা সেজে আসা এক ‘খুদে মুক্তিযোদ্ধা’ জানতে চেয়েছে, মুক্তিযোদ্ধারা অবহেলিত কেন?

শুক্রবার বিজয় দিবসে বিজয় র‌্যালির আয়োজন করে আওয়ামী লীগ। ইঞ্জিনিয়ার্স ইনস্টিটিউশন মিলনায়তনের সামনের গেট থেকে শুরু হয় এ বিজয় র‌্যালি। এই র‌্যালিতে রাজধানীর মতিঝিল এলাকা থেকে ‘খুদে মুক্তিযোদ্ধা’ সেজে আসে ইছাম। তার হাতে ছিল একটি বন্দুক। আর বুকে ছিল হাতে লেখা সাত দফা সংবলিত একটি দাবিনামা। তাতেই প্রশ্ন করা হয়েছে, মুক্তিযোদ্ধারা অবহেলিত কেন। দাবিনামায় রাজাকারমুক্ত দেশ গড়ার দাবিও জানিয়েছে ইছাম।

‘খুদে মুক্তিযোদ্ধা’ ইছামের সাত দফার মধ্যে আরও ছিল মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের পূর্ণ অধিকার, সঠিক মূল্যায়ন ও যুদ্ধাহত মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের সঠিক চিকিৎসা নিশ্চিত করার দাবি।

এ ছাড়া মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের সঠিক তালিকা প্রণয়ন এবং নব্য রাজাকারদের বিচারের আহ্বানও ছিল ইছামের দাবিনামায়। রাজাকারমুক্ত দেশ গড়ার জন্য সরকারের প্রতি আহ্বানও জানায় এই ‘খুদে মুক্তিযোদ্ধা’।

শুধু ইছাম-ই নয়, আওয়ামী লীগের এ বিজয় শোভাযাত্রায় বিভিন্ন সাজে এসেছিলেন নেতা-কর্মীরাও। তাদের কেউ মুক্তিযোদ্ধা, কেউ রাজাকার কিংবা পাক হানাদার বাহিনীর সদস্যের সাজে সেজেছিলেন।

র‌্যালিতে অংশ নেওয়া নেতা-কর্মীরা জানান, আওয়ামী লীগের নেতৃত্বে বাংলাদেশের জনগণ পাকিস্তানি হানাদার বাহিনী ও তাদের এ দেশীয় দোসরদের বিরুদ্ধে লড়াই করে এ দিন বিজয় অর্জন করে স্বাধীন হয়েছিল। তাই এ দিনটি (১৬ ডিসেম্বর) তাদের আনন্দের দিন। এ আনন্দের বহিঃপ্রকাশ ঘটাতেই বর্ণিল সাজে তারা শোভাযাত্রায় অংশ নিয়েছেন।

উৎসঃ বাংলা ট্রিবিউন

 

[Banglar Bir]

Zulfikar Bhutto Interview on Bangladesh

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1063549893726888

 

[Banglar Bir]

Indian Army looting money from Bangladeshis in 1971 war (video)

Source: https://defence.pk/threads/indian-a...eshis-in-1971-war-video.467775/#ixzz4TMoCGjAd

 

[Centaur]

There were options! if u hadnt played in the hands of indian proxy and bloody politicians........ just imagine where we would have been today!

A country with 3 or 4th largest army,30-40 billion dollars in reserves! A diverse country! ...... heck Pakistan was created by people of both countries! not just west pakistanis!

Imagine wat they would be feeling today!
Brothers killing brothers and the enemy winning!

.................

I was born in the 90s! but still whenever i think abt BD i get goose bumps and tears roll out of my eyes!A very bad pain rises from my heart tht paralyzes my soul!

Once U were my brother my country fellow! i would have given my life for u!
But today where do u stand? who won 71 war?Pakistan?Bangladesh? NO neither......... india did!

With tears in eyes and pain in my heart"Oh! deathly cold December, thou shall always be in mourning".

I agree my dear brother.India separated us, and some elites, politicians and some pseudo intellectuals who were actually indian paid agents i believe.
Bangalis never voted for seperation. And only 56% vote cast from former east pakistan and no one voted for seperation,bit they simply voted to make mujib the Prime minister.
Pakistan was the greatest and strongest muslim country always.but liers broke the country for whom our ancestors fought and gave there life.
Actually by seperating us, indian took revenge on us .

 

[asad71]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210631151787538&set=pcb.10210631152467555&type=3&theater

We could not even provide berets/caps or web belts to our cadets training at Murty, NE. The pix shows Saeed receiving the Best Cadet's trophy from Actg President Syed Nazrul Islam. Saeed rose to be a Maj Gen and ambassador.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Some laugh in this otherwise a grim thread.

 

[Arefin007]

haha still remember this thread anubis doyelbaba running after me

where is major d1 bro btw? doesn't respond to emails now. also can't find his profile. anyone having contact with him say hi to him for me

 

[Centaur]

Mistakes were made by both sides political mistakes aside. Mujeeb could have been writing but his 5 points were enough to strengthen this divide foundation of which was laid in Agartala conspericy.

I agree partially, there should have been 5 points instead of 6. Because different central bank and currency is terrible idea.
But indeed sheikh mujeeb had nothing to do with agartala conspiracy .other were the villain;enemies were hidding in awami league,and mujeeb was a type of hostage to them.

As for military I think that hard line bangali are more to be blamed.

agree

There minds were poisoned by Mujeeb ur Rahman to the extend that they lifted armed against their own Army.

Totally disagree .Actually sheikh mujeeb did not declare independence nor he poisoned the mind of bengali.almost all bengalis were faithful to pakistan. And sheikh never provoked against pakistan, if he did why pakistan did not arrest or shoot him? He was hostage to the traitors of his own party( was pakistan also not a hostage to india and as a result her East wing has been cut?)
and willingly surrender to army so that army can take care of the traitors and R&AW agents.
Btw, pakistan is just not a land of west pakistan (currently pakistan), but both side were pakistan and if a Qaed e azam could manage a corridor to connect both pakistan then pakistan would never break.

But as i said pakistan is an identity not only one ot two piece of land. If there were south and north pakistan and all were seperated and renamed still the two nation theory never dies.
Only problem was communication .3200 miles (via colombo) distance is not a game to comunicate between two wings(and if sri lanka did not aid pakistan and would not open her port to pakistan, pakistan would have lost the war long before 16 december because of insufficient manpower and logistics in East pakistan). And that time there was no internet. And if technology was far more advanced, pakistan would not break even both wing share no land border.
Keep in mind that pakistani army did not lose until india directly attack East pakistan. Mukti bahini ( some are paid agents of india and some are brain washed fools)
Faild to capture any single district or sub district of East pakistan. Why? Because East pakistani bengalis prevented them from the traitors.
And then when problem was about to solve then india directly attack East pakistan ( how many time Soviet would use veto?),set naval blockade and pakistan failed to break the blockade and bengalis lost their homeland pakistan because of the foolish act of yahyah. He should have understand the war plan of india and should send more army to fortify East pakistan but he didn't. East pakistan was captured by india, and when mujeeb returns he forced indian army to withdraw.
And the name already changed to bangladesh and mujeeb was unable to protest india, as pakistan lost 1971 war so if mujib would go against india, india could hostile takeover east pakistan by propogating another theory
Thanks to allah and thanks to mujeeb that for his eye washing co operation, we didn't have to accept the fate of Hyderabad.
Finally bangladesh is East pakistan (by two nation feelings) and it will always remain east pakistan ( because two nation theory was for pakistan a muslim homeland) just name is changed by india.and india can't rule the mind of our peoples.
Yes you can call it independent/separated East pakistan i will not disagree.

Finally Jay bangla & Pakistan zindabad or jiye pakistan ( this part is removed) slogan that exactly mujeeb said in 7 march Jay bangla for bengali and Pakistan zindabad for united pakistan.

On the other hand the sole mistake of military crack down was to prevent splitting of Pakistan.

Again my friend it was never ever a mistake. Pakistan should do this long before 1971 and with great force.
She failed to win the mental war against india and then india forcefully taken our identity as pakistani.
Well but india can never rule our mind never. As hindus and Muslims can never ever be the same nation,but always two nation.

 

[asad71]

Indian Intel must have penetrated into W Pak military and politics. Bhutto was definitely working for them. I suspect, so was Mithha. Bhutto's role in '65 and '71, and Mithha's over-enthusiasm in overstepping the limits of the original Ops Order for Op Searchlight need to be investigated jointly by ISI and DGFI.

 

[Banglar Bir]

Saheed Nadir, a real Hero of 1971.
Sorry the heroic deeds of valient freedom fighter Saheed Nadir, of the then old town of Dacca, is in Bangla,as such refrained from up loading the same,as I at my age hate being warned by any forums administrators.