Who's to blame for Pakistan's 1971 Debacle?

[RiazHaq]

Many in Pakistan are quick to blame Pak military for what led to the creation of Bangladesh. But BBC's Owen Bennet Jones has detailed #Bhutto's role in getting Pakistan in 1965 & 1971 wars to blame & weaken PakistanArmy for his own political ambitions.

Is This a 1971 Moment in Pakistan's History?

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It can be reasonably argued that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a key architect of the tragic events that unfolded in 1971. Many analysts agree with late Governor Salman Taseer of the PPP who said that "the lion's share of the blame" for 1971 goes to Mr. Bhutto. Here's what Mr. Taseer wrote in his book "Bhutto: A Political Biography":

"Blame can never be satisfactorily or finally apportioned to the major players in this grisly drama, but that Bhutto, Mujibur Rahman and Yahya Khan share responsibility there can be no doubt. Many, indeed, are inclined to the view that Bhutto, as the most sure-footed politician of the three and thus the best equipped to assess the consequences of his actions, must accept the lion's share of the blame. Argument on this point will remain one of the central themes of Pakistani politics, perhaps for decades."

A number of actions and pronouncements by Mr. Bhutto support Gov Taseer's conclusion. Some of these are:

1. While the rest of the political parties winning two-thirds of the National Assembly seats agreed to attend the 1971 post-election session in Dacca, Mr. Bhutto refused to do so.

2. Not only did Mr. Bhutto announce his PPP's boycott of the assembly, he also threatened to "break the legs" of any one from West Pakistan who agreed to attend.

3. Mr. Bhutto urged the military to act against Shaikh Mujib-ur-Rahman's Awami Leage which had absolute majority in the National Assembly elected in 1971.

4. After General Yahya Khan was persuaded by Bhutto to act against the Awami League, Mr. Bhutto welcomed the army operation in East Pakistan by saying "Thank God, Pakistan is saved" on the day the military started its action in East Pakistan....knowing full well that it would invite an Indian invasion as it did.

5. There was wide support for a Polish ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council to end the 1971 India-Pakistan war before Dhaka fell. But Mr. Bhutto, as General Yahya Khan's special envoy, refused to go along and walked out of the UN meeting.

Is This a 1971 Moment in Pakistan's History?

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

 

[Imran Khan]

the distance

 

[hussain0216]

Distance, we couldn't supply our troops or send reinforcements

Bengali were traitor's who should never be forgotten


The Hindus are cowards but it gave them a easy run at battlefield we couldn't possibly defend and the Bengalis deserve condemnation for this

 

[Mav3rick]

Distance, we couldn't supply our troops or send reinforcements

Bengali were traitor's who should never be forgotten


The Hindus are cowards but it gave them a easy run at battlefield we couldn't possibly defend and the Bengalis deserve condemnation for this

Were Bengalis born traitors? Is it possible that they decided to break away from Pakistan because their rights were being usurped? Is it possible that the Bengali had enough of our treatment of them?

Why do you people always find fault with others? Why is it so easy for you to blame others rather than to introspect?

 

[Death Adder]

Military dictator hands down.

 

[hussain0216]

Were Bengalis born traitors? Is it possible that they decided to break away from Pakistan because their rights were being usurped? Is it possible that the Bengali had enough of our treatment of them?

Why do you people always find fault with others? Why is it so easy for you to blame others rather than to introspect?

Bengali nationalists had betrayed the Muslim state long before 1971

 

[Trango Towers]

Bhutto is firmly to blame then and even now the offspring of bhutto are the enemies of Pakistan. Weeds need to be exterminated at the roots. Only bhutto was killed and look what we have.

 

[Imran Khan]

Were Bengalis born traitors? Is it possible that they decided to break away from Pakistan because their rights were being usurped? Is it possible that the Bengali had enough of our treatment of them?

Why do you people always find fault with others? Why is it so easy for you to blame others rather than to introspect?

rights or no right good or bad they will have to go one day and india have to take benefit . its was wrong plan from day one . today after 73 years of pakistan are we able to mobilize troops to that place rapidly in case of war ? no we are nor . just 5 years ago we got air to air refueling we have 20 c-130s and 4 il-78s . can we do it ? no we can not do it . only way we were able to defend it if it have border with china .

lets say bengalis were not traitors but are we able to defend that land even today ? answer is no .

it was mistake of 1947 which was corrected ugly way in 1971 . they were not pakistani from day one .

 

[Baibars_1260]

Many in Pakistan are quick to blame Pak military for what led to the creation of Bangladesh. But BBC's Owen Bennet Jones has detailed #Bhutto's role in getting Pakistan in 1965 & 1971 wars to blame & weaken PakistanArmy for his own political ambitions.

Is This a 1971 Moment in Pakistan's History?

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

It can be reasonably argued that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a key architect of the tragic events that unfolded in 1971. Many analysts agree with late Governor Salman Taseer of the PPP who said that "the lion's share of the blame" for 1971 goes to Mr. Bhutto. Here's what Mr. Taseer wrote in his book "Bhutto: A Political Biography":

"Blame can never be satisfactorily or finally apportioned to the major players in this grisly drama, but that Bhutto, Mujibur Rahman and Yahya Khan share responsibility there can be no doubt. Many, indeed, are inclined to the view that Bhutto, as the most sure-footed politician of the three and thus the best equipped to assess the consequences of his actions, must accept the lion's share of the blame. Argument on this point will remain one of the central themes of Pakistani politics, perhaps for decades."

A number of actions and pronouncements by Mr. Bhutto support Gov Taseer's conclusion. Some of these are:

1. While the rest of the political parties winning two-thirds of the National Assembly seats agreed to attend the 1971 post-election session in Dacca, Mr. Bhutto refused to do so.

2. Not only did Mr. Bhutto announce his PPP's boycott of the assembly, he also threatened to "break the legs" of any one from West Pakistan who agreed to attend.

3. Mr. Bhutto urged the military to act against Shaikh Mujib-ur-Rahman's Awami Leage which had absolute majority in the National Assembly elected in 1971.

4. After General Yahya Khan was persuaded by Bhutto to act against the Awami League, Mr. Bhutto welcomed the army operation in East Pakistan by saying "Thank God, Pakistan is saved" on the day the military started its action in East Pakistan....knowing full well that it would invite an Indian invasion as it did.

5. There was wide support for a Polish ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council to end the 1971 India-Pakistan war before Dhaka fell. But Mr. Bhutto, as General Yahya Khan's special envoy, refused to go along and walked out of the UN meeting.

Is This a 1971 Moment in Pakistan's History?

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

The "debacle " if you call it happened back in 1947 when we decided to include a logistic, political and geographical nightmare as part of Pakistan. It was indefensible, and ungovernable and bore little linguistic, or cultural relationship to us. We might very well have been linking an island in Indonesia.

I think Niazi did the smart thing. There was no point dying for a land and a rebellious people that did not want us. Ensuring that our boys returned home safe was the best deal he made.
The best part is we emerged stronger and integrated with a revised linguistic and cultural identity. With a mortal enemy on our borders we were no longer worried about the "dog leg" territory completely encircled and isolated a thousand miles away.Most of that clay patch will be gone into the sea anyway.

Lets concentrate on protecting our land. We have the means to inflict the ultimate punishment on any enemy that would wish us ill.

 

[RiazHaq]

BBC's Owen Bennet Jones has detailed #Bhutto's role in getting #Pakistan in 1965 & 1971 wars to blame & weaken #PakistanArmy for his own political ambitions. ZAB was "so convinced of his own greatness and indispensability that he did not believe the generals would dare hang him"

"On 12 May 1965, Zulfikar wrote to Ayub about the ‘relative superiority of the military forces of Pakistan in terms of quality and equipment’ and warned that India’s capacity was increasing with every passing day.64 The military balance, in other words, was bound to tilt ever further in Delhi’s favour. Zulfikar also insisted that after its defeat by China in 1962 the Indian military was demoralised and in no position to open a general war against Pakistan – any military action would be restricted to Kashmir.65 It was now or never. In July 1965, Ayub decided to act. Bhutto had advocated it, but Ayub decided to do it. The infiltration of Kashmir outlined in Operation GIBRALTAR began, and, on 10 August, a body that no Kashmiri had previously heard of, the Revolutionary Council, called on the people people to rise up against their Indian occupiers. However, when the militants contacted supposedly sympathetic clerics, they found that most were reluctant to help.66 From Pakistan’s point of view, the initial results of Operation GIBRALTAR were disappointing. But they were about to get a lot worse: the Indian prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, launched an offensive crossing the 1947 ceasefire line in Kashmir, preventing further infiltration and cutting off the militants’ supply lines. Zulfikar urged Ayub to carry on fighting, arguing that failure to do so ‘would amount to a debacle which could threaten the existence of Pakistan’.67 His anti-Indian rhetoric reached new heights"

"GIBRALTAR was followed inexorably by GRANDSLAM. Initially the Pakistani Army offensive went well, but the military leadership in Rawalpindi was relying on its extraordinarily complacent assumption that India would not extend the fighting beyond Kashmir. But that is exactly what India did, opening up a 50-mile-wide front near Lahore, launching an offensive in Sindh and making a drive for the Pakistani city of Sialkot. Ludicrously, Pakistan’s planners were taken by surprise. In a matter of hours all thoughts of offence were abandoned as the priority became saving Lahore"

Bennett-Jones, Owen. The Bhutto Dynasty (pp. 65-66). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.

 

[Kingslayerr]

Military and the civilian leadership. That was the only time they were actually on the same page as they didn't want mujeeb to be the PM. That power hungry leadership.

 

[BlueWhales]

Once Mujeeb ur rehman said, West Pakistanis are not interested in East Pakistan (Bangladesh), He tried to unite with them but failed..

Bhuttos aka PPP blame Yahya, Generals blame Bhutos, When you try to talk with Bangalis, Bangalis blame Pujabis for Partition, Punjabis blame Mujeeb ur Rehman

If someone ask me who was real traitor, i will say all, its only blame game..

 

[mudas777]

There are too many skeletons in the 1971 wardrobe. Only by making Hamood Ur Rehman Commission report public most of the demons of 1971 can be put to rest. Country like ours where there are too many culprits and not enough judges or at times judiciary itself is a problem getting to the truth is near to impossible.
One can see brazen lies of our politicians in the current scenario and they are still giving speeches and people are still following them to the PDM gatherings. There are allegations of corruption, and proof of corruption so why the judiciary is taking so long to dish out justice or this nation of ours is destined to be no hopers. We don't have got system of accountability and the half baked system we do have is run by corrupt officials hence no wonder we are not getting any where to improve our situation.
This nation could have set free when the commission report came out but how can Bhutto release the report when he was in the power and guilty as hell to loose his own power. While on the other hand military establishment looks like it did have the chequered part and guilty of grave mistakes. Mistakes can be forgiven and course can be corrected but establishment refuses to accept their part and hence the course correction stays in limbo. Its catch 22 situation both politicians and establishment needs to work in their frame work but do they. Establishment must get out of politics and while civil society needs to bring forward people who can take country of ours onto the right path so we can claim back our space on the international arena. We desperately need electronic electoral voting system so no more alleged or real voting fraud can take place and same applies for the senate voting system so every one can see which senator voted for what and who. After loosing half the country still no one have shown any interest in electronic electoral voting system because it doesn't suits politicians corruption and establishment wants to keep fingers in their share of the pie while every one starts a speech in Pakistan with

“Bismillah, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim”

while our people keep on voting for the politicians who have got no interest in our country and their loyalties lies elsewhere. That's my two cents.

 

[hussain0216]

The "debacle " if you call it happened back in 1947 when we decided to include a logistic, political and geographical nightmare as part of Pakistan. It was indefensible, and ungovernable and bore little linguistic, or cultural relationship to us. We might very well have been linking an island in Indonesia.

I think Niazi did the smart thing. There was no point dying for a land and a rebellious people that did not want us. Ensuring that our boys returned home safe was the best deal he made.
The best part is we emerged stronger and integrated with a revised linguistic and cultural identity. With a mortal enemy on our borders we were no longer worried about the "dog leg" territory completely encircled and isolated a thousand miles away.Most of that clay patch will be gone into the sea anyway.

Lets concentrate on protecting our land. We have the means to inflict the ultimate punishment on any enemy that would wish us ill.

If anything our choice to let's say give it to the Hindus ensured Bangladeshi independence from India as a Muslim majority independent state

The targeting of the Hindu population ensured millions of them ran to India or were unavailable

Once they were out they never came back and Bangladesh had a majority muslim population of almost 90%

 

[Diggy]

Bhutto is firmly to blame then and even now the offspring of bhutto are the enemies of Pakistan. Weeds need to be exterminated at the roots. Only bhutto was killed and look what we have.

Bhutto is the architect of Pak-China friendship when your generals where sitting in American lap & quite happy there, he had predicted during the Cold War period that a third power centre will emerge from the developing world & that country will be China , he made a case for friendship with China as foreign minister & you are reaping its benefits today. He is also the one who showed political will to build nuke because India did, your generals had agreed to shelve it on American pressure but Bhutto continued it, he was not some army rubber stamp like your current PM Imran Khan, he was highly educated and man with vision. Today the two main trump card for you against India is nuclear capability & Chinese friendship.