• Naman Mishra

Indira’s Strategy and Leadership led to the Disintegration of Pakistan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on 26 March to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of Bangladesh’s independence. It is very important and symbolic for the Indian Prime Minister to be in Dhaka on this important occasion, because India’s first woman PM Smt. Indira Gandhi played a huge role in the birth of Bangladesh 50 years ago. On the occasion of the 50thanniversary, the courage of the Bengali people and the battle fought for Bangladesh will be remembered, but it is also necessary to remember the contribution of Smt. Indira Gandhi and the Indian Army on this day.

The Indo-Pakistani war that preceded Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, India’s support to the ‘Mukti Vahini’ in Bangladesh, and the diplomacy that followed, is the saga of Indira Gandhi’s leadership. The 1971 war was not just a military victory for India, rather, it was a huge political and diplomatic success. Only 24 years old independent India had left Pakistan’s powerful friends - America and China, aghast!

Where did it begin?

When India was partitioned with independence in 1947, two Pakistans came into existence. One was the West Pakistan – which is now known as Pakistan and the other one was the East Pakistan - which is now known as Bangladesh. The distance between both these Pakistans was more than 2000 km in quantitative terms and even more than that in cultural qualitative terms.

Punjabi and Urdu speakers dominated the politics of West Pakistan. At the same time, East Pakistan was predominantly Bengali speaking. Since the creation of Pakistan, this difference of language and culture started turning into a huge gap. The issue was not just about the language. The government based in West Pakistan ignored the eastern part in every way, be it economic matters or their political demands.

In 1969, General Yahya Khan took over the reins of Pakistan from Field Marshal Ayub Khan and elections were announced the following year. These were truly the first elections of independent Pakistan. In these elections held in 1970, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League won 160 out of 162 seats in East Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won 81 out of 138 seats in West Pakistan. The majority was with Rahman and he should have become the Prime Minister, but Pakistan’s military regime did not allow this to happen. Bhutto spoke to Mujibur Rahman for several weeks, but when nothing was resolved, Yahya Khan started exploiting the East Pakistan.

By March 1971, the cadre of Awami League was on the streets, demonstrations were going on, strikes were being conducted. Pakistan’s army was openly vandalizing. The Hamoodur Rehman Commission had given an official figure of 26,000 deaths. Lakhs of refugees went to India seeking shelter.

East Pakistan got strengthened with India’s support

From the very beginning, India extended its support to the Awami League and Mujibur Rahman. During the Pakistani Army’s action, the then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi decided not to interfere directly. However, the Eastern Command of the Indian Army took over the operations of East Pakistan.

On May 15, 1971, the Indian Army launched ‘Operation Jackpot’ and started providing training, arms, money and equipment supplies to the fighters of ‘Mukti Vahini’. ‘Mukti Vahini’ was the military, paramilitary and civilian army of East Pakistan. Its goal was the independence of East Pakistan through guerrilla warfare.

The Indian Army had not yet joined the battle itself, but in December 1971, Pakistan gave a reason to do so. On December 03, 1971, the Pakistani Air Force attacked the western regions in anticipation of an attack from India. By the morning of December 4, India officially declared war against Pakistan.

Indira’s Strategy and Leadership led to the Disintegration of Pakistan

Before the start of the 1971 war, PM Smt. Indira Gandhi had strategized on many aspects. She gave her military generals their leeway to prepare the ‘Mukti Vahini’ in their own way and was also ready for the impending diplomatic crisis herself.

Indira’s vision for the 1971 war was very clear - it was to be short and decisive. As the fear of intervention from countries like America and China loomed large if the war continued for long. Smt. Indira Gandhi maintained her patience right from the beginning of the crisis in East Pakistan to the actual war. The number of refugees was increasing, the expatriate government of East Pakistan was being run from Calcutta, and the opposition in India was demanding for this government to be given official identification. But Indira Ji was still patient in her approach.

She did not want India to start a war under any circumstances. The Pakistani Air Force attack had ensured this. Indira Ji was in Calcutta during the attack. She reached Delhi in no time and addressed the country saying, “A war has been imposed on us.” These words give us a glimpse of Indira Ji’s diplomacy.

India’s victory in 1971 war also became possible because Indira Ji had completely relied on her military chief, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. In April 1971, Indira Ji wanted to take some military action in view of the situation in East Pakistan, but Manekshaw had refused for the same. During a cabinet meeting, Manekshaw was asked by Indira Ji to ‘Do Something’, in response to which the field marshal said that they were ‘not ready for war.’ He apprised Indira Ji of a probable invasion from China, obstacles due to weather and the limitations of the army in such a situation and asked for some time. Indira Ji trusted him.

Indira Ji’s strategy was to keep the war short but in case it got prolonged, then the world should be made aware of Pakistan’s exploits, beforehand. For this, from March to October 1971, Indira Gandhi Ji wrote letters to many leaders of the world, informing them about the situation going on at the Indian border. She had also toured Germany, France, Britain, Belgium and the United States for 21 days. Indira Ji, everywhere, referred to the ongoing genocide in East Pakistan.

Even America could not help Pakistan

At that time, India used to follow Jawaharlal Nehru’s policy of Non-Alignment. Although, the world was aware of the intimacy between India and Soviet Russia, but because of this, one cannot say that India was a part of this group. Yet, when Indira Gandhi Ji arrived at USSR in 1971, the then President Leonid Brezhnev assured Indira Ji that Soviet Russia would support India if there was an Indo-Pakistan war.

In contrast, the then US President Richard Nixon’s dealings with Indira Ji were harsh and rude. Nixon and his foreign minister Henry Kissinger were already against India. But Indira Ji even got over this by her diplomacy and when she got a chance to address, she directly told the American people the agony of East Pakistan.

When the war between India and Pakistan started, Nixon had sent the seventh fleet of America to the Bay of Bengal. This fleet also included the world’s largest warship. Nixon had assumed that India would be intimidated by this move and that India’s actions on Pakistan would be relaxed.

India did not panic and asked Soviet Russia to activate a provision of the Indo-Soviet Security Agreement. According to this provision, an attack on India would have been considered an attack on Russia. Russia accepted this request and sent one of its fleets from Vladivostok to the Bay of Bengal. Russia’s fleet also included nuclear weapons like those of the US. A group of British Navy was also advancing towards Indian territory. It was called by the US for its help and to surround the Indian Navy. But seeing the fleet of Russia, the British Navy had retreated, and even America could not do anything. Russia had sent its fleet on December 13, 1971, and the war was about to conclude three days later.

War ends in 13 days

On December 16,1971and 13 days after the start of the war, General AA Khan Niazi, in-charge of the Eastern Command of the Pakistani Army surrendered in Dhaka. Niazi signed the ‘Instrument of Surrender’ by handing over his service revolver to the Indian Army’s Eastern Command In-charge Lieutenant General JS Arora. The picture of this incident was a witness to India’s might.

At 5 pm on 16 December, General Sam Manekshaw called Indira Gandhi Ji and told her that Dhaka was now free, and the Pakistani army had surrendered unconditionally. Indira Ji then went to Parliament and said, “Dhaka is now the capital of an independent country. We salute the people of Bangladesh at this moment of victory.”Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then leader of opposition, called Indira Ji’ Abhinav Chandi Durga’ to have defeated Pakistan and disintegrated it into two pieces. However, Vajpayee Ji later denied in an interview that he had referred to Indira Ji as ‘Durga’. But many MPs have been confirming that Vajpayee had said so.

After the surrender, Indira Ji had immediately announced the ceasefire. She wanted to send a message to the world that India does not want to make regional gains. India’s 1971 victory was not just military. Indira Jihad outwitted Richard Nixon by her diplomacy, she had strategically disintegrated Pakistan in just 13 days, and had also sheltered millions of refugees, showing humanitarianism.

Courtesy: Quint Hindi