Indo-Pak War of 1971|| Bangladesh's Freedom|| Help to Bangladesh from India|| Perfect Example of Strength of India|| A Documentary

Indo-Pak War Of 1971

Perfect Example Of India's Strength

Hey friends! How have you been? The spring of nationalism has arrived. Yes, of course, I am talking about the Independence day. A very happy independence day to all of you. Surprised by the topic. The documentary on BANGLADESH'S independence  on Indian independence day! Well, you read it right. Today you take a  glance on the strength and bravery of the Indian Forces, the generousity of Indians who helped Bangladesh to achieve its freedom. Not only, our brave heroes gifted Bangladesh its independence, but also won a memorable war. And this happened at a time when the world thought that India is a newly independent country and can do nothing. This documentary not only focuses light on Bangladesh’s independence but also gives you an idea of India's strength after independence. This documentary will definitely make you bound to thank God that you are an Indian. The whole motive of the documentary is not only to give you some important  stuff but also to fill your heart with the fragrance of nationalism on the eve of Independence day. So let's  start.

A Quick Look of Indo-Pak War of 1971

The Indo–Pak war of 1971 is one of the most significant wars in the history of India and is also a part of the liberation war of Bangladesh. It started from 3 December 1971 and lasted to 16 December 1971. It only lasted for 13 days but the events of the war reflected the true potential of India to the world. It was a kind of total war, involving the three units of armed forces. The war was mainly focused on the India–East Pakistan Border, Pasha enclaves, India–Pakistan border near the Line of Control (LOC) and in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. It resulted in the decisive Indian victory and the surrender of East Pakistan military command. After the war, Bangladesh was recognised as an independent nation. Indian forces also captured around 15,010 km² of land area in the West. But India returned the land to Pakistan in the Shimla Agreement of 1972 as a gesture of goodwill. 

Pre-War Events

At the time of partition of India, India was divided into two: Pakistan and India. Pakistan included the western part and the eastern part which is present-day Bangladesh. The people of West Pakistan were very discriminant towards the people of East Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan were traumatized and harassed by the Pakistanis. This gave rise to the feeling of alienation among the people of East Pakistan. They felt inferior and revolted. They demanded a separate country for them. In the general election of 1970, which was also the first general election of Pakistan, voting was made in 300 constituencies of which 162 were in East Pakistan and 138 in West Pakistan. Awami League won the election and chose Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who is also the father of the nation of Bangladesh as their prime minister. The people of West Pakistan didn't accept a person from East Pakistan as their leader. After this, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a speech on 7th March 1971 stating that they want a separate country in East Pakistan and gave a call for independence. On 25th March 1971, Pakistani forces arrested Rahman and prisoned him in West Pakistan. But the call of independence gave the people a chance to revolt. A revolutionary group was formed named Mukti Bahini in Bangladesh. They revolted against Pakistan. Seeing the revolt, Pakistan deployed an Islamist Militia group named Rajakars to crush the revolt. This led to a genocidal killing of Bangladeshis. Approximately 30 lakh Bangladeshis were killed. Due to the genocidal murder, Bangladeshis started migrating to Indian states like West Bengal, Bihar and North East. Approximately 10 lakh Bangladeshis migrated from Bangladesh to India. 

India's Role In The Liberation War Of Bangladesh

Seeing the emigration of Bangladeshis in India, the then prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, opted for a solution. Indira Gandhi knew that presence of Pakistan on both the sides of India give them a strategic location. So independence of East Pakistan was beneficial for India. And if the Rajakars will continue with this genocidal killing, many Bangladeshis will migrate in India, which will posses a problem. Indira Gandhi decided to support the Mukti Bahini and help East Pakistan to gain freedom. Indira Gandhi consulted Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw for war. Manekshaw denied for war. According to him, war could reverse the outcome. Then was the month of April. It will take at least a month for war. And by this time, monsoon can arrive in India. And all know that during monsoons, the eastern part of India is flooded. The armed forces cannot fight in floods. But on the other hand, the western part of India will be completely dry. So Pakistan can pressurize India from the Western front. And it will be very difficult for them to handle them on both fronts and that too with floods. So Manekshaw told that no war can be fought till November. Manekshaw suggested that India should now make war strategies and defence treaties in the period of April–November. India started to give training to its armed forces in the environmental and geographical conditions of East Pakistan. India also provided arms and ammunition to the Mukti Bahini of Bangladesh. In August, a defence treaty was also signed between India and Russia. Like these, India started preparing itself for a war. 

The Beginning Of The War

India's motive in the war was not to defeat Pakistan but to make East Pakistan a separate country. As a result of this, India decided to be offensive in the eastern front and to be defensive in the Western front. Pakistan  suspected that India is getting ready for a war. So Pakistan made a sudden attack on India. On 3rd December 1972, Pakistan Air force (PAF) conducted Operation Chengiz Khan on India.  Pakistan with the help of its attack aircraft made an airstrike over the Indian Airbases of Amritsar, Ambala, Agra, Awantipur, Bikaner, Halwara, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Pathankot, Bhuj, Srinagar, Uttarlai and air defence radars at Amritsar and Faridkot. This marked the official beginning of the Indo–Pak war of 1971. No doubt, the targets were many. But the intensity of the airstrike was such that not a single militant of India died. And the losses India made was rectified in the same night. So this airstrike didn't prove much beneficial for Pakistan. India got a chance as the war was officially started by Pakistan. India started deploying its forces on the two fronts and the war has started.

Battle Of Longewala

Longewala is a small area near Jaisalmer. Pakistan with the help of its secret agents came to know that only 120 Indian soldiers are present in the camp of Longewala. Pakistan decided to surge in this area. This Battle of Longewala shows a significant example of the strength and clever minds of the Indian forces. Pakistan deployed a heavy force on Longewala on 4th December 1972, only after the date of the airstrike. Longewala was guarded by Indian Army's 23rd Battalion, Punjab Regiment, commanded by Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri. This Punjab Regiment is also one of the most dangerous regiments of India. These Sikh militants are full of bravery. Probably it is correctly said for the Sikhs,

"चिड़ियों से में बाज लड़ाऊं,

  गीदड़ों को में शेर बनाऊ

सवा लाख से एक लड़ाऊं

 तभी गोविंद सिंह नाम कहाउँ।।"

Major Chandpuri led his 120 soldiers to fight with 2000 Pakistani soldiers and 40 tanks led by Brigadier general Tariq Mir. In the midnight, Pakistani forces came forward to destroy the bases of Longewala. Major Chandpuri had very limited resources. And resources couldn't be provided within a short time. They only had some guns and 3 landmines. Major Chandpuri showed his skills and with the help of his tactics, India won the battle. Major Chandpuri laid down the 3 landmines. Behind the landmines, he inserted tiffin boxes with sand inside it. Major Chandpuri knew that the only thing they will have to do is to block Pakistani forces till morning. In the morning, Indian aircrafts can reach Longewala and destroy the forces of Pakistan. As Pakistani forces came forward, the 3 landmines blasted simultaneously. Pakistani forces stopped there and called out their engineers to pull up the remaining landmines. But the Pakistani forces were getting frustrated as after the three landmines only tiffin boxes with sand inside it were coming out. This tiffin boxes blocked Pakistani forces for 6 hours. Just think, a normal tiffin box was able to block such a massive force for 6 hours! This is the distinct minds of Indians. In these 6 hours, Major Chandpuri made a circle of radius 2 km with hidden bunkers inside it. He distributed the soldiers in these bunkers and waited for the forces to come. He made a Chakravhyu for the Pakistani forces. When the forces arrived, the Indian army started firing from all the directions. Due to the darkness of night, Pakistani forces were getting confused. They were not able to resist the shelling of firing. Pakistani militants were completely devastated in the firing. Their tanks, guns, ammo and vehicles were destroyed within a short time. The role of Major Chandpuri was to just block the forces till morning but they not only blocked them but were also destroyed. In the morning, 4 Hawker Hunter IAF aircrafts arrived and destroyed the tanks one after another. In this attack, only 2 Indian soldiers got martyred. But on the other hand, 200 Pakistani forces died and 36 tanks out of 40 were destroyed. Only 120 soldiers made this much destruction for Pakistan. The war was started on 3rd December and now it was the 4th of December. Only a day in the war, but this much loss for Pakistan. Pakistan got frightened and they left their arms and ran. Not a single provision was made to collect the dead bodies of their soldiers or to take the remains of their tanks. This is the fear of the Indian Armed forces which now reflected on Pakistan.

Indian soldiers on Pakistani tank in Longewala.

Attack On Karachi!

On 4th December 1971, two days after the war, India made an offensive step. Indian Army and Indian Air force had done their job in Longewala. Now it was the turn for the Indian Navy. Indian Navy conducted Operation Trident and Operation Python on the Karachi port of Pakistan. Indian fleets led by Admiral S.N. Nanda attacked the Karachi port. Several fleets of Pakistan were destroyed along with an oil storage. The intensity of the attack was such that Pakistan took 21 days to extinguish the fire in the Karachi port. Pakistani naval militants had to flee to Gwadar port to save their lives. There were zero casualties for India but a tremendous loss for Pakistan in just three days of the war. Pakistan's major port Karachi was now non-operational. Pakistan now got a clear idea that now they will have to do something big. If they  continue to do such small firings, the war will go out of hands.

Role Of INS Vikrant

INS Vikrant was one of the strongest ships of the India Navy. It also played a major role in World War 2. In the eastern front, the Indian Army was constantly charging on the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan. Meanwhile, Mukti Bahini charged itself from East Pakistan onto the troops. Pakistani forces were sandwiched between Indian forces and Mukti Bahini. Pakistan can only send amenities and ammunition to East Pakistan via the Indian Ocean to the southern ports on East Pakistan. But INS Vikrant was deployed in the southern part of East Pakistan which played two major roles. First is that it blocked Pakistan from sending amenities. And secondly, it also attacked East Pakistan from the southern end. INS Vikrant alone destroyed one of the major ports of East Pakistan, Chittagong. Two major ports were destroyed of Karachi and Chittagong. This compelled Pakistan to make an offensive move.

The Ghazi Attack

PNS Ghazi is one the deadliest submarines of Pakistan. Pakistan got PNS Ghazi on lease from the United States in 1963. This submarine is the first attack submarine of Pakistan. Pakistan used PNS Ghazi in a very significant operation. PNS Ghazi was sent by Pakistan to destroy Indian ship INS Vikrant. But India again with its intelligence technology got to know about the operation of PNS Ghazi. 

INS Vikrant could not resist PNS Ghazi. And hence INS Vikrant would have sunk in the unending beds of the Indian Sea. The only way to save INS Vikrant was to destroy PNS Ghazi. But the world believed that it was impossible to defeat PNS Ghazi. But we Indians go beyond the boundaries. 

We knew that our ship INS Rajput held a probability of destroying PNS Ghazi. But at that time INS Rajput's engine defected. So INS Rajput, cannot sail on the sea. But can launch missiles and fight. It only couldn't sail. INS Rajput was getting repaired in the port of Visakhapatnam. Indians thought that why not attract PNS Ghazi to Visakhapatnam. India knew that there are Pakistani spies in India. So India spread rumours that INS Vikrant will be in that position for another 6 months. So to get fuel and resources, INS Vikrant was making a halt on the port of Visakhapatnam for 10 days. A huge order of oil, vegetables, groceries, etc was ordered in Visakhapatnam to make Pakistan believe that INS Vikrant is coming to Visakhapatnam. The plan worked. PNS Ghazi rerouted itself towards Visakhapatnam and INS Rajput was guarded with Anti-Submarine missiles. When PNS Ghazi approached towards Visakhapatnam, INS Rajput silently launched its missiles and destroyed PNS Ghazi as a surprise attack. India with its war skills was able to destroy one of the strongest submarines, which the world thought was undefeatable, by a defected ship of India named INS Rajput. This focuses light on the brainpower of India. 

Top: PNS Ghazi. Bottom left: INS VIKRANT. Bottom right: INS Rajput

Entry Of the US, UK And the Soviet Union

The sinking of the PNS Ghazi was a very deadly setback for Pakistan. Pakistan got an idea that if they  don't get international support at this stage, then for sure, the war was out of hands. Pakistan approached the US for support. The US and Soviet Union conflicts are not new and that too at the time of the Cold War. The US knew that Pakistan cannot win the war without international support. And India at that time was very close to the Soviet Union. The US feared that if India wins the war, then they will lose a major bloc of Pakistan in South Asia against the Soviet Union. Hence, US President Nixon decided to stretch their hands of help for Pakistan. US raised a resolution in the UN Security Council that India is torturing the people of East Pakistan. The US pleaded that a war embargo should be made on India. Due to the influence of the US in the United Nations, the resolution would have passed. But at that difficult time, the Soviet Union helped India. They made a veto on the resolution. And hence, the resolution was rejected. The US, outraged with this action of the Soviet Union, saw no other way but to involve in war. The US deployed Taskforce 74 against India. Meanwhile, the Eagle fleet was deployed by the United Kingdom against India. China, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia also made some contributions against India. India could have lost the war, but again the Soviet Union proved its friendship. The Soviet Union deployed a massive force of navy into the Indian Ocean. And to the addition of this, the Soviet Union deployed nuclear bombs laden ships. During this time, Indian fleets were positioned near the southern Bay of Bengal and Soviet fleets were positioned in the southern Arabian Sea. The Soviet Union also prepared an air force base near Yemen for quick support. On the other hand, US fleets were located in the North-Eastern African coast with UK's fleet in North Madagascar. The standoff was very tensed. India suffered a huge loss of the destruction of the Okha Port and the sinking of INS Khukri. But despite this, India and the Soviet Union together were successful in repulsing the forces of Pakistan's belligerents. Pakistan's plan was a partial success but not enough to turn the table upside down. Meanwhile, India destroyed various Pakistani bases and the forces of Pakistan in the East Pakistan region was also starving as Pakistan was not able to supply resources and ammunition to its forces. Pakistani Razakars were gradually weakening.

Physiological Pressure On Pakistan

Pakistani forces were tensed of the Mukti Bahini of Bangladesh. To add this tension of Pakistan, India declared that it will conduct a surgical strike on all the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan. They will dig them out of their homes and will kill them. This news spread like a jungle fire. Soon another news came that India had airdropped 5000 soldiers over Dhaka. But again Indian plans worked out. Out of 5000, only some of them were soldiers and rest of all were mannequins in the get up of soldiers. But this plan was only known to the Indian forces. The rest of the world was thinking that 5000 soldiers were airdropped. Pakistani forces were demoralised at an extensive level that they fled leaving their weapons. On the very next day, Indian Air Force conducted a real airstrike on the house of the Governor of the East Pakistan Malik. The fear of India was hovering over the mind of Governor. In fact, the fear was such that he resigned from the governor of East Pakistan the very next day. This shows that India knows how to deal with problems through intelligence and also to deal them with their mighty strength.

Pakistani Surrender

Pakistani was in utter confusion. India also wanted to close the war as soon as possible because now the war went to an international level. Moreover, India had just come out of the chains of colonialism and had a very fragile economy.  On 16 December 1971, Lt general of Indian forces J.S. Aurora went into a meeting with Pakistani Lt. General A A K Niazi. Aurora told that India is giving Pakistan a period of only half an hour. Within this half an hour Pakistan may surrender or fight. But if they  fight then India will boost its force of attack by 10 times and the insurgency of many West Pakistan cities will be made. Pakistan surrendered to India on 16th December 1971. It was an unconditional surrender by signing the Pakistani Instrument Of Surrender. Pakistan recognised Bangladesh as an official country. 93,000 soldiers surrendered to India in the city of Dhaka. This surrender ceremony went into the Guinness Book of World Records as it was the largest surrender ceremony ever happened in the history. Never in history, 93,000 soldiers surrendered to a country. India imprisoned these 93000 soldiers but later released them. Thus Bangladesh became an independent country and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the first president of Bangladesh.

Aurora and Niazi in Surrender ceremony.

Conclusion

As you already saw in the whole documentary, India helped East Pakistan to become Bangladesh by the war of 1971. The whole war was a one-sided war for India although a little ups and downs by the US involvement. But Pakistan was completely whitewashed. The war indeed made Bangladesh independent but also made the world see the true power of India. India completely devastated Pakistani forces in just thirteen days!! 

India not only canvassed its military strength but also its intelligence. No doubt, the driving away of Pakistani forces in Longewala by just 120 soldiers, PNS Ghazi sinking was military strength of India. But on the other side of the coin, the help of normal tiffin boxes in Longewala, attracting PNS Ghazi to Vishakhapatnam, airdrop of soldiers delineated the image of Indian minds. 

We must learn from these events that we must see a problem from various angles. A normal man will flee seeing the Pakistani forces, but the Indian army tried and viewed the problem from every angle. We also can deploy other fleets and may take the help of other countries to save PNS Ghazi but no, we believed in ourselves and viewed the problem from a unique angle. Throughout the war, India believed in themselves and had endless confidence. 

Like this, we should always believe in ourselves. No matter what the situation is, but always believe in your motive. Follow the three B's in life. They are Believe, Behave and Beget. Never let your morale go down. At the outside, I told you that the motive of this post is to display the strength of the forces of India on the eve of independence. But going through the post, we reached with two more outcomes in the conclusion. 

One of them is the priceless values of life which this event taught us. Secondly is the generosity of India. We not only made ourselves independent but we also helped another country to be independent despite many opponents. India can also threaten Pakistan to return Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) by keeping guns on the heads of their 93,000 soldiers. But we released them without any condition. But in return, we got 26/11, Parliament attack, Pulwama attack, Uri attack, Pathankot attack. But India is as dangerous as it is kind. It is the land where the two weapons of non-violence and muscle power were used for independence. India can show its spiritual and non-violent half through its right hand but can also show the strength and dangerous half through his left hand. This is our India. 

Let’s remember those never-ending list of heroes who contributed toward the greatness of India. Not only the heroes but also the background heroes who sacrificed the love of their life i.e. the family members of the heroes. Let’s pledge to never forget the contribution of these heroes. Let’s together join our hands and say out loudly Jai Hind from the very bottom of our heart to dedicate this to the strength of India. India's unity lies in its diversity! So, we shall also take a pledge not to discriminate anyone and on the eve of 74th Independence Day, let's see everyone equal not only constitutionally but also morally and from the very core of our unified hearts.

I hope that this independence day special documentary must have shown you the real strength of India.

In the end, I would just like to say ‘ENJOY READING!’  

A very Happy Independence Day to all of you.

Thank you and Jai Hind...

-Dibyaansh Pradhan