Undiminished Scars of 1971 Tragedy

By Asif Haroon Raja

“I have learnt from history that people do not learn from history”. Napoleon Bonaparte

Post-1971 Challenges

After the emergence of Bangladesh (BD) in Jan 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other Awami League (AL) leaders admitted that they had contingency plans in case the Army decided to use force. (The Deliberate Debacle, by Dr. Safdar Mehmood, 1976, p 128-9). Three contingency battle plans had been made, and according to Raina Asoka in his book ‘Inside RAW’, the rebels were given orders by Mujib to seize Dacca airport, Chittagong seaport, Dacca TV/Radio station, and other vital installations and surround all the cantonments on the morning of March 26, 1971 to undertake mass butchery of the Pak soldiers confined to barracks since March 4, 1971

Misfortunes of Biharis/Patriots

The Mujib regime declared Biharis as collaborators and traitors and were deprived of their nationality. From that time onwards, they lived a wretched life as 2nd rated citizens in squalid camps.

1,70,000 were approved for repatriation to Karachi, but only 140,000 or so could come. About 290,000 continued to languish in camps in BD till the downfall of Hasina Wajid on 5 August 2024. About a dozen aged members of Al-Shams and al-Badar were tried by Kangaroo courts and executed a few years ago. This was in contravention of the Tripartite Agreement signed between BD, India and Pakistan.

Following the Simla Agreement signed by Indira Gandhi and ZA Bhutto in 1972, the 93000 PoWs, (both military and civilians), returned to Pakistan by May 1974.

Ongoing RAW’s Subversion

After its great success in East Pakistan (EP), RAW is following the same themes and techniques. It has made deep inroads in Pakistan and is leaving no stone unturned to incite dissension and animosity among different communities in Pakistan. Like in the former EP, RAW exploited the grievances of backward provinces and sowed seeds of hatred against the ruling government, provincial government, Army and Punjab.

India has succeeded in poisoning the minds of the Muhajirs, Sindhis, Balochis, Seraikis, Pashtuns, Punjabis and Gilgitis due to which regionalism has gained ground resulting in ethnic tensions. Deepest inroads have been made in Baluchistan and KP provinces, which are facing foreign sponsored terrorism since 2002.

Today, the senior political leaders are playing ethnic Sindh, Muhajir, Baloch, Pashtun and South Punjab cards. They are misusing the 18th Amendment in the Constitution which granted greater autonomy to the provinces.

A great victory miraculously won by the Afghan Taliban against the occupying western forces led by the USA bolstered the spirits of the extremist religious parties, groups and Far-Right in Pakistan, and brought in Talibanization.

Demand for the Islamic system in Pakistan is likely to grow since western modelled democracy and Anglo-Saxon laws that are pro-rich have failed to alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of the poor segment of the society.

India’s Animosity

India driven by its hegemonic and expansionist designs maintained a belligerent stance against Pakistan. Both came close to another war during Indian military exercise Brass-tacks in 1986/87, 1990/91 on the Kashmir front, 1999 in Kargil, military standoff from Dec 2002 to Oct 2003, Dec 2008 to Jul 2009 standoff following Mumbai attacks, and 24-27 Feb 2019 flare-up. India forcibly annexed disputed Kashmir on Aug 5, 2019, kept it under lockdown and is changing its demography.

India is also eyeing Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and is continuing to hatch conspiracies to unravel Pakistan.

As a policy, Indian leaders and Indian media have resorted to lies and deceits and have indulged in fabrications, distortions and false flag operations. With the help of its strategic partners (USA, Israel and the West), India convinced the world that Pakistan is an abettor of terrorism and India is the victim.

No Lessons Learnt

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” – George Bernard Shaw

Unfortunately, after the painful experience of truncation of Pakistan, we seem to have learnt no lessons and are once again striding the dangerous path. Instead of making preparations to recapture the lost pride we seem to be fast losing our direction.

The causation which led to the truncation of Pakistan in 1971 and the methodology adopted by our enemies to accentuate our vulnerabilities are unfolding in a similar fashion.

Sadly, there is no remorse, no acceptance of past mistakes, and no attempt to learn lessons from history. Very few talk of avenging the defeat. So far, no bold step has been taken to liberate Occupied Kashmir which is our jugular vein.

Instead, all our energies are being wasted in self-defeating infighting on religious and political grounds and in pursuit of selfish motives.

The shortcomings of our political and military leaders, bureaucrats and judges whose injurious decisions had led to the alienation of people of the former EP have been pushed under the carpet.

Making a cursory mention of blunders of the few amounts to doing injustice to history and leads to drawing wrong lessons.

Our muted and apologetic stance encouraged BD to ask for an apology and war reparations from Pakistan and carry out war crimes trials.

Pakistan is still struggling with problems of identity, ethnic integration, Secular-Islamic divide, religious divides, true democratic dispensation, corruption, nepotism, political polarization and lack of governance.

There are too many cleavages in the society towards which no worthwhile effort has been made.

Our enemies are gleefully watching our dismal plight and are waiting with bated breath to again trip us into a death trap.

Our Possible Responses

It is high time that we identify the causes of regressive tendencies which have weakened our moral braces and lowered our values.

There is a need to undertake measures to protect ourselves from evil influences and to strengthen our socio-ethnic-economic-ideological values and revive our pride and élan.

The bottlenecks that obstruct national integration must be identified for removal and full-scale reconciliation amongst the divides should be achieved.

The dream of national cohesion can only come true, if our leaders lead the nation by the example of clean and honourable conduct and fair dealings, and the judiciary dispenses equitable and speedy justice.

There are no quick-fix solutions to the chronic ailments.

Adoption of hasty and slovenly methods to produce quick results or to throw blame on others would not fetch long term results.

The whole exercise of cleansing has to be performed with precision, discretion and finesse.

While Pakistan has become a nuclear power with effective delivery means and has strong conventional strength, we need to improve our political ethics and moral turpitude, and our economy to make the country self-reliant so that Pakistan is never subjected to a disgrace as we suffered in 1971.

The most honourable course, however, is to defeat our arch-enemy on the battlefield and redeem our national honour.

Points to Ponder Over

“Spend eighty percent of your time focusing on the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday.” – Brian Tracy

Reasons behind sudden economic wonders achieved by the fascist rule of Sheikh Hasina Wajid in BD were:

The country had become a client state of India; shifting to secularism had pleased the West; BD was faced with no external threat except from the Islamists who had been suppressed. It had become a strategic compulsion for India to make BD a success story in order to vindicate its intervention in 1971, prevent another military coup or takeover by the Islamists, to block BD-Pakistan rapprochement, and to support separatists in Pakistan.

Hasina’s fascism, one party rule, submission to Indian policies, persecuting Islamists and undermining Islam, and above all, doling out all the benefits to the so-called war heroes of 1971, accentuated hatred among the younger generation of BD. The unfair quota system was resented by the students of Dhaka University and it became the trigger point for protests which morphed into a countrywide movement, forcing Hasina to flee to India on 05 August 2024.

India is engulfed in 19 separatist movements, of which Kashmiris, Naxalites, Sikhs and Tamils movements have become existential threats. Its shining economy is nosediving.

Modi’s fascist and racist policies have alienated all the minorities in India and are pushing the country to the brink of a civil war. For the first time India is faced with a twin threat from China and Pakistan and an explosive internal situation.

For the first time, interference of RAW in other countries has been identified by the US, Canada and the UK and it is being criticized.

For India, 2024 has been a bad year. It suffered one setback after another.

First, BJP couldn’t even achieve a simple majority in May elections and its political power was cut to size.

2nd, BJP lost elections in Occupied Kashmir.

3rd, India lost BD on 5 Aug as a result of student’s revolt, and today BD is anti-India and pro-Pakistan. BD -Pakistan relations are fast improving.

All the myths and notions woven by Indo-Bangla propaganda machine about the 1971war in East Pakistan, painting Pak Army soldiers as monsters, falsely labelling them as killers of 3 million Bengalis and raping 300,000 Bengali women and girls, and painting the traitor Sheikh Mujibur Rehman as a hero and Mukti Bahini as freedom fighters have all gone for a six.

The new generation of BD has exposed the real face of Mujib, AL and Mukti Bahini and they are the most hated.

A sea change has come in the perceptions of the people of BD. They hate India and love Pakistan.

For Pakistan, it is an opportunity to forge close ties with BD and form a triangular Pakistan-China-BD relationship with a view to checkmate India’s hegemonic and offensive designs.

Challenges faced by Pakistan

“The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra

Pakistan faced the rebellious Bengalis, India and the USSR in 1971 and was friendless.

After 9/11, Indo-US-West-Israel nexus ganged up to disintegrate nuclear Pakistan.

Since then, the alliance is constantly trying to undo Pakistan using covert and overt means but have failed since militarily Pakistan has become vibrant and robust. Its nuclear deterrence is formidable and armed forces second to none. The army stands fully battle hardened due to its brilliant performance in the 20-year war on terror, in which it had to fight more than 60 foreign paid and equipped proxies. While the ISI thwarted foreign conspiracies, the PAF gave a bloody nose to IAF in the air encounters on 27 Feb 2019, and is manufacturing its own jets. Pak Navy has become a formidable force to defend the 1300 km long coast.

Resilience of the armed forces and the people, and harmony between civil-military relations have defeated the conspiracies of the enemies.

Today, Pakistan and the emerging superpower China enjoy defence and strategic partnership, and ez both face common external security threats. Both are exposing the ugly face of India.

With BD veering towards China and Pakistan, it would now be easier to induce other South Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Sikkim, Nepal and Maldive and Bhutan to reinvigorate SAARC, which is lying dormant due to India’s bossy attitude.

Notwithstanding these positive signs, without a vibrant economy, the military alone will not be able to withstand the future threats.

CPEC has the capacity to make Pakistan economically self-reliant, particularly after completion of special economic zones and 10 dams under construction, and with focus on IT, Agriculture, Mining, Energy, Defence Production and Digitalization, with a view to attract foreign investments and to boost exports.

CPEC will also make China the leading economic power and the future super power.

The National Security Policy (NSP) being citizens oriented with focus on geo-economics is likely to bring a revolutionary change in Pakistan’s economy, which has all along been in crisis.

Hybrid war involving kinetic and non-kinetic forces launched by the Indo-US-West-Israel nexus is aimed at creating fissures in the society, subverting the minds of the youth and cloning their minds, inculcating doubts, misgivings and disillusionment, moving them away from religion and Jihad towards the life of fun and frolic, accentuating political polarization and stoking ethnic, sectarian and religious rifts, spoiling civil-military relations and degenerating the moral turpitude of the society to weaken our ideological foundations.

This silent war is the most dangerous threat to the integrity of Pakistan which cannot be fought by the Army alone.

To counter this deceptive war, there is a need for a consolidated home front and improved morals and ethics.

A comprehensive national action plan is needed to motivate the people, build character and sense of responsibility, inculcate simplicity, patriotism and love for the country and to strengthen their minds to withstand the deadly effects of subversion.

All this needs to be done at home and school levels. Uniformity of curriculum up to 5th grade in Madrassas, government schools and private schools, and reading Quran with translation are steps in the right direction.

Much can be achieved by adopting the golden principles of Islam, which we have forsaken.

Somehow the NSP is silent on the threat of subversion faced by the common man. To improve our economy, we have to win the battle of minds.

“Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” – Orison Swett Marden

The writer is a retired Brig, war veteran, defence analyst, international columnist, author of five books, sixth book under publication, Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Patron-in-chief CDS Think Tank, Director Measac Research Centre. asifharoonraja@gmail.com

Post-1971 Challenges

After the emergence of Bangladesh (BD) in Jan 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other Awami League (AL) leaders admitted that they had contingency plans in case the Army decided to use force. (The Deliberate Debacle, by Dr. Safdar Mehmood, 1976, p 128-9). Three contingency battle plans had been made, and according to Raina Asoka in his book ‘Inside RAW’, the rebels were given orders by Mujib to seize Dacca airport, Chittagong seaport, Dacca TV/Radio station, and other vital installations and surround all the cantonments on the morning of March 26, 1971 to undertake mass butchery of the Pak soldiers confined to barracks since March 4, 1971

Misfortunes of Biharis/Patriots

The Mujib regime declared Biharis as collaborators and traitors and were deprived of their nationality. From that time onwards, they lived a wretched life as 2nd rated citizens in squalid camps.

1,70,000 were approved for repatriation to Karachi, but only 140,000 or so could come. About 290,000 continued to languish in camps in BD till the downfall of Hasina Wajid on 5 August 2024. About a dozen aged members of Al-Shams and al-Badar were tried by Kangaroo courts and executed a few years ago. This was in contravention of the Tripartite Agreement signed between BD, India and Pakistan.

Following the Simla Agreement signed by Indira Gandhi and ZA Bhutto in 1972, the 93000 PoWs, (both military and civilians), returned to Pakistan by May 1974.

Ongoing RAW’s Subversion

After its great success in East Pakistan (EP), RAW is following the same themes and techniques. It has made deep inroads in Pakistan and is leaving no stone unturned to incite dissension and animosity among different communities in Pakistan. Like in the former EP, RAW exploited the grievances of backward provinces and sowed seeds of hatred against the ruling government, provincial government, Army and Punjab.

India has succeeded in poisoning the minds of the Muhajirs, Sindhis, Balochis, Seraikis, Pashtuns, Punjabis and Gilgitis due to which regionalism has gained ground resulting in ethnic tensions. Deepest inroads have been made in Baluchistan and KP provinces, which are facing foreign sponsored terrorism since 2002.

Today, the senior political leaders are playing ethnic Sindh, Muhajir, Baloch, Pashtun and South Punjab cards. They are misusing the 18th Amendment in the Constitution which granted greater autonomy to the provinces.

A great victory miraculously won by the Afghan Taliban against the occupying western forces led by the USA bolstered the spirits of the extremist religious parties, groups and Far-Right in Pakistan, and brought in Talibanization.

Demand for the Islamic system in Pakistan is likely to grow since western modelled democracy and Anglo-Saxon laws that are pro-rich have failed to alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of the poor segment of the society.

India’s Animosity

India driven by its hegemonic and expansionist designs maintained a belligerent stance against Pakistan. Both came close to another war during Indian military exercise Brass-tacks in 1986/87, 1990/91 on the Kashmir front, 1999 in Kargil, military standoff from Dec 2002 to Oct 2003, Dec 2008 to Jul 2009 standoff following Mumbai attacks, and 24-27 Feb 2019 flare-up. India forcibly annexed disputed Kashmir on Aug 5, 2019, kept it under lockdown and is changing its demography.

India is also eyeing Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and is continuing to hatch conspiracies to unravel Pakistan.

As a policy, Indian leaders and Indian media have resorted to lies and deceits and have indulged in fabrications, distortions and false flag operations. With the help of its strategic partners (USA, Israel and the West), India convinced the world that Pakistan is an abettor of terrorism and India is the victim.

No Lessons Learnt

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” – George Bernard Shaw

Unfortunately, after the painful experience of truncation of Pakistan, we seem to have learnt no lessons and are once again striding the dangerous path. Instead of making preparations to recapture the lost pride we seem to be fast losing our direction.

The causation which led to the truncation of Pakistan in 1971 and the methodology adopted by our enemies to accentuate our vulnerabilities are unfolding in a similar fashion.

Sadly, there is no remorse, no acceptance of past mistakes, and no attempt to learn lessons from history. Very few talk of avenging the defeat. So far, no bold step has been taken to liberate Occupied Kashmir which is our jugular vein.

Instead, all our energies are being wasted in self-defeating infighting on religious and political grounds and in pursuit of selfish motives.

The shortcomings of our political and military leaders, bureaucrats and judges whose injurious decisions had led to the alienation of people of the former EP have been pushed under the carpet.

Making a cursory mention of blunders of the few amounts to doing injustice to history and leads to drawing wrong lessons.

Our muted and apologetic stance encouraged BD to ask for an apology and war reparations from Pakistan and carry out war crimes trials.

Pakistan is still struggling with problems of identity, ethnic integration, Secular-Islamic divide, religious divides, true democratic dispensation, corruption, nepotism, political polarization and lack of governance.

There are too many cleavages in the society towards which no worthwhile effort has been made.

Our enemies are gleefully watching our dismal plight and are waiting with bated breath to again trip us into a death trap.

Our Possible Responses

It is high time that we identify the causes of regressive tendencies which have weakened our moral braces and lowered our values.

There is a need to undertake measures to protect ourselves from evil influences and to strengthen our socio-ethnic-economic-ideological values and revive our pride and élan.

The bottlenecks that obstruct national integration must be identified for removal and full-scale reconciliation amongst the divides should be achieved.

The dream of national cohesion can only come true, if our leaders lead the nation by the example of clean and honourable conduct and fair dealings, and the judiciary dispenses equitable and speedy justice.

There are no quick-fix solutions to the chronic ailments.

Adoption of hasty and slovenly methods to produce quick results or to throw blame on others would not fetch long term results.

The whole exercise of cleansing has to be performed with precision, discretion and finesse.

While Pakistan has become a nuclear power with effective delivery means and has strong conventional strength, we need to improve our political ethics and moral turpitude, and our economy to make the country self-reliant so that Pakistan is never subjected to a disgrace as we suffered in 1971.

The most honourable course, however, is to defeat our arch-enemy on the battlefield and redeem our national honour.

Points to Ponder Over

“Spend eighty percent of your time focusing on the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday.” – Brian Tracy

Reasons behind sudden economic wonders achieved by the fascist rule of Sheikh Hasina Wajid in BD were:

The country had become a client state of India; shifting to secularism had pleased the West; BD was faced with no external threat except from the Islamists who had been suppressed. It had become a strategic compulsion for India to make BD a success story in order to vindicate its intervention in 1971, prevent another military coup or takeover by the Islamists, to block BD-Pakistan rapprochement, and to support separatists in Pakistan.

Hasina’s fascism, one party rule, submission to Indian policies, persecuting Islamists and undermining Islam, and above all, doling out all the benefits to the so-called war heroes of 1971, accentuated hatred among the younger generation of BD. The unfair quota system was resented by the students of Dhaka University and it became the trigger point for protests which morphed into a countrywide movement, forcing Hasina to flee to India on 05 August 2024.

India is engulfed in 19 separatist movements, of which Kashmiris, Naxalites, Sikhs and Tamils movements have become existential threats. Its shining economy is nosediving.

Modi’s fascist and racist policies have alienated all the minorities in India and are pushing the country to the brink of a civil war. For the first time India is faced with a twin threat from China and Pakistan and an explosive internal situation.

For the first time, interference of RAW in other countries has been identified by the US, Canada and the UK and it is being criticized.

For India, 2024 has been a bad year. It suffered one setback after another.

First, BJP couldn’t even achieve a simple majority in May elections and its political power was cut to size.

2nd, BJP lost elections in Occupied Kashmir.

3rd, India lost BD on 5 Aug as a result of student’s revolt, and today BD is anti-India and pro-Pakistan. BD -Pakistan relations are fast improving.

All the myths and notions woven by Indo-Bangla propaganda machine about the 1971war in East Pakistan, painting Pak Army soldiers as monsters, falsely labelling them as killers of 3 million Bengalis and raping 300,000 Bengali women and girls, and painting the traitor Sheikh Mujibur Rehman as a hero and Mukti Bahini as freedom fighters have all gone for a six.

The new generation of BD has exposed the real face of Mujib, AL and Mukti Bahini and they are the most hated.

A sea change has come in the perceptions of the people of BD. They hate India and love Pakistan.

For Pakistan, it is an opportunity to forge close ties with BD and form a triangular Pakistan-China-BD relationship with a view to checkmate India’s hegemonic and offensive designs.

Challenges faced by Pakistan

“The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra

Pakistan faced the rebellious Bengalis, India and the USSR in 1971 and was friendless.

After 9/11, Indo-US-West-Israel nexus ganged up to disintegrate nuclear Pakistan.

Since then, the alliance is constantly trying to undo Pakistan using covert and overt means but have failed since militarily Pakistan has become vibrant and robust. Its nuclear deterrence is formidable and armed forces second to none. The army stands fully battle hardened due to its brilliant performance in the 20-year war on terror, in which it had to fight more than 60 foreign paid and equipped proxies. While the ISI thwarted foreign conspiracies, the PAF gave a bloody nose to IAF in the air encounters on 27 Feb 2019, and is manufacturing its own jets. Pak Navy has become a formidable force to defend the 1300 km long coast.

Resilience of the armed forces and the people, and harmony between civil-military relations have defeated the conspiracies of the enemies.

Today, Pakistan and the emerging superpower China enjoy defence and strategic partnership, and ez both face common external security threats. Both are exposing the ugly face of India.

With BD veering towards China and Pakistan, it would now be easier to induce other South Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Sikkim, Nepal and Maldive and Bhutan to reinvigorate SAARC, which is lying dormant due to India’s bossy attitude.

Notwithstanding these positive signs, without a vibrant economy, the military alone will not be able to withstand the future threats.

CPEC has the capacity to make Pakistan economically self-reliant, particularly after completion of special economic zones and 10 dams under construction, and with focus on IT, Agriculture, Mining, Energy, Defence Production and Digitalization, with a view to attract foreign investments and to boost exports.

CPEC will also make China the leading economic power and the future super power.

The National Security Policy (NSP) being citizens oriented with focus on geo-economics is likely to bring a revolutionary change in Pakistan’s economy, which has all along been in crisis.

Hybrid war involving kinetic and non-kinetic forces launched by the Indo-US-West-Israel nexus is aimed at creating fissures in the society, subverting the minds of the youth and cloning their minds, inculcating doubts, misgivings and disillusionment, moving them away from religion and Jihad towards the life of fun and frolic, accentuating political polarization and stoking ethnic, sectarian and religious rifts, spoiling civil-military relations and degenerating the moral turpitude of the society to weaken our ideological foundations.

This silent war is the most dangerous threat to the integrity of Pakistan which cannot be fought by the Army alone.

To counter this deceptive war, there is a need for a consolidated home front and improved morals and ethics.

A comprehensive national action plan is needed to motivate the people, build character and sense of responsibility, inculcate simplicity, patriotism and love for the country and to strengthen their minds to withstand the deadly effects of subversion.

All this needs to be done at home and school levels. Uniformity of curriculum up to 5th grade in Madrassas, government schools and private schools, and reading Quran with translation are steps in the right direction.

Much can be achieved by adopting the golden principles of Islam, which we have forsaken.

Somehow the NSP is silent on the threat of subversion faced by the common man. To improve our economy, we have to win the battle of minds.

“Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” – Orison Swett Marden

The writer is a retired Brig, war veteran, defence analyst, international columnist, author of five books, sixth book under publication, Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Patron-in-chief CDS Think Tank, Director Measac Research Centre. asifharoonraja@gmail.com