THE 1971 WAR

When two countries fought for the birth of a new country

We are discussing this in the context of the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.  There are a wide number of circumstances that resulted into the war call.  Amidst those stressful times between India and Pakistan, this was the only war which did not include Kashmir.
 
The situation started taking a suicidal form, when the East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was campaigning for the recognition of Bengali language as one of the official languages. Many refugees from East Pakistan  came to India to seek shelters to save their lives from the Pakistani brutalities and hostilities.

India unwantedly became a part of this conflict on 15 May, when it started aiding and training the Mukti Bahini fighters of East Pakistan.  India also launched a global diplomatic offensive to help create Bangladesh.  India’s army took over the responsibility of the operations  to be carried out against West Pakistan.  On Dec 3, 1971 Pakistan Air Force launched aerial attacks on  some of the major airbases at India.  It  was then when India called out for a war in the wee hours of Dec 4.  The war lasted for 13  days  causing havocs in both the kingdoms. India not only gave Pakistan a thrashing defeat, but also made more than 90,000 Pakistan armymen surrender on Dec 16. Subsequently, Bangladesh celebrates this day as the victory day, remarking its liberty from Pakistan. 

      Lt-Gen A A K Niazi signing the surrender before Lt-Gen Jagjit Singh.


Our Indian Air Force and Navy played very significant roles in this war and fought bravely  in the sky and on the waves.  Bombing of the Karachi port, destruction of Pakistani submarine, PNS Ghazi, operation Python remains  the highlights of our Naval performance in the 1971 war. Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, a brave  Ambala based flying officer took on six PAF sabre jets before hitting two of them, lost his life in the battle, and was later awarded the Paramveer Chakra (India's highest military decoration).  PAF could not succeed in destroying the Indian aircrafts on the pre-emptive strikes on Dec 3, while IAF destroyed a notable number of PAF aircrafts during the 13-day conflict. IAF bombed the Peshawar, Chaklala and Kohat airfields of Pakistan. It was on March 26, 1971 that Bangladesh got a recognition as an independent nation.

Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon(PVC)

     Following are the remarkable aspects of the war:
     1.       Battle of Longewala
     2.       Battle of basantar
     3.       Operation Python 
     4.       Battle of Kushtia 
     5.       Battle of Hilli
     6.       Battle of Sylhet 
     7.       Battle of Garibpur
     8.       India’s defeat at the Chhamb
                                                                          
The 1971 war was not the first time that the two countries defied each other.  Following are some of its widely known instances;

  • India and Pakistan waged a war for the first time post independence, when the Kashmir was yet to decide which independent state to join.  The war halted on 1 Jan 1949.  The two countries signed an UN based agreement, according to which India got 65% of the Kashmir territory.
  • The second Indo-Pak war took place in 1965, which lasted for 3 weeks.
  • The 1999 Kargil war is an important asset in the history of the relationships between the two countries. India responded by launching air strikes against Pakistan when they crossed their borders from Kashmir.

Even today after so many years of independence, the relations between the two countries continues to be of inter-tensions and rivalry. With the onset of 2017, it seems unpredictable to define the forthcoming shifts in the relationships of the two countries. After going through the history of the countries, we can easily conclude that the two countries could never improve their mutual understandings even though they took birth simultaneously.

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