50 years on... the forgotten genocide

On December 16, 1971, 13 days after it began, the briefest yet bitterest of the wars between India and Pakistan came to an end. The surrender also marked the end of the nine-month-old civil war between East and West Pakistan. It was a complete and humiliating defeat. The war stripped Pakistan of more than half of its population and, with nearly one-third of its army in captivity, clearly established India’s military dominance of the subcontinent. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared: “Dacca is now the free capital of a free country. We hail the people of Bangladesh in their hour of triumph. All nations who value the human spirit will recognize it as a significant milestone in man’s quest for liberty.” The long-term consequences of the war still shape the geopolitics of the subcontinent today. Pakistan learned the most dangerous lessons of the war. It concluded that repressing and exploiting disgruntled minorities is a viable tool of domestic statecraft while proxy war is an effective tool of foreign policy. Bangladesh has not become a viable secular democracy and appears ever less likely to do so. And India, despite decisively defeating Pakistan, was never able to build upon that victory to impose a settlement of the Kashmir issue. In retrospect, while it may have lost that particular battle in December 1971, in many other ways, Pakistan and its project of Islamist violence seem to have won the larger and enduring war. Today, as Bangladesh marks 50 years of independence, two Indian military veterans recall their experiences of the war that changed the subcontinent.

Air Marshal BK Pandey (Retd)

As an Indian Air Force (IAF) transport pilot, I was privileged to be a part of a major operation that the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) jointly conducted on December 11, 1971 – the first ever airborne assault at Tangail, approximately 98 kilometres northwest of Dhaka. This was the largest airborne assault post World War Two that swung the course of the 1971 India- Pakistan war decisively in favour of India.

The IAF flew 48 transport aircraft for the parachute drop at Tangail which constituted six Antonov-12 heavy transport aircraft powered by four turboprop engines, 20 C-119 Fairchild Packet medium lift transport aircraft powered by two piston engines and 22 Dakota light weight aircraft powered by two piston engines. Apart from this fleet that undertook the paradrop, a few Caribou aircraft were employed to paradrop dummies at the same time in other areas of East Pakistan to confuse and deceive the enemy about the actual location of the drop zone.

The aircraft of this transport fleet which were of different sizes and airlift capabilities took off from the Dum Dum civil airport at Calcutta (now Kolkata) and the IAF air base at Kalaikunda in West Bengal. The different types of aircraft of this combined fleet had different cruising speeds and these flew into East Pakistan with the Second Battalion, Parachute Regiment which was para-dropped at Tangail, that Lt Col Kulwant Singh Pannu commanded. It was reinforced by an artillery battery of 17 Parachute Field Regiment, an engineering detachment, a surgical team and other administrative troops from 50th Independent Parachute Brigade.

The IAF aircraft paradropped 800 troops as also their heavy equipment, ammunition and vehicles that included as many as 12 jeeps on the drop zone that the Mukti Bahini had prepared under the guidance of an Indian Army, Captain PK Ghosh who was from the Signal Company of 50 Parachute Brigade. Captain Ghosh clandestinely entered East Pakistan and linked up with Qader Siddiqi who was the Area Commander of the Mukti Bahini. Together they identified a proper drop zone for the Indian airborne assault.

The aim of this airborne operation was to cut off the retreating enemy forces from Jamalpur. The main objective of the airborne assault operation was to capture of Poongli Bridge on the Jamuna River which would cut off the 93rd Brigade of the Pakistan Army that was retreating from Mymensingh in the North to defend the capital of East Pakistan, Dhaka and its approaches. The Second Parachute Battalion was also tasked to link up with the advancing Maratha Light Infantry on the ground to advance towards the East Pakistani capital.

Despite the fact that no rehearsal had been carried out as it was not possible, the airborne assault operation was carried out flawlessly except for one paratrooper who got stuck while exiting a Dakota aircraft and dangled below the aircraft. The crew managed to rescue him at about 50 km from the drop zone. He landed in an area under the control of the Indian Army where he was safe and was then taken care of.

On landing, the Indian paratroopers found themselves to be dispersed over a wide area, but they regrouped quickly and commenced their operation. What was quite encouraging was that they were greeted by