Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

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Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Part of the Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-
Pakistani Wars
Date 316 December 1971
Location East Pakistan, IndiaWest
Pakistanborder, the Line of Control,
theArabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal
Result Decisive Indian and Bangladeshi
victory.
[1][2][3]

Eastern front:
Pakistani forces surrender.
Western front:
Ceasefire after Pakistani surrender in the
east.
[4]

Territorial
changes
Liberation of East Pakistan as
independent Bangladesh
Belligerents
India

Provisional Government
of Bangladesh
Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
President Varahagiri
Venkata Giri
PM Indira Gandhi
Gen Sam Manekshaw
LGen J.S. Arora
LGen G.G. Bewoor
LGen K. P. Candeth
LGen Sagat Singh
MajGen J. F. R. Jacob
President Yahya
Khan
PM Nurul Amin
Gen. Abdul Hamid
Khan
LGen A. A. K.
Niazi
LGen Gul Hassan
Khan
Adm S. M. Nanda
ACM Pratap Lal
Prem Tajuddin Ahmad
Gen M. A. G. Osmani
Maj K M Shafiullah
Maj Ziaur Rahman
Maj Khaled Mosharraf
LGen Tikka Khan
LGen Abdul Ali
Malik
LGen Akhtar
Hussain Malik
RAdmMohammad
Shariff
AVM Patrick D.
Callaghan
MajGen Rao
Farman Ali
MajGen Mohd
Jamshed
MajGen Iftikhar
Janjua
VAdm Muzaffar
Hassan
AM Abdul Rahim
Khan
Strength
Indian Armed Forces: 500,000
Mukti Bahini: 175,000
Pakistan Armed Forces:
365,000
Casualties and losses
3,843 killed
[5]

9,851 wounded
[5]

1 Frigate

1 Naval aircraft
[6][7]

Indian Okha harbour
damaged/fueling
facilities destroyed.
[citation
needed]

Damage to western
9,000 killed
[13]

4,350 wounded
97,368 captured
2 Destroyers
[14]

1 Minesweeper
[14]

1 Submarine
[15]

3 Patrol vessels
7 Gunboats
Pakistani main
Indian airfields.
[8][9]

Pakistani Claims
130 IAF Aircraft
[10][11]

Indian Claims
45 IAF Aircraft
[12]

port Karachi
facilities
damaged/fuel
tanks
destroyed
[14][16]

Pakistani airfields
damaged and
cratered
[17]

Pakistani Claims
42 PAF Aircraft
[18]

Indian Claims
94 PAF Aircraft
[12]

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V
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Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
[show]
V
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Bangladesh Liberation War
[show]
V
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Indo-Pakistani conflicts
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was the direct military confrontation
between India and Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Indian, Bangladeshi and
international sources consider the beginning of the war to have beenOperation Chengiz Khan, when
Pakistan launched pre-emptive air strikes on 11 Indian airbases on 3 December 1971, leading to
India's entry into the war of independence in East Pakistan on the side of Bangladeshi nationalist
forces, and the commencement of hostilities with West Pakistan.
[19][20]
Lasting just 13 days, it is
considered to be one of the shortest wars in history.
[21][22]

During the course of the war, Indian and Pakistani forces clashed on the eastern and western fronts.
The war effectively came to an end after the Eastern Command of the Pakistani Armed
Forces signed the Instrument of Surrender,
[23]
on 16 December 1971 in Dhaka, marking the
liberation of the new nation of Bangladesh. East Pakistan had officially seceded from Pakistan on 26
March 1971. Between 90,000 and 93,000 members of the Pakistan Armed Forces including
paramilitary personnel were taken as Prisoners of War by the Indian Army.
[24][25]
It is estimated that
between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 civilians were killed in Bangladesh, America, and the Future of
the Global.
[26][27]
As a result of the conflict, a further eight to ten million people fled the country at the
time to seek refuge in neighbouring India.
[28]

Contents
[hide]
1 Background
2 India's involvement in Bangladesh Liberation War
3 India's official engagement with Pakistan
o 3.1 Objective
o 3.2 Naval hostilities
o 3.3 Air operations
o 3.4 Ground operations
o 3.5 Surrender of Pakistani forces in East Pakistan
4 Foreign reaction and involvement
o 4.1 United States and Soviet Union
o 4.2 China
5 Aftermath
o 5.1 India
o 5.2 Pakistan
o 5.3 Bangladesh
o 5.4 Hamoodur Rahman Commission
o 5.5 Simla Agreement
6 Long term consequences
7 Timeline
8 Military awards
o 8.1 Battle honours
o 8.2 Gallantry awards
9 Civilian Awards
10 Dramatization
11 See also
12 References
13 Further reading
14 External links
Background
Main articles: Bangladesh Liberation War, Mukti Bahini and 1971 Bangladesh atrocities
The Indo-Pakistani conflict was sparked by the Bangladesh Liberation war, a conflict between the
traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis.
[14]
The Bangladesh
Liberation war ignited after the 1970 Pakistani election, in which the East Pakistani Awami
League won 167 of 169 seats in East Pakistan and secured a simple majority in the 313-seat lower
house of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament of Pakistan). Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman presented the Six Points to the President of Pakistan and claimed the right to form the
government. After the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to yield the
premiership of Pakistan to Mujibur, President Yahya Khan called the military, dominated by West
Pakistanis, to suppress dissent in East Pakistan.
[29][30]

Mass arrests of dissidents began, and attempts were made to disarm East Pakistani soldiers and
police. After several days of strikes and non-co-operation movements, the Pakistani military cracked
down on Dhaka on the night of 25 March 1971. The Awami League was banished, and many
members fled into exile in India. Mujib was arrested on the night of 2526 March 1971 at about
1:30 am (as per Radio Pakistan's news on 29 March 1971) and taken to West Pakistan. The next
action carried out was Operation Searchlight, an attempt to kill the intellectual elite of the east.
[31]

On 26 March 1971, Ziaur Rahman, a major in the Pakistani army, declared the independence of
Bangladesh.
[32][33][34]
In April, exiled Awami League leaders formed a government-in-
exile in Baidyanathtala of Meherpur. The East Pakistan Rifles, aparamilitary force, defected to the
rebellion. Bangladesh Force namely Mukti Bahini consisting of Niyomito Bahini (Regular Force) and
Gono Bahini (Guerilla Force) was formed under the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) General
Mohammad Ataul Ghani Osmany.
[35]

India's involvement in Bangladesh Liberation War
The Pakistan army conducted a widespread genocide against the Bengali population of East
Pakistan,
[36]
aimed in particular at the minority Hindu population,
[37][38]
leading to approximately 10
million
[37][39]
people fleeing East Pakistan and taking refuge in the neighbouring Indian
states.
[36][40]
The East Pakistan-India border was opened to allow refugees safe shelter in India. The
governments of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura established refugee
camps along the border. The resulting flood of impoverished East Pakistani refugees placed an
intolerable strain on India's already overburdened economy.
[38]

General Tikka Khan earned the nickname 'Butcher of Bengal' due to the widespread atrocities he
committed.
[19]
He was previously known as the 'Butcher of Balochistan' for other infamous atrocities
he had committed.
[41][42][43]
General Niazi commenting on his actions noted 'On the night between
25/26 March 1971 General Tikka struck. Peaceful night was turned into a time of wailing, crying and
burning. General Tikka let loose everything at his disposal as if raiding an enemy, not dealing with
his own misguided and misled people. The military action was a display of stark cruelty more
merciless than the massacres at Bukhara and Baghdad by Chengiz Khan andHalaku Khan...
General Tikka... resorted to the killing of civilians and a scorched earth policy. His orders to his
troops were: 'I want the land not the people...' Major GeneralFarman had written in his table diary,
"Green land of East Pakistan will be painted red". It was painted red by Bengali blood.'
[44]

The Indian government repeatedly appealed to the international community, but failing to elicit any
response,
[45]
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 27 March 1971 expressed full support of her
government for the independence struggle of the people of East Pakistan. The Indian leadership
under Prime Minister Gandhi quickly decided that it was more effective to end the genocide by taking
armed action against Pakistan than to simply give refuge to those who made it across to refugee
camps.
[40]
Exiled East Pakistan army officers and members of the Indian Intelligence immediately
started using these camps for recruitment and training of Mukti Bahini guerrillas.
[46]

The mood in West Pakistan had also turned increasingly jingoistic and militaristic against East
Pakistan and India. By the end of September, an organised propaganda campaign, possibly
orchestrated by elements within the Government of Pakistan, resulted in stickers proclaiming Crush
India becoming a standard feature on the rear windows of vehicles in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and
Lahore and soon spread to the rest of West Pakistan. By October, other stickers proclaimed Hang
the Traitor in an apparent reference to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
[47]

India's official engagement with Pakistan
Objective


Illustration showing military units and troop movements during operations in the Eastern sector of the war.
By November, war seemed inevitable. Throughout November, thousands of people led by West
Pakistani politicians marched in Lahore and across West Pakistan, calling for Pakistan to Crush
India.
[48][49]
India responded by starting a massive buildup of Indian forces on the border with East
Pakistan. The Indian military waited until December, when the drier ground would make for easier
operations and Himalayan passes would be closed by snow, preventing any Chinese intervention.
On 23 November, Yahya Khandeclared a state of emergency in all of Pakistan and told his people to
prepare for war.
[50]

On the evening of 3 December Sunday, at about 5:40 pm,
[51]
the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) launched
a pre-emptive strike on eleven airfields in north-western India, including Agra, which was 300 miles
(480 km) from the border. At the time of this attack the Taj Mahalwas camouflaged with a forest of
twigs and leaves and draped with burlap because its marble glowed like a white beacon in the
moonlight.
[52]

This preemptive strike known as Operation Chengiz Khan, was inspired by the success of
Israeli Operation Focus in the ArabIsraeliSix Day War. But, unlike the Israeli attack on Arab
airbases in 1967 which involved a large number of Israeli planes, Pakistan flew no more than 50
planes to India.
[53]

In an address to the nation on radio that same evening, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi held that the
air strikes were a declaration of war against India
[54][55]
and the Indian Air Force responded with initial
air strikes that very night. These air strikes were expanded to massive retaliatory air strikes the next
morning and thereafter which followed interceptions by Pakistanis anticipating this action.
[4]

This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
ordered the immediate mobilisation of troops and launched a full-scale invasion. This involved Indian
forces in a massive coordinated air, sea, and land assault. Indian Air Force started flying sorties
against Pakistan from midnight.
[14][52]
The main Indian objective on the western front was to prevent
Pakistan from entering Indian soil. There was no Indian intention of conducting any major offensive
into West Pakistan.
[51]

Naval hostilities
Main article: Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971


Pakistan's PNS Ghazi sank off the fairwaybuoy of Visakhapatnam near the eastern coast of India, making it the first
submarine casualty in the waters around the Indian subcontinent.
Naval reconnaissance submarine operations were started by the Pakistan Navy on both eastern and
western front.
[citation needed]
In the western theatre of the war, the Indian Navy, under the command
of Vice Admiral S.N. Kohli, successfully attacked Karachi's port inOperation Trident
[14]
on the night of
45 December,
[14]
using missile boats, sinking Pakistani destroyer PNS
Khyber and minesweeperPNS Muhafiz; PNS Shah Jahan was also badly damaged.
[14]
720 Pakistani
sailors were killed or wounded, and Pakistan lost reserve fuel and many commercial ships, thus
crippling the Pakistan Navy's further involvement in the conflict. Operation Trident was followed
by Operation Python
[14]
on the night of 89 December,
[14]
in which Indian missile boats attacked the
Karachi port, resulting in further destruction of reserve fuel tanks and the sinking of three Pakistani
merchant ships.
[14]

In the eastern theatre of the war, the Indian Eastern Naval Command, under Vice Admiral Krishnan,
completely isolated East Pakistan by a naval blockade in the Bay of Bengal, trapping the Eastern
Pakistani Navy and eight foreign merchant ships in their ports. From 4 December onwards, the
aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was deployed, and its Sea Hawk fighter-bombers attacked many coastal
towns in East Pakistan
[56]
including Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar. Pakistan countered the threat by
sending the submarine PNS Ghazi, whichsank en route under mysterious circumstances
off Vishakapatnam's coast
[57][58]
reducing Pakistan's control of Bangladeshi coastline.
[citation needed]
But
on 9 December, the Indian Navy suffered its biggest wartime loss when the Pakistani
submarine PNS Hangor sank the frigate INS Khukri in the Arabian Sea resulting in a loss of 18
officers and 176 sailors.
[59]



Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrantlaunches an Alize aircraft
The damage inflicted on the Pakistani Navy stood at 7 gunboats, 1 minesweeper, 1 submarine,
2 destroyers, 3 patrol crafts belonging to the coast guard, 18 cargo, supply and communication
vessels, and large scale damage inflicted on the naval base and docks in the coastal town of
Karachi. Three merchant navy ships Anwar Baksh, Pasni and Madhumathi
[60]
and ten smaller
vessels were captured.
[61]
Around 1900 personnel were lost, while 1413 servicemen were captured
by Indian forces in Dhaka.
[62]
According to one Pakistan scholar, Tariq Ali, the Pakistan Navy lost a
third of its force in the war.
[63]

Air operations
Main article: East Pakistan Air Operations, 1971
After the initial preemptive strike, PAF adopted a defensive stance in response to the Indian
retaliation. As the war progressed, the Indian Air Force continued to battle the PAF over conflict
zones,
[64]
but the number of sorties flown by the PAF gradually decreased day-by-day.
[65]
The Indian
Air Force flew 4,000 sorties while its counterpart, the PAF offered little in retaliation, partly because
of the paucity of non-Bengali technical personnel.
[14]
This lack of retaliation has also been attributed
to the deliberate decision of the PAF High Command to cut its losses as it had already incurred huge
losses in the conflict.
[66]
Though the PAF did not intervene during the Indian Navy's raid on Pakistani
naval port city of Karachi, it retaliated by bombing the Okha harbour, destroying the fuel tanks used
by the boats that had attacked.
[10][67]

In the east, the small air contingent of Pakistan Air Force No. 14 Sqn was destroyed, putting the
Dhaka airfield out of commission and resulting in Indian air superiority in the east.
[14]

Attacks on Pakistan While India's grip on what had been East Pakistan tightened, the IAF
continued to press home attacks against Pakistan itself. The campaign developed into a series of
daylight anti-airfield, anti-radar and close-support attacks by fighters, with night attacks against
airfields and strategic targets by B-57s and C-130 (Pakistan), and Canberras and An-12s (India).
The PAF's F-6s were employed mainly on defensive combat air patrols over their own bases, but
without air superiority the PAF was unable to conduct effective offensive operations, and its attacks
were largely ineffective. During the IAF's airfield attacks, one US and one UN aircraft were damaged
in Dacca, while a Canadian Air Force Caribou was destroyed at Islamabad, along with US military
liaison chief Brigadier General Chuck Yeager's USAF Beech U-8 light twin.
Sporadic raids by the IAF continued against Pakistan's forward air bases in the West until the end of
the war, and large scale interdiction and close-support operations, and were maintained. The PAF
played a more limited part in the operations, and were reinforced by F-104s from Jordan, Mirages
from an unidentified Middle Eastern ally (remains unknown) and by F-86s from Saudi Arabia. Their
arrival helped camouflage the extent of Pakistan's losses. Libyan F-5s were reportedly deployed to
Sargodha, perhaps as a potential training unit to prepare Pakistani pilots for an influx of more F-5s
from Saudi Arabia.
Hostilities officially ended at 14:30 GMT on 17 December, after the fall of Dacca on 15 December.
India claimed large gains of territory in West Pakistan (although pre-war boundaries were recognised
after the war), and the independence of Pakistan's East wing as Bangladesh was confirmed. India
flew 1,978 sorties in the East and about 4,000 in the West, while the PAF flew about 30 and 2,840.
More than 80 percent of the IAF's sorties were close-support and interdiction, and about 65 IAF
aircraft were lost (54 losses were admitted), perhaps as many as 27 of them in air combat. Pakistan
lost 72 aircraft (51 of them combat types, but admitting only 25 to enemy action). Of the Pakistani
losses, at least 24 fell in air combat (although only 10 air combat losses were admitted, not including
any F-6s, Mirage IIIs, or the six Jordanian F-104s which failed to return to their donors). But the
imbalance in air losses was explained by the IAF's considerably higher sortie rate, and its emphasis
on ground-attack missions. On the ground Pakistan suffered most, with 8,000 killed and 25,000
wounded while India lost 3,000 dead and 12,000 wounded. The loss of armoured vehicles was
similarly imbalanced. This represented a major defeat for Pakistan.
[68]

Ground operations

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve
this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (March 2012)


Indian T-55 tanks on their way to Dhaka.
Pakistan attacked at several places along India's western border with Pakistan, but the Indian army
successfully held their positions.
[citation needed]
The Indian Army quickly responded to the Pakistan
Army's movements in the west and made some initial gains, including capturing around 5,500
square miles (14,000 km
2
)
[69][70]
of Pakistan territory (land gained by India in Pakistani
Kashmir,Pakistani Punjab and Sindh sectors was later ceded in the Simla Agreement of 1972, as a
gesture of goodwill).
On the eastern front, the Indian Army joined forces with the Mukti Bahini to form the Mitro
Bahini (Allied forces); unlike the 1965 war which had emphasised set-piece battles and slow
advances, this time the strategy adopted was a swift, three-pronged assault of nine infantry divisions
with attached armoured units and close air support that rapidly converged on Dhaka, the capital of
East Pakistan.
Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, who commanded the eighth, twenty-third, and fifty-seventh
divisions, led the Indian thrust into East Pakistan. As these forces attacked Pakistani formations, the
Indian Air Force rapidly destroyed the small air contingent in East Pakistan and put the Dhaka
airfield out of commission. In the meantime, the Indian Navy effectively blockaded East Pakistan.
The Indian campaign employed "blitzkrieg" techniques, exploiting weakness in the enemy's positions
and bypassing opposition, and resulted in a swift victory.
[71]
Faced with insurmountable losses, the
Pakistani military capitulated in less than a fortnight. On 16 December, the Pakistani forces stationed
in East Pakistan surrendered.
Surrender of Pakistani forces in East Pakistan
Main article: Instrument of Surrender (1971)
The Instrument of Surrender of Pakistani forces stationed in East Pakistan was signed at Ramna
Race Course in Dhaka at 16.31 IST on 16 December 1971, by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh
Aurora, General Officer Commanding-in-chief of Eastern Command of the Indian Army and
Lieutenant General A. A. K. Niazi, Commander of Pakistani forces in East Pakistan. As Aurora
accepted the surrender, the surrounding crowds on the race course began shouting anti-Niazi and
anti-Pakistan slogans.
[72]

India took approximately 90,000 prisoners of war, including Pakistani soldiers and their East
Pakistani civilian supporters. 79,676 prisoners were uniformed personnel, of which 55,692 were
Army, 16,354 Paramilitary, 5,296 Police, 1,000 Navy and 800 PAF.
[73]
The remaining prisoners were
civilians either family members of the military personnel or collaborators (razakars). The Hamoodur
Rahman Commission report instituted by Pakistan lists the Pakistani POWs as follows: Apart from
soldiers, it was estimated that 15,000 Bengali civilians were also made prisoners of war.
[74]

Branch Number of captured Pakistani POWs
Army 54,154
Navy 1,381
Air Force 833
Paramilitary including police 22,000
Civilian personnel 12,000
Total: 90,368
Foreign reaction and involvement
United States and Soviet Union


The Blood Telegram
The Soviet Union sympathised with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti
Bahini during the war, recognising that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position
of its rivalsthe United States and China. The USSR gave assurances to India that if a
confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This
assurance was enshrined in theIndo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971.
[75]

The United States supported Pakistan both politically and materially. President Richard Nixon and
his Secretary of State Henry Kissingerfeared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast
Asia.
[76]
Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been
negotiating a rapprochement and where he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an
Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would
seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America's
new tacit ally, China. Nixon encouraged countries like Jordan and Iran to send military supplies to
Pakistan
[77]
while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon
administration also ignored reports it received of the "genocidal" activities of the Pakistani Army in
East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram. This prompted widespread criticism and
condemnation both by the United States Congress and in the international press.
[36][78][79]

Then-US ambassador to the United Nations George H.W. Bushlater 41st President of the United
Statesintroduced a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a cease-fire and the
withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan. It was vetoed by the Soviet Union. The following
days witnessed a great pressure on the Soviets from the Nixon-Kissinger duo to get India to
withdraw, but to no avail.
[80]

It has been documented that President Nixon requested Iran and Jordan to send their F-86, F-104
and F-5 fighter jets in aid of Pakistan.
[81]

When Pakistan's defeat in the eastern sector seemed certain, Nixon deployed Task Force 74 led by
the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal. The Enterprise and its escort ships arrived
on station on 11 December 1971. According to a Russian documentary, the United Kingdom
deployed a carrier battle group led by the aircraft carrier HMSEagle to the Bay,
[75][82]
although this is
unlikely as the Eagle was decommissioned at Portsmouth, England in January 1972.
On 6 and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of cruisers and destroyers and a
submarine armed with nuclear missiles from Vladivostok;
[75]
they trailed US Task Force 74 into the
Indian Ocean from 18 December 1971 until 7 January 1972. The Soviets also had a nuclear
submarine to help ward off the threat posed by USS Enterprise task force in the Indian Ocean.
[83][84]

China
As a long-standing ally of Pakistan, the People's Republic of China reacted with alarm to the
evolving situation in East Pakistan and the prospect of India invading West Pakistan and Pakistani-
controlled Kashmir. Believing that just such an Indian attack was imminent, Nixon encouraged China
to mobilise its armed forces along its border with India to discourage it. The Chinese did not,
however, respond to this encouragement, because unlike the 1962 Sino-Indian War when India was
caught entirely unaware, this time the Indian Army was prepared and had deployed eight mountain
divisions to the Sino-Indian border to guard against such an eventuality.
[85]
China instead threw its
weight behind demands for an immediate ceasefire.
When Bangladesh applied for membership to the United Nations in 1972, China vetoed their
application
[86]
because two United Nations resolutions regarding the repatriation of Pakistani
prisoners of war and civilians had not yet been implemented.
[87]
China was also among the last
countries to recognise independent Bangladesh, refusing to do so until 31 August 1975.
[86][88]

Aftermath
India
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.
[39]
In spite of the
magnitude of the victory, India was surprisingly restrained in its reaction. Mostly, Indian leaders
seemed pleased by the relative ease with which they had accomplished their goalsthe
establishment of Bangladesh and the prospect of an early return to their homeland of the 10 million
Bengali refugees who were the cause of the war.
[39]
In announcing the Pakistani surrender, Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi declared in the Indian Parliament:
"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."
[39]

Pakistan
For Pakistan it was a complete and humiliating defeat,
[39]
a psychological setback that came from a
defeat at the hands of intense rival India.
[24]
Pakistan lost half its population and a significant portion
of its economy and suffered setbacks to its geo-political role in South Asia.
[24][39]
Pakistan feared that
the two-nation theory was disproved and that the Islamic ideology had proved insufficient to keep
Bengalis part of Pakistan.
[24]
Also, the Pakistani military suffered further humiliation by having their
90,000 prisoners of war(POWs) released by India only after the negotiation and signing of the Simla
Agreement on 2 July 1972. In addition to repatriation of prisoners of war also, the agreement
established an ongoing structure for the negotiated resolution of future conflicts between India and
Pakistan (referring to the remaining western provinces that now composed the totality of Pakistan).
In signing the agreement, Pakistan also, by implication, recognised the former East Pakistan as the
now independent and sovereign state of Bangladesh.
The Pakistani people were not mentally prepared to accept defeat, as the state-controlled media in
West Pakistan had been projecting imaginary victories.
[24]
When the surrender in East Pakistan was
finally announced, people could not come terms with the magnitude of defeat, spontaneous
demonstrations and mass protests erupted on the streets of major cities in West Pakistan. Also,
referring to the remaining rump Western Pakistan as simply "Pakistan" added to the effect of the
defeat as international acceptance of the secession of the eastern half of the country and its creation
as the independent state of Bangladesh developed and was given more credence.
[24]
The cost of the
war for Pakistan in monetary and human resources was very high. Demoralized and finding himself
unable to control the situation, General Yahya Khan surrendered power to Zulfiqar Ali Bhuttowho
was sworn-in on 20 December 1971 as President and as the (first civilian) Chief Martial Law
Administrator. A new and smaller western-based Pakistan emerged on 16 December 1971.
[89]

The loss of East Pakistan shattered the prestige of the Pakistani military.
[24]
Pakistan lost half its
navy, a quarter of its air force and a third of its army.
[90]
The war also exposed the shortcomings of
Pakistan's declared strategic doctrine that the "defence of East Pakistan lay in West
Pakistan".
[91]
Hussain Haqqani, in his book Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military notes,
"Moreover, the army had failed to fulfill its promises of fighting to the last man. The eastern
command had laid down arms after losing only 1,300 men in battle. In West Pakistan 1,200 military
deaths had accompanied lackluster military performance."
[92]

In his book The 1971 Indo-Pak War: A Soldiers Narrative Pakistani Major General Hakeem Arshad
Qureshi a veteran of this conflict noted,
"We must accept the fact that, as a people, we had also contributed to the bifurcation of our own
country. It was not a Niazi, or a Yahya, even a Mujib, or a Bhutto, or their key assistants, who alone
were the cause of our break-up, but a corrupted system and a flawed social order that our own
apathy had allowed to remain in place for years. At the most critical moment in our history we failed
to check the limitless ambitions of individuals with dubious antecedents and to thwart their selfish
and irresponsible behaviour. It was our collective 'conduct' that had provided the enemy an
opportunity to dismember us."
[93]

Bangladesh
Main article: 1971 Bangladesh atrocities
Bangladesh became an independent nation, the world's fourth most populous Muslim state. Mujibur
Rahman was released from a West Pakistani prison, returning to Dhaka on 10 January 1972 and
becoming the first President of Bangladesh and later its Prime Minister.
On the brink of defeat around 14 December, the Pakistani Army, and its local collaborators,
systematically killed a large number of Bengali doctors, teachers and intellectuals,
[94][95]
part of
a pogrom against the Hindu minorities who constituted the majority of urban educated
intellectuals.
[96][97]
Young men, especially students, who were seen as possible rebels were also
targeted. The extent of casualties in East Pakistan is not known. R.J. Rummel cites estimates
ranging from one to three million people killed.
[98]
Other estimates place the death toll lower, at
300,000. Bangladesh government figures state that Pakistani forces aided by collaborators killed
three million people, raped 200,000 women and displaced millions of others.
[99]
In 2010 Bangladesh
government set up a tribunal to prosecute the people involved in alleged war crimes and those who
collaborated with Pakistan.
[100]
According to the Government, the defendants would be charged
with crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, rape and arson.
[101]

Hamoodur Rahman Commission
In aftermath of war Pakistan Government constituted the Hamoodur Rahman Commission headed
by Justice Hamoodur Rahman in 1971 to investigate the political and military causes for defeat and
the Bangladesh atrocities during the war. The commission's report was classified and its publication
banned by Bhutto as it put the military in poor light, until some parts of the report surfaced in Indian
media in 2000.
[102][103]

When it was declassified, it showed many failings from the strategic to the tactical levels. It
confirmed the looting, rapes and the killings by the Pakistan Army and their local agents.
[104]
It lay the
blame squarely on Pakistani generals, accusing them of debauchery, smuggling, war crimes and
neglect of duty.
[105]
Though no actions were ever taken on commissions findings,
[102]
the commission
had recommended public trial of Pakistan Army generals on the charges that they had been
responsible for the situation in the first place and that they had succumbed without a fight.
[106]

Simla Agreement
In 1972 the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan, the treaty ensured that
Pakistan recognised the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani
POWs. India treated all the POWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule 1925.
[52]
It
released more than 90,000 Pakistani PoWs in five months.
The accord also gave back more than 13,000 km of land that Indian troops had seized in West
Pakistan during the war, though India retained a few strategic areas.
[107]
But some in India felt that
the treaty had been too lenient to Bhutto, who had pleaded for leniency, arguing that the fragile
democracy in Pakistan would crumble if the accord was perceived as being overly harsh by
Pakistanis and that he would be accused of losing Kashmir in addition to the loss of East
Pakistan.
[24]

Long term consequences
Steve Coll, in his book Ghost Wars, argues that the Pakistan
military's experience with India, including Pervez Musharraf's
experience in 1971, influenced the Pakistani government to support
jihadist groups in Afghanistan even after the Soviets left, because
the jihadists were a tool to use against India, including bogging
down the Indian Army in Kashmir.
[108][109]

After the war, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto authorised the highly secretive and
clandestine atomic bomb program, as part of its new deterrence
policy, to defend itself and never to allow another armed invasion
from India.
[citation needed]
Many Pakistani scientists, abroad working at
the IAEA and European and American nuclear programs
immediately return to what remain of Pakistan and took participation
in making Pakistan a nuclear power.
[citation needed]

Writing about the war in Foreign Affairs magazine Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto stated 'There is no parallel in contemporary history to the
cataclysm which engulfed Pakistan in 1971. A tragic civil war, which
rent asunder the people of the two parts of Pakistan, was seized by
India as an opportunity for armed intervention. The country was
dismembered, its economy shattered and the nation's self-
confidence totally undermined.'
[110]
This statement of Bhutto has
given rise to the myth of betrayal prevalent in modern Pakistan. This
view was contradicted by the post-War Hamoodur Rahman
Commission, ordered by Bhutto himself, which in its 1974 report
indicted generals of the Pakistan Army for creating conditions which
led to the eventual loss of East Pakistan and for inept handling of
military operations in the East.
[102]

Timeline
7 March 1971: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declares that, "The current
struggle is a struggle for independence", in a public meeting
attended by almost a million people in Dhaka.
25 March 1971: Pakistani forces start Operation Searchlight, a
systematic plan to eliminate any resistance. Thousands of people
are killed in student dormitories and police barracks in Dhaka.
26 March 1971: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official
declaration of independence and sent it through a radio message
on the night of 25 March (the morning of 26 March). Later
Major Ziaur Rahman and other Awami League leaders announced
the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujib from
Kalurghat Radio Station,Chittagong. The message is relayed to the
world by Indian radio stations.
27 March 1971: Bangladesh Force namely Mukti Bahini {consisting
Niyomito Bahini (Regular Force) and Gono Bahini (Guerilla Force)}
was formed under the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) General
Mohammad Ataul Ghani Osmany.
17 April 1971: Exiled leaders of Awami League form a provisional
government.
3 December 1971: War between India and Pakistan officially begins
when West Pakistan launches a series of preemptive air strikes on
Indian airfields.
6 December 1971: East Pakistan is recognised as Bangladesh by
India.
14 December 1971: Systematic elimination of Bengali intellectuals
is started by Pakistani Army and local collaborators.
[96]

16 December 1971: Lieutenant-General A. A. K. Niazi, supreme
commander of Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, surrenders to the
Allied Forces (Mitro Bahini) represented by Lieutenant
General Jagjit Singh Arora of Indian Army at the surrender. India
and Bangladesh gain victory.
12 January 1972: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman comes to power.
Military awards
Battle honours
After the war, a total of number of 41 battle honours and 4 theatre honours were awarded to units of
the Indian Army, the notable amongst which are:
[111]

East Pakistan 1971 (theatre honour)
Sindh 1971 (theatre honour)
Jammu and Kashmir 1971 (theatre honour)
Punjab 1971 (theatre honour)
Basantar River
Bogra
Chachro
Chhamb
Defence of Punch
Dera Baba Nanak
Gadra City
Harar Kalan
Hilli
Longanewala
Parbat Ali
Poongli Bridge
Shehjra
Shingo River Valley
Sylhet
Gallantry awards
For bravery, a number of soldiers and officers on both sides were awarded the highest gallantry
award of their respective countries. Following is a list of the recipients of the Indian award Param Vir
Chakra, Bangladeshi award Bir Sreshtho and the Pakistani award Nishan-E-Haider:
India
Recipients of the Param Vir Chakra:
[112][113]

Lance Naik Albert Ekka (Posthumously)
Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon (Posthumously)
Major Hoshiar Singh
Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal (Posthumously)
Bangladesh
Recipients of the Bir Sreshtho:
[citation needed]

Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir (Posthumously)
Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf (Posthumously)
Sepoy Hamidur Rahman (Posthumously)
Sepoy Mostafa Kamal (Posthumously)
ERA Mohammad Ruhul Amin (Posthumously)
Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman (Posthumously)
Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh (Posthumously)
Pakistan
Recipients of the Nishan-E-Haider:
[114][115]

Major Muhammad Akram (Posthumously)
Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas (Posthumously)
Major Shabbir Sharif (Posthumously)
Sarwar Muhammad Hussain (Posthumously)
Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz (Posthumously)
Civilian Awards
On 25 July 2011, Bangladesh Swadhinata Sammanona, the Bangladesh Freedom Honour, was
posthumously conferred on former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.
[116]

On 28 March 2012, President of Bangladesh Zillur Rahman and the Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina conferred Bangladesh Liberation War Honour and Friends of Liberation War Honour to
75 individuals, six organisations, Mitra Bahini and the people of India at a special ceremony at the
Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. This included eight heads of states viz. former
Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav, the third King of Bhutan Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, former
Soviet presidents Leonid IIyich Brezhnev andNikolai Viktorovich Podgorny, ex-Soviet prime
minister Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin, former Yugoslav president Marshal Josip Broz Tito, ex-UK
prime minister Sir Edward Richard George Heath and former Nepalese prime minister Bishweshwar
Prasad Koirala. The organisations include the BBC, Akashbani (All India Radio), International
Committee of the Red Cross, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Oxfam and Kolkata
University Shahayak Samiti.
The list of foreign friends of Bangladesh has since been extended to 568 people. It includes 257
Indians, 88 Americans, 41 Pakistanis, 39 Britons, nine Russians, 18 Nepalese, 16 French and 18
Japanese.
[117][118]

Dramatization
Films (Indian)
Border, a 1997 Bollywood war film directed by J.P.Dutta. This movie
is an adaptation from real life events that happened at the Battle of
Longewala fought in Rajasthan (Western Theatre) during the 1971
Indo-Pak war. Border at the Internet Movie Database
Hindustan Ki Kasam, a 1973 Bollywood war film directed by Chetan
Anand. The aircraft in the film are all authentic aircraft used in the
1971 war against Pakistan. These include MiG-21s, Gnats, Hunters
and Su-7s. Some of these aircraft were also flown by war veterans
such as Samar Bikram Shah (2 kills) and Manbir Singh. Hindustan
Ki Kasam at the Internet Movie Database
Aakraman, 1975 Bollywood film set during this war featuring a
romantic Love triangle.
1971 - Prisoners of War, a 2007 Bollywood war film directed by
Sagar Brothers. Set against the backdrop of a prisoners' camp in
Pakistan, follows six Indian prisoners awaiting release after their
capture in the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
Miniseries/Dramas (Pakistani)
PNS Ghazi, an Urdu drama based on sinking of PNS Ghazi, ISPR