1971 surrender of Pakistani troops
16th December, 1971 – Bangladesh was making headlines on this day, 47 years ago, as it marked the ‘বিজয় দিবস’(Vijay Diwas) to commemorate the victory of the allied forces over the Pakistani forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
16 December 1971 marked the end of a nine month long saga of chaos; genocide, torture and rape, when Pakistan army surrendered East Pakistan to the Indian army.
93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to Mukti Bahini and Indian Army, calling an end to the Indo-Pak war of 1971. Today, December 16, marks the 47th anniversary of the extreme humiliation faced by the Pakistan army and for all the right reasons.
While it was a big day for Bangladesh, as it meant freedom for the Bangladeshis, this win was also a proud moment for Indian Army. It was, after all, the first war after World War II that India had won conclusively.
There is a famous saying that goes, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Let us see if Pakistan has drawn any lesson from the 1971 debacle. Or maybe, as Talleyrand famously said “They had learned nothing and forgotten nothing”.
Pakistan failed to understand that no army can suppress people for long
Forty seven years after East Pakistan went through a blood bath and emerged as an independent nation of Bangladesh; Pakistan failed to understand that no army can suppress people for long.
The military rule that led to the national tragedy and the complete surrender of the forces in the East has now become the national way of life for Pakistan.
The same brutal Pakistani army’s genocidal operations in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) that killed around three million people, violated more than a quarter million women and displaced more than 10 million people from the country is being repeated in Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunwa and PoK to this present day.
Had Pakistan learnt any lesson from the 1971 experience then instead of strengthening the spirit of militarism it would have forsworn being a play thing of the military junta.
Democracy demands fairness
The promise of democracy by Quaid-E-Azam in 1947 could not take roots since its birth. What happened in 1971 was the ultimate outcome of oppression being its own nemesis.
But, far from learning from its mistake Pakistan allowed in the military to grab prestige and prominence once again. Once again the brief democratic constitution of Pakistan (the Constitution came into effect on August 14, 1973, setting out a parliamentary form of government, with Bhutto as Pakistan’s first democratically elected prime minister) was brushed aside by the “authoritarian nostalgia” (Hungtington) that led to the national tragedy.
“The Indian invasion and the war of 1971 was just a small episode. We lost East Pakistan due to our criminal governance,” Kaiser Bengali who authored ‘A Cry for Justice: Empirical Insights from Balochistan’ said at his book launch.
Pakistan’s misfortune is that democracy could not take roots since its birth in 1947, and as a result there is no respect for democratic values in Pakistan.
Never underestimate people’s power
People are the real source of power, and vox populi vox dei. Lesson of 1971, was simple respect for people’s mandate even if it is against someone wishes.
In 1971 Pakistan considered Bengalis as weak and powerless and racially inferior to West Pakistanis. Yahya Khan brushed aside the growing discontent of the people of East Pakistan due to gaping economic and political iniquities vis-s-vis the West and belittled the growing surge of Bengali resentment.
The army picked up people, tortured and killed them mercilessly. It used rape as a tool to terrorise the populace, to gain access to their land and property and crush their national identity.
It should also be noted that history is repeating itself once again as Pakistan army is repeating horrors of 1971 by targeting Baloch women as they are protesting against the security forces over the ongoing pogrom against the Baloch population.
Pakistan believes that there are small pockets of resistance in Balochistan that it can easily crush. It should remember that similar arrogance and intolerance led to the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971.
National conflicts are internal with a capacity to become international
1971 taught us that failing to manage conflicts and complexities internally can easily transform them into larger, regional and even international conflicts. National conflicts are deeply rooted in internal complexities of burning issues.
East Pakistan gone, in a similar way if the government fails to settle the Balochistan issue, it will soon lose all control over the situation. The entire world has already started taking notice of the sufferings prevailing in Balochistan and is becoming interested in the province.
Winning people’s hearts is more important than invading their land
Bangladesh is a classic example of what happens when there is no dialogue, negotiations but only violence.
Balochistan has almost 90% the resources of present day Pakistan. Yet the Punjabi Pakistani ruling coterie has been regularly exploiting Balochistan’s resources just like West Pakistan decided to economically and culturally destroy the east and the result (I seek indulgence for repeating it), formation of a new Nation.
“East Pakistan was a part of Pakistan and there are reasons why it’s not a part of Pakistan now,” Kaiser Bengali at his book launch of A Cry for Justice: Empirical Insights from Balochistan.
There is nothing wrong or strange about failure. Failure is a great teacher only if you have learned anything from it.
Baloch human rights activists protesting against alleged Pak atrocities
And as for Pakistan, though it now has a military three times what it was in 1971, its human-development indicator has fallen much behind Bangladesh’s, faces two major on-going separatist movements (Balochistan and Sindhudesh), religious intolerance, is a safe haven for UN designated terrorists, strife and turbulence.
Clearly it has learned NOTHING from its mistakes.
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