India Pakistan 1971 War Explained
16 December, 1971, nearly 90,000 soldiers of Pakistan surrender to India. With this surrender the India-Pakistan war was now over. Pakistan was broken into two parts and a new country Bangladesh was born. Why did this war start? What were the military strategies by using which India won this war?
What is the whole story of the 1971 war? Let us know in this video. The breakup of Pakistan into two parts was probably written when Pakistan was formed. In 1947, after the partition of India, Pakistan was formed into two geographically separate parts.
West Pakistan and East Pakistan which were 2000 kilometers away from each other. The population of East Pakistan was actually greater than that of West Pakistan, but the entire political power was concentrated in West Pakistan. The people of the West and the Government of Pakistan used to
Discriminate against the people of East Pakistan since the beginning. Despite having a low population, West Pakistan used to get 70 percent of budget. The majority of people in both the parts were Muslims, but their language was quite different. While most people in the West spoke Urdu and Punjabi,
Most people in East Pakistan were Bengali and spoke only Bengali language. But in 1948, Pakistan Government tried to impose Urdu on these Bengalis. They declared Urdu as the national language and started removing Bengali from official documents, stamps and currency. This linguistic discrimination aroused a feeling of rebellion against the West in East Pakistan.
But even after all this, the situation of Pakistan was largely stable for the next 20 years. But this situation was going to change very soon. Cut to 1969, a military rule was going on in Pakistan, the country’s president and military head was General Yahya Khan.
Yahya Khan announced that he will soon bring democracy back by holding elections in Pakistan. Elections will take place, I’ve left this decision to Chief Election Commissioner who is a completely independent body. And this time, in the National Assembly that will be formed, basically in the Parliament that will be formed,
For the first time East Pakistan will be represented with more seats, because the population of East is also more. These elections were held in December 1970 and when the results came, the whole of Pakistan was in shock. Awami League, a political party from East Pakistan,
Had won 167 out of 169 seats in East Pakistan. They had crossed the majority mark in the 313-seat national assembly. And Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was about to become the Prime Minister. Meaning the Prime Minister who rules the entire Pakistan, now he was going to come from East Pakistan.
Naturally he politicians and military leaders sitting in the West, did not like this at all. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was the leader of Pakistan Peoples Party, the largest political party in the West, along with other parties refused to accept the results of this election. As a result The National Assembly was not convened
And the Awami League could not form a government. This entire incident was a big joke on the East Pakistanis. They were all feeling betrayed that is why Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, started the Non-Cooperation Movement in the East. Large scale protests and strikes took place. Clashes broke out between civilians and the army and soon
A strong Bengali nationalist movement began to take shape. The demand of this entire movement was a separate country, Bangladesh. President Yahya Khan had understood that he was losing his hold on East Pakistan. That is why in March 1971, they decided to conduct a special military operation to stop this movement.
An operation which crossed all the limits of brutality. Operation Searchlight, this operation officially started on the night of March 21st, 1971. The next day Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested from East Pakistan and sent to West Pakistan. But even before being arrested, he declares Bangladesh independent through a broadcast message.
This maybe my last message, from today, Bangladesh is independent, I call upon the people of Bangladesh, wherever you might be and with whatever you have, to resist the Army of Occupation to the Last. Your Fight must go on until the last soldier of the Pakistan Occupation Army,
Is expelled from the soil of Bangladesh. Final victory is ours. Meanwhile, the Pakistani Army starts massacres throughout East Pakistan. Indiscriminate firing was carried out using heavy weapons on civilians. Awami League leaders and supporters were killed brutally. During this entire suicide, about 30 lakh people lost their lives at the hands of Pakistani Army.
In response to Operation Searchlight, some senior Bengali Army officers started the Bengali Resistance. He started forming an army to fight the Pakistani Army and this army was named Mukti bahini. But at present Mukti Bahini was not able to do much in front of the advanced weapons of Pakistani Army.
During this period, many important leaders of Awami League crossed the border and entered India. He met Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and requested for help. To escape the brutality of Pakistani Army, lakhs of civilians also started coming to India as refugees.
Within a few months, more than 1 crore refugees had come to India. Most of these people had taken refuge in West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. India had generously opened its borders for these people. But such a large population of refugees was a big challenge for India.
The entire burden of housing, food, medical care and other needs of these people fell on India. At that time the Indian economy was not so strong. Therefore, the government had to impose a refugee tax of 5 paise on Indians. Which had to be paid to buy stamps while sending letters.
But despite this, this burden was so big that Indian economy could have completely collapsed. At the same time, maintaining law and order in the refugee camp and surrounding areas was also very difficult. Basically Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi needed to do something
Soon to stop this refugee crisis and the genocide in East Pakistan. In April 1971, Indira Gandhi calls a meeting of India’s Army Chief Sam Manekshaw and Cabinet Ministers. She wanted the Indian Army to launch an immediate military attack against Pakistan so that Bangladesh could be liberated and the refugees could return.
But Sam Manekshaw clearly refused to make an immediate attack, for which he gave two main arguments. The first argument was that the Indian Army is not yet ready to launch such a big attack. He was posted in different parts of the country and he needed
Time to position them in the right place for the war. Apart from this, it was also going to take time to make adequate arrangements for the ammunition required for victory. The second argument was that the weather at that time was not right for the attack.
In the East, it was the monsoon time in the month of May, which was going to turn many areas there into swamps, due to which the movement of the Indian Army would become many times slower and Pakistan’s defense would become many times more effective.
At the same time, due to melting of snow, many passes of the Himalayas open up, which will make it very easy for China to attack India and ultimately India will have to face a three front war. This assessment of Sam Manekshaw is proof that he was a great military strategist.
About two and a half thousand years ago, there was another such strategist in India, Chanakya, who knew the secrets of success not only in war but also in overall life. If you also want to become successful by adopting Chanakya’s winning strategy
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I have given the link in the description and pinned comment. Now let’s come back to the story. After listening to Sam Manekshaw’s argument of not going to war immediately, Indira Gandhi agreed with him. He also knew that both US and China are with Pakistan and hence before
Going to war, he would need diplomatic support from any big country. It is decided in the meeting that the best time to go to war will be in late November, four months from today. By then the Indian Military will make complete preparations and the Indian
Government will try to turn world opinion against Pakistan through its diplomacy. So that if possible, international pressure can be built on Pakistan, and Bangladesh can be liberated without war. On May 15, 1971, the Indian Army launched Operation Jackpot, in which they did not attack themselves, but started providing weapons
And training to the Mukti Bahini of East Pakistan so that they could fight a irregular war with the Pakistani Army and weaken them. Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Minister Swaran Singh and other cabinet ministers launch a diplomatic campaign, in which they take Indian delegations to different countries across the world
And ask the governments there to build pressure on Pakistan. A proposal was also placed against Pakistan in the United Nations. India gets sympathy everywhere due to refugee crisis, but no one takes strict steps against Pakistan. USA, which calls itself the protector of democracy, was supporting Pakistan in murdering democracy.
Pakistan was not only close ally to USA, but was also playing an important role in building diplomatic relations between USA and China. Therefore, US President Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger did not want to go against Pakistan. In fact he was even providing military and financial aid to Pakistan.
Amidst all this, India gets a big diplomatic victory in August 1971. India and the Soviet Union signed the Indo-Soviet Treaty of of peace, Friendship and Cooperation. Meaning either India or Soviet Union, if one is attacked, both the countries will fight together against that enemy.
This treaty was going to be very useful for India during the war. The month of November had arrived and India had realized that Pakistan issue could not be resolved diplomatically. And now India had only one option and that option was war.
India knew that as soon as the war started, Pakistan would attack them from the Western Front so that India would have to fight a two-front war. Therefore, the Indian Military was ready to fight on both the fronts. In the last week of November,
Indira Gandhi gave final orders for the attack to the military. About a week later, on 4 December, India was about to launch a full scale military attack on Pakistan. Seeing India’s preparation, Pakistani President Yahya Khan had understood that India could attack East Pakistan at any time.
He wanted to distract India from the East at any cost. Therefore, he panicked and launched Operation Chengiz Khan on 3 December, 1971. In which he himself attacked India from the West. At 5:45 in the evening, Pakistan’s fighter jets came over several Indian airfields.
Heavy bombing took place on many airbases like Pathankot, Amritsar and Agra. In the Air Force, a sortie means an attacking trip from takeoff to landing. On that day, Pakistani Air Force conducted a total of 50 sorties, and dropped about 180 bombs. But in this entire attack, only India’s runways were damaged,
Which was repaired by the Indians within a few hours. When Indira Gandhi and other authorities came to know about these attacks, they heaved a sigh of relief. By attacking first, Pakistan had taken the entire blame of the war on itself and now it was India’s turn to respond.
At 10:45 in the night, Sam Manekshaw briefs Indira Gandhi and asks for formal permission to launch the attack. After some time, Indira Gandhi takes the final decision to launch the attack and after this she addresses the nation through All India Radio. Some hours ago soon after 5:30 PM on the 3rd of December,
Pakistan launched a full scale war against us. Today the war in Bangladesh has become a war on India. With this India officially becomes a part of Bangladesh Liberation War. The next day i.e., on the morning of 4th December, the Indian Air Force launched twice more aggressive attack on Pakistan.
A total of 120 sorties were completed in this attack, in which Pakistan’s airbase and its aircraft suffered major damage. On the other hand, the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy proceeded to attack the two ports of East Pakistan, Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. 12 aircraft took off from India’s aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
Strikes were conducted on both ports using air to ground rockets and they were badly damaged. The same night, the Indian Navy launches Operation Trident on the Western Front, the objective of which was to attack Karachi Port. At that time India did not have a single warship that could attack with missiles at night.
But India had recently purchased OSA class missile boat from the Soviet Union, which was very small in size but could attack with dangerous missiles like P15 Terminate. But there was a problem. These missile boats could travel only short distances. Meaning it could not reach Karachi Port on its own.
Therefore, the Navy came up with an innovative solution for this. They tied these missile boats to their big battle ship INS Kiltan and towed them until they reached near Karachi Port. The missile boats were started only when they reached very close to Karachi Port.
At around 10:30 pm these missile boats launched a fierce attack. Pakistan’s battle ships PNS Khaiber and PNS Muhafiz docked in the port were completely destroyed and sank and their Venus Challenger was also badly damaged. Along with this, the Indian Navy also successfully hit the oil tankers kept there,
Due to which a terrible fire broke out in the entire Karachi Port which kept burning for several days. Pakistan was very shocked, seeing all these counter-attacks by India, but this was only the beginning. Longewala is a town in the desert region of Rajasthan.
During the War, only one company of the Punjab Regiment of the Indian Army was stationed in the Longewala Post which had only 120 soldiers. Their commander was Major KS Chandpuri. Seeing the opportunity at night, Pakistani Army attacked here with 2000 to 3000 of its soldiers. Along with 20 times more soldiers,
They also had heavy artillery guns and about 45 tanks. To counter this attack, the Indian Army needed the help of the Indian Air Force. Four Hunter aircraft were present at Jaisalmer airbase, but they were not capable of operating at night. The Pakistan Army tanks were only 300 meters away and Major Chandpuri
Had to stop them from advancing throughout the night at any cost. He ordered his machine gunners to fire continuously at high volume. This firing was of very low caliber, hence there was no damage to the tank, but seeing such heavy firing, the Pakistanis thought that Longewala Post was
Being guarded by thousands of Indian soldiers. Apart from this the Pakistanis barbed wires lying there, that the Indians had placed around their posts to mark the posts. But the Pakistanis felt that the Indians had Barbed wire to mark the mine field area. Basically they thought that there were mines ahead
Which would destroy their tank. The Pakistanis decided that it would not be right to confront so many Indian soldiers and clear the mines at night. Therefore they postponed their attack till morning. As soon as the morning came, the Air Force sent air support of Hunter aircraft from Jaisalmer.
The aircraft fired several sorties and by heavy bombing on the Pakistani tanks, dozens of Pakistani tanks were completely destroyed. By the night of 6 December, Pakistani troops had suffered heavy losses and no one from the Pakistani Air Force came to help them. Ultimately they had to retreat after a crushing defeat.
By 7 December, the Indian Army had achieved major progress in the East as well. Jessore, the first major town of East Pakistan, was liberated. This was a big victory because there was a Pakistani airbase here, which was now going to be used by the Indian Air Force for its further attacks.
To completely liberate Bangladesh, it was necessary for the Indian Army to capture Dhaka. Because Dhaka was the capital of East Pakistan. But reaching there was not going to be easy. Indian Army troops advancing from the North-East Sector had captured the Sylhet Town area by 10th of December.
And now they had to cross the Meghna River and advance towards Dhaka. But there was a huge road block between them, Ashuganj. Pakistan had deployed a huge army in Ashuganj so that India could not cross the Meghna. It was going to take many days for India to defeat them
And there would be loss of lives along with it. Therefore, Lieutenant General Sagat Singh present there took a decision due to which India won Ashuganj without fighting. The Indian Army used its MI helicopters and airlifted 4000 Indian soldiers directly across the Meghna. Ashuganj had been bypassed.
The Pakistani Army that was positioned there just kept watching and could not take any action. The Indian Army was advancing from all directions and now Dhaka was not far for India. But then the world’s most powerful country enters the war war in support of Pakistan and that country was America.
In support of Pakistan, USA sent its Navy task force 74 towards Bay of Bengal. This fleet included the world’s largest aircraft carrier, eight navy ships and one nuclear attack submarine. Along with this, UK had also sent its Eagle aircraft carrier and some navy ships towards the Arabian Sea against India.
Pakistan, USA and UK, it was impossible for India to deal with all three simultaneously. But Pakistan and USA probably forgot that India also has a friend. Using the friendship treaty that India had signed with the Soviet Union, India asked for their help.
The Soviet Union without any delay sent its Pacific Fleet in support of India. This fleet had five and six nuclear capable submarines. The Soviet fleet surrounded the US fleet and blocked the path of the UK fleet. Due to the fear of a nuclear war, the US and the UK did not dare
To move forward and a huge threat to India was removed. By 11 December, the Indian Army was advancing rapidly, achieving victory from all directions. Seeing this, Pakistan’s huge army started retreating from the North towards Dhaka. If all these Pakistanis had reached Dhaka and joined the army present there,
Then liberating Dhaka would have been very challenging for India. Therefore, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army carried out a tremendous combined operation. About 50 transport aircraft of the Air Force dropped about 800 Indian paratroopers in the Tangail region. The Tangail region had an impact between the trailing Pakistani army and Dhaka.
Effectively after this drop, the Pakistanis’ route to Dhaka was closed. Apart from 800 paratroopers, India also dropped dummies made of jute in the surrounding areas. These dummies looked exactly like Indian soldiers from a distance. This was done so that the Pakistanis felt that the number of Indian paratroopers
Was very high and they did not dare to attack them and the same happened. This mission was quite successful and brought India very close to victory. By 14 December, Dhaka was completely surrounded and India had put forward a demand for surrender to Pakistan. But Pakistan had not surrendered yet.
In such a situation, the Indian Air Force got an intelligence. According to which, the Governor of East Pakistan was going to hold a high level meeting at the Government House in Dhaka. In which he was going to take a decision on continuing the war.
But this meeting was not going to go as per plan. During this meeting, the Indian Air Force did something which shook Pakistan to its roots. Wing Commander Bishnoi and three more pilots flew in their MIG 21s. And conducted a vigorous air strike during the moving meeting.
The entire Government House was engulfed in smoke. Governor AM Malik saved his life by running to an air raid shelter and started writing his resignation with trembling hands. With the resignation of the Governor, the backbone of the Pakistani government in East Pakistan was now broken.
By 15 December, Pakistani soldiers had accepted defeat from within. The Indian Army had captured Dhaka and the Indian Navy had also blocked the sea route. Basically there was no chance of escape for the Pakistanis. Pakistani soldiers were hiding in Dhaka University and other buildings to save their lives.
During this, Sam Manekshaw broadcast messages to Pakistani troops and Pakistan’s Eastern Army Commander General Niazi, in which he demanded unconditional surrender of Pakistan. The morale of Pakistanis was completely broken due to these messages. Major General Jacob, who was the Chief of Staff Staff of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army.
On 16 December, he was sent to General Niazi to negotiate surrender. After several hours of intense negotiations, General Niazi agreed to surrender. On the same day, Pakistan’s surrender ceremony took place at Ramna Race Course in Dhaka. At the beginning of the ceremony, Pakistani Army gave a guard of honor to the Indian contingent.
Then General Niazi publicly signed the Instrument of Surrender of Surrender under the supervision of Lieutenant General GS Arora and finally, crying, took out his appellate and revolver and handed it over to General Arora. This act symbolized the surrender of the entire Pakistani Army.
With this, about 93000 soldiers of Pakistan had surrendered to India, which was the biggest surrender of any military after the World War II. The Bangladesh Liberation War was now over and Bangladesh was independent. After the war, India took Pakistani soldiers as prisoners of war and took the responsibility of sending them
To Pakistan according to the Geneva Convention. India also facilitated the safe return of more than 1 crore refugees. Over the next few months Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the first President of independent Bangladesh. Bangladesh started getting international recognition from one country after another and finally Bangladesh started rebuilding itself with the help of India.
This video is a tribute to more than 3000 Indian soliders soldiers who sacrificed their lives in this war. And this is a tribute to our country India which supported justice despite all opposing conditions. Finally, I want to remind you again that you can download Kuku FM from the link
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This video covers the 1971 India-Pakistan War, focusing on the reasons behind the conflict, major battles, and its outcome, leading to Bangladesh’s independence. We use analysis of battle strategies, and archival footage to present a comprehensive overview. The video also highlights the war’s impact on regional politics and military tactics used by both sides. Perfect for students, history enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the geopolitical changes in South Asia during the 20th century.