OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT--1971

LIBERATION OF EAST PAKISTAN

BIRTH OF BANGALDESH

HINDU GENOCIDE IN EAST PAKISTAN, AND BANGLADESH

SARASIJ MAJUMDER

THE DISCONTENT:

1.0 From the first day, Elite Punjabi Muslim dominant West Pakistan treated East Pakistan as their Colony, looked down upon the Bengali speaking Muslims of East Pakistan and was exploiting them economically as a supplier of Food, and Raw Materials. West Pakistan prospered.

2.0 On 21st February 1952, at the University of Dhaka, the Pakistani police force opened fire and killed dozens of Bengali students and political activists who were protesting for state recognition of their mother tongue, Bangla, also known as Bengali.

21 February was declared to be International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999. It has been observed throughout the world since 21 February 2000. The declaration came up in tribute to the Language Movement done by the Bangladeshis (then the East Pakistanis).

3.0 That incident, permanently isolated the Urdu speaking Weast Pakistani Islamists from Bangali speaking the then Cosmopolitan East Pakistanis. That united the East Pakistani intellectuals and they started opposing the aggressive West Pakistan in their economic exploitation and subjugation  of East Pakistan. Awami League was formed and on every election, West Pakistan based Muslim League used to be defeated badly in East Pakistan.

2.0 THE TRIGGER

The Awami League was the singularly dominant political party of East Pakistan, and its leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, commonly known as “BANGA BANDHU”,  reached the peak of  popularity among the East Pakistani Bengali population around 1969. In the elections of 1970, the Awami League won 167 of 169 East Pakistan seats in the National Assembly but none of West Pakistan's 138 seats. It also won 288 of the 300 provincial assembly seats in East Pakistan. This win gave the Awami League a healthy majority in the 313-seat National Assembly and placed it in a position to establish a national government without a coalition partner. This was not acceptable to the political leaders of West Pakistan. This  lead to an uprising in East Pakistan.

West Pakistan Responded it with Operation Searchlight.

3.0 OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT:- 26 March 1971 – 25 May 1971.

The following measures were scheduled to be taken under Operation Searchlight:

1.         The operation shall be started simultaneously in the whole of East Pakistan.

2.         Maximum number of politicians and student leaders, teachers and extremist activists of cultural organizations shall  be arrested.

3.         The operations in Dhaka shall have to be made a cent percent success. To that end the Dhaka University shall have to be captured.

4.         The security of the cantonment must be ensured.

5.         All sorts of domestic and international communications must be disrupted. Telephone exchange, radio, TV, teleprinter service, transmitter in the foreign consulates must be disrupted.

6.         The soldiers of the EPR must be disarmed and in their places West Pakistani soldiers shall be deputed to patrol the armoury, and the control of the armoury shall be vested upon them.

7.         In the first phase, the operational zones will be Dhaka, Khulna, Chittagong, Comilla, Jessore, Rangpur, Syedpur and Sylhet. The operation planning in Chittagong, Sylhet, Jessore, Rangpur and Comilla shall be implemented by air, if necessary.

The Pak military authority took the following decisions for implementing the aforesaid Programme by giving utmost importance to their control over the Dhaka city.

SEQUENCE  OF OPERATION:-

1.         22-Baluch Regiment stationed in Peel Khana shall disarm the five thousand Bangali EPR soldiers and capture their radio center.

2.         32-Punjab Regiment shall disarm one thousand Bangali policemen in Rajar Bag Police Line which is the main source of armed strength of the Awami League.

3.         18-Punjab Regiment will launch attack on the Hindu majority areas of Nawabpur and in other parts of old Dhaka.

4.         A group of selected soldiers from 22 Baluch, 18 and 32 Punjab Regiment will attack Iqbal Hall (Zahurul Haq Hall), Jagannath Hall and Liaquat Hall of BUET, which are known as centers of strength of the Awami League rebels.

5.         One platoon of commando soldiers of special service group will attack the house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and will arrest him.

6.         The field Regiment will control the Second capital and the adjoining settlements (Mirpur-Mohammadpur).

7.         In order to show strength, a small squadron of M 24 tanks will be plying on road and will start shelling, if necessary.

8.         The above mentioned soldiers will destroy any kind of barricade or resistance on the road, and will launch operation in the houses of listed politicians.

VICTIMS OF OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT:

 Leader Sheikh Mujib was arrested by the Pakistan Army on 25 March 1971, and sent in a prison in Islamabad, but the Bangladeshi people continued the fight to free themselves.

The president of West Pakistan, Yahya Khan, a former Pakistani army officer and the serving Chief Martial Law Administrator, started this as a mission to maintain autocratic Pakistani governance over the self-determination driven people of East Pakistan, the operation intended to capture activists, intellectuals, and troopers. However, they were not the only victims. Humanitarian crisis broke loose as millions of civilians endured the violent realities of displacement, financial instability, trauma, rape, and death.

General Niyazi was given full power to suppress this UPRISING. Operation Searchlight lead to a full-fledged military campaign.

Hindu were the primary targets. Fearing the dangers of war, over 10 million people fled  mainly to India, through porous border of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam.

This forced India to get involved in the process of liberation of EAST PAKISTAN, albeit diplomatically. India was forced to take care of large number of refugees entered in India. It was a big economic burden.

Meanwhile, there were some civilians, protestors, leaders, and freedom fighters who remained, enduring the full brutality of the search and destroy mission started resistance. Mukti Bahini was formed. A large part of Awami League people took shelter in India, and started fighting for independence of East Pakistan. Porous Eastern Border of India helped the Mukti Bahini to continue with the fight .  Pakistani forces used brutal methods to continue the massacre of people. Women were not spared; over 200,000 were raped and assaulted by Pakistani forces. Destroying villages by burning also became part of the strategy to ensure civilians could not escape oppression. Consul General Archer Kent Blood wrote to the State Department and the White House of the United States in opposition of US involvement, specifically in military aid to Pakistan. In support of the indicated “likely losers”, authorities ignored his warnings of “moral bankruptcy”, “repressive measures and bloodshed”.

Nonetheless, Blood’s prediction of the “good will of the Awami League” held to be true. Even at the face of genocide, Bangladeshi civilians still managed to lead with pride, mobilize movements, and obstruct Pakistani progress.

Pakistani forces already killed approximately 1,000 intellectuals and influential people of EAST PAKISTAN, who could provide leadership..

INDIA WAS ATTACKED, & ENTERED WAR WITH PAKISTAN:

On the evening of December 3, 1971, war came to India. It all started when Pakistan launched Operation Chengiz Khan, consisting of pre-emptive aerial strikes on Indian Air Force (IAF) bases across North and Western India. Following the strikes, India declared war on Pakistan, marking their entry into the battle for East Pakistan's independence, siding with Bengali nationalist forces, and Mukti Bahini.

EAST PAKISTAN LIBERATED, & BIRTH OF BANGLA DESH:

 On December 16, 1971, the chief of Pakistani forces, General AA Khan Niazi, along with 93,000 troops, surrendered unconditionally before the Indian military, in what was the world's largest surrender in terms of the number of personnel since World War II.

As a result, EAST PAKISTAN was finally liberated. বিজয় দিবস, or Bijoy Dibosh, is now the day of celebration for Bangladesh independence and victory. It’s also a day to recognize the suffering and deaths of millions: the cost of freedom.

CASUALTY OF BANGLADESH WAR

Independent researchers have estimated the death toll to be around 300,000 to 500,000 people while others estimate the casualty figure to be 3 million. Midway through the genocide, the CIA and the State Department conservatively estimated that 200,000 people had been killed. Majority were of CIVILIAN Casualty, and largely Hindus.

Hindu Genocide still continues in Bangladesh. A healthy Hindu population of 29% in 1971, came down below 8.0% now, in Bangladesh.

 

REFERENCES:-

Jahan, Rounaq. “Genocide in Bangladesh.” In Centuries of Genocide: Essays and Eyewitness Accounts, edited by Samuel Totten and William S. Parsons. 4th ed. New York: Routledge, 2013.

Major General (Retd.) Mohammad Shubid Ali Bhuiyan:মুক্তি যুদ্ধে নয় মাস (First edition June 1972)

Bose, Sarmila. "Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War" (London, 2011).

https://sai.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/docs/1971%20Genocide%20in%20Bangladesh.pdf

https://www.hinduamerican.org/1971-bangladesh-genocide/

https://cri.org.bd/2023/03/24/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-1971-bangladesh-genocide/

Some references are embedded in the text as links.

Images:- Google.