When Indira Gandhi announced liberation of Bangladesh!

( Kashmir Rechords Exclusive)

It was on December 16, 1971… The Parliament was in session… Around 5.30 pm, Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi, while walking briskly to the packed House, had announced amidst thunderous cheers in the Parliament the unconditional surrender of the West Pakistani occupation forces and the liberation of Bangladesh.

The House had gone into delirious joy and cheered almost every word and sentence of the Prime Minister’s announcement. ‘Dacca is now the Capital of a free Country…..The West Pakistani forces have unconditionally surrendered….’’, Mrs Gandhi had made the historic announcement.

A PTI news, carried by various newspapers across India, including in  Jammu and Kashmir, had quoted the Prime Minister announcing that the “Instrument of Surrender was signed at 1631 hours by Lt. Gen A. A. K Niazi on behalf of the Pakistan Eastern Command. Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora, Commander of the Indian and Bangladesh Forces in the Eastern Sector accepted the surrender’’.

In her brief speech, the Prime Minister had hailed the people of Bangladesh in their hour of triumph. “We hail the brave young men and boys of the Mukti Bahini. ‘We are proud of our Army, Navy and Air Force (cheers) and our Border Security Forces (cheers) who have magnificently demonstrated their quality and capacity’’, Mrs Gandhi said.

Significance of Vijay Diwas

It is in the backdrop of this historical reality that every year on December 16,  India marks the Day as `Vijay Diwas’, a solemn occasion that signifies India’s triumph over Pakistan in the 1971 war, which eventually led to the birth of Bangladesh. This day serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made and the courage displayed by the soldiers who played a pivotal role in this historic event. It also debunked the two-nation theory propounded by Ali Mohd Jinnah.

The India-Pakistan 13-Day war over the then East Pakistan had started on December 3, 1971, and culminated in the surrender of Pakistan’s Eastern Command to the joint forces of India and Bangladesh. This decisive moment resulted in the liberation of East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh, establishing it as an independent Nation.

The Indian Military, under the leadership of General Sam Manekshaw, had played a commendable role in providing strategic direction, ensuring victory alongside the Mukti Bahini—Bangladeshi freedom fighters.

Death for the idea of Pakistan

It was a death blow for Pakistan on December 16, 1971. Born in hatred and blood, on August 14, 1947, the idea died in the same hatred and blood. Its two wings, separated by more than 1600 kilometers and kept together only by the tenuous ties of religion, were cut. Along with it the two Nation theory propounded by Mohammad Ali Jinnah got exploded, proving within one generation, that religion cannot form the sole or even the predominant basis of Nationhood.