The
began on 26 March 1971
and ended with the liberation of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971.
The armed struggle was the culmination of a series of events, situations and
issues contributing to the progressively deteriorating relations between East
and West Pakistan. The questions of land reforms, state language, inter-wing
economic and administrative disparities, provincial autonomy, the defense of
East Pakistan and many other consequential questions had been straining the
relations between the two wings of Pakistan ever since independence of the
country from Britain in 1947.
The general elections
of 1970 had made sheikh mujibur rahman,
the leader of the awami league which
bagged 167 seats out of 169 allotted for East Pakistan,
the sole spokesman of the people of East
Pakistan and majority leader in
the Pakistan National Assembly. But the Pakistan civil and military ruling clique had refused to transfer
power to the majority leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his party. Sheikh Mujib
also refused to yield to the pressure put on him for undue accommodation.
Sheikh's historic address on 7 March 1971
made this point quite clear to the Pakistani military junta. Then began the
civil disobedience movement. Meanwhile talks started between Mujib and Yahya to
resolve the outstanding issues.
While holding talks,
the Pakistani military junta was bringing more troops to Bangladesh and at the same time wantonly killing innocent civilians
all over the country. This clearly showed that they were totally insincere
about handing over power to the elected representatives of Bangladesh. No sooner the talks failed, the genocide began, with the Pakistan army's crackdown on the people of East Pakistan
on the midnight of 25 March 1971.
The Bengali soldiers serving in the then Pakistan Armed Forces and para militia
forces declared instantly their solidarity with the people's liberation war.
The Pakistan Army was
ordered to launch operation on Bengali people at midnight of 25 March. According to the plan for operation Search
Light two headquarters were established. Major General Rao Farman Ali with 57
Brigade under Brigedier Arbab was responsible for operation in Dhaka city
and its suburbs while Major General Khadim Raja was given the responsibility of
the rest of the province. Lieutenant General Tikka Khan assumed the overall
charge of the operation.
The students and the
nationalist political activists put up resistance outside the cantonment. Road
blocks were raised to obstruct the march of the Pakistani column to the city
areas. The wireless set fitted jeeps and trucks loaded with troops groaned on
the streets of Dhaka City at midnight of 25
March.
The first column of the
Pakistan army faced obstruction at Farmgate about one kilometre
from the cantonment due to a huge road block created by placing big tree trunks
across the road. The hulks of old cars and unserviceable steam roller were also
used.
Genocide, 1971
Several hundred people
chanted the slogan Joi Bangla which lasted for about 15 minutes. But
soon guns silenced them. The army moved into the city before scheduled time and
started the genocide.
The military forces
killed everybody in sight on the footpath and destroyed everything on their
way. The tanks roared through the streets of Dhaka
blasting indiscriminately at the people and official and residential buildings.
They gunned down clusters of settlements and set fire on them. Scores of
artillery bursts were pounded, while the tanks rumbled into the city roaring
the main streets. The student halls of residence at Dhaka University were raided and numerous students residing there were
brutally killed and maimed. They also killed many teachers of Dhaka University. The Hindu concentrated areas of old Dhaka were
particularly targeted. They started killing the people, burnt their houses,
looted their valuables and raped their women. The genocide that was perpetrated
on the unarmed people was flashed in the world press.
On 26 March Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman was taken prisoner by the Pakistan army. At about the same time, Major ziaur rahman announced Bangladesh's independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujib from Kalurghat
radio station at Chittagong.
There were spontaneous
uprisings throughout Bangladesh following the call of independence. These uprisings were
participated by government officials, political activists, students, workers,
peasants, professionals and members of the public. After initial resistance,
many freedom fighters crossed over into Indian territory to have safe sanctuary, due mainly to the enemy's overwhelming
superiority of trained soldiers and modern weapons. The scattered and
temporarily retreating rudimentary liberation forces were soon brought under a
unified command.
On 4 April, the senior
officers of the liberation army assembled at the headquarters of 2nd East
Bengal at Teliapara, a semi hilly area covered by tea gardens where Colonel MAG
Osmany, Lieutenant Colonel Abdur Rob, Lieutenant Colonel Salahuddin Mohammad
Reja, Major Kazi Nuruzzaman, Major khaled mosharraf, Major
Nurul Islam, Major Shafat Jamil, Major Mainul Hossain Chowdhury and others were
present. In this meeting four senior commanders were entrusted with the
responsibility of operational areas. Sylhet-Brahmanbaria area was placed under
the command of Major Shafiullah. Comilla-Noakhali area was given to Major
Khaled Mosharraf while Chittagong-Chittagong Hill Tracts was given to Major
Ziaur Rahman. Kushtia-Jessore area was placed under command of Major Abu Osman
Chowdhury. In the meeting the organisational concept of the freedom fighter
forces and the command structure were chalked out. Colonel MAG Osmany was to
command the liberation forces, later named as mukti bahini.
An exile government
called the People's Republic of Bangladesh alias mujibnagar government
headed by tajuddin ahmed was formed on 10 April. On
the next day Tajuddin Ahmed announced the names of three more regional
commanders. Captain Newazish for Rangpur region, Major Najmul Haque for
Dinajpur-Rajshahi-Pabna and Major Jalil for Barisal-Patuakhali region. All
these regions were later named as sectors. All of Bangladesh was divided into eleven such sectors and different
sub-sectors for operational purposes during the Sector Commander's conference
held from 10 to 17 July 1971.
On 27 March, Prime
Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi expressed full support of her
government to the freedom struggle of the Bengalis. Indian Border Security
Force (BSF) opened Bangladesh-India border to allow the tortured and panick
stricken Bengalis to have safe shelter in India. The governments of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura established refugee camps along the
border. These camps became ready ground for recruitment of the freedom
fighters. The students, peasants, workers and political activists joined the
Mukti Bahini with high spirit to liberate Bangladesh from the Pakistan army. They were given training on tactics and the use of
arms and explosives.
On completion of
training, they were posted to different sectors to fight the enemy. The
headquarters of the Bangladesh Forces was established at 8 Theatre Road, Calcutta which started functioning from 12 April 1971. Lieutenant Colonel M A Rab and Group Captain A K
Khandaker were appointed as Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff
respectively.
Refugees, 1971
Besides Mukti Bahini,
many other bahinis were organised inside Bangladesh at different places to fight Pakistan Army. These Bahinis
included Kader Bahini of Tangail, Latif Mirza Bahini of Sirajganj, Akbar Hossain
Bahini of Jhinaidah, Hemayet Bahini of Faridpur, Quddus Molla and Gafur Bahini
of Barisal, Afsar Bahini of Mymensingh and Aftab Bahini of Mymensingh.
A crack platoon
consisting of daring youths operated most valiantly in Dhaka city as
well. These bahinis were established as a local force based on their own
strength taking part in a number of battles with the occupation army. Siraj
Sikdar, leader of Sorbohara Party, also organised his force in Barisal.
Freedom fighters taking training
Another Bahini named as
Mujib Bahini was organised in India with the active assistance of Major General Oban of the
Indian army an expert on guerilla warfare. Mujib Bahini was trained at
Dehradun. Student League leaders sheikh fazlul haq mani,
Tofael Ahmed, Abdur Razzak and Sirajul Alam Khan were organisers of this
Bahini.
Mukti Bahini consisted
of the regular and the irregular forces. The regulars were later called
'Niomita Bahini' (regular force) and the irregulars were called 'Gono Bahini'
(people's Force). The regulars included East Bengal Regiment and EPR troops.
The irregular forces, which after initial training joined different sectors,
consisted of the students, peasants, workers and political activists.
Irregular forces were
inducted inside Bangladesh territory to adopt guerilla warfare against the enemy. The
regular forces were engaged in fighting in conventional way. The first
conventional brigade named as 'Z' Force was created in July. Major Ziaur Rahman
was appointed commander of this brigade and the brigade was named as 'Z' Force
after the first letter of his name. This brigade consisted of 1, 3 and 8 East Bengal.
Second regular brigade
'S' Force was created in October and consisted of 2 and 11 East Bengal.
'S' Force was named after the initial letter of the name of its commander
Shafiullah. Similarly the 'K' Force created with 4, 9 and 10 East Bengal
which was commanded by Khaled Mosharraf.
Teenagers at war
Bangladesh Air Force,
which was organized by Air Commodore A K Khondaker, was created in Dimapur of
Nagaland on 28 September. Squadron Leader Sultan Mahmud, Flight Lieutenant
Badrul Alam, Captain Khaleq, Sattar, Shahabuddin, Mukit, Akram and Sharfuddin
and 67 airmen initially joined the Bangladesh Air Force, which had only few
Dakota, Auter type air plane and Aluvet helicopters.
Similarly, Bangladesh
Navy was also established with the Naval troops deserted from the Pakistan
Navy. On 9 November 1971,
the first naval fleet 'Bangabandhu Naubohar' consisting of six small ships was
inaugurated. The command structure of the Bangladesh Forces was fully organized
with the regular brigades, sector troops and guerilla forces, the Bangladesh
Airforce and the Navy. The Mukti Bahini had fought many successful battles in
putting up initial resistance.
But within a short
time, they were temporarily contained by the Pakistan army and were compelled to withdraw to the safe sanctuary
in the Indian Territory. The Mukti Bahini was, however, re-equipped, reorganized
and retrained. As a result, it got into fighting with fresh zeal after
April-May 1971.
Pak prisoners captured by freedom fighters
At the international
level, the United
States and
the People's Republic of China considered the crisis as an internal affair of Pakistan. On the other hand, India, Soviet Union and her allies and general masses in Japan, and Western countries stood solidly behind Bangladesh. In order to gain strategic advantage vis-a-vis
Sino-US-Pakistan axis, Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty was signed on 9 August 1971. It provided a new dimension to the War of Liberation.
Having realized that
the Pakistan army could not be defeated by conventional warfare method,
it was decided to create large guerilla forces all over the country. All Sector
commanders were accordingly ordered to recruit, train and induct guerillas
inside the country.
The joint command of
the Mukti Bahini and the Indian army was underway from November 1971.
Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Commander, Eastern Command of Indian
Army, became the commander of the joint forces. The joint command of the Mukti
Bahini and the Indian Army, however, started operation from the evening of 3
December, when the Pakistan Air Force bombed Amritsar, Sree Nagar and the Kashmir
valley. Immediately, the Indian armed forces were ordered to hit back the Pakistan army and thus the Indo-Pak war broke out. The Mukti Bahini
and the Indian army continued advancing inside Bangladesh and the defeat and surrender of the Pakistan army became a matter of time. International efforts for a
cease-fire before Bangladesh is fully liberated failed due to Soviet veto in the United
Nations Security Council.
The Indian troops and
the freedom fighters of No 11 Sector reached Tongi on 14 December and Savar in
the morning of 16 December. Major General Jamshed, commander 36 Division of the
Pakistan Army received Major General Nagra at Mirpur Bridge near Dhaka City. The Mukti Bahini and the Indian forces entered Dhaka city at
10.10 a. m. Major General Jacob, the Chief of Staff of the Indian Eastern
command landed at Dhaka airport at 1 p.m. with
the draft instrument of surrender.
Lt. Gen. Niaz signs surrenderdocuments
at Ramna Racecourse
A fleet of helicopters
landed on the tarmac of Dhaka airport at about 4 p.m. with
Lieutenant General Aurora and his staff. Group Captain AK Khandaker, Deputy Chief of Staff,
Bangladesh Forces represented the Mukti Bahini. Lieutenant General
AAK Niazi received Lieutenant General Aurora. The instrument of surrender was
signed by Lieutenant Jagit Sing Aurora and Lieutenant General Niazi at the ramna racecourse (now Suhrawardy Uddyan) at one minute
past 5 p.m. on 16 December 1971.
Sectors of the
War of Liberation In the War of
Liberation in 1971 the whole geographical area of the then East Pakistan
was strategically divided into eleven sectors with a sector commander for each
of them. For better efficiency in military operations each of the sectors were
divided into a number of sub-sectors under a commander.
Sector 1 comprised the
districts of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts, and the entire eastern area of
the Noakhali district on the banks of the river Muhuri. The headquarters of the
sector was at Harina. The sector commander was Major Ziaur Rahman, later
replaced by Major Rafiqul Islam. The five sub-sectors of this sector (and their
commanders) were: Rishimukh (Captain Shamsul Islam); Sreenagar (Captain Matiur
Rahman, later replaced by Captain Mahfuzur Rahman); Manughat (Captain Mahfuzur
Rahman); Tabalchhari (Subedar Ali Hossain); and Dimagiri (a Subedar, whose name
is not known).
A contingent of nearly
ten thousand freedom fighters fought in this sector. They included about two
thousand members of the EPR, police, army, nave and air forces and about eight
thousand paramilitary troops. The guerilla fighters of this sector were deputed
to operate inside the country in 137 groups.
Sector 2 comprised the districts of Dhaka,
Comilla, and Faridpur, and part of Noakhali district. The sector commander was Major
Khaled Mosharraf, later replaced by Major ATM Haider. About thirty five
thousand guerilla fighters fought in this sector. Nearly six thousand of them
were members of regular armed forces. The six sub-sectors of this sector (and
their commanders) were: Gaugasagar, Akhaura and Kasba (Mahbub, later replaced
by Lieutenant Farooq, and Lieutenant Humayun Kabir); Mandabhav (Captain
Gaffar); Shalda-nadi (Abdus Saleq Chowdhury); Matinagar (Lieutenant Didarul
Alam); Nirbhoypur (Captain Akbar, later replaced by Lieutant Mahbub); and
Rajnagar (Captain Jafar Imam, later replaced by Captain Shahid, and Lieutenant
Imamuzzaman).
Sector 3 comprised the area between Churaman Kathi (near Sreemangal)
and Sylhet in the north and Singerbil of Brahmanbaria in the south. The sector
commander was Major KM Shafiullah, later replaced by Major ANM Nuruzzaman.
Nineteen guerilla bases operated in this sector. By November 1971, the number
of the guerilla fighters in the sector stood at nearly thirty thousand. The ten
sub-sectors of this sector (and their commanders) were: Asrambari (Captain
Aziz, later replaced by Captain Ejaz); Baghaibari (Captain Aziz, later replaced
by Captain Ejaz); Hatkata (Captain Matiur Rahman); Simla (Captain Matin);
Panchabati (Captain Nasim); Mantala (Captain MSA Bhuyan); Vijoynagar (Captain
MSA Bhuyan); Kalachhora (Lieutenant Majumdar); Kalkalia (Lieutenant Golam Helal
Morshed); and Bamutia (Lieutenant Sayeed).
Sector 4 comprised the area from Habiganj sub-division of Sylhet
district on the north to Kanaighat Police Station on the south along the 100
mile long border with India. The sector commander was Major Chittarajan Datta, later
replaced by Captain A Rab. The headquarters of the sector was initially at
Karimganj and later at Masimpur. The freedom fighters in this sector included
about nine thousand guerilla fighters and about four thousand regular members
of the armed forces. The six sub-sectors of this sector (and their commanders)
were: Jalalpur (Masudur Rab Sadi); Barapunji (Captain A Rab); Amlasid (Lieutenant
Zahir); Kukital (Flight Lieutenant Kader, later replaced by Captain Shariful
Haq); Kailas Shahar (Lieutenant Wakiuzzaman); and Kamalpur (Captain Enam).
Sector 5 comprised the area from Durgapur to Danki (Tamabil) of Sylhet district and the entire area up
to the eastern borders of the district. Sector commander was Major Mir Shawkat
Ali. The headquarters of the sector was at Banshtala. The six sub-sectors of
this sector (and their commanders) were: Muktapur (Subedar Nazir Hossain,
freedom fighter Faruq was second in command); Dauki (Subedar Major BR
Chowdhury); Shela (Captain Helal, who had two assistant commanders, Lieutenant
Mahbubar Rahman and Lieutenant Abdur Rauf); Bholajanj (Lieutenant Taheruddin
Akhunji who had Lieutenant SM Khaled as assistant commander); Balat (Subedar
Ghani, later replaced by Captain Salahuddin and freedom fighter Enanmul Haq
Chowdhury); and Barachhara (Captain Muslim Uddin).
Sector 6 comprised Rangpur district and part of Dinajpur district.
Wing Commander M Khdemul Bashar was the sector commander. The headquarters of
the sector was at Burimari near Patgram. The number of soldiers in this sector
was 700, which rose to about eleven thousand in December. The five sub-sectors
of the sector (and their commanders were: Bhajanpur (Captain Nazrul, later
replaced by Squadron leader Sadruddin and Captain Shahriyar); Patgram
(initially, some junior commissioned officers of the EPR and later, Captain
Matiur Rahman); Sahebganj (Captain Nawazesh Uddin); Mogalhat (Captain Delwar);
and Chilahati (Flight Lieutenant Iqbal).
Sector 7 comprised the districts of Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra and part
of Dinajpur district. The sector commander was Major Nazrul Haq, later replaced
by Subedar Major A Rab and Kazi Nuruzzaman. The headquarters of the sector was
at Taranngapur. About fifteen thousand freedom fighters fought in this sector.
The eight sub-sectors of the sector (and their commanders were): Malan
(initially some junior commanding officers and later, Captain Mohiuddin
Jahangir); Tapan (Major Nazmul Haq, later replaced by some junior commanding
officers of the EPR); Mehdipur (Subedar Iliyas, later replaced by Captain
Mahiuddin Jahangir); Hamzapur (Captain Idris); Anginabad (a freedom fighter);
Sheikhpara (Captain Rashid); Thokrabari (Subedar Muazzam); and Lalgola (Captain
Gheyasuddin Chowdhury).
Sector 8 In April 1971, the operational area of the sector comprised
the districts of Kushtia, Jessore, Khulna, Barisal, Faridpur and Patuakhali. At the end of May the sector was
reconstituted and comprised the districts of Kusthia, Jessore and Khulna
districts, Satkhira sub-division, and the northern part of Faridpur district.
The sector commander was Major Abu Osman Chowdhury, later replaced by Major MA
Manzur. The headquarters of the sector was at Benapole. About ten thousand
freedom fighters fought in this sector. The seven sub-sectors of the sector
(and their commanders) were: Boyra (Captain Khondakar Nazmul Huda); Hakimpur
(Captain Shafiq Ullah); Bhomra (Captain Salahuddin later replaced by Captain
Shahabuddin); Lalbazar (Captain AR Azam Chowdhury); Banpur (Captain Mostafizur
Rahman); Benapole (Captain Abdul Halim, later replaced by Captain
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury); and Shikarpur (Captain Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury,
later replaced by Lieutenant Jahangir).
Sector 9 comprised the districts of Barisal and Patuakhali, and parts of the district of Khulna and
Faridpur. The sector commander was Major ma jalil, later replaced by Major MA Manzur and Major
Joynal Abedin. The three sub-sectors of the sector were: Taki, Hingalganj, and
Shamshernagar.
Sector 10 This sector was constituted with the naval commandos. Eight
Bengali officers of Pakistan Navy trained in France were the pioneers in forming this force. These officers
were Ghazi Mohammad Rahmatullah (Chief Petty Officer), Syed Mosharraf Hossain
(Petty Officer), Amin Ullah Sheikh (Petty Officer); Ahsan Ullah (M E-1), AW
Chowdhury (RO-1), Badiul Alam (ME-1), AR Miah (EN-1), Abedur Rahman
(Steward-1). These eight officers were given special training on the river
Jamuna near Delhi under the auspices of the Indian Navy. The force was later
commanded by Indian commander MN Sumanta.
Sector 11 comprised the districts of Mymensingh and Tangail, Major M Abu Taher was
the sector commander. After Major Taher was seriously wounded in a battle, he
was replaced by Squadron Leader Hamidullah. The headquarters of the sector was
at Mahendraganj. About twenty five thousand freedom fighters fought in this
sector. The eight sub-sectors of the sector (and their commanders) were:
Mankarchar (Squadron Leader Hamidullah); Mahendraganj (Lieutenant Mannan);
Purakhasia (Lieutenant Hashem); Dhalu (Lieutenant Taher, later replaced by
Lieutenant Kamal); Rangra (Matiur Rahman); Shivabari (some junior commanding
officers of the EPR); Bagmara (some junior commanding officers of the EPR); and
Maheshkhola (a member of the EPR).
Genocide
1971 mass killing of Bangladesh people by Pakistan army and their collaborators during the war of liberation in 1971. No definite survey has yet
been made to ascertain the exact number of people killed by the Pakistan army. Immediately after the War of Liberation, it was
estimated to be as high as three million. The genocide committed by the Pakistan army is one of the worst holocausts in world history.
The indefitite
postponement of the scheduled National Assembly (due to be held on 3 March 1971 at Dhaka) and the failure of the military government of General
Yahiya to transfer power to the elected representatives led to widespread
public resentment in East Pakistan. Protest demonstrations were held in Dhaka, Chittagong and most other cities. The army resorted to open fire on
demonstrating crowds in different cities and towns. The civil disobedience
movement was organised all over the country. The government lost grip on the
administration.
Genocide started with
the army crackdown at midnight of 25 March 1971. The army cordoned Peelkhana, the headquarters of the east pakistan rifles (EPR), Rajarbagh police barracks,
and the Ansar headquarters at Khilgaon. More than 800 EPR men were first
disarmed and arrested, and many of them were brutally killed. A few hundred of
them, however, managed to escape and later joined the liberation forces.
Victims of genocide, Rayer Bazar
Courtesy: Amanul Huq
Courtesy: Amanul Huq
Pakistani forces
surrounded Dhaka city with tanks and other military vehicles. Truck loads
of army men spread out through the city streets for stamping out all civil
resistance. At midnight, the Dhaka University halls of residences and staff quarters were attacked with
tanks and armoured vehicles. A number of teachers, students and officials were
killed. Many buildings including some newspaper offices were battered with
mortar shells. Many people were burnt alive in the houses set on fire. Various
parts of old Dhaka, including Hindu majority Mahallas such as Shankhari Patti
and Tantibazar came under mortar shells. Hundreds of inmates were gunned down.
It was estimated that more than 50,000 men, women and children were killed in Dhaka, Chittagong, Jessore, Mymensingh, Kushtia and other cities within the
first three days of the genocide beginning from 25 March 1971. This was termed as Operation Searchlight.
Soon the Pakistan army spread out into the remotest parts of the country. In
retaliation the Bangali nationalists began to organise resistance with effect
from 26 March following the declaration of independence of Bangladesh. This further intensified the military action of Pakistan government. In effect, the Pakistan army started an undeclared war against the unarmed
civilians of Bangladesh. The Pakistan armed forces used warplanes and gunships to contain the
nationalist forces. Men, women and children of hundreds of villages, cities,
and towns were killed and maimed indiscriminately. Arsoning, raping and looting
knew no limit. Out of fear and intimidation millions of Bangalis left their
home and took shelter in various refugee camps set up by the Government of
India along the border areas.
Initially, the world
could hardly know the extent of genocide due to very strong press censorship.
However, from July 1971 foreign electronic and print media started reporting
various aspects and ramifications of the genocide. The United Nations also
expressed their deep concern about the holocaust.
Mass grave genocide
victims at Shiyalbari
Courtesy: Amanul Huq
Courtesy: Amanul Huq
In containing the
freedom fighters the Pakistan government had raised paramilitary forces with the
designations of razakar, al-badr and al-shams. These forces joined the army in
killing and terrorising the people. Many people, including intellectuals of the
country were lifted by them for interrogation and only a few of them returned
home. All these savageries were resorted to for exterminating the mukti bahini and their supporters. No international
action was taken against the perpetrators of this most barbarous genocide
according to UNO convention on genocide and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. The genocide continued till the surrender of the Pakistan army on 16 December 1971.
Mukti Bahini
The later appellation
of the forces of the war of liberation. The
immediate precursor of the Mukti Bahini was Mukti Fauj, which was preceded
denominationally by the Sangram Parishads formed in the cities and villages by
the student and youth leaderships in early March 1971. When and how the Mukti
Fauj was created is not clear nor is the later adoption of the name Mukti
Bahini. It is, however, certain that the names originated from the people who
joined the liberation struggle. The Mukti Bahini obtained strength from the two
main streams of fighting elements: members of armed forces of erstwhile East Pakistan
and members of the urban and rural sangram parishads.
The earliest move
towards forming the liberation army came from the declaration of independence
made by major ziaur rahman of East
Bengal Regiment. In the declaration made from Kalurghat Betar Kendra (Chittagong) on 27 March 1971,
Zia assumed the title of "provisional commander in chief of the Bangladesh
Liberation Army", though his area of operation remained confined to Chittagong and Noakhali areas. Major Ziaur Rahman's declaration
marked a break with Pakistan by the army.
On 12 April 1971 Colonel (later General) mag osmany assumed the command of armed forces at
Teliapara (Sylhet) headquarters. Osmany was made the commander-in-chief of
Bangladesh Armed Forces on 17 April 1971.
Serious initiative for organising the Bangladesh liberation army was taken between 11-17 July. In a meeting
of the sector commanders in calcutta four important
resolutions were taken in consideration of strategic aspects of the war,
existing problems and future course of resistance. These were:
·
Composition
and tactics of the combatants would be as follows: (i) Guerrilla teams
comprising 5 to 10 trained members would be sent to specific areas of Bangladesh with specific assignments; (ii) Combat soldiers would
carry out frontal attacks against the enemy. Between 50 and 100 per cent would
carry arms. Intelligence volunteers would be engaged to collect information
about the enemy among whom 30 percent would be equipped with weapons;
·
The
regular forces would be organised into battalions and sectors.
·
The
following strategies would be adopted while carrying out military operations
against the enemy; (i) a large number of guerrillas would be sent out inside
Bangladesh to carry out raids and ambushes; (ii) industries would be brought to
a standstill and electricity supply would be disrupted; (iii) Pakistanis would
be obstructed in exporting manufactured goods and raw materials; (iv)
communication network would be destroyed in order to obstruct enemy movements;
(v) enemy forces would be forced to disperse and scatter for strategic gains;
(vi) attacks would be launched on scattered enemy. Soldiers in order to
annihilate them.
·
(4) The
whole area of Bangladesh would be divided into 11 sectors.
Regular
and irregular forces The regular forces consisted of the three forces: Z-Force
under the command of Major ziaur rahman, K-Force
under khaled mosharraf and S-Force under KM
Shafiullah. Most of the soldiers came from East Pakistan Rifles and East Bengal
Regiment. Those members of the EPR, Police and Army who could not be
accommodated in these battalions were divided into units and sub-units to fight
in different sectors. The irregular forces were those who were trained for
guerrilla warfare. In addition, there were also some independent forces that
fought in various regions of Bangladesh and liberated many areas. These included mujib bahini, Kaderia Bahini, Afsar Battalion and
Hemayet Bahini.
Bangladesh Navy Bangladesh
Navy was constituted in August 1971. Initially, there were two ships and 45
navy personnel. These ships carried out many successful raids on the Pakistani
fleet. But both of these ships were mistakenly hit and destroyed by the Indian
fighter planes on 10 December 1971,
when they were about to launch a major attack on Mongla seaport.
Bangladesh
Air Force started functioning on 28
September at Dimapur in Nagaland, under the command of Air Commodore AK
Khondakar. Initially, it comprised of 17 officers, 50 technicians, 2 planes and
1 helicopter. The Air Force carried out more than twelve sorties against
Pakistani targets and were quite successful during the initial stages of the
Indian attack in early December.
Mukti
Bahini in the final phase The liberation forces started carrying out massive raids
into enemy fronts from October 1971. After the signing of the Indo-Soviet
Treaty in August 1971, India began to demonstrate more interest in the Bangladesh war. And finally, India entered the war on 3 December 1971. In fact, the Indian soldiers were already participating
in the war in different guises since November when the freedom fighters had
launched the Belonia battle.
Because of the geo-morphology of Bangladesh, the war could not be won too swiftly. Even then, Dhaka was
liberated in a matter of two weeks, the previous successes of the freedom
fighters during the preceding few months having been a major contributing
factor.
On 16 December 1971,
commander of the 14 division of Pakistan army Major General Jamshed surrendered to Indian General
Nagra near Mirpur bridge in Dhaka. At 10.40 am, the
Indian allied force and Kader Siddiqui entered Dhaka city.
That signaled the end of 9-month long War of Liberation of Bangladesh.
Scattered battles were still waged at various places of the country.
The Commander of Eastern Command of the Pakistan
Army Lt. General ameer abdullah khan niazi
surrendered to the commander of the joint Indo-Bangladesh force and the chief
of Indian eastern command Lt. General Jagjit Singh Aurora. The Bangladesh
Forces were represented at the ceremony by Group Captain AK Khondakar.
Razakar
A paramilitary force
formed at Pakistan government initiative to assist it and to resist the
freedom fighters during the war of liberation in
1971. Razakar is a Persian term meaning 'volunteers'. At the time of
partition of India in 1947, Nizam of Hydrabad, having been unwilling to the
annexation of his kingdom to India, formed a volunteer corps named 'Razakar' for resisting
the entry of the Indian army into his kingdom.
During the liberation
war in 1971 Razakar force was formed by Pakistan government in the model of the Razakar of Hydrabad. It was
constituted in the month of May with an enrolment of 96 loyalist activists in
the Ansar camp at Khan
Jahan Ali Road in
Khulna. This force was subsequently formed in different parts of East Pakistan.
At the initial stage,
the razakars were subordinate to the local peace committees. By the
promulgation of East Pakistan Razakar Ordinance on 1 June 1971, General tikka khan converted the
Ansars into Razakars who were recognised as the members of the Pakistan army through an ordinance of the Ministry of Defence
promulgated on 7 September.
The tenure of the
primary training of the Razakars was 15 days. General ameer abdullah khan niazi, chief of the eastern command
of the Pakistan army, took salute at the closing parade at Savar on 27 November 1971 on completion of the training of the first batch of the
company commanders of Razakar force. Subsequently, the Razakar force was
elevated to the status of a separate directorate. The Razakar force
disintegrated with the surrender of the Pakistan army on 16 December 1971.
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