After the emergence of Bangladesh (BD) in Jan 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other Awami League (AL) leaders admitted that they had contingency plans in case the Army decided to use force. (The Deliberate Debacle, by Dr. Safdar Mehmood, 1976, p 128-9).
Three contingency battle plans had been made and according to Raina Asoka in his book ‘Inside RAW’, the rebels were given orders by Mujib to seize Dacca airport, Chittagong seaport, Dacca TV/Radio station, and other vital installations and surround all the cantonments on the morning of March 26, 1971, to undertake mass butchery of the Pak soldiers confined to barracks since March 4, 1971.
Read more: Did Gen Yahya’s appeasement of Mujib lead to fall of East Pakistan?
Misfortunes of Biharis/Patriots
The Mujib regime declared Biharis as collaborators and traitors and was deprived of their nationality. From that time onwards till today, they are living a wretched life as 2nd rated citizens in squalid camps. 1, 70,000 were approved for repatriation to Karachi, but only 140,000 or so could come.
About 290,000 are still languishing in camps in BD. About a dozen aged members of Al-Shams and al-Badar were tried by Kangaroo courts and executed a few years ago. This was in contravention of the Tripartite Agreement signed between BD, India and Pakistan. Following the Simla Agreement signed by Indira Gandhi and ZA Bhutto in 1972, the 93000 PoWs, both military and civilians returned to Pakistan by May 1974.
Ongoing RAW’s Subversion
After its great success in East Pakistan (EP), RAW is following the same themes and techniques. It has made deep inroads in Pakistan and is leaving no stone unturned to incite dissension and animosity among different communities in Pakistan. India has succeeded in poisoning the minds of the Muhajirs, Sindhis, Balochis, Seraikis, Pashtuns, Punjabis and Gilgitis due to which regionalism has gained ground and ethnic tensions heightened. Today, the senior political leaders are playing Sindh, Jinnahpur, Baloch, Pakhtun and South Punjab cards. They are misusing the 18th Amendment in the Constitution which granted greater autonomy to the provinces.
Great victory miraculously won by the Afghan Taliban against the occupying Western forces led by the USA has bolstered the spirits of the Tehreek Labaik Pakistan in Punjab and Far-Right in Pakistan as was discerned in the surprise victory of Fazlur Rahman led JUI in the KP. Demand for the Islamic system in Pakistan is likely to grow since western modeled democracy and Anglo Saxon laws that are pro-rich have failed to alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of the poor segment of the society.
India driven by its hegemonic and expansionist designs maintained a belligerent stance against Pakistan. Both came close to another war during the Indian military exercise Brass-tacks in 1986/87, 1990/91 on the Kashmir front, 1999 in Kargil, military standoff from Dec 2002 to Oct 2003, Dec 2008 to Jul 2009 standoff following Mumbai attacks, and 24-27 Feb 2019 flare-up. India forcibly annexed disputed Kashmir on Aug 5, 2019, kept it under lockdown and is changing its demography. It is also eyeing Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and is continuing to hatch conspiracies to unravel Pakistan. As a policy, Indian leaders and Indian media have resorted to lies and deceits and have indulged in fabrications, distortions and false flag operations.
Read more: The tragedy of East Pakistan: 50 years later
No Lessons Learnt
“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” – George Bernard Shaw
Unfortunately, after the painful experience of truncation of Pakistan, we seem to have learned no lessons and are once again striding the dangerous path. Instead of making preparations to recapture the lost pride, we seem to be fast losing our direction. The causation which led to the truncation of Pakistan in 1971 and the methodology adopted by our enemies to accentuate our vulnerabilities are unfolding in a similar fashion.
Sadly, there is no remorse, no acceptance of past mistakes, and no attempt to learn lessons from history. Very few talk of avenging the defeat. So far no bold step has been taken to liberate Occupied Kashmir which is our jugular vein. Instead, all our energies are being wasted in self-defeating infighting on religious and political grounds and in pursuit of selfish motives.
The shortcomings of our political and military leaders, bureaucrats and judges whose injurious decisions had led to the alienation of people of former EP have been pushed under the carpet. Making a cursory mention of blunders of the few amounts to doing injustice to history and leads to drawing wrong lessons. Our muted and apologetic stance encouraged BD to ask for an apology and war reparations from Pakistan and carry out war crimes trials.
Pakistan is still struggling with problems of identity, ethnic integration, Secular-Islamic divide, religious divides, true democratic dispensation, corruption, nepotism, political polarization and lack of governance. There are too many cleavages in the society towards which no worthwhile effort has been made. Our enemies are gleefully watching our dismal plight and are waiting with bated breath to again trip us into a death trap.
It is high time that we identify the causes of regressive tendencies which have weakened our moral braces and lowered our values. There is a need to undertake measures to protect ourselves from evil influences and to strengthen our socio-ethnic-economic-ideological values and revive our pride and élan.
Read more: The tragedy of East Pakistan: Killing fields of Bengal
The bottlenecks that obstruct national integration must be identified for removal and full-scale reconciliation amongst the divides should be achieved. The dream of national cohesion can only come true if our leaders lead the nation by the example of clean and honorable conduct and fair dealings, and the judiciary dispenses equitable and speedy justice.
There are no quick-fix solutions to chronic ailments
Adoption of hasty and slovenly methods to produce quick results or to throw the blame on others would not fetch long-term results. The whole exercise of cleansing has to be performed with precision, discretion and finesse.
While Pakistan has become a nuclear power with effective delivery means and has strong conventional strength, we need to improve our political ethics and moral turpitude, and our economy to make the country self-reliant so that Pakistan is never subjected to a disgrace as we suffered in 1971. The most honorable course, however, is to defeat our arch-enemy on the battlefield and redeem our national honor.
Points to Ponder Over
“Spend eighty percent of your time focusing on the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday.” – Brian Tracy
Reasons behind sudden economic wonders achieved by Sheikh Hasina Wajid regime in BD are: The country has become a client state of India; shifting to secularism has pleased the West; BD is faced with no external threat except the Islamists who have been suppressed. It has become a strategic compulsion for India to make BD a success story in order to vindicate its intervention in 1971, prevent another military coup or takeover by the Islamists, encourage separatists in Pakistan, and also block BD-Pakistan rapprochement. If tomorrow Khalida Zia bounces back, or the Islamists seize power, the economic indicators of BD would crash.
India is engulfed in 21 separatist movements of which Kashmiris, Naxalites, Sikhs and Tamils movements have become existential threats. Its shining economy has nosedived and the GDP is in negative. Modi’s fascist and racist policies have alienated all the minorities in India and are pushing the country to the brink of a civil war. For the first time, India is faced with a twin threat from China and Pakistan and a wobbly internal situation.
Read more: The tragedy of East Pakistan: Operation searchlight, myth or reality?
Challenges faced by Pakistan
“The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra
Pakistan faced the rebellious Bengalis, India and the USSR in 1971 and was friendless. After 9/11, the Indo-US-West-Israel nexus ganged up to disintegrate nuclear Pakistan. Since then, the alliance is constantly trying to undo Pakistan using covert and overt means but has failed since militarily Pakistan has become vibrant and robust. Its nuclear deterrence is formidable and armed forces second to none. The army stands fully battle-hardened due to its brilliant performance in the 18-year war on terror in which it had to fight the foreign paid and equipped proxies. While the ISI thwarted foreign conspiracies, the PAF gave a bloody nose to IAF in the air encounters on 27 Feb 2019 and is manufacturing its own jets. Pak Navy has become a formidable force to defend the 1300 km long coast.
The resilience of the armed forces and the people, and harmony between civil-military relations have defeated the conspiracies of the enemies. Today, Pakistan and the emerging superpower China enjoy defense and strategic partnerships with common external security threats. Both are exposing the ugly face of India.
Notwithstanding these positive signs, without a vibrant economy, the military alone will not be able to withstand future threats. CPEC has the capacity to make Pakistan economically self-reliant, particularly after the completion of special economic zones and 10 dams under construction, and with a focus on exports, IT and digitalization. CPEC will also make China the leading economic power. The new National Security Policy (NSP) being citizens oriented with the focus on geo-economics is likely to bring a revolutionary change in Pakistan’s economy which has all along been in crisis.
Hybrid war involving kinetic and non-kinetic forces launched by the Indo-US-West-Israel nexus is aimed at creating fissures in the society, subverting the minds of the youth and cloning their minds, inculcating doubts, misgivings and disillusionment, moving them away from religion and Jihad towards the life of fun and frolic, accentuating political polarization and stoking ethnic, sectarian and religious rifts, spoiling civil-military relations and degenerating the moral turpitude of the society to weaken our ideological foundations. This silent war is the most dangerous threat to the integrity of Pakistan which cannot be fought by the army alone.
To counter this deceptive war, there is a need for a consolidated home and improved morals and ethics. A comprehensive national action plan is needed to motivate the people, build character and sense of responsibility, inculcate simplicity, patriotism and love for the country and strengthen their minds to withstand the deadly effects of subversion.
All this needs to be done at home and school levels. Uniformity of curriculum up to 5th grade in madrassas, government schools and private schools, and reading Quran with translation are steps in the right direction. Much can be achieved by adopting the golden principles of Islam which we have forsaken.
Read more: The tragedy of East Pakistan: Understanding the issue of free and fair elections
Somehow the newly formed NSP which is silent on the threat of subversion faced by the common man. To improve our economy, we have to win the battle of minds.
“Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition, you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” – Orison Swett Marden
The writer is a retired Brig, war veteran, defence analyst, international columnist, author of five books, sixth book under publication, Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Director Measac Research Centre. asifharoonraja@gmail.com. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.