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Indo-Pakistani War of 1971The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. The war is closely associated with Bangladesh Liberation War (sometimes also referred to as Pakistani Civil War). There is an argument about exact dates of the war. However, war on India's Western front during the period between 3 December 1971 and 16 December 1971 is called the Indo-Pakistani War by both the Bangladeshi and Indian Armies.
BackgroundThe main reason behind the war was the Bangladesh Liberation War, a conflict between the traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis whose Awami League party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had won the most seats (167 out of 169 in East Pakistan and 313 in total) in the 1970 Pakistani election and who claimed the right to form the Government. Leader of Pakistan People's Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto refused to allow Rahman premiership of Pakistan and denied Rahman's Six Points . The largely West Pakistani military was called in by President Yahya Khan. Mass arrests of dissidents began, and attempts were made to disarm the East Pakistani members of the armed forces. After several days of strikes and non-cooperation movements on the night of March 25 Pakistani military cracked down on Dhaka. The Awami League was banned and its members began to flee into exile in India. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of Awami League, was arrested and taken to West Pakistan as a prisoner. On 26 March 1971 Ziaur Rahman, a revolting major in the Pakistani army declared the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Exiled leaders of Awami League formed a Government-in-exile in Boiddonathtola of Meherpur in April. The East Pakistan Rifles , an elite paramilitary force defected and joined the rebellion. An armed group of freedom fighters with the name of Mukti Bahini was formed out of civilians to mainly act as a guerrila troop to complement the actions of the Bangladesh Army. India's involvement in Bangladesh Liberation WarOn 27 March 1971, Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, expressed full support of her Government to the Bangladeshi struggle for freedom. The Bangladesh-India border was opened to allow the tortured and panic-stricken Bengalis safe shelter in India. The governments of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura established refugee camps along the border. Exiled Bangladeshi army officers and voluntary workers from India immediately started using these camps for recruitment and training of freedom fighters (members of Mukti Bahini). As the massacres in East Pakistan escalated an estimated 10 million refugees fled to India causing financial hardship and instability in that country. The United States, long a close ally of Pakistan continued to ship arms and supplies to Pakistan. Indira Gandhi launched a diplomatic offensive in the early fall of 1971 touring Europe and was successful in getting both the United Kingdom and France to break with the United States, and block any pro-Pakistan directives in the United Nations security council. Gandhi's greatest coup was on 9 August when she signed a twenty year treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union, greatly shocking the United States, and providing India with insurance that the People's Republic of China would not be involved in the conflict. China, an ally of Pakistan, had been providing moral support, but little military aid, and did not advance troops to its border with India. Operation of the Mukti Bahini caused severe casualties to the Pakistani Army, which was in control of all district headquarters. As the flow of refugees swelled to a tide, the economic costs for India began to escalate. India began providing support including weapons and training for the Mukti Bahini, and began shelling military targets in East Pakistan. India's official engagement with PakistanBy November war seemed inevitable; a massive buildup of Indian forces on the border with East Pakistan had begun. The Indian military just wished to wait for winter, where the drier ground would make for easier operations and the Himalayan passes would be closed preventing Chinese intervention. On 23 November Khan declared a state of emergency in all of Pakistan and told his people to prepare for war. On 3 December the Pakistani air force launched sorties on eight airfields in northern India. This attack was based on the Arab-Israeli Six Day War and the success of the Israeli preemptive strike. The Indians had anticipated such a move, however, and the raid was not a great success. On the Eastern front, the Indian Army joined forces with the Mukti Bahini to form the Mitro Bahini (Allied Forces) and the next day the Indian forces responded with a coordinated and massive air, sea, and land assault on East Pakistan. Against the West the India military mounted smaller probing attacks designed to pin down the Pakistani forces. The Indian Army described its activities in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) as: "The Indian Army merely provided the coup de grace to what the people of Bangladesh had commenced--active resistance to the Pakistani Government and its Armed Forces on their soil." On December 16 the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered. The next day Indira Gandhi announced a unilateral cease fire, to which Pakistan agreed. American InvolvementThe United States became apprehensive that should Pakistan's armed forces in the east collapse, India would transfer its forces from there to attack West Pakistan, which was an ally in the Central Treaty Organization. As a gesture of solidarity, on 10 September 1971, an American task force headed by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise was despatched from the Gulf of Tonkin to the Bay of Bengal. On 6 and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok; they trailed U.S. Task Force 74 in the Indian Ocean from 18 December until 7 January 1972. (2) EffectsThe war led to the immediate surrender of Pakistani forces to Mitro Bahini (the Allied Forces), composed of Mukti Bahini and Indian Army. Bangladesh became an independent nation, and the second most populous Muslim country. Loss of East Pakistan embarassed the Pakistani military and Yahya Khan resigned to be replaced by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was released from West Pakistani prison and returned to Dhaka on January 10, 1972. The exact cost of the violence on the people of East Pakistan is not known. R.J. Rummel cites estimates ranging from one to three million people killed. Other estimates place the death toll as low as 300,000. On the brink of defeat around December 14 the Pakistani Army and its local collaborators systematically killed a large number of Bengali doctors, teachers and intellectuals. Young men, who were seen as possible rebels, were also targeted, especially students. India took 93,000 prisoners of wars that included Pakistani soldiers as well as some of their East Pakistani collaborators. India originally wished to try them for war crimes for the brutality in East Pakistan, but eventually acceded to releasing them as a gesture of reconciliation. Important Dates
Important battlesSee AlsoBangladeshi Armed Forces and Guerrilla
Indian Army
Pakistani Army
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