Indo-Pakistan War
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WAR OF 1971 INDO-PAKISTAN WAR Sonam Pawar Purushottum Walawalkar higher secondary school 1 Goa naval unit • The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971was a military confrontation between India‘s forces and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 to 16 December 1971. The war began with Operation Chengiz Khan's preemptive aerial strikes on 11 Indian air stations, which led to the commencement of hostilities with Pakistan and Indian entry into the war for independence in East Pakistan on the side of Bengali nationalist forces. Lasting just 13 days, it is one of the shortest warsin history. In the process, it also become part of the nine-month long Bangladesh Liberation War. • During the war, Indian and Pakistani militaries simultaneously clashed on the eastern and western fronts. The war ended after the Eastern Command of the Pakistan mIlitary signed the Instrument of Surrenderon 16December 1971in Dhaka, marking the formation of East Pakistan as the new nation of Bangladesh. Officially, East Pakistan had earlier called for its secession from Pakistan on 26 March 1971. Approximately 90,000to 93,000 Pakistani servicemen were taken prisoner by the Indian Army, which included 79,676 to 81,000 uniformed personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces, including some Bengali soldiers who had remained loyal to Pakistan. The remaining 10,324 to 12,500 prisoners were civilians, either family members of the military personnel or collaborators. • It is estimated that members of the Pakistani military and supporting pro Pakistani Islamist militias killed between 300,000 and 3,000,000 civilians in Bangladesh. As a result of the conflict, a further eight to ten million people fled the country to seek refuge in India. • During the 1971 Bangladesh war for independence, members of the Pakistani military and supporting pro Pakistani Islamist militias called the Razakars raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women and girls in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape. • Indian Army chief General Sam Manekshaw said he could guarantee victory if she would allow him to prepare for the conflict on his terms, and set a data conditions, PM. Indira Gandhi accepted his conditions. • By November 1971, an Indian-Pakistani war seemed inevitable. The Soviet Union reportedly warned Pakistan against the war, which they termed as “suicidal course for Pakistan‘s unity.” Despite warning, in November 1971, thousands of people led by conservative Pakistani politicians marched in Lahore and across Pakistan, calling for Pakistan to “crush India”. India responded by starting a massive buildup of the Indian Army on the western borders;.The army waited until December, when the drier ground in the East made for easier operations and the Himalayan passes were closed by snow. On 23 November, Pakistan President Yahya Khan declared a national state of emergency and told the country to prepare for war. • On the evening of 3 December, at about 17:40,the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched surprise pre- emptive strikes on eleven airfields in north-western India, including Agra. These pre-emptive strikes, known as Operation Chengiz Khan, were inspired by the success of Israeli. Unlike the Israeli attack on Arab airbases in 1967, Pakistan flew more than 50 planes to India. • In an address to the nation on radio that same evening, Prime Minister Gandhi held that the air strikes were a declaration of war against India and the Indian Air Force (IAF) responded with initial air strikes the same night. • This air action marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. PM Indira Gandhi ordered the immediate mobilisation of troops and launched a full-scale invasion of Pakistan. This involved Indian forces in massive coordinated air, sea and land assaults on Pakistan from all fronts. • The Indian Navy staffers and commanders of the Pakistan Navy knew very well that the Navy was ill- prepared for the naval conflict with India. • In the western theatre of the war, the Indian Navy‘s Western Naval Command under Vice Admiral S.N Kohli, successfully launched a surprise attack on Karachi port on the night of 4/5 December 1971 under the codename Trident.The Pakistani naval sources reported that about 720 Pakistani sailors were killed or wounded and Pakistan lost reserve fuel and many commercial ships, thus crippling the Pakistan Navy‘s further involvement in the conflict. On 9 December 1971, PNS Hangor sank INS Khukri, inflicting 194 Indian casualties. • The sinking of INS Khukri was followed by another Indian attack on Karachi port on the night of 8-9 December 1971 under the codename Python. • In the eastern theatre of the war, the Indian Eastern Naval Command, under Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan, completely isolated East Pakistan by a naval blockade in the Bay of Bengal, trapping the Eastern Pakistan Navy and eight foreign merchant ships in their ports. From 4 December onwards, the aircraft carrier INS VIKRANT was deployed, and its Sea Hawk fighter-bombers attacked many coastal towns in East Pakistan, including Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. Pakistan countered the threat by sending the submarine PNS Ghazi, which sank off at Visakhapatnam's coast, due to an internal explosion. • Around 1900 personnel were lost, while 1413 servicemen were captured by Indian forces in Dacca. Majority of the Pakistani ship and weapons were destroyed. According to a Pakistani scholar, Tariq Ali, Pakistan lost half its navy in the war. • This lack of retaliation attributed to the deliberate decision of the PAF‘s Air AHQ to cut its losses, as it had already incurred huge losses in the conflict in the liberation war in the East. The PAF avoided making contacts with the Indian Navy after the latter raided the port of Karachi twice, but the PAF did retaliate by bombing Okha harbour, destroying the fuel tanks used by the boats that had attacked. • In the East, No. 14 Squadron Tail Choppers under Squadron Leader PQ Mehdi, who was taken as POW, was destroyed, putting the Dhaka air defence out of commission. • At the end of the war, PAF pilots made successful escapes from East Pakistan to neighbouring Burma, many PAF personnel had already left the East for Burma on their own before Dacca was overrun by the Indian military in December 1971. • As the Indian Army tightened its grip in East Pakistan, the Indian Air Force continued with its attacks against Pakistan as the campaign developed into a series of daylight anti-airfield, anti-radar, and close-support attacks by fighter jets, with night attacks against airfields and strategic targets. While Pakistan attached with similar night attacks. • One of the most successful air raids by India into West Pakistan happened on 8 December 1971, when Indian Hunter aircraft from the Pathankot-based 20 Squadron, attacked the Pakistani base in Murid and destroyed 5 F-86 aircraft on the ground. • India flew 1,978 sorties in the East and about 4,000 in Pakistan, while the PAF flew about 30 and 2,840 sorties at the respective fronts. Pakistan lost 75 aircrafts • When the conflict started, the war immediately took a decisive turn in favour of India and their Bengali rebel allies militarily and diplomatically. Pakistan launched several ground Offensive, but Indian forces held well coordinated ground operation on both the sides. • It eventually made some quick and initial gains, including the capture of around 15,010 km2 of Pakistani territory. This land gained by India in Azad Kashmir, Punjab and Sindh sectors was ceded in the Simla Agreement of 1972. • By the time the war came to end, the army soldiers and marines were highly demoralised. • Indian Army encircled Dacca and issued an ultimatum to surrender in “30-minutes” time window on 16 December 1971. Upon hearing the ultimatum, the East-Pakistan government collapsed when the Lt- Gen. A.A.K. Niazi and his deputy, V-Adm. M.S. Khan, surrendered without offering any resistance. On 16 December 1971, Pakistan ultimately called for unilateral ceasefire and surrenderedits entire four-tier military to the Indian Arny. Hence ending the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. On the ground, Pakistan suffered the most, with 8,000 killed and 25,000 wounded, while India only had 3,000 dead and 12,000 wounded. • Officially, the Instrument of Surrender of Pakistan Eastern Command stationed in East Pakistan, was signed between the Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora and Lieutenant-General A.A.K. Niazi, the Commander of the Pakistan Eastern Command, in Dacca at 16:31Hrs on 16 December 1971. • 17 December, after the fall of Dacca on 15 December, and India claimed large gains of territory in Pakistan. Yhe war confirmed the independence of Bangladesh. • In 2021, this year it will be the 50th celebration of the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. .