Keesing's World News Archives http://www.keesings.com/print/search?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=print&kssp... Keesing's Record of World Events (formerly Keesing's Contemporary Archives), Volume 17, December, 1971 Pakistan, India, Pakistan, Pakistani, Indian, India, Bangladesh, Page 24989 © 1931-2006 Keesing's Worldwide, LLC - All Rights Reserved. Relations between Pakistan and India became increasingly strained between August and November, as the civil war in East Pakistan intensified and the number of refugees fleeing into India rose to over 9,000,000. The Bangladesh guerrillas launched a general offensive on Nov. 21 in which the Pakistan Government alleged that Indian troops were taking part, and serious clashes between Indian and Pakistani forces occurred on the border. Details of the development of the crisis during this period and its international repercussions are given below. Guerrilla activities in East Pakistan by the Mukti Bahini (Liberation Army), previously known as the Mukti Fouj, were greatly intensified from August onwards. The nucleus of the guerrilla forces consisted of soldiers of the East Bengal Regiment and the East Pakistan Rifles, which had reportedly rallied to the separatist case in March virtually in a body, and all sector commanders and most of their subordinates were reported to be former officers of the Pakistan Army. Volunteers were also enrolled, especially for sabotage operations, from students and high school pupils, including boys in their early teens, who received two months' training in the border sanctuaries controlled by the Mukti Bahini, whilst guerrilla groups organized by the left-wing National Awami Party and the Communist Party of Bangladesh operated in the interior of East Pakistan independently of the Mukti Bahini. Estimates of the strength of the guerrillas varied widely. The Guardian reported on Nov. 3: "Impartial analysts credit the guerrilla organization with having expanded within seven months from zero to a force of 80,000 to 100,000, a figure roughly equal to the number of regular Pakistani soldiers deployed against them." Another estimate quoted by The Daily Telegraph on Nov. 24 gave their strength as 50,000 men and 150,000 active supporters, whilst Major-General Rao Farman Ali Khan (military adviser to the Governor of East Pakistan) said on Dec. 2 that the guerrillas had between 30,000 and 40,000 men under arms. Pakistan Government statements (which consistently referred to the guerrillas as "Indian agents" or "miscreants") and reports from Western journalists in East Pakistan confirmed that the guerrillas were active in all sections of the province. The coastal forest area of the Sundarbans, the Modhupur forest (north of Dacca) and the Chittagong hill tracts were largely under guerrilla control. Reports of guerrilla activities were also received between August and November from the Barisal district in the south of the province, where 6,000 guerrillas were said to be operating; from the Khulna, Jessore, Kushtia and Rajshahi districts, on the western border; from the Rangpur district, in the north-west; from the Sunamganj and Sylhet districts, in the north-east; and from the Comilla district, on the eastern border. The Daces correspondent of The Daily Telegraph reported on Nov. 11: "Seven major regions of East Pakistan have been declared 'liberated zones' by Bangladesh guerrillas since an autumn offensive got under way two weeks ago…. Apart from the main towns and the land routes between them, the whole of East Pakistan, excluding the north-west, becomes guerrilla-held territory at night time." The guerrillas' activities were directed particularly against communications. It was reported on Sept. 12 that 90 per cent of the culverts and small bridges on the roads linking Dacca with Comilla, Jessore and Kushtia had been destroyed, and that road and rail deliveries were estimated to have been reduced to 10 per cent of capacity. Economic activity in the province fell drastically in consequence; factory production was estimated 1 of 7 3/31/2011 12:26 Keesing's World News Archives http://www.keesings.com/print/search?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=print&kssp... at 35 per cent of capacity, tea plantations on the border had halted production, and others farther away limited themselves to 25 per cent of normal output. At the beginning of November 60 per cent of the working population of Dacca was reported to be unemployed. The Mukti Bahini also directed their attacks against cargo ships and river craft. Three ships were sunk in Chittagong harbour during the night of Aug. 15–16 and an oil tanker on Nov. 3, whilst Pakistan Radio claimed on Sept. 28 that the Navy had killed 10 frogmen who had been trained to mine ships in Chittagong and Chalna harbours. A British cargo ship was shelled by two small ships several miles off the coast on Nov. 11 while on its way to pick up a cargo of jute at Chalna, and although no one was injured was obliged to turn back to Calcutta. As a result of such attacks some foreign companies stopped their ships from calling at Chittagong. Guerrilla groups operating inside Dacca, which were reported to consist largely of students, bombed the Intercontinental Hotel early in September and became increasingly active in October, when they made an unsuccessful attempt to shell the airport. Guerrillas disguised as Pakistani soldiers entered the city's main power station on Nov. 3 and destroyed three of the four main generators, bringing industry to a standstill within a 30-mile radius, whilst other guerrilla activities in Dacca during this period included the bombing of educational institutions, which were under the Army's control, and a series of armed bank robberies. A curfew was imposed on the city on Nov. 17 while the Army carried out a house-to-house search for arms; Pakistan Radio subsequently reported that 138 people had been arrested and four killed while resisting arrest. Two West German diplomats had previously been killed 15 miles from Daces on Nov. 14 when their vehicle drove over a land mine. The guerrillas also pursued a policy of assassinating persons collaborating with the Pakistan Government and the Army. Mr. Abdul Monem Khan, a prominent Moslem League politician, was shot dead at his home in Daces on Oct. 14; when Governor of East Pakistan he had been accused of being responsible for the shooting of civilians during popular demonstrations against President Ayub Khan's regime in 1968–69 [see page 23219-20]. A candidate who had recently been returned unopposed to the Provincial Assembly was shot dead near Dacca on Nov. 7, and another in the Rajshahi district on Nov. 12. Reports by refugees entering India alleging that the Army and the Razakars (the civilian militia) had let loose a virtual reign of terror as a reprisal for the guerrillas' activities appeared to be confirmed by Western correspondents in East Pakistan. The Times reported on Sept. 12: "Military terror is continuing in East Pakistan…. Political suspects are still 'lifted', although care is taken to make their arrests unobstrusive. Army reprisals continue to be savage. In the last week of August 70 suspects were taken from seven villages, lined up and shot. Their homes were destroyed…." A New York Times correspondent, Mr. Sydney H. Schanberg, reported from the Indian border on Sept. 21: "The dozens of refugees interviewed by this correspondent today, all of whom fled into India from East Pakistan in the past week, describe the killing of civilians, rape and ether acts of repression by the soldiers…. Nearly all the latest arrivals are Hindus, who said that the military regime was still making the Hindu minority its particular target. They said the guerrillas were active in their areas, and that the Army carried out massive reprisals against civilians after every guerrilla raid…. According to the refugees, the Army leaves much of the 'dirty work' to its civilian collaborators–the Razakars, or Home Guards–it has armed and to the supporters of right-wing religions political parties such as the Moslem League and Jamaat-i-Islam." A Reuter correspondent, Mr. Fred Bridgland, who watched about 400 refugees cross into India in about three hours, reported on Nov. 12 that before they crossed the border they had told him similar stories. "An elderly Hindu cultivator whose family was in the group," he stated, "said the Razakars and Pakistan Army were 'taking away our women and looting and burning the villages'. He said the attacks usually followed night 2 of 7 3/31/2011 12:26 Keesing's World News Archives http://www.keesings.com/print/search?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=print&kssp... operations by the Mukti Bahini. Refugees from other districts also spoke of villages being burnt, women abducted and young men killed…." A Consultative Committee consisting of four representatives of the Awami League and one representative each of the two factions of the National Awami Party, the Communist Party of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh National Congress was formed in Calcutta on Sept. 8 to "direct the freedom struggle". The National Awami Party was represented by Maulana Abdul Humid Bhashani and Professor Muzaffar Ahmed, the respective leaders of its pro-Chinese and pro-Soviet factions. The Provisional Government of Bangladesh opened its first overseas mission in London on Aug. 27 to co-ordinate the activities of Bengalis throughout Europe and America. The mission was headed by Mr. Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, senior judge of the Dacca High Court and Vice-Chancellor of Daces University. On Aug. 30 a Bangladesh mission was opened in New Delhi; although this was not officially recognized by India, the Pakistan Government strongly protested on Sept. 5, accusing the Indian Government of "open collusion with secessionist elements". The mission was originally headed by Mr. K. M. Shahabuddin, the former Second Secretary of the Pakistan High Commission; he was succeeded on Oct.