 |
* International Herald Tribune, December 4–5, 1971
INDIA SAYS FOE LAUNCHES ALL-OUT WAR; PAKISTAN CALLS BOTH ITS REGIONS BESET
New Delhi, Dec. 3 (Reuters).- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi tonight declared that Pakistan had launched full-scale war on India.
Speaking in a nationwide broadcast, Mrs. Gandhi said that she had no option but to put the country on a war footing.
Her speech came shortly after Indian President V.V. Giri Issued a proclamation declaring a national state of emergency. He said a bill would be introduced in Parliament tomorrow for immediate enactment of emergency measures which will give the government virtually unlimited powers.
Pakistan President Mohammed Yahya Khan declared a state of emergency in his country on Nov. 23.
* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971
INDIA’S INVASION TO CRUSH EAST PAKISTAN 36 PLANE DOWN, SAYS YAHYA KHAN
India yesterday launched a full scale invasion of East Pakistan with the object of driving out the 70,000 West Pakistan troops in the province, Indian forces linked up with the Bengladesh guerrillas, and claimed to have captured several towns in the eastern areas.
The drive got under way as Mrs. Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, said that Pakistan had declared war on India, and that this would be fully met.
* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971
ULTIMATE FOLLY, SAYS MRS. GANDHI
The following is the text of the statement by Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, to the Indian Parliament yesterday:
This morning the Government of West Pakistan has declared a war upon us. Last evening, the West Pakistani Air Force violated our airspace wantonly and attacked a large number of our airfields. Simultaneously, their ground forces shelled our positions along the Western border.
Their propaganda media have made totally baseless allegations that India has launched an assault.
* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971
FINAL WAR, SAYS YAHYA KHAN
In a broadcast in Urdu yesterday President Yahya Khan of Pakistan said:
We are fighting for our country’s integrity and honour, God is with us in our mission. Our enemy has once again challenged us. The armed forces of India have launched a full-scale war on us.
India’s hate and enmity for Pakistan are known to the whole world. India has always tried to weaken and destroy Pakistan. This is India’s biggest and final war against us.
So far Pakistan has acted with supreme patience. We have tolerated enough. The time has now come to give a crushing reply to the Indian aggressors.
* The Daily Telegraph, December 6, 1971
STIFF DEFENCE IN EAST
India’s armed forces, totalling a million men kept up their heavy and concerted assault yesterday on both East and West Pakistan in the air, at sea and on the ground, claiming heavy enemy losses and casualties with only light to moderate Indian losses.
The main thrust is being concentrated on East Pakistan, with a holding operation along the Western front.
The Daily Telegraph, December 6, 1971
RUSSIA STOPS U.N. CALL FOR CEASE-FIRE
The Security Council was to meet again in emergency session last night after a long and bitter debate during which a United States proposal for a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops was vetoed by the Soviet Union.
Two other resolutions call for an immediate end to the fighting, while one from the Soviet Union seeks a political solution of the conflict “leading to a cessation of hostilities.”
The Times, December 7, 1971
BANGLADESH RECOGNIZED AS INDEPENDENT STATE BY INDIA
India gave the “Democratic Republic of Bangladesh” full recognition yesterday, as its invading forces thrust deeper into Pakistan’s eastern province towards the capital of Dacca. Justifying India’s decision, Mrs. Gandhi told Parliament in Delhi that President Yahya Khan was now “totally incapable” of regaining control of the territory.
* International Herald Tribune, December 7, 1971
SECURITY COUNCIL DEADLOCKED IN 3RD EFFORT
United Nations, N.Y., Dec. 6 (Reuters): Security Council members failed to agree tonight on the terms of a ceasefire resolution in the India-Pakistan conflict and prepared for a possible transfer of the problem to the General Assembly.
This was the third attempt in as many days by the 15-nation council to draft a unanimous resolution that would call for a halt to the fighting between India and Pakistan.
The two previous attempts were blocked by a Soviet veto. Russia had maintained that cease-fire resolution should not contain a commitment for the withdrawal of troops, but the United States insisted I should.
* International Herald Tribune, December 8, 1971
INDIA URGES FOE IN EAST TO GIVE UP
New Delhi, Dec. 7.: After reporting that Indian troops had battered their way into Jessore, the Pakistani Army’s chief garrison town in western East Pakistan, the Indian Army’s chief of staff broadeast a dramatic appeal to the 70,000 Pakistani soldiers in the eastern province:
“Your fate is sealed. Time is running out. Lay down your arms before it is too late.”
Gen Sam Manekshaw, the chief of staff, told the enemy forces they were surrounded not only by Indian troops but also by East Pakistani guerrillas– the Mukti Bahini–and he said he guerrillas were “ready to take revenge for the cruelties and atrocities you have committed”.
* International Herald Tribune, December 8, 1971
YAHYA APPOINTS COALITION HEADED BY EAST PAKISTANI
Islamabad, Pakistan, Dec. 7.:– President Mohammad Yahya Khan today named a center coalition government headed by an East Pakistani as premier with the most powerful politician in West Pakistan as deputy premier.
In a move obviously designed to show that the eastern and western sections of Pakistan remain united in one state, despite India’s recognition yesterday of East Pakistan’s breakaway regime of Bangladesh, Pakistan announced that the coalition had been formed” in light of the present war situation.
* International Herald Tribune, December 9, 1971
UN ASSEMBLY CALLS ON INDIA, PAKISTAN TO CEASE FIGHTING
United Nations, N.Y., Dec. 8 (WP).– The General Assembly adopted a resolution last night calling on India and Pakistan to cease hostilities and withdraw their armed forces to their own sides of the borders. The vote was 104 to 11 with 11 abstentions. The resolution was essentially the same as the one the Soviet Union vetoed in the Security Council Sunday. The Council voted late Monday night to send the question to the assembly under the “united-for-peace” resolution originally used to deal with the Korean War in 1950– after two Soviet vetoes and the Threat of a third.
The Assembly has neither a veto nor the power to make its resolutions compulsory.
While 57 speakers expressed their countries’ views, Indian troops and Bangladesh guerrillas moved toward making the People’s Republic of Bangladesh a fact on the ground rather than a fiction of diplomacy.
* International Herald Tribune, December 10, 1971
EDITORIAL: THE EMERGENCY OF BANGLADESH
Defying a United Nations plea for a ceasefire, Indian forces appear on the verge of achieving New Delhi’s major objectives in East Pakistan. These are the defeat of West Pakistani military repression in the disaffected Bengali province and the creation of conditions that will facilitate the speedy repatriation of nearly 10 million refugees– Moslem and Hindu–to an independent, friendly and secular “Bangladesh”.
* The Daily Telegraph, December 11, 1971
BANGLADESH PACT SIGNED
India and Bangladesh have signed an agreement whereby Indian troops will remain in Bangladesh to “restore conditions of absolute normalcy.”
Working in Concert with the Mukti Fouj, the Bangladesh army, Indian forces will under the agreement help to restore essential services and public utilities, and facilitate the return of 97,000,000 refugees now in India.
They will also “try to provide” protection to everybody in areas under their control from mob violence.
One significant feature of the agreement is that it clearly indicates that Indian troops will not withdraw from Bangladesh for some time. The point about is a crucial one for the future of Bangladesh in coming months.
* The Observer, December 12, 1971
LAST STAND IN THE EAST
Calcutta, 11 December.– In the last desperate days of East Pakistan, the retreating soldiers of the Pakistani Army appear to be digging in for a final face-saving stand against the advancing Indian columns.
Over the last 24 hours, the speed of the Indian push towards Dacca has noticeably lessened and in some places has slowed to a painful crawl.
On all fronts the severity of the fighting has increased and for the first time Indian field commanders are admitting to heavier casualties than at any other time since war broke out. Significantly, the number of Pakistani troops surrendering has also grown. Since Friday, more than 1,000 have given themselves up as Indian units more deliberately to isolate the more remote areas of the country.
* The Daily Telegraph, December 13, 1971
INDEPENDENT BANGLADESH GOVT. TAKES OVER IN JESSORE
The Government of independent Bangladesh, which returned over the weekend to the former Pakistani district capital of Jessore, has stated that its first priority is to restore law and order to its now chaoitic country.
In a triumphant procession led by armed guerrillas and Indian Army military police, Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, the Prime Minister and Syed Nazrul Islam, the Acting President, drove in two commandeered Pakistani diplomatic corps Chevrolets from Petrapole, on the Indian border, to Jessore on Saturday.
Addressing a crowd of thousands in the centre of the town, the two Bengali leaders urged their people not to take the law into their own hands by killing “traitors and Pakistani collaborators.”
They said that a special war tribunal would be held soon in Dacca at which these men would be tired.
* The Times, December 14, 1971
PAKISTAN GENERAL SAYS HE WILL FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN
Dacca Dec. 13. Seated on a shooting stick at a street corner in Dacca, General A.A.K. “Tiger” Niazi, the commander of Pakistan’s forces in the east, vowed todya to fight to the last man in the face of advancing Indian forces.
He made the pledge to jounralists as the Indians were reported to be as close as nine miles on their southern push to the city.
General Niazi, told the reporters: “It does not matter if we don’t have enough men to defend the city. It’s now a question of living or dying and we shall fight to the last man.”
* The Times, December 15, 1971
DHAKA LEADERS RESIGN AND SEEK ASYLUM
As Indian Migs destroyed his official residence and the final assault on Dacca began, Mr. A.M. Malik, Governor of East Pakistan, last night wrote his resignation and that of his entire Cabinet on a scrap of paper addressed to President Yahya Khan.
Senior Government officials joined foreigners seeking refuge in a Red Cross neutral Zone in the city which India has ordered its forces to respect. The East Pakistan capital was attacked from all sides and All-India Radio claimed that part of the garrison had already surrendered Indian armoued and infantry columns were locked with the Pakistanis in the city’s outer defences and military (targets were pounded both by an artillery barrage and through air strikes.
Russia advised Delhi that it had received warnings from both China and the United States that they might be forced to intervene if the integrity of West Pakistan were threatened. In the Security Council, Britain and France launched a new, but undisclosed attempt to solve the deadlock.
* The Times, December 16, 1971
INDIA REPLIES TO DHAKA CEASE-FIRE INQUIRY WITH MORNING DEADLINE FOR ARM’S SURRENDER
Calcutta, Dec. 15. India has given the Pakistani Army in the east until 9 a.m. tomorrow to stop fighting after a dramatic inquity about a cease-fire from Lieutenant General A A K Niazi, the army’s commander in chief, in Dacca tonight.
A pause was immediately ordered in the intense Indian bombing of Dacca while the Pakistan Command considers proposals made to it by General Sam Manekshaw Chief of Staff of the Indian Army.
However, the elation that greeted the news when it broke here just after 6 p.m. was slightly damped when the full meaning of General Niazi’s inquiry became known. He is asking, in fact, for a chance to withdraw his soldiers to safe areas from which they could be repatriated to West Pakistan and he has not talked yet in terms of a total surrender.
Informed observers here tonight are wondering whether General Niazi, who promised previously that his men would “fight to the last”, is playing for time or is opening the bargaining in a nigh-long diplomatic give and take.
General Manekshaw’s reply to the inquiry from Dacca said: “Since you have indicated your desire to stop fighting I expect you to issue orders to all forces under your command in Bangladesh to ceasefiring immediately and surrender to my advancing forces wherever they are located.
“I am giving you my solemn assurance that the personnel who surrender shall be treated with the dignity and respect that soldiers are entitled to and we will abide by the provisions of the Geneva Convention.
“Further, as you have many wounded I shall ensure that they are well cared for and your dead properly burried. No one need have any fear for their safety, no matter where they come from, nor shall there be any reprisals by the forces operating under my command.”
If a positive response was received, he added, he would direct General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Command, to halt air and ground action in East Pakistan. But if there were no such response he would be left with no alternative but to continue his offensive with the utmost vigour.
A radio link was being kept open tonight so that communications could be continued before the deadline expires tomorrow.
A later message said that General Niazi had been persuaded to make his tentative inquiry about a ceasefire by United Nations officials in Dacca, after the general had been found earlier today to be almost a breaking point.
His message was countersigned by Major-General Farman Ali Khan, military adviser to the governor of East Pakistan, whose own peace initiative to U Thant, the United Nations Secretary-General was countermanded by President Yahya Khan several days ago.
News of the latest initiatives reached here just after it had been announced that Indian soldiers had crossed all the waterways separating them from Dacca, including the Lakhya on the city’s eastern outskirts, and were now mortaring the capital from only a mile or so outside.
* The Times, December 16, 1971
MOVE TO DHAKA PLANNED BY BENGAL REGIME; BANGLADESH TO OBSERVE GENEVA CONVENSION
Calcutta, Dec. 15.– The Bangladesh Government is remaining in Calcutta while waiting for the Indian Army, with the help of the Mukti Bahini, to capture Dacca. As soon as the East Pakistan capital falls, the Government plans to install itself there.
The regime’s officials feel that this will signify their full establishment of power and legitimacy. They are hoping that friendly nations such as the Soviet Union, which have so far declined to follow India’s lead in granting diplomatic recognition, will then recognize Bangladesh.
Mukti bahini officials have been travelling extensively inside the captured or liberated areas lately, but Calcutta remains their base of operations.
Mukti Bahini is getting a regional civil administration restored. In some cases, former officials who fled before Pakistan Army repression and joined the Bangladesh cause are returning to their old posts. In other cases, those who stayed and collaborated with the Army are being purged and new officials assigned.
India is sending is some of its own officials to help with administration and police organization, and in technical fields such as medical and engineering services. Already this has given rise to some discontent, some beginning of ill-will.
* The Daily Telegraph, December 17, 1971
EAST PAKISTAN SURRENDERS; INDIA HAILS FREE BANGLADESH; TOTAL CEASE-FIRE OFFER; SURRENDER TERMS PLEDGE PROTECTION
All Pakistan’s forces on the Eastern front surrendered unconditionally to India yesterday. In return the Delhi Government offered a total cease-fire to include the Western front as well, but Pakistan’s President Yahya Khan said the “Holy war” would go on.
Pakistan’s Gen. “Tiger” Niazi, pledged to “fight to the last man” in Dacca, surrendered only 10 minutes before the Indian ultimatum expired. He dropped previously-made evacuation conditions.
Gen. Niazi stripped off an epaulette marking his rank and handed his revolver to Lt.-Gen. J.S.Aurora, India’s commander in the East. The surrender documents were “in the highest terms of gallantry and chivalry,” it was claimed in Delhi.
While Bengalis were giving the victorious Indians a rapturous welcome, Mrs Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, in announcing her ceasefire offer, said Dacca was now the “free capital of a free country.” India rejoiced in the triumph of Bangladesh.
Mrs Gandhi told a cheering Parliament that India had no territorial ambitions, and further conflict would be pointless. A defence spokesman pointed out that the surrender was military occasion, not a political negotiation, but the Bangladesh Government would take over today.
* THE SUNDAY TIMES, December 19, 1971
DHAKA MURDERS EXPOSED: BENGAL’S ELITE DEAD IN A DITCH
Before they surrendered at Dacca on Thursday, the Pakistani Army arrested and then shot more than 50 of the city’s surviving intellectuals, scientists and businessmen. It was a closely planned elimination of elite Bengali citizens, carried out as a sudden military operation. It must therefore have been done with the full knowledge of the Pakistan high command, including the commanding officer, General Niazi.
The discovery of the bodies can only increase tension in Dacca, make revenge killings and riots more likely, and possibly even cause friction between the Mukti Bahini guerrillas and the Indian Army.
If the occupying forces have to clamp down on the liberated Bengalis, they co8ld come to resent even Indian occupation; and there are small signs of this ominous development already in Dacca.
The murdered intellectuals were discovered in some isolated clay pits on the outskirts of the town at a place called Rayar Bazer. I actually saw 35 bodies there, in a decomposed condition which indicates they were killed four or five days ago. There are probably many more, and from kidnap reports, some in Dacca are putting the number of killed as high as 150.
INDIA SAYS FOE LAUNCHES ALL-OUT WAR; PAKISTAN CALLS BOTH ITS REGIONS BESET
New Delhi, Dec. 3 (Reuters).- Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi tonight declared that Pakistan had launched full-scale war on India.
Speaking in a nationwide broadcast, Mrs. Gandhi said that she had no option but to put the country on a war footing.
Her speech came shortly after Indian President V.V. Giri Issued a proclamation declaring a national state of emergency. He said a bill would be introduced in Parliament tomorrow for immediate enactment of emergency measures which will give the government virtually unlimited powers.
Pakistan President Mohammed Yahya Khan declared a state of emergency in his country on Nov. 23.
* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971
INDIA’S INVASION TO CRUSH EAST PAKISTAN 36 PLANE DOWN, SAYS YAHYA KHAN
India yesterday launched a full scale invasion of East Pakistan with the object of driving out the 70,000 West Pakistan troops in the province, Indian forces linked up with the Bengladesh guerrillas, and claimed to have captured several towns in the eastern areas.
The drive got under way as Mrs. Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, said that Pakistan had declared war on India, and that this would be fully met.
* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971
ULTIMATE FOLLY, SAYS MRS. GANDHI
The following is the text of the statement by Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, to the Indian Parliament yesterday:
This morning the Government of West Pakistan has declared a war upon us. Last evening, the West Pakistani Air Force violated our airspace wantonly and attacked a large number of our airfields. Simultaneously, their ground forces shelled our positions along the Western border.
Their propaganda media have made totally baseless allegations that India has launched an assault.
* Sunday Telegraph, December 5, 1971
FINAL WAR, SAYS YAHYA KHAN
In a broadcast in Urdu yesterday President Yahya Khan of Pakistan said:
We are fighting for our country’s integrity and honour, God is with us in our mission. Our enemy has once again challenged us. The armed forces of India have launched a full-scale war on us.
India’s hate and enmity for Pakistan are known to the whole world. India has always tried to weaken and destroy Pakistan. This is India’s biggest and final war against us.
So far Pakistan has acted with supreme patience. We have tolerated enough. The time has now come to give a crushing reply to the Indian aggressors.
* The Daily Telegraph, December 6, 1971
STIFF DEFENCE IN EAST
India’s armed forces, totalling a million men kept up their heavy and concerted assault yesterday on both East and West Pakistan in the air, at sea and on the ground, claiming heavy enemy losses and casualties with only light to moderate Indian losses.
The main thrust is being concentrated on East Pakistan, with a holding operation along the Western front.
The Daily Telegraph, December 6, 1971
RUSSIA STOPS U.N. CALL FOR CEASE-FIRE
The Security Council was to meet again in emergency session last night after a long and bitter debate during which a United States proposal for a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops was vetoed by the Soviet Union.
Two other resolutions call for an immediate end to the fighting, while one from the Soviet Union seeks a political solution of the conflict “leading to a cessation of hostilities.”
The Times, December 7, 1971
BANGLADESH RECOGNIZED AS INDEPENDENT STATE BY INDIA
India gave the “Democratic Republic of Bangladesh” full recognition yesterday, as its invading forces thrust deeper into Pakistan’s eastern province towards the capital of Dacca. Justifying India’s decision, Mrs. Gandhi told Parliament in Delhi that President Yahya Khan was now “totally incapable” of regaining control of the territory.
* International Herald Tribune, December 7, 1971
SECURITY COUNCIL DEADLOCKED IN 3RD EFFORT
United Nations, N.Y., Dec. 6 (Reuters): Security Council members failed to agree tonight on the terms of a ceasefire resolution in the India-Pakistan conflict and prepared for a possible transfer of the problem to the General Assembly.
This was the third attempt in as many days by the 15-nation council to draft a unanimous resolution that would call for a halt to the fighting between India and Pakistan.
The two previous attempts were blocked by a Soviet veto. Russia had maintained that cease-fire resolution should not contain a commitment for the withdrawal of troops, but the United States insisted I should.
* International Herald Tribune, December 8, 1971
INDIA URGES FOE IN EAST TO GIVE UP
New Delhi, Dec. 7.: After reporting that Indian troops had battered their way into Jessore, the Pakistani Army’s chief garrison town in western East Pakistan, the Indian Army’s chief of staff broadeast a dramatic appeal to the 70,000 Pakistani soldiers in the eastern province:
“Your fate is sealed. Time is running out. Lay down your arms before it is too late.”
Gen Sam Manekshaw, the chief of staff, told the enemy forces they were surrounded not only by Indian troops but also by East Pakistani guerrillas– the Mukti Bahini–and he said he guerrillas were “ready to take revenge for the cruelties and atrocities you have committed”.
* International Herald Tribune, December 8, 1971
YAHYA APPOINTS COALITION HEADED BY EAST PAKISTANI
Islamabad, Pakistan, Dec. 7.:– President Mohammad Yahya Khan today named a center coalition government headed by an East Pakistani as premier with the most powerful politician in West Pakistan as deputy premier.
In a move obviously designed to show that the eastern and western sections of Pakistan remain united in one state, despite India’s recognition yesterday of East Pakistan’s breakaway regime of Bangladesh, Pakistan announced that the coalition had been formed” in light of the present war situation.
* International Herald Tribune, December 9, 1971
UN ASSEMBLY CALLS ON INDIA, PAKISTAN TO CEASE FIGHTING
United Nations, N.Y., Dec. 8 (WP).– The General Assembly adopted a resolution last night calling on India and Pakistan to cease hostilities and withdraw their armed forces to their own sides of the borders. The vote was 104 to 11 with 11 abstentions. The resolution was essentially the same as the one the Soviet Union vetoed in the Security Council Sunday. The Council voted late Monday night to send the question to the assembly under the “united-for-peace” resolution originally used to deal with the Korean War in 1950– after two Soviet vetoes and the Threat of a third.
The Assembly has neither a veto nor the power to make its resolutions compulsory.
While 57 speakers expressed their countries’ views, Indian troops and Bangladesh guerrillas moved toward making the People’s Republic of Bangladesh a fact on the ground rather than a fiction of diplomacy.
* International Herald Tribune, December 10, 1971
EDITORIAL: THE EMERGENCY OF BANGLADESH
Defying a United Nations plea for a ceasefire, Indian forces appear on the verge of achieving New Delhi’s major objectives in East Pakistan. These are the defeat of West Pakistani military repression in the disaffected Bengali province and the creation of conditions that will facilitate the speedy repatriation of nearly 10 million refugees– Moslem and Hindu–to an independent, friendly and secular “Bangladesh”.
* The Daily Telegraph, December 11, 1971
BANGLADESH PACT SIGNED
India and Bangladesh have signed an agreement whereby Indian troops will remain in Bangladesh to “restore conditions of absolute normalcy.”
Working in Concert with the Mukti Fouj, the Bangladesh army, Indian forces will under the agreement help to restore essential services and public utilities, and facilitate the return of 97,000,000 refugees now in India.
They will also “try to provide” protection to everybody in areas under their control from mob violence.
One significant feature of the agreement is that it clearly indicates that Indian troops will not withdraw from Bangladesh for some time. The point about is a crucial one for the future of Bangladesh in coming months.
* The Observer, December 12, 1971
LAST STAND IN THE EAST
Calcutta, 11 December.– In the last desperate days of East Pakistan, the retreating soldiers of the Pakistani Army appear to be digging in for a final face-saving stand against the advancing Indian columns.
Over the last 24 hours, the speed of the Indian push towards Dacca has noticeably lessened and in some places has slowed to a painful crawl.
On all fronts the severity of the fighting has increased and for the first time Indian field commanders are admitting to heavier casualties than at any other time since war broke out. Significantly, the number of Pakistani troops surrendering has also grown. Since Friday, more than 1,000 have given themselves up as Indian units more deliberately to isolate the more remote areas of the country.
* The Daily Telegraph, December 13, 1971
INDEPENDENT BANGLADESH GOVT. TAKES OVER IN JESSORE
The Government of independent Bangladesh, which returned over the weekend to the former Pakistani district capital of Jessore, has stated that its first priority is to restore law and order to its now chaoitic country.
In a triumphant procession led by armed guerrillas and Indian Army military police, Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, the Prime Minister and Syed Nazrul Islam, the Acting President, drove in two commandeered Pakistani diplomatic corps Chevrolets from Petrapole, on the Indian border, to Jessore on Saturday.
Addressing a crowd of thousands in the centre of the town, the two Bengali leaders urged their people not to take the law into their own hands by killing “traitors and Pakistani collaborators.”
They said that a special war tribunal would be held soon in Dacca at which these men would be tired.
* The Times, December 14, 1971
PAKISTAN GENERAL SAYS HE WILL FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN
Dacca Dec. 13. Seated on a shooting stick at a street corner in Dacca, General A.A.K. “Tiger” Niazi, the commander of Pakistan’s forces in the east, vowed todya to fight to the last man in the face of advancing Indian forces.
He made the pledge to jounralists as the Indians were reported to be as close as nine miles on their southern push to the city.
General Niazi, told the reporters: “It does not matter if we don’t have enough men to defend the city. It’s now a question of living or dying and we shall fight to the last man.”
* The Times, December 15, 1971
DHAKA LEADERS RESIGN AND SEEK ASYLUM
As Indian Migs destroyed his official residence and the final assault on Dacca began, Mr. A.M. Malik, Governor of East Pakistan, last night wrote his resignation and that of his entire Cabinet on a scrap of paper addressed to President Yahya Khan.
Senior Government officials joined foreigners seeking refuge in a Red Cross neutral Zone in the city which India has ordered its forces to respect. The East Pakistan capital was attacked from all sides and All-India Radio claimed that part of the garrison had already surrendered Indian armoued and infantry columns were locked with the Pakistanis in the city’s outer defences and military (targets were pounded both by an artillery barrage and through air strikes.
Russia advised Delhi that it had received warnings from both China and the United States that they might be forced to intervene if the integrity of West Pakistan were threatened. In the Security Council, Britain and France launched a new, but undisclosed attempt to solve the deadlock.
* The Times, December 16, 1971
INDIA REPLIES TO DHAKA CEASE-FIRE INQUIRY WITH MORNING DEADLINE FOR ARM’S SURRENDER
Calcutta, Dec. 15. India has given the Pakistani Army in the east until 9 a.m. tomorrow to stop fighting after a dramatic inquity about a cease-fire from Lieutenant General A A K Niazi, the army’s commander in chief, in Dacca tonight.
A pause was immediately ordered in the intense Indian bombing of Dacca while the Pakistan Command considers proposals made to it by General Sam Manekshaw Chief of Staff of the Indian Army.
However, the elation that greeted the news when it broke here just after 6 p.m. was slightly damped when the full meaning of General Niazi’s inquiry became known. He is asking, in fact, for a chance to withdraw his soldiers to safe areas from which they could be repatriated to West Pakistan and he has not talked yet in terms of a total surrender.
Informed observers here tonight are wondering whether General Niazi, who promised previously that his men would “fight to the last”, is playing for time or is opening the bargaining in a nigh-long diplomatic give and take.
General Manekshaw’s reply to the inquiry from Dacca said: “Since you have indicated your desire to stop fighting I expect you to issue orders to all forces under your command in Bangladesh to ceasefiring immediately and surrender to my advancing forces wherever they are located.
“I am giving you my solemn assurance that the personnel who surrender shall be treated with the dignity and respect that soldiers are entitled to and we will abide by the provisions of the Geneva Convention.
“Further, as you have many wounded I shall ensure that they are well cared for and your dead properly burried. No one need have any fear for their safety, no matter where they come from, nor shall there be any reprisals by the forces operating under my command.”
If a positive response was received, he added, he would direct General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Command, to halt air and ground action in East Pakistan. But if there were no such response he would be left with no alternative but to continue his offensive with the utmost vigour.
A radio link was being kept open tonight so that communications could be continued before the deadline expires tomorrow.
A later message said that General Niazi had been persuaded to make his tentative inquiry about a ceasefire by United Nations officials in Dacca, after the general had been found earlier today to be almost a breaking point.
His message was countersigned by Major-General Farman Ali Khan, military adviser to the governor of East Pakistan, whose own peace initiative to U Thant, the United Nations Secretary-General was countermanded by President Yahya Khan several days ago.
News of the latest initiatives reached here just after it had been announced that Indian soldiers had crossed all the waterways separating them from Dacca, including the Lakhya on the city’s eastern outskirts, and were now mortaring the capital from only a mile or so outside.
* The Times, December 16, 1971
MOVE TO DHAKA PLANNED BY BENGAL REGIME; BANGLADESH TO OBSERVE GENEVA CONVENSION
Calcutta, Dec. 15.– The Bangladesh Government is remaining in Calcutta while waiting for the Indian Army, with the help of the Mukti Bahini, to capture Dacca. As soon as the East Pakistan capital falls, the Government plans to install itself there.
The regime’s officials feel that this will signify their full establishment of power and legitimacy. They are hoping that friendly nations such as the Soviet Union, which have so far declined to follow India’s lead in granting diplomatic recognition, will then recognize Bangladesh.
Mukti bahini officials have been travelling extensively inside the captured or liberated areas lately, but Calcutta remains their base of operations.
Mukti Bahini is getting a regional civil administration restored. In some cases, former officials who fled before Pakistan Army repression and joined the Bangladesh cause are returning to their old posts. In other cases, those who stayed and collaborated with the Army are being purged and new officials assigned.
India is sending is some of its own officials to help with administration and police organization, and in technical fields such as medical and engineering services. Already this has given rise to some discontent, some beginning of ill-will.
* The Daily Telegraph, December 17, 1971
EAST PAKISTAN SURRENDERS; INDIA HAILS FREE BANGLADESH; TOTAL CEASE-FIRE OFFER; SURRENDER TERMS PLEDGE PROTECTION
All Pakistan’s forces on the Eastern front surrendered unconditionally to India yesterday. In return the Delhi Government offered a total cease-fire to include the Western front as well, but Pakistan’s President Yahya Khan said the “Holy war” would go on.
Pakistan’s Gen. “Tiger” Niazi, pledged to “fight to the last man” in Dacca, surrendered only 10 minutes before the Indian ultimatum expired. He dropped previously-made evacuation conditions.
Gen. Niazi stripped off an epaulette marking his rank and handed his revolver to Lt.-Gen. J.S.Aurora, India’s commander in the East. The surrender documents were “in the highest terms of gallantry and chivalry,” it was claimed in Delhi.
While Bengalis were giving the victorious Indians a rapturous welcome, Mrs Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, in announcing her ceasefire offer, said Dacca was now the “free capital of a free country.” India rejoiced in the triumph of Bangladesh.
Mrs Gandhi told a cheering Parliament that India had no territorial ambitions, and further conflict would be pointless. A defence spokesman pointed out that the surrender was military occasion, not a political negotiation, but the Bangladesh Government would take over today.
* THE SUNDAY TIMES, December 19, 1971
DHAKA MURDERS EXPOSED: BENGAL’S ELITE DEAD IN A DITCH
Before they surrendered at Dacca on Thursday, the Pakistani Army arrested and then shot more than 50 of the city’s surviving intellectuals, scientists and businessmen. It was a closely planned elimination of elite Bengali citizens, carried out as a sudden military operation. It must therefore have been done with the full knowledge of the Pakistan high command, including the commanding officer, General Niazi.
The discovery of the bodies can only increase tension in Dacca, make revenge killings and riots more likely, and possibly even cause friction between the Mukti Bahini guerrillas and the Indian Army.
If the occupying forces have to clamp down on the liberated Bengalis, they co8ld come to resent even Indian occupation; and there are small signs of this ominous development already in Dacca.
The murdered intellectuals were discovered in some isolated clay pits on the outskirts of the town at a place called Rayar Bazer. I actually saw 35 bodies there, in a decomposed condition which indicates they were killed four or five days ago. There are probably many more, and from kidnap reports, some in Dacca are putting the number of killed as high as 150.
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