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16th December 1971: From East Pakistan to Bangladesh

1971 was a disaster for the muslim world as a whole. Incompetent leaders sold their country off for petty interest. Look at india,
they know the meaning of unity and strength. You won't find North Indian bharmins discriminating against their W.bengali
Hindu brothers and vise-versa. We stupid muslims fell for the curse of ethnic nationalism and divide and rule policy. But as a
muslim I believe that nothing happens without Allah(swt) will. May be 71 was a punishment on subcontinental muslims by
or may be it was a test by Allah(swt) and we are undergoing that test. But whatever Allah(swt) does is for the best and
we have to march forward and look to the future. Inshallah a bright and prosperous future holds for both BD and PAK. The
whole muslim world should learn from the mistakes of 71.
 
1971 was a disaster for the muslim world as a whole. Incompetent leaders sold their country off for petty interest. Look at india,
they know the meaning of unity and strength. You won't find North Indian bharmins discriminating against their W.bengali
Hindu brothers and vise-versa. We stupid muslims fell for the curse of ethnic nationalism and divide and rule policy. But as a
muslim I believe that nothing happens without Allah(swt) will. May be 71 was a punishment on subcontinental muslims by
or may be it was a test by Allah(swt) and we are undergoing that test. But whatever Allah(swt) does is for the best and
we have to march forward and look to the future. Inshallah a bright and prosperous future holds for both BD and PAK. The
whole muslim world should learn from the mistakes of 71.

i wish relations get better B/W our countries .we have to move forward .we are trying to build solid relations with india .i can't see why BD / PAK can't have good relations .


Hope for the Best :pakistan:
 
Some more thoughts by Colonel (R) Nazir Ahmed on 'debunking the 90,000 POW figure' !

So here goes :


Order of Battle

Location of Pakistani units in East Pakistan on 03 December 1971.

Pakistan army started to work on a plan of defence against a possible Indian attack from July 1971. At that time, 3 infantry divisions held responsibility for the province: the 9th (CO: Maj. Gen.M H Ansari, HQ Jessore) looking after the area south of the Padma River, the 16th (Maj. Gen. Nazar Hussain Shah, HQ Natore) responsible for the area north of Padma and west of Jamuna rivers and the 14th (CO: Maj. Gen.Abdul Majid Qazi, HQ: Dhaka) looking after the rest of the province. The original plan was based on a series of exercises, known as Titumeer, which were held during 1970–1971. It was revised several times and approved in October 1971. General Niazi had created 4 ad hoc infantry brigades and 2 ad hoc infantry divisions regrouping the available troops before final order of battle was devised.

The final order of battle prior to December 3, 1971 was:

Eastern Command Headquarters Dhaka
- GOC: Lt. General A. A. K. Niazi
- COS: Brigadier Baqir Siddiqi
- Commander Artillery: Brig. S. S. A. Kashim
- Commander Armor: Col. Bakhtier
- Commander Engineers: Brig. Iqbal Sharif
- Commander Signals: Brig. Areef Reza
- Commander Medical Service: Brig. Fahim Ahmed Khan
- Advisor: Maj. Gen. Rao Farman Ali

Units under HQ Control:

- 6th Engineer Regiment
- 10th Engineer Regiment – detached to various locations
- 11th Engineer Regiment - Lt. Col Sarwar
- 43rd Light Ack Ack – Lt. Col. Mohammad Afzal
- 19th Signal Regiment
- 3rd Commando Battalion (less elements)
- Army Aviation Squadron #4 – Lt. Col. Liakat Bokhari

Dhaka Defense Scheme (adhoc) :

- Brig. Kashim (North): Dhaka Cantonment & Tongi atea
- Brig. Mansoor (East): Munshiganj & Narayanganj
- Brig. Bashir: Dhaka city proper

EPCAF HQ and Sector units:
- Police and Razakars

Pakistan Air Force CO: Air Commodore Enamul Huq

- No. 14 Squadron ‘’Tail-choppers’’: 20 F-86 Sabers
- Training unit: 3 T-33

Pakistan Navy CO: Rear Admiral Mohammad Sharif
- 4 Gunboats: PNS Rajshahi, Comilla, Sylhet and Jessore
- 1 Patrol Boat: PNS Balaghat
- 17 armed boats
- Naval Marines – Captain Zamir

36 Ad hoc Infantry Division:
CO: Maj. Gen. M. Jamshed Khan HQ Dhaka
Area of Operation: Dhaka, Tangail and Mymensingh districts

- 93 Infantry Brigade: Brig Abdul Qadir Khan HQ Mymensingh
- 83 Independent. Mortar battery
- 31 Baluch – Jamalpur
- 33 Punjab – Mymensingh
- 71 Wing WPR – Kishorganj
- 70 Wing WPR – Bijaipur

14 Infantry Division
OC: Major General Abdul Majid Qazi, HQ Brahmanbaria
Area of Operation: Sylhet and Northern Comilla districts

- 31st Field Artillery – Ashuganj – Brahmanbaria - Shamshernagar
- 88 Independent Mortar Battery – Sylhet
- 171 Independent Mortar Battery – Comilla

Sylhet

202 Adhoc Brigade: Brig. Salimullah
- 31 Punjab – Sylhet
- 91 Mujahid Battalion – Sunamganj
- 12 Azad Kashmir – Sylhet

Also: Wings of Tochi, Thal and Khyber scouts

Maulavibazar

- 313 infantry Brigade: Brig. Iftikar Rana
- 22 Baluch – Kalaura
- 30 Frontier Force – Shahshernagar
- 91 Mujahid (minus elements) & Tochi Scouts – Sherpur

Brahmanbaria

- 27th Infantry Brigade: Brig. Saadullah
- 33rd Baluch – Kasba
- 12th Frontier Force – Akhaura
- 2 Troops of M-24 Chaffee – Akhaura
- 1x Anti Tank Platoon 34 Punjab (R&S)

39 Ad hoc Division
OC: Maj. Gen. Rahim Khan – Chandpur
Area of Operation: Comilla, Feni and Northern Chittagong

- 53rd Field Artillery – Comilla

Comilla

- 117th Infantry Brigade: Brig. Sheikh M.H. Atif
- 30 Punjab – Saldanadi
- 25th Frontier Force – Mainamati
- 12th Azad Kashmir – Comilla


Feni

- 53rde Infantry Brigade: Brig. Aslam Niazi
- 15th Baluch – Belonia
- 39th Baluch – Laksham
- 23rd Punjab – Mean Bazar
- 21 Azad Kashmir - Laksham

Ramgarh

- 91st Ad hoc Brigade: Brig. Mian Taskeenuddin HQ Chittagong
- 24th Frontier Force – Ramgarh
- Chakma and Mizo troops
- EPCAF 11th and 14th Wings

Chittagong

- 97th Independent Brigade: Brig. Ata Mohd. Khan Malik
- 48th Baluch – Chittagong
- 2 SSg Commando - Rangamati
- 60th Wing Rangers – Ramgarh
- 61st Wing Rangers – Cox’s Bazar
- Naval Contingent
- 46th Light Ack Ack Battery

16th Infantry Division
CO: Maj. Gen. Nazar Hussain Shah HQ: Bogra, then Natore
Area of Operation: Rajshahi, Bogra, Dinajpur, Rangpur and Pabna
Districts

- 29th Cavalry less elements –Rangpur
- 48th Field Regiment – Thakurgaon
- 80th Field Regiment – Hili
- 117th Mortar Battery – Kurigram

Saidpur

- 23rd Infantry Brigade: Brig. Iqbal Shaffi
- 25th Punjab – Lalmanirhut
- 26th Frontier Force – Dinajpur
- 48th Punjab – Nilphamari
- 8 Punjab – Rangpur
- 34th Punjab – (less one company and one anti tank platoon) Thakurgaon
- 86th Mujahid – Gaibandha

Bogra

- 205th Infantry Brigade: Brig. Tajammul Hussain Malik HQ: Bogra (Tac HQ – Chatni in 4 FF area)
- 32nd Baluch – Ghoraghat
- 4 Frontier Force – Hilli
- 8 Baluch – Jaipurhut
- C Coy 34 Punjab (R&S) at Hilli/Panjbibi

Nator

- 34th Infantry Brigade: Brig. Mir Abdul Nayeem
- 32nd Punjab – Nawabganj
- 13th Frontier Force – Sapahar

Rajshahi

- Rajshahi Ad hoc Brigade[8]

9th Infantry Division
CO: Maj. Gen HM. H. Ansari HQ Jessore
Area of Operation: Khulna, Jessore, Kushtia, Faridpur, Barisal and Patuakhali districts

- 3rd Ind. Armored Squadron – Jessore
- 55th Field Artillery – Satkhira and Chaugacha
- 49th Field Artillery – Chuadanga
- 211th Independent Mortar Battery – Chaugacha

Jhenida

- 57th Infantry Brigade: Brig. Manzoor H Atif
- 18th Punjab – Darshana
- 50th Punjab – Jhenida
- 29th Baluch – Kushtia
- Squadron 29th Cavalry – Kushtia

Jessore

- 107th Infantry Brigade: Brig. M Hayat Khan
- 22nd Frontier Force – Benapole
- 38th Frontier Force – Afra
- 6th Punjab – Jessore
- 21st Punjab – Satkhira
- 15th Frontier Force – Jessore
- 12th Punjab – Jessore

Khulna

- 314th Ad Hoc Brigade: Col. Fazle Hamid

Total number of units of the different arms/services

Above details have been taken from the Wikipedia and summarised below by Colonel (retd) Nazir Ahmed, OC ‘C’ company 34 Punjab (R&S) during the counter insurgency operations and the 1971 war in erstwhile East Pakistan.

Armour Regiment - 1

Infantry Battalions -34 (31xregular Infantry battalions and three R&S battalions)

Artillery
- Field regiments – 6
- Mortar Batteries – 7
- Engineer Battalions – 3

Signal battalions – 1

Para military forces

East Pakistan Civil Armed Force (EPCAF) raised in place of East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) – Approximately 12000 local persons. These people being locals, joined their families as the war ended. They did not become prisoners of war.

Scouts – 3 Wings
Rangers – 4 Wings
Mujahids – 2 battalions (mainly local persons)
Navy – 4xGunboats, 17x armed boats and some marine personnel
PAF – One Squadern

The Number of Prisoners of War

The much exaggerated figure of 93000 prisoners of war is absolutely false. Actual number of prisoners could not be more than forty thousands; a likely figure of 39000 inverted to 93000 which have stuck. Considering the authorised strength of the units which is never complete and about 15% attrition, the approximate breakdown is:

Army – 32000 (authorised strength of a regular infantry battalion was 798 and that of R&S battalion 686. Considering that authorised strength is never complete and taking out people away from units on extra regimental employment and an average of 15% casualties which could not be made up, a regular infantry battalion was left with about 650 people on the average and R&S battalions left with about 550 persons. The strength of artillery and armour units is almost half of the infantry battalions)

Navy and PAF – 1500

Rangers, Scouts, Mujahids and West Pakistani Policemen – 4000
(EPCAF persons being local, did not surrender having joined their families)

Civilians – 1500

Total – 39000 (thirty nine thousands) approximate number of prisoners.

The Indians took two weeks (01 Jan to 15 Jan 1972) to pick up the prisoners from different parts of East Pakistan and placed them in various camps in Bihar, Uttar Pardesh and Madhia Pardesh, a very vast expanse of land. While starting their move from respective locations, the prisoners were told that they were in transit and would be moving to Pakistan. After keeping them for over two years in Indian camps, the prisoner were repatriated in small numbers spreading the process for about eight months starting Sep 1973 and ending by last week of April 1974. It was arranged in a manner that the men from fighting units do not get together. When the units were re raised after one year of the completion of repatriation process i.e. by mid 1975, very few of their original manpower could come back to the units.


Hearing the voice of a close quarters observer, who lived through those times and had a ringside seat on the Pakistani side, was invaluable. Future historians, if they get hold of this, will no doubt also make allowances for the inaccuracies, the partial view of things and the partisan point of view which is apparent at times.

However, your friend, the retired Colonel, struck a false note.

Let us take a quick look at the older, more conservative view first.


India took approximately 90,000 prisoners of war, including Pakistani soldiers and their East Pakistani civilian supporters. 79,676 prisoners were uniformed personnel, of which 55,692 were Army, 16,354 Paramilitary, 5,296 Police, 1000 Navy and 800 PAF.[70] The remaining prisoners were civilians – either family members of the military personnel or collaborators (razakars). The Hamoodur Rahman Commission report instituted by Pakistan lists the Pakistani POWs as follows: Apart from soldiers, it was estimated that 15,000 Bengali civilians were also made prisoners of war.[71]
Branch Number of captured Pakistani POWs
Army 54,154
Navy 1,381
Air Force 833
Paramilitary including police 22,000
Civilian personnel 12,000
Total: 90,368


This was not Joe Shearer, but the official record.

The Hamoodur Rahman Commission report covered all aspects of the debacle. As we can all see, it also paid attention to the numbers involved. It had access to all military records, both Pakistani, and, where it was concerned, Indian; as you know, some benefits and perquisites are administered by the detaining authorities for prisoners of war. These have to be accounted for very strictly, and the Pakistani commission must have referred to the reports and accounts presented by detaining authorities as well.

Against that record from the annals of a national commission, whose work has been accepted by its sponsors, the Government of Pakistan, we have with us the reconstruction attempted by a senior officer. However worthy his analysis, I fail to see why - and how- it can displace the official report.

The possibility of the entire thing being a conspiracy to enlarge Bhutto's role by making him the saviour of a larger number of men is,politely, sensationalist. It smacks of the conspiracy theories that lie like a miasma over every twist and turn of Pakistani history. The simple questions that need to be asked are: where was the good Colonel when the commission was sitting? Why did he not speak up then? Are we to believe, further, that nobody else had the imagination or the requisite access to information, or eve the drive and the motivation to set the record straight? Was nobody else before he interested in showing that the Pakistani armywas heavily outnumbered?

I am afraid that until it is clear that the commission was seriously in error, its view must prevail.
 
i wish relations get better B/W our countries .we have to move forward .we are trying to build solid relations with india .i can't see why BD / PAK can't have good relations .


Hope for the Best :pakistan:

@ "Chup chup kar relation tu achai chal rahatha magar shale ye AL najani kahase agia ."
 
@ Pakistan's economy and its prestige was going very fast. General Ayub Khan was the leader of the Third world countries. In 1964, the second time election was held during Ayub' tenure. Miss fatema Jinnah was the opposition candidate. Sk Mujib supported Miss Fatema Jinnah. In those days it was common in the than East Pakistan to keep newly born child's name either as Jinnah or Liaquet. Once General Ayub came for election campaign in our district. I tell you people came to see him from each family. I also went to see him and lost my shoe. Miss Fatema was also very popular in East Pakistan but some how she missed it. In those days the election used to be held indirectly. There 40,000 BD (Basic Democrat) member earmarked for East Pakistan . Similarly 40,000 for West Pakistan. These BD members were directly elected by the common people. Now these newly elected BD member will vote for the President of Pakistan on behalf of the people.


@ The economy of combined Pakistan was considered as a reference in the Third World countries. Pakistan's economy was just after South Korea. Our living standard was much much higher. The young energetic Foreign Minister Butto quickly made a plan and convince General Ayub that this is the right time we should do some thing about Kashmir. India is already defeated by China in 1962, fomenting in Kashmir is on the process. So, the war started between Pakistan and India. Pakistan was betrayed by USA and their allies. USA said that Pakistan was not being attacked by any Communist Country so the question of helping or defending Pakistan does not comes. Ayub at once stopped the activities of USA air base at Peshawar. By 1968, the American base was completely evicted. USA was highly annoyed on Ayub. Soon Ayub tilted towards China. Ayub gave too much importance on non-alignment movement (NAM). Ayub also tried his best to have a good relation with USSR. Under the innitiative of Ayub he made RCD (Regional Cooperation for Development) The 1965 war with India was a suicidal for Pakistan which was planned and executed by Butto. So infact Ayub was trying to come out from American grip but Bhutto took this oppurtunity either wise we as a united Pakistan could have reached too high.



@ All these developments were not being liked by USA. USA needs some naval base somewhere at St Martin in East Pakistan. Many a times USA requested Ayub for this but Ayub rejected this proposal. This base was essential for logistic reason to support the war at Vietnam. So long Sk Mujib was jumping with little bit of milk from RAW(not yet formed). But once war was going between Pakistan and India instead of helping Muneum Khan he suggested to revolt against Pakistan and declare independence. Soon after the war om March 1966 at Lahore Sk Mujib announced his famous Six Points. What is six points no body knows it till the last. People says it was secretly made with the help of RAW and CIA and handed over to Mujib just he was about to board on PIA for Lahore conference. Mizanur Rahman said he saw Mujib to read this points while he was on board. In fact he himself was also not familiar with this handy Six points. Once he landed at Karachi airport, the generalists requested Mujib for explaining these points and but Mujib avoided the question and said with confident that next time he visit West Pakistan he would explain in detail. After coming to Dacca he called on a special meeting calling all the district GS and Presidents. It was widely discussed for the first time but out of 17 district committees 14 committees resigned from AL politics at once. Sk Mujib was highly shocked. Soon he called the student leaders like Razzak, Tofail, Ammu, Jillur, Jalil and others and said forget about the district AL committees what you can expect from all these old Muslim Leaquers. From now on I, Sk Mujib here by authorize you all power to visit all Thanas, Districts and Sub-Divisions and any corner of East Pakistan and make the six points popular. This is my " Magna Carta", go on at once. After this he became famous in East Pakistan. Soon he was picked by USA. Since than the Second officer of American Embassy had a regular meeting with this Sk Mujib. And so on-----------

This was the reason why the student leaders became so powerful in AL politics.Soon, many went to India to take handy training.


@ You remember in 1956/57 the Provincial Speaker(East Bengal) Shahid died at the Assembly Room while the parliament session was going on. Most of us know that in one stage these were clash between the MP's inside the Parliament and some body threw a chair on the head of Speaker and later on he died. The fact was it was this great Sk Mujibur Rahman who threw a stone (paper weight) which directly hit the head of the speaker and he died. This was the clash between AL and "Jukto Front" MP's.



@ Sk Mujib used to get bags of money from the industrialist of 22 families. Even he was made as the CEO of Insurance Company stationed at Dhaka. Soon he made this office as the centre of AL politics. Sk Mujib was a very greedy man. His eyes were always on the properties of non-Bengalis. He was foolish of the highest order. In those days raw Jute and its finish products were very costly in the international market. Once the Korean War(1952-54) was going on, the demand of raw jute, sand bags and "Hassen Cloths" was at peak. People says that the fire of raw jute was smokeless that is why these were used in gun powder. In early fifties there was too much of rush of foreign ships at Chalna Seaport. In order to facilitate the quick export of raw jute another Seaport was made at Mongla.


@@ Dear friends what I am writing here are almost fact but the question is may be it did not came up in the press. Ask these question to the old people only than you might get these results. There are many things in this world which remains hidden unless some body digs it
 
Hearing the voice of a close quarters observer, who lived through those times and had a ringside seat on the Pakistani side, was invaluable. Future historians, if they get hold of this, will no doubt also make allowances for the inaccuracies, the partial view of things and the partisan point of view which is apparent at times.

However, your friend, the retired Colonel, struck a false note.

Let us take a quick look at the older, more conservative view first.

This was not Joe Shearer, but the official record.

The Hamoodur Rahman Commission report covered all aspects of the debacle. As we can all see, it also paid attention to the numbers involved. It had access to all military records, both Pakistani, and, where it was concerned, Indian; as you know, some benefits and perquisites are administered by the detaining authorities for prisoners of war. These have to be accounted for very strictly, and the Pakistani commission must have referred to the reports and accounts presented by detaining authorities as well.

Against that record from the annals of a national commission, whose work has been accepted by its sponsors, the Government of Pakistan, we have with us the reconstruction attempted by a senior officer. However worthy his analysis, I fail to see why - and how- it can displace the official report.

The possibility of the entire thing being a conspiracy to enlarge Bhutto's role by making him the saviour of a larger number of men is,politely, sensationalist. It smacks of the conspiracy theories that lie like a miasma over every twist and turn of Pakistani history. The simple questions that need to be asked are: where was the good Colonel when the commission was sitting? Why did he not speak up then? Are we to believe, further, that nobody else had the imagination or the requisite access to information, or eve the drive and the motivation to set the record straight? Was nobody else before he interested in showing that the Pakistani armywas heavily outnumbered?

I am afraid that until it is clear that the commission was seriously in error, its view must prevail.

Mr.Shearer I posed your questions to the Colonel and this is what he had to say :

Brief answer to your questions are:


Hamood ur Rahamn commission was constituted by ZA Bhutto's government, Bhutto being the main character involved in breakup of Pakistan. The commission got these figures from Bhutto government. This report was never published because it contained such lies and may be exposed his role through some statements. If you recollect the figure of POW touted in the initial years by the government and even after the repatriation was 93000 (ninety three thousands). These days it is being given as 90000 (ninety thousands).

The figures are absolutely wrong. The number of Army persons can be calculated from the detail of units and formation listed in the ORBAT (order of battle) which is available in many Indian publications. It comes to about thirty two thousand all ranks.
The number of Navy and Air force seems correct.
The paramilitary East Pakistan Rifles, about fifteen thousand strong revolted in March and after some months another force the East Pakistan Civil Armed Force (EPCAF) was raised. The manpower was locals, mainly Urdu speaking 'Biharis' who joined their families as the war ended.
The civilians were some senior civil servants not many in numbers because the junior staff was local. Some civilians like staff of two merchant ships and such others, again not in the numbers mentioned, were with us.
As far families, the Army struggling to fight a counter insurgency campaign spread all over in the country in penny packets could not be living with families. What happened to the families of West Pakistanis in the months of Feb, March and April at the hands of Bengali mobs was great deterrence to keep families even by those posted at Dacca.

P.S I asked him to tell a little more about himself :

As far as my indentity is concerned I am a 70 years old soldier who, as comapnay commander of an infantry company traversed almost one third of the East Pakistan mainly on foot between the months of April to Dec 1971. My unit 34 Punjab, started its move from Dacca on 11th April (after being airlifted by PIA on 06-08Apr) moving to Narsinghdi, Bhairab Bazar, crossed over towards Brahman Baria, recrossed back to continue towads Kishor Ganj, Mymen Singh. Nitrakona and Durgapur. This was first phase till end April. In second phase we crossed over towards Rangpur, Kurigram, Nageswary, Bhurangamari and then to Thakurgaon covering the area Pirganj, Ranishankail, Nekmard, Ruhea, Pacharagh, Jagdalhat and Amarkhan along the borders. From there I with my company was moved south to Hilli , remained in Pachbibi and during the war mover further west to Patnitola finally coming to Nogaon where my group met the Indians on 22 Dec 71.

I hope some questions are answered. I will end by quoting the middle aged Bengali who on 16 Dec, when I was closing my troops from Patinitola for move to Naogaon, briskly walked upto me, hugged me and stating crying on my shoulder with loud laments "I remember Ayb Khan, I remember Ayub Khan, this is not what we wanted". If we have lost east Pakistan, the Bengalis have lost pakistan. I have a hope that if we can get out the clutches of US appointed rulers, we can realize our true potential and have excellent relation with Bengal may be in the form a federation.

I retired as Colonel after completing my age and service limit in 1994. Am living near Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Occasionally I keep contributing letters in the Newspost of the daily News, with my name Colonel (retd) Nazir Ahmed

P.P.S I hope that answers the questions but if you've found any discrepancy in the OBAT please do let me know and I'd try to obtain a clarification (or an explanation) from the Colonel !

Regards,
Armstrong !
 
Mr.Shearer I posed your questions to the Colonel and this is what he had to say :

Brief answer to your questions are:


Hamood ur Rahamn commission was constituted by ZA Bhutto's government, Bhutto being the main character involved in breakup of Pakistan. The commission got these figures from Bhutto government. This report was never published because it contained such lies and may be exposed his role through some statements. If you recollect the figure of POW touted in the initial years by the government and even after the repatriation was 93000 (ninety three thousands). These days it is being given as 90000 (ninety thousands).

The figures are absolutely wrong. The number of Army persons can be calculated from the detail of units and formation listed in the ORBAT (order of battle) which is available in many Indian publications. It comes to about thirty two thousand all ranks.
The number of Navy and Air force seems correct.
The paramilitary East Pakistan Rifles, about fifteen thousand strong revolted in March and after some months another force the East Pakistan Civil Armed Force (EPCAF) was raised. The manpower was locals, mainly Urdu speaking 'Biharis' who joined their families as the war ended.
The civilians were some senior civil servants not many in numbers because the junior staff was local. Some civilians like staff of two merchant ships and such others, again not in the numbers mentioned, were with us.
As far families, the Army struggling to fight a counter insurgency campaign spread all over in the country in penny packets could not be living with families. What happened to the families of West Pakistanis in the months of Feb, March and April at the hands of Bengali mobs was great deterrence to keep families even by those posted at Dacca.

P.S I asked him to tell a little more about himself :

As far as my indentity is concerned I am a 70 years old soldier who, as comapnay commander of an infantry company traversed almost one third of the East Pakistan mainly on foot between the months of April to Dec 1971. My unit 34 Punjab, started its move from Dacca on 11th April (after being airlifted by PIA on 06-08Apr) moving to Narsinghdi, Bhairab Bazar, crossed over towards Brahman Baria, recrossed back to continue towads Kishor Ganj, Mymen Singh. Nitrakona and Durgapur. This was first phase till end April. In second phase we crossed over towards Rangpur, Kurigram, Nageswary, Bhurangamari and then to Thakurgaon covering the area Pirganj, Ranishankail, Nekmard, Ruhea, Pacharagh, Jagdalhat and Amarkhan along the borders. From there I with my company was moved south to Hilli , remained in Pachbibi and during the war mover further west to Patnitola finally coming to Nogaon where my group met the Indians on 22 Dec 71.

I hope some questions are answered. I will end by quoting the middle aged Bengali who on 16 Dec, when I was closing my troops from Patinitola for move to Naogaon, briskly walked upto me, hugged me and stating crying on my shoulder with loud laments "I remember Ayb Khan, I remember Ayub Khan, this is not what we wanted". If we have lost east Pakistan, the Bengalis have lost pakistan. I have a hope that if we can get out the clutches of US appointed rulers, we can realize our true potential and have excellent relation with Bengal may be in the form a federation.

I retired as Colonel after completing my age and service limit in 1994. Am living near Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Occasionally I keep contributing letters in the Newspost of the daily News, with my name Colonel (retd) Nazir Ahmed

P.P.S I hope that answers the questions but if you've found any discrepancy in the OBAT please do let me know and I'd try to obtain a clarification (or an explanation) from the Colonel !

Regards,
Armstrong !

Let it not be said that I will question the word of an officer and a gentleman.

On my part, I merely wish to state that if an official commission of enquiry can be manipulated to yield false figures, falsified to the extent of three times, from about 39,000 to a figure of 93,000, then nothing is sacred. As the Colonel has worked out the actual list so carefully, in the interests of truth and for the honour of the Army, he should write an open letter to the COAS stating his case, and seeking the Chief's intervention to set right the figure. A copy of this should be given to the major media, including the electronic media.

One suggestion: military people are normally publicity-shy. If you are convinced that he has done a thorough job, you might like to take up this petition on his behalf. Even if the Chief believes that he need not take up the matter, the newspapers or the TV people surely will. Nothing so large in consequence will pass them by. In this way, a further investigation will be launched, and the truth will be forced out, Commission or no Commission. If people ask you how you got your figures, you can request the Colonel to support you as an expert witness.

This is the fairest way in which we can test the Colonel's numbers against the Commission's numbers, without doubting either.
 
@ Pakistan's economy and its prestige was going very fast. General Ayub Khan was the leader of the Third world countries. In 1964, the second time election was held during Ayub' tenure. Miss fatema Jinnah was the opposition candidate. Sk Mujib supported Miss Fatema Jinnah. In those days it was common in the than East Pakistan to keep newly born child's name either as Jinnah or Liaquet. Once General Ayub came for election campaign in our district. I tell you people came to see him from each family. I also went to see him and lost my shoe. Miss Fatema was also very popular in East Pakistan but some how she missed it. In those days the election used to be held indirectly. There 40,000 BD (Basic Democrat) member earmarked for East Pakistan . Similarly 40,000 for West Pakistan. These BD members were directly elected by the common people. Now these newly elected BD member will vote for the President of Pakistan on behalf of the people.


@ The economy of combined Pakistan was considered as a reference in the Third World countries. Pakistan's economy was just after South Korea. Our living standard was much much higher. The young energetic Foreign Minister Butto quickly made a plan and convince General Ayub that this is the right time we should do some thing about Kashmir. India is already defeated by China in 1962, fomenting in Kashmir is on the process. So, the war started between Pakistan and India. Pakistan was betrayed by USA and their allies. USA said that Pakistan was not being attacked by any Communist Country so the question of helping or defending Pakistan does not comes. Ayub at once stopped the activities of USA air base at Peshawar. By 1968, the American base was completely evicted. USA was highly annoyed on Ayub. Soon Ayub tilted towards China. Ayub gave too much importance on non-alignment movement (NAM). Ayub also tried his best to have a good relation with USSR. Under the innitiative of Ayub he made RCD (Regional Cooperation for Development) The 1965 war with India was a suicidal for Pakistan which was planned and executed by Butto. So infact Ayub was trying to come out from American grip but Bhutto took this oppurtunity either wise we as a united Pakistan could have reached too high.



@ All these developments were not being liked by USA. USA needs some naval base somewhere at St Martin in East Pakistan. Many a times USA requested Ayub for this but Ayub rejected this proposal. This base was essential for logistic reason to support the war at Vietnam. So long Sk Mujib was jumping with little bit of milk from RAW(not yet formed). But once war was going between Pakistan and India instead of helping Muneum Khan he suggested to revolt against Pakistan and declare independence. Soon after the war om March 1966 at Lahore Sk Mujib announced his famous Six Points. What is six points no body knows it till the last. People says it was secretly made with the help of RAW and CIA and handed over to Mujib just he was about to board on PIA for Lahore conference. Mizanur Rahman said he saw Mujib to read this points while he was on board. In fact he himself was also not familiar with this handy Six points. Once he landed at Karachi airport, the generalists requested Mujib for explaining these points and but Mujib avoided the question and said with confident that next time he visit West Pakistan he would explain in detail. After coming to Dacca he called on a special meeting calling all the district GS and Presidents. It was widely discussed for the first time but out of 17 district committees 14 committees resigned from AL politics at once. Sk Mujib was highly shocked. Soon he called the student leaders like Razzak, Tofail, Ammu, Jillur, Jalil and others and said forget about the district AL committees what you can expect from all these old Muslim Leaquers. From now on I, Sk Mujib here by authorize you all power to visit all Thanas, Districts and Sub-Divisions and any corner of East Pakistan and make the six points popular. This is my " Magna Carta", go on at once. After this he became famous in East Pakistan. Soon he was picked by USA. Since than the Second officer of American Embassy had a regular meeting with this Sk Mujib. And so on-----------

This was the reason why the student leaders became so powerful in AL politics.Soon, many went to India to take handy training.


@ You remember in 1956/57 the Provincial Speaker(East Bengal) Shahid died at the Assembly Room while the parliament session was going on. Most of us know that in one stage these were clash between the MP's inside the Parliament and some body threw a chair on the head of Speaker and later on he died. The fact was it was this great Sk Mujibur Rahman who threw a stone (paper weight) which directly hit the head of the speaker and he died. This was the clash between AL and "Jukto Front" MP's.



@ Sk Mujib used to get bags of money from the industrialist of 22 families. Even he was made as the CEO of Insurance Company stationed at Dhaka. Soon he made this office as the centre of AL politics. Sk Mujib was a very greedy man. His eyes were always on the properties of non-Bengalis. He was foolish of the highest order. In those days raw Jute and its finish products were very costly in the international market. Once the Korean War(1952-54) was going on, the demand of raw jute, sand bags and "Hassen Cloths" was at peak. People says that the fire of raw jute was smokeless that is why these were used in gun powder. In early fifties there was too much of rush of foreign ships at Chalna Seaport. In order to facilitate the quick export of raw jute another Seaport was made at Mongla.


@@ Dear friends what I am writing here are almost fact but the question is may be it did not came up in the press. Ask these question to the old people only than you might get these results. There are many things in this world which remains hidden unless some body digs it

You are picking bits and pieces of history and putting them together. Well nice try. Its like from long sentence you pick the words of your choice and make a shorter sentence which has a complete different meaning. For instance 6 point demand was not initiated by Mujib which is true but put forward in 1962 by the students. It was first rejected by AL including Sk. Mujib. So it was no secret deal handed to Sk. Mujib on his way to W. Pakistan. There were different plans proposed by different person like Mohammed Ali Bogra, Shahid Sohrawardy etc to keep a parity between East and West Pakistan. All the administrative control and head quarters were located in West Pakistan including banks which made it very difficult for East Pakistan to keep pace with West. The design itself was flawed. Yes some Bengali people were the beneficiary of the system who could afford to travel to West Pakistan like you but our peasant and middle class were the victims.

I dont want to continue as I dont want to spoil your party.. Carry on!!
 
@ Hi Armstrong, it seems your this Colonel is not fictitious.

"As far as my indentity is concerned I am a 70 years old soldier who, as comapnay commander of an infantry company traversed almost one third of the East Pakistan mainly on foot between the months of April to Dec 1971. My unit 34 Punjab, started its move from Dacca on 11th April (after being airlifted by PIA on 06-08Apr) moving to Narsinghdi, Bhairab Bazar, crossed over towards Brahman Baria, recrossed back to continue towads Kishor Ganj, Mymen Singh. Nitrakona and Durgapur. This was first phase till end April. In second phase we crossed over towards Rangpur, Kurigram, Nageswary, Bhurangamari and then to Thakurgaon covering the area Pirganj, Ranishankail, Nekmard, Ruhea, Pacharagh, Jagdalhat and Amarkhan along the borders. From there I with my company was moved south to Hilli , remained in Pachbibi and during the war mover further west to Patnitola finally coming to Nogaon where my group met the Indians on 22 Dec 71.

@@ I liked the above statement of Colonel. It seems even he was in my locality. Probably I saw him while patrolling in our area. I remember, it was on 14 August 1971, we went to see a friendly football match arranged by the local officials on the eve of Pakistan Day. In one side the Pakistani troops and on the other side the local Bengalis. Than suddenly we saw a patrol came after patrolling and a young capt just after removing his army boot jumped on the field. Who won on this match I did not remember but definitely both sides got the prizes.

@ I remember one another incident, in those days I mean during the liberation war, one day we heard that one Razakar had been killed by the Mukti Bahini while he was guarding the culvert. Infact there were 3 Razakars were poste there to guard the culvert. At mid-night once the Mukti's came another two fled away but this Razakar remained at his post till he finished his 10 supplied ammunition. This Razakar was first killed by bullet than boynotted and finally his eyes were taken away. We went to see there. Than the Pakistan army came. The father of the Razakar was crying, then I saw one Naib Subedar said, " Mat ro, mat ro, tera puttar shahid hogia, Allah ko piare ho gia ".

@ Most of the points I agree with this Colonel but the question is how come we can take the figure as authentic. During that period he was only a Capt, may be during the last stage he was promoted to Maj. I have gone through the book, " Betrayal of East Pakistan" by General Niazi . In this Niazi set the figure of Army some thing like 46,000. The others were para-military forces, civilians, Navy, Airforce and their families.

@ I have also gone through the book of Siddique Saleh, "Witness to Surrender" there he also did not mention the contradiction of surrendered figure. But it is thrue the 3 Infantry Division less heavy equipments cannot make 93,000 combat troops.

@ Another point the Colonel mentioned that during the initial resistance movement all the bridges were destroyed. I thing this statement is not correct. May be these were blocked but not demolished.
 
16 Dec 1971 was great day for south asian history indeed ! First RIP to 3 million deceased people ! greatest surrender by any nation in mordern military history ! wonderful moment of creation & freedom of bangladesh !

hope bangladeshis show there oppressive rulers of past that they were or are in no way underdogs & inferior muslims like they were treated before this unique historical day !
 
You are picking bits and pieces of history and putting them together. Well nice try. Its like from long sentence you pick the words of your choice and make a shorter sentence which has a complete different meaning. For instance 6 point demand was not initiated by Mujib which is true but put forward in 1962 by the students. It was first rejected by AL including Sk. Mujib. So it was no secret deal handed to Sk. Mujib on his way to W. Pakistan. There were different plans proposed by different person like Mohammed Ali Bogra, Shahid Sohrawardy etc to keep a parity between East and West Pakistan. All the administrative control and head quarters were located in West Pakistan including banks which made it very difficult for East Pakistan to keep pace with West. The design itself was flawed. Yes some Bengali people were the beneficiary of the system who could afford to travel to West Pakistan like you but our peasant and middle class were the victims.

I dont want to continue as I dont want to spoil your party.. Carry on!!

@ Hi iajdani thanks for giving your output. I know you are very good in history but I would request you to study the history again. The point you are talking about are those points of the students. In fact it all started once Sohrawardy was the Prime Minister in 1956. During his times Pakistan signed the De fence Pact with USA. Before that Pakistan joined in SEATO and CENTO. The Six Points was first declared on February/March 1966 at Lahore. You cannot compare the Six points with that of 22 points of the students !!!!
 
Let it not be said that I will question the word of an officer and a gentleman.

On my part, I merely wish to state that if an official commission of enquiry can be manipulated to yield false figures, falsified to the extent of three times, from about 39,000 to a figure of 93,000, then nothing is sacred. As the Colonel has worked out the actual list so carefully, in the interests of truth and for the honour of the Army, he should write an open letter to the COAS stating his case, and seeking the Chief's intervention to set right the figure. A copy of this should be given to the major media, including the electronic media.

One suggestion: military people are normally publicity-shy. If you are convinced that he has done a thorough job, you might like to take up this petition on his behalf. Even if the Chief believes that he need not take up the matter, the newspapers or the TV people surely will. Nothing so large in consequence will pass them by. In this way, a further investigation will be launched, and the truth will be forced out, Commission or no Commission. If people ask you how you got your figures, you can request the Colonel to support you as an expert witness.

This is the fairest way in which we can test the Colonel's numbers against the Commission's numbers, without doubting either.

@ Hi Armstrong, it seems your this Colonel is not fictitious.

"As far as my indentity is concerned I am a 70 years old soldier who, as comapnay commander of an infantry company traversed almost one third of the East Pakistan mainly on foot between the months of April to Dec 1971. My unit 34 Punjab, started its move from Dacca on 11th April (after being airlifted by PIA on 06-08Apr) moving to Narsinghdi, Bhairab Bazar, crossed over towards Brahman Baria, recrossed back to continue towads Kishor Ganj, Mymen Singh. Nitrakona and Durgapur. This was first phase till end April. In second phase we crossed over towards Rangpur, Kurigram, Nageswary, Bhurangamari and then to Thakurgaon covering the area Pirganj, Ranishankail, Nekmard, Ruhea, Pacharagh, Jagdalhat and Amarkhan along the borders. From there I with my company was moved south to Hilli , remained in Pachbibi and during the war mover further west to Patnitola finally coming to Nogaon where my group met the Indians on 22 Dec 71.

@@ I liked the above statement of Colonel. It seems even he was in my locality. Probably I saw him while patrolling in our area. I remember, it was on 14 August 1971, we went to see a friendly football match arranged by the local officials on the eve of Pakistan Day. In one side the Pakistani troops and on the other side the local Bengalis. Than suddenly we saw a patrol came after patrolling and a young capt just after removing his army boot jumped on the field. Who won on this match I did not remember but definitely both sides got the prizes.

@ I remember one another incident, in those days I mean during the liberation war, one day we heard that one Razakar had been killed by the Mukti Bahini while he was guarding the culvert. Infact there were 3 Razakars were poste there to guard the culvert. At mid-night once the Mukti's came another two fled away but this Razakar remained at his post till he finished his 10 supplied ammunition. This Razakar was first killed by bullet than boynotted and finally his eyes were taken away. We went to see there. Than the Pakistan army came. The father of the Razakar was crying, then I saw one Naib Subedar said, " Mat ro, mat ro, tera puttar shahid hogia, Allah ko piare ho gia ".

@ Most of the points I agree with this Colonel but the question is how come we can take the figure as authentic. During that period he was only a Capt, may be during the last stage he was promoted to Maj. I have gone through the book, " Betrayal of East Pakistan" by General Niazi . In this Niazi set the figure of Army some thing like 46,000. The others were para-military forces, civilians, Navy, Airforce and their families.

@ Another point the Colonel mentioned that during the initial resistance movement all the bridges were destroyed. I thing this statement is not correct. May be these were blocked but not demolished.

The Colonel sent me a 200 page manuscript detailing his life's history in the '71 War from the first orders he received to be re-posted to East-Pakistan till he finally returned to Pakistan ! Unfortunately my exams are due in less than a months time and so I've only read a few pages of it...but I promise to get back as soon as I'm free and so I'll try to find out more answers for you guys ! Hes thinking of possibly getting it published...I'm imploring him to do so ! So lets see...!
 
Good posts from Md. Akmal and Armstrong, keep going please.:tup:

http://www.defence.pk/forums/bangla...-east-pakistan-bangladesh-55.html#post2913075

If I may point out, I didn't get a response to my above post.

In order for Bangladesh and Pakistan to learn from our past, we need to have a joint project to sift through documents, personal accounts and other sources to create an authentic account of the conflict and its history. Then we can put this account in both of our text books so that it can teach our new generations how not to fall into enemy traps.

This has to be done as soon as possible, before the older people pass away and documents are destroyed by criminals to hide their tracks.

Also, more importantly it will be an effective tool to deconstruct this false reality of "independence" and "liberation" that India has worked hard to build since decades before 1971 and trying hard to maintain among Bangladesh population today using their RAWamy agents.
 
Good posts from Md. Akmal and Armstrong, keep going please.:tup:

http://www.defence.pk/forums/bangla...-east-pakistan-bangladesh-55.html#post2913075

If I may point out, I didn't get a response to my above post.

In order for Bangladesh and Pakistan to learn from our past, we need to have a joint project to sift through documents, personal accounts and other sources to create an authentic account of the conflict and its history. Then we can put this account in both of our text books so that it can teach our new generations how not to fall into enemy traps.

This has to be done as soon as possible, before the older people pass away and documents are destroyed by criminals to hide their tracks.

Also, more importantly it will be an effective tool to deconstruct this false reality of "independence" and "liberation" that India has worked hard to build since decades before 1971 and trying hard to maintain among Bangladesh population today using their RAWamy agents.

I'll try to answer them at a later date though I'm not sure if there is any study (or document) out there impartial enough to suggest the break-up of the casualties like that !
 

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