Mukti Bahini must be given due credit for liberating Bangladesh: Gen Jacob

[SpArK]

Mukti Bahini must be given due credit for liberating Bangladesh: Gen Jacob​

New Delhi, Oct 19 (ANI): Mukti Bahini, the army of freedom fighters who fought against the Pakistan Army, must be given the due credit for liberating their country, according to Lt. General J.F.R. Jacob, the unsung hero of the 1971 India-Pakistan war over Bangladesh.


Mukti Bahini comprised of Bengali regulars and civilians, operated as an effective guerrilla force to keep the Pakistan Army on the run during the Bangladesh Liberation War.


Lt. General Jacob was the Chief of Staff, Eastern Command, during the 1971 war and took many operational decisions at his own risk, despite differences with seniors. He was the mastermind of implementing the surrender programme by the Pakistan Army led by Lt. General Niazi, who headed the Eastern Command of the Pakistan Army.


Talking about the events leading to the war, Lt. General Jacob told ANI: "Mrs. Indira Gandhi (Indian PM) was pushing General Sam Manekshaw (Army Chief) to move the Army. Manekshaw was pushing me and I refused and gave him good reasons. I said look we have mountain divisions, we have to cross many rivers which don't have many bridges, monsoon is about to break and we are short of logistics."


"Mrs. Gandhi was appalled by the plight of refugees coming from East Pakistan and she ordered the Army to assist Bangladeshi freedom fighters. So we set up camps to train them in border areas. We started the Mukti forces."


Talking about the role of dreaded guerrilla force, Lt. General Jacob said: "The Mukti Bahini should be given due credit for the role they played in liberating Bangladesh. I must say the whole Bengali nation rose up, they fought against massacre. The Mukti forces played an important role in freeing their country.


"Mukti bahini created an environment of fear among the Pakistani Army, broke their morale and halted their movement. They harassed the Pakistani Army and this was the major contribution of Mukti forces."


Asked about his differences with the Army Chief, General (later Field Marshal) Manekshaw over capturing Dacca, Lt. General Jacob said: "He (Manekshaw) had asked for a brief and it was my brief that was read out to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. We had said Dhaka should be taken first, but he (Manekshaw) wanted to take the entry ports of Khulna and Chittagong.


"But I disagreed. Dacca was geo-political and geo-strategic heart of Bangladesh and should be taken first. With this we went to the war."


Describing the events leading to the surrender of the Pakistan Army, Lt. General Jacob said Manekshaw called me and said, "Jake, go and get a surrender." I said, "I sent you a surrender document, three days ago. Do I negotiate on that?" He just told me, "You know what to do."
"I was carrying my unconfirmed draft of the instrument of surrender to the meeting with Lieutenant General Niazi. At the meeting, Niazi said he had only come to discuss a ceasefire and not surrender...I took him to the side and told him that if they would surrender I could guarantee the safety of their families. I gave him 30 minutes and said if we didn't reach an agreement by then, there would be resumption of hostilities.


"Then I thought to myself, "What have I done?" Suppose he says no, what do I do? I had nothing in my hand. Niazi had 26,400 troops. We had about 3,000, that's all. Our victory was a miracle."
Niazi accepted the surrender with tears in his eyes. Niazi also later said, "I was compelled to surrender by Jacob, who blackmailed me."


Lt. General also piad rich tributes to Mrs. Gandhi and then Defence Minister Jagjivan Ram for their role in the Bangladesh Liberation War.


Mukti Bahini must be given due credit for liberating Bangladesh: Gen Jacob


Highly inflammable thread. Spare Me.

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Basically the thread should read .... hey remember me I am famous I did a lot in 1971 and I was a great General and I got the Pakistanis to surrender. Please don't forget me. I am as important as Manikshaw and Aurora and all the others. Oh by the way the Mukti Bahini did a tremendous job. It was because of me that the Mukti Bahini was so effective. Yes my name is Lt. General J.F.R. Jacob ..... Don't forget now.

 

[Paan Singh]

Basically the thread should read .... hey remember me I am famous I did a lot in 1971 and I was a great General and I got the Pakistanis to surrender. Please don't forget me. I am as important as Manikshaw and Aurora and all the others. Oh by the way the Mukti Bahini did a tremendous job. It was because of me that the Mukti Bahini was so effective. Yes my name is Lt. General J.F.R. Jacob ..... Don't forget now.

 

[Luffy 500]

God job Indians working for us. There I patted U guys on the head for today. Be happy now. We recognize your existence.

 

[karan21]

Bangladesh is nothing but an Indian puppet state like Nepal and Bhutan. You guys don't deserve much highlight. Its better if you guys let us use your country for our needs and expansion. Oh wait a sec. We are already doing that.

God job Indians working for us. There I patted U guys on the head for today. Be happy now. We recognize your existence.

World recogonised your existance because of us . Who are you by the way.

 

[Maira La]

World recogonised your existance because of us . Who are you by the way.

So, in the years after 1971, your daddies went and lobbied in Beijing for China to recognize us? Was the US recognition your daddies' effort too? Those are recognitions that count and I doubt India had any hand in those.

As for recognition from India itself, we didn't need to ask for it. After all, if we're disintegrating your arch enemy for you, you better cooperate!

 

[ajtr]

IA lapped up all credit of 1971 war.If it wasnt for the internal revolt of mukti bhahini then PA would have whooped IA.

 

[notsuperstitious]

Of course Mukti Bahini and bengalis from east pakistan made huge sacrifices. Everyone knows that. Except that I see lots of bangladeshis on the forum trying to belittle and discredit that bengali struggle.

 

[Abhishek_]

it was for mutual benefit. win win for both sides and the credit goes to both as well.
what's there to flame about?

 

[rashtriya.rifles]

IA lapped up all credit of 1971 war.If it wasnt for the internal revolt of mukti bhahini then PA would have whooped IA.

that faggot Niazi with 26000 soldiers couldn't muster the courage against Jacob with 3000 men... talking of whooping and lame a$$ness

 

[eastwatch]

Of course Mukti Bahini and bengalis from east pakistan made huge sacrifices. Everyone knows that. Except that I see lots of bangladeshis on the forum trying to belittle and discredit that bengali struggle.

Do not care about these sons of razakar bitches in the PDF. They were and remain against an independent Bangladesh. They are still using all available methods, including PDF, to discredit Bangladesh and its creation by parroting in unison it was created only because of India when the reality was it was because of a liberation war that Bangladesh came into existence. They seem to undermine the Mukti Bahini who killed their traitor fathers and uncles.

 

[shahadat hussain]

the story is simple.. Bangladeshis wanted freedom and started an indepndent movement under mukti bahini.. Indians helped them and both went home satisfied with outcome.. whats the big deal !!!

 

[kalu_miah]

Do not care about these sons of razakar bitches in the PDF. They were and remain against an independent Bangladesh. They are still using all available methods, including PDF, to discredit Bangladesh and its creation by parroting in unison it was created only because of India when the reality was it was because of a liberation war that Bangladesh came into existence. They seem to undermine the Mukti Bahini who killed their traitor fathers and uncles.

Be specific, who do you think is Razakar among Bangladeshi members?

Everyone reserves the right to have their opinion and express it freely. Sorry it bothers you so much to hear some of our versions of truth and history. Emotion and sentiment has no place in judging history.

Did you loose any family in 1971? Just curious.

 

[eastwatch]

that faggot Niazi with 26000 soldiers couldn't muster the courage against Jacob with 3000 men... talking of whooping and lame a$$ness

You are quoting what General Jacob is saying. But, Niazi certainly had the intelligence about the number IA troops in Dhaka. But, how about the troops of Mukti Bahini? In reality, Mukti Bahini was contemplating a showdown with the PA troops to take revenge, while IA was not. So, what is your idea, didn't Gen. Niazi also think about the consequences of a close frontal fighting in Dhaka with the joint forces of MB and IA?

Turning back the pages of history I can attest Gen. Niazi did a brave thing by surrendering on 16th. MB troops were still far away and were rushing to Dhaka with whatever means of transport they could lay hands on. A large number of MB troops could have prevented even the surrendering. So, Dec.16 was a correct time for the occassion.

 

[dollarman]

IA lapped up all credit of 1971 war.If it wasnt for the internal revolt of mukti bhahini then PA would have whooped IA.

Simple question, do you think that Bangladesh would have been able to become independent without Indian Army help? I for one don't think so, because Pakistan could have continued to rape and kill of any Bengali resistance as they were doing for the previous 9 months before India got involved in war with Pakistan.

Not taking anything away from the Bangladeshi Muktis of course, they laid down their lives fighing Pakistanis. But the thing is, without Indian help, Bangladeshis like Muktis that opposed Pakistan would probably have been wiped out by them.

Basically the thread should read .... hey remember me I am famous I did a lot in 1971 and I was a great General and I got the Pakistanis to surrender. Please don't forget me. I am as important as Manikshaw and Aurora and all the others. Oh by the way the Mukti Bahini did a tremendous job. It was because of me that the Mukti Bahini was so effective. Yes my name is Lt. General J.F.R. Jacob ..... Don't forget now.

Don't know why you Bangladeshis are reacting negatively to this thread, if anything the General is praising the role of Bangladeshi Mukti Bahanis in 1971 war...