Why did they even consider surrender? Going by the account i posted, the pakistani troops were quantitatively and qualitatively superior to the 'half-battalion' of Indian troops. Would this be a case of "bad intelligence reports" ? Sorry if i come across as an amateur....its because I AM an amateur.
The surrender came from the top..
First Yahya Khan got cold feet.. and never launched the counter attack that was supposed to come under Tikka Khan(for which the PAF was holding back)..then he decided it was not worth it to try and work a compromise later on(as per reports of his Crony Niazi in Dhaka)..
Moreover.. the polish sponsored ceasefire that bhutto so dramatically tore up in the UN might have even saved the situation.. if anything allowed the troops to come back without being taken prisoner. But the leadership was all confused.
Yahya wanted to keep his seat till the last minute , Bhutto wanted premiership.. and Mujib was now leading an emotionally charged people that wanted blood.
Niazi had failed in utilizing his troops to defend Dhaka and found no other option than to cry crocodile tears and surrender.
He went back.. romped with more women while drunk.. and left his troops to suffer the humiliation of putting their arms down.
There were many cases in the east where men refused to stop fighting till their CO's forced them.. the disillusionment they suffered cannot be put into words.
Many in west Pakistan did not believe what had happened, they had been fed the "fight for a 1000 years".. some died of shock.
its a chapter that cannot be forgotten, cannot be just explained away by Pakistanis..
just mourned.