You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist!

Writing a piece after quite a long break. It’s strange that we need to separately find time for doing the things we like to do, as in my case – writing blogs. But, the life in the financial capital of the country is as fast as a tracer bullet and one has to be on one’s toes all the time.

Few weeks back, the much awaited biopic of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw titled ‘Sam Bahadur’ was released with Vicky Kaushal playing the lead role. In the post-independence history, if one has to single out a particular event which brings India at the forefront in the geo-political arena – it is this 1971 War. This was the first time after the World War II that India was party to an operation which substantially changed the territorial boundaries of a country on the globe. More than defeating Pakistan, this War significantly failed the calculations of the United States which back then viewed India as nothing more than a third world Soviet lackey. Just days before the release, former US NSA Henry Kissinger, who had apparently threatened India during this war, passed away at the age of 100. This entire episode had an imbroglio of many towering personalities of the era, which makes it all the more crucial to dig deep into its various facets.

The ideologues of Pakistan, who coined the ‘two-nation theory’ during the Independence struggle, seldom knew that the same would be used against their own regime at some point in time. Ever since Independence, the neglect and indifference suffered by the people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was evident. With every passing day, the crushing of Bengali rights and sentiments in East Pakistan was on the rise. In a short span, the wheel of time took an ironic twist when in 1956 – Rehman Sobhan, an economist from East Pakistan re-phrased the ‘two-nation theory’ as ‘two-economies theory’. It postulated that Pakistan is not one but two economies and therefore it must deal separately for East and West Pakistan. This concept was at the heart of the ‘Six point Movement’ led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in 1966 who had a commanding stature in East Pakistan. Like any other rational proposal, this too, was rejected in West Pakistan at a meeting in Lahore. But, all along, it had almost unanimous approval in East Pakistan. The sentiment of independence was slowly brewing in the minds of the people in East Pakistan.

This sentiment got overheated and came pouring out when one of the most deadliest cyclones lashed the coastal areas of East Pakistan during November 1970 which left almost 5 lakh dead in its wake. Horrific pictures of bloated bodies washed ashore filtered through as newspapers reported the extent of damage. President Yayha Khan and central government in West Pakistan were far removed from the scene of disaster. A week after the cyclone had struck, students were demonstrating against the President and West Pakistan’s indifference towards the Bengali population in Dhaka. By March, the situation had steadily worsened and it got further accentuated when Pakistan Army under President Yahya Khan launched Operation Searchlight aimed at brutally crushing the Bengali nationalist sentiment. Newspapers were flooded with reporting incidences of Pakistani Army’s mass killings and rapes in East Pakistan. As a result massive exodus of refugees into India began – first in hundreds, then thousands. 

People in India were still trying to make sense of it all as more and more such reports came in. Indian administration repeatedly appealed the international fraternity for action against Pakistani genocide. The US Consul General at Dhaka Archer blood asked the US to intervene in the conflict, but was met with a deafening silence. He was ultimately recalled by the US after he openly criticised the US government. This incident is aptly described in the book “The Blood Telegram” by Gary Bass which is based on the dissent memo sent by Archer Blood to the US Government. Back then, the US saw Pakistan as a key buffer state to counter Soviet influence in South Asia. Nixon personally visited Pakistan in 1969, followed by a visit of Yayha Khan to the White House in 1970. A plan was chalked out in these meetings to utilize Pakistan’s ally China to counter India and initiate US’s footing on Chinese soil. It was codenamed ‘Operation Marco Polo’ and US NSA Henry Kissinger made a secret visit to Beijing. He became the first US Government official to set foot on the Chinese soil. In these meetings, Kissinger recalled how China defeated India in 1962 and asserted that the same will happen again if India initiates a military intervention in the East Pakistan matter.

With an understanding in place with China and the ‘genocide’ at its zenith, US NSA Henry Kissinger blackmailed India (so to speak!) against taking any action in this matter. He emphasised that they would not be able to save India against China. Indira Gandhi had already openly declared support for the cause of the rebels on 27th March 1971. She asked Kissinger to tell President Nixon to prevail upon Yahya Khan to stop genocide of Bangladesh and hand over power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman without delay. If US did not do so, she would do something herself, she added, pointing at General Sam Manekshaw sitting across the dining hall. There was pin drop silence in the dining hall but Kissinger was evasive. “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist” – Indira Gandhi famously remarked. Later archives revealed that he had called her a b**** and Indians as b******s after he got back to the United States.

It is public knowledge that US had ordered Task Force 74, a naval task force under its 7th fleet led by USS Enterprise to assemble in the Bay of Bengal. But by then India, too, had began making her moves to checkmate the US’s misadventures. In New Delhi, EAM Swaran Singh signed a ‘Peace and Friendship treaty’ with Andrei Gromyko of Soviet Union in August 1971. The treaty had provided that Soviets would back India with cover in case of any possible Chinese intervention in aid of Pakistan, if at all any such conflict arose. The Soviet Union started deploying cruisers, destroyers as well as a submarine armed with nuclear warheads in response to the growing American military presence in the area. The terrain of East Pakistan was nigh unsurpassable during the monsoons, but in winter it was do-able. General Sam Manekshaw had asked in that famous cabinet meeting to not send forces into losing and allow time to prepare if we want to win. He even offered to resign saying he does not want to go into losing.

With the backing from Indira Gandhi, the Armed Chiefs began devising a military response at both eastern and western fronts. The leadership in West Pakistan was unable to control the situation of rebels even with ruthless butchery and atrocities under commanders like Tikka Khan who were notorious for such acts. The frustrated Pakistan launched Operation Chengiz Khan against India on 3rd December 1971. On the same day, PM Indira Gandhi went live on All India Radio that, “India is at war with Pakistan”.

Back in the US, General Westmoreland told President Nixon and Henry Kissinger that it would take ‘at least’ one and a half or two months for India to liberate East Pakistan. They even decided to send military aid for Pakistan through Iran as the US had good rapport with the Shah of Iran in those days. But failing the US calculations, the Indian armed forces ended the conflict in merely 13 days resulting in decisive Indian victory and birth of a new nation – Bangladesh. More than 93,000 Pakistani soldiers openly surrendered before India. US eventually ended its blockade after Soviet Pressure, but still rejoiced saying that it saved West Pakistan which, too, would have collapsed if the War continued. The eve of 16th December 1971 belonged to Indira Gandhi for her quick, wise and brave leadership and of course, the courageous soldiers of Indian Armed forces under General Sam Manekshaw, Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal and Admiral S.M. Nanda.

However, haunting scenes were left for us to see in Dhaka, even while our Armed Forces were being welcomed with great applause and cheer. Women in hospitals begged our Army officers to shoot them as they had been repeatedly raped and had nowhere to go with unborn babies. We have heard accounts of the Nazi deeds against the Jews. A similar account exists here too. It was reported to our Army Cantonments in Dhaka that around 560 Bengali women were picked up by soldiers as ‘sex slaves’ in military brothels. An even more startling fact is that the United States, the main backer of Pakistan, was well aware of all of these atrocities. They had a very detailed report sent by their own people about these ghastly atrocities, but they chose to turn a blind eye towards them.

Today, as the world is once again turning multi-polar, it is necessary for Indians to know how the US treated us back in 1971 and until very recently. We have been sanctioned numerous times for merely standing up for our own self. This piece is an eye opener for those who are wrongly led to believe false narratives promulgated even today by the apparatus of US establishment in the form congressional committees, selected individuals at ivy-league institutions and the lackeys in media organisations like New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, etc. Therefore, these words of Indira Gandhi need to be a carving on the rock while we deal with motivated narratives of such an establishment – You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist!

This article has references from General VK Singh’s book – ‘Courage and Conviction’ and Gary Bass’s book – ‘The Blood Telegram’.