Opinion: Vijay Diwas is glorious saga of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini

A state uses violence against another only as the last resort after all political and diplomatic means have failed – this is what Sun Tzu meant when he said that ‘To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.’ War is a catastrophic event, which puts back development in a country, especially if its economy has not stabilised.

India, unfortunately, has had four wars inflicted on it by Pakistan and one by China. So, while the 1948 aggression in Jammu and Kashmir was a precursor of things to come from Pakistan, it was the 1962 debacle with China that shook Indian leadership out of its idealist leanings and belief; the harsh nature of geo-politics and the imperative requirement of having a strong military deterrent were driven home. This resulted in an upswing in military preparedness that showed partial results in the 1965 Indo-Pak war but was evident in full measure in the 1971 conflict, where India came out with flying colours and resulted in the birth of Bangladesh.

The most representative visual of the victory is the iconic photograph of the surrender ceremony at Dacca (as Dhaka was then spelled) on 16 December 1971 – which India celebrates as Vijay Diwas.

After the influx of ten million refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan, India could not afford to be a bystander to the violence unleashed by the Pakistani Army. So, even as a diplomatic offensive was undertaken by Mrs Indira Gandhi to bring home the horrors of the unfolding genocide, the military was given the quiet go-ahead to prepare for war.

The famous April 1971 cabinet meeting in which the Army Chief General Sam Manekshaw is reported to have told the PM that he needed time to prepare and that if he was pushed to war before the monsoons he could only guarantee a defeat, is the stuff of military folklore.

Another masterstroke, that brought to fore the strategic long-term thinking of the political establishment and their understanding of the intimate link between diplomacy and military affairs, was the signing of the treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union in August ‘71, even as the countdown to resort to military action was underway; the Indo-Soviet treaty ensured that US and China could not intervene on behalf of Pakistan in case of a shooting war.

Thus, with the political, bureaucratic and military leadership gelling together as one cohesive unit it was up to our warriors - the jawan on land, the airman in a cockpit and a naval sailor on board a naval vessel – to deliver the results. And, did they deliver!

While the surreptitious support to the Mukti Bahini has now been documented, the real shooting war commenced in November itself. It came into the open when the IAF shot down three Pakistani Sabres on 22 November who were strafing the Indian Army troops on the ground over Boyra in East Pakistan. And it became a full-fledged war on 03 December when Pakistan Air Force (PAF) attempted an Israeli style pre-emptive strike on IAF bases in the West; it failed miserably.

The Indian strategy was clear – holding action on the Western front and a full offensive in the East. While there is some controversy, in the absence of a written government directive to the Armed Forces, about the initial aim in the East (some writers say that capture of Dhaka was not the initial aim), the fact is that as the war progressed, the tactical brilliance of our Army’s middle and junior level leadership came to the fore.

Towns and heavy fortifications were bypassed and the drive to Dacca speeded up before international pressure could call a halt to operations. IAF fighters gave close air support to Army formations while the Navy blockaded the ports of East Pakistan. All this while, the Mukti Bahini was a great help in terms of the accurate intelligence that only they could have provided. As Pakistani forces retreated, and their morale depleted, an airstrike by MIG-21s of the IAF on the Governor’s house on 14 December (where a meeting called by the Governor was underway) hastened the decision of the Pakistanis to surrender. The rest, as they say, is history. The victory epitomised the decisive leadership exercised by the political, diplomatic and military establishments and the valour of the Indian armed forces.

I was a Class XI kid, preparing for the entrance exam to the National Defence Academy during the ’71 war. While there are a multitude of memories of living through black outs and grabbing the morning paper to read reports of the Indian Army’s advance and stories of heroism of our jawans, one particular remembrance is of the address of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi beamed live by All India Radio from Parliament; she announced to the world that, “Dacca is now the free capital of a free country.” It still brings a lump in my throat, as it did that day, 16 December 1971 – a day we celebrate as Vijay Diwas. Jai Hind!