Pakistan’s name has been blackened by just one man: General AAK ‘Tiger’ Niazi. According to a new book by Oxford University Press, he is supposed to have pronounced the words that even Genghis Khan would have hesitated to use: that he would let loose his soldiers on the women of East Pakistan till the lineage/ethnicity of the Bengali race was changed.
The account has come from a true son of Pakistan, late Major-General (retd) Khadim Hussain Raja in his recently published book A Stranger in My Own Country: East Pakistan, 1969-1971 (OUP, 2012). The book is posthumously published probably because it was a hot potato in the times it was actually written. He was General Officer Commanding 14 Division in East Pakistan.
General Ayub Khan, whose decade of rule caused the jurisprudence of separatism to evolve, gets the treatment he deserved through the testimony of another not-too-civilised general named Gul Hassan:
“Gul Hassan openly criticised Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s sons who, according to him, were letting their father down by amassing wealth by unfair means. Gul Hassan blurted out that ‘I have told the old cock that this time we will impose Martial Law and take control ourselves but not protect Ayub and his henchmen’. The reference [old cock] was to General Yahya Khan, Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army” (p.8).
General Yahya Khan, who took over from Ayub was not what the doctor would have ordered for East Pakistan. The only leadership criterion was brutality riding on low IQ. The exception was General Yaqub Khan, the commander who insisted that General Yahya not postpone the session of the National Assembly elected after the 1970 election.
The author writes: “All of a sudden, General Yaqub Khan was bundled off as a student on the Imperial Defence College course. This clumsy and unceremonious action was obviously taken to get him out of the way” (p.7).
Commander East Pakistan, General Tikka Khan, disagreed with Raja that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman be secretly despatched to West Pakistan. He wanted to “publicly try Sheikh Mujib in Dhaka and hang him” (p.93).
Major-General Rahim Khan was the other officer Pakistan can’t be proud of: “Rahim started to criticise the senior commanders in Dhaka, especially me, although I happened to be a friend of his. He was of the opinion that the Bengalis were timid people and should have been subdued long ago. The reader can judge for himself the ignorance and lack of understanding of the East Pakistan situation among the hawks in the armed forces” (p.97). Rahim ran away from East Pakistan when things became too hot.
We come to the climax: “[Enter] Commander East Pakistan General Niazi, wearing a pistol holster on his web belt. Niazi became abusive and started raving. Breaking into Urdu, he said: Main iss haramzadi qaum ki nasal badal doon ga. Yeh mujhe kiya samajhtey hain. He threatened that he would let his soldiers loose on their womenfolk. There was pin drop silence at these remarks. The next morning, we were given the sad news. A Bengali officer Major Mushtaq went into a bathroom at the Command Headquarters and shot himself in the head” (p.98).
Niazi also asked Raja for phone numbers of his Bengali girlfriends: “Abhi tau mujhey Bengali girlfriends kay phone number day do” (p.99). Niazi surrendered to Indian General JFR Jacob in 1971. ‘Tiger’ Niazi handed over his personal pistol at the famous Race Course ceremony. Jacob examined the weapon: the lanyard was greasy and frayed, and the pistol was full of muck as if it hadn’t been cleaned in a long while. (Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation; by Lt. Gen JFR Jacob; Manohar Publishers 1997).
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2012.
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@ Nazir Ahmed - What was the reason behind attacking Ramna Kali Temple in Dhaka when Pak army first arrived there ? Just curious to know. How could it be a war strategy to attack and vandalize a Hindu temple and kill a priest ?
@Nazir Ahmed: Army officers are supposed to be "Gentleman first"
@jagjit sidhoo: In East Pakistan, the facts about atrocities in 1971 are one eighty digree different from created perceptions. In the months of Feb, March and April when there was no government in East Pakistan, the Begalis killed non- Begalis (Biharis and West pakistanis) in thousands at different places. The total figure would be in hundreds of thousands. Khair ul Bashar is welcome to sulk in hatred but majotity of he people of Bengal know what actually happened. and who should apologise from whom.
@Khairul Bashar: Mr Nazir Ahmed you have your answer , I apologized to you "my apologies for the ill treatment meted out to you and your colleagues" are my exact words. Apologize to Bangladesh for the acts of your country men , it is not so difficult you will feel better once you have done it .An apology can not make good their losses but it can put some balm on their wounds instead of rubbing salt into their wounds as you and JI are now doing.
I am Bangladeshi and Muslim. I hate pakistani people because of 1971. I saw pakistani solder's inhuman activities in 1971. We will not never forgive them.
@Nazir Ahmed: Our discussion is not a useless exercise. You are talking about Sharmila Bose, who was no where on the scene. At that point of time she was in America. I am not discussing who was responsible for creation of Bangladesh may be you are right that it was Bhutto. Our discussion is about the article "Genetic Engineering" and the rape and brutality there of. Do not strict to the narration of Writers of India or your own Pakistan. Please read what the international press and their reporters have said. In this case the author has given the facts and is not talking through his hat. Just because you were in Pak Army and such facts hurt your sentiments please do not throw salt on history. As I said earlier open your eyes, accept the truth you will feel lighter. Truth in this case is so horrible that any true human being will hang his head in shame.
@Nazir Ahmed: Nazir Sahib You say you were a "young captain, landing at Dacca with my unit on 6 April. Formed into columns moving outwards from Dacca, the job was to reach out to the borders. The only orders we received were to ‘restore normalcy’." I totally agree with your narration regarding you and your unit. As a young Capt if you were not part of such decisions being taken at highest HQs at Dacca and you were not in the game plan, there is nothing surprising. But to say "We never heard of any stupid thing as the author claims. Our facts, those of us who were traversing through the land in those days are entirely different than what of the author and his sort keeps propagating." is worth reconsidering. You may not have heard or your your facts may be different confined to a unit deployed at boarders but that does not mean that author and his sort are doing propaganda. The facts are known to the entire world and are in the records of military history. Just look around and you will see the truth. There were journalists from all over the world please read and accept the facts brought out by the author without malice.
@VINOD: I am surprised at your response to comments from JI and insinuation that JI and Nazir Ahmed are same persons because they have similar facts to narrate. I do not know about JI and do not doubt that he was there at 30. I myself was about 28 years of age, a young captain, landing at Dacca with my unit on 6 April. Formed into columns moving outwards from Dacca, the job was to reach out to the borders. The only orders we received were to 'restore normalcy'. We never heard of any stupid thing as the author claims. Our facts, those of us who were traversing through the land in those days are entirely different than what of the author and his sort keeps propagating. Even the Indians have started coming out with actual facts; Sharmils Bose being the recent addition to those who have some sense of proportion. I would suggest you better read my earlier comments and ponder over the fact that your enthusiasm to spread hatred could be misplaced. I feel you were nowhere near the scene otherwise your facts would have been similar to those of people like me.
@JI: Dear JI, how can you speak such blatant lies with such straight face. You have said that "Were you there during 1971 in East Pakistan?I was there as a young man of 30." You also say "ut no where,what so ever we were told to molest bengali women." You have also under the name @Nazir Ahmed: have said the same things, which I replied. Now also I would emphatically say that what ever canard you may try to spread each word of the author of this article is true. The truth is so horrible that normal people cant even comprehend. So please please do not say "Odd incidences may have occured,not to my knowlege,but where do they not happen under such circumstances." If you were there you know the truth speak out you will feel relieved.
@Mohiuddin Ahmed:
You could not be there otherwise you would'nt reinforce these lies on preposterous figures of people killed and women molested. Do some mathametic to find out if is it humanly possible to kill and rape so many people by the number of troops (total about thirty two thousand) in those many days? I leave it at that otherwise I have a lot to say on what happened and who killed whom in East Pakistan during that period. Just read JI's comments above who has given some indication of what happened.
@JI: I fully endorse your views. You may like to see my earlier comments on the situation. I have traversed almost one third of East Pakistan during that period; a good part of it on foot. I have great respect for the common people of Bengal who just wanted peace and were not supportive of Indian interference. I appreciate that you have spoken. We are quite shy of coming out with facts which we witnessed and were victims of.
.Our leaders,both generals/politicians projected us Pakistanis as rouge nation,but beleive me,we are far better humans than many others.Khalid Ahmad Sahib,your opinion is based on theoratical knowledge,reading and writing in a room.Were you there during 1971 in East Pakistan?I was there as a young man of 30.I agree with you the type of Gen Niazi was.But no where,what so ever we were told to molest bengali women.Odd incidences may have occured,not to my knowlege,but where do they not happen under such circumstances. Where as,things were vice versa.Once Mujib ur Rehman declared Bangla Desh on 25th/26th March 1071,all west pakistanies were slaughtered,where they could not protect themselves.Sorry to say,west pakistanies babies were slaughtered and parents asked to drink their blood.Women openly raped in open market in front of their parents/husbands.I am writing this to clarify things to the world.Not a single soul survived who were in far flung places and could not get help.Surprisingly,our soldiers did not retaliate.. Pakistan army fought killed only Mukhti Bani who were trained by Indians to undo Pakistan.Under circumstances it was just war .A war to save the country plus self defence.I am not discussing political failures.That's another matter which should not degrade Pakistanies as human race. After 1971 war,not a single bengali was harmed who was in west pakistan and sent back rspectfully.Mr.Khalid, name one incidnce according to your knowledge.I do not say,bengalies are not better human beings than us.They were also misguided by there leaders.Millions parished in 1947 particians.More atrocities on Indian side than Pakistan.But do we remind ourselves now.No.Let new generation move ahead rather than creating hatred among them by persons like you.I damn such history which creates hatred.In global village we alrady have many other problems rather than create more hatred.Until today,I never mentioned anyting such to my children. My father used to tell me that before parttion,certain restarants in India,ment only for british,desplayed "Dogs and Indians not allowed"Now Mr.Khalid,why don't you write against them if you have time. Mr.Khalid,I agree with you on another thing.Gen Khaim Raja was a great man and a true Pakistani with excellent charactor.I personnaly knew him. Thank you Mr Khalid,no hard feelngs
By the way, what short of Islam allows killing of 3 million muslims and rape of a million women? I was there, so don't tell me that it did not happen. By gods punishment, today you are paying a price. You are not even safe to attend a ZANAZA.
It is very convenient to blame people for events when they cannot answer back. I have read most of the memoirs Pakistani generals have written about the events of 1971( and one by a Lt Colonel, Hakim Arshad Qureishi, the butcher of Syedpur) and I have not failed to notice that most of them tend to blame General Niazi for the debacle(from the Pakistani perspective) of 1971. I'll take this opportunity to point out a few facts which many people tend to forget: firstly, General Niazi was serving in the western wing when the Pakistan army, under General Tikka Khan, cracked down on the unarmed civilians of Dhaka at midnight on 25th March, 1971. For the Bangalis, there was no going back after that. Tikka Khan was reportedly put in command because his predecessor, General Yakub Khan, had refused to take drastic action against unarmed Bangali civilians. Tikka Khan, apparently, had no such qualms. If I remember correctly, General Niazi took over as Commander, Eastern Command in late April or early May, 1971. By then, the die had been cast Secondly, as narrated by General Rao Farman Ali in his slim volume of memoirs, the operational plan for the military action in Dhaka on 25th March, 1971(Operation Searchlight) was drawn up by General Farman Ali and Major General Khadim Husain Raja, G.O.C., 14th Division without much help from Tikka Khan. Moreover, it was the troops of the 14th Division under the command of Major General Khadim Raja who carried out the initial massacres in Dhaka and nearby places. Incidentally, at that time there was only one infantry division stationed in the eastern wing at that time. General Niazi was a johnny-come-lately, metaphorically speaking. Some other Pakistani Generals should share the blame with him.
@Mainur Rashid: @taniaS: I am so proud of your comments as it gives us a reason to believe that what we did to support Bangladesh was right. I can assure you that reading Bangladesh news papers gives us an idea that how true democracy is taking shape in your country. It also gives us idea that how slowly but surely and peacefully you are moving ahead. Wish you the best.
I am a Bangladeshi and live in Dhaka. I feel proud of my 1971 Bangali heros. They have given us a bright future. I love my country and countrymen and best wishes for them. Pakistan government should say sorry to Bangladeshis officialy, otherewise we shall not forgive them till day of judgement (kiamat porjonto).
I am a Bangladeshi and feel proud of my 1971 Bangali heros. They have given us a bright future. I love my country and countrymen and best wishes for them. Pakistan government should say sorry to Bangladeshis officialy, otherewise we shall not forgive them till day of judgement (kiamat porjonto).
Brought up abroad, I was once admitted to a Pakistani School in one of the middle eastern countries. I was just 8 yrs old & did not care much about me being Bangladeshi. But after a few days, I found myself allienated. Just at 8 my classmates started to call me a 'Baiji', who's ancesters danced infront of their (Pakistani) soldiers. I was shocked & ashamed, did not know what to do. Then one day when they were teasing me for being the 'Bangali Baiji', I asked them why were they so friendly with 'Nashrah', the other bengali girl. They were surprised,they did not know that 'Nashrah' was Bengali. I was only 8, yet something changed in me. I went home and told my dad,"Papa, I won't go to a school where I have to hide my identity, I am Bangladeshi, I can't pretend to be a Pakistani." The next day i was admitted to a different school. It was some 24 yrs back. But it was 17 years after the Independence of Bangladesh. After 24 years, I wonder, would their children call mine the same? If their mentality has not changed, if they are still so proud of what they had done to our people, I, atleast don't have the heart to forgive them.
Touched by the reaction that so many Pakistani now understands the gravity of atrocity committed by their army to Bangladesh. But if you guys really feel that you can do something to for Bangladesh to repay the loss please stand behind us to prosecute the Bengali collaborators who committed war crimes as well with the help of Pakistani Army. The Bengali people who helped to commit genocide are on trial now and news is spreading that Pakistan itself pressurizing the BD govt and helping the criminals.
@Asif: Dear Mr. Asif, It is not propaganda, it is the TRUTH. Just accept it and move on. Your denying will not undo the same. If you so wish you should suggest some thing new how to mend the same.
@Hasnain Ali: dear this mind set is everywhere esp in south Asia. u better check what Bengalies said about chakmas, what Indians said about Kashmirs and what Karachi said about sindhies, what pukhtoons said about hazara punjabis, what balochs said about settlers and what sindhies said about urdu wallas. so this mind set is everywhere. just check who had huge investments in east Pakistan? sooner we leave our ethnic-religious, linguistic and sectarian biases better we can analyses ground realities. may be this time, again i have to paste this post on social media as they did not upload my previous post. any way i will keep on reminding.
@ Nazir Ahmed: Bengal never lost Pakistan. Rather we had won a independent state , Bangladesh. After 41 years back just look at the situation of present Pakistan. Bangladesh is far far better than pakistan in every aspect of socio-economic index. Now a days whenever I see the news about the state run terrorism, barbaric activities of mullahs in the name of Islam in Pakistan , I feel myself safe again and again thanking God we are not with Pakistan.
"Hindustani or Hindi-Urdu developed over hundreds of years throughout India (which formerly included what is now Pakistan). In the same way that the core vocabulary of English evolved from Old English (Anglo-Saxon) but includes a large number of words borrowed from French and other languages (whose pronunciations often changed naturally so as to become easier for speakers of English to pronounce), what may be called Hindustani can be said to have evolved from Sanskrit while borrowing many Persian and Arabic words over the years, and changing the pronunciations (and often even the meanings) of those words to make them easier for Hindustani speakers to pronounce. Therefore, Hindustani is the language as it evolved organically. This article will deal with the categories of Hindustani words and some of the common words found in the Hindustani language." SO PAKISTANI BROTHERS SHOULD KNOW "URDU" is the second child of SANSKRIT and 90% CLOSE to Sanskrit and MAHABHARAT.
@Ahamed:
Be a proud Bangladeshi but for not the wrong reasons. This three million and two million is all lies. I for sure know that because I was there traversing almost half of the country during those eight months in 1971.
Pakistan lost Bengal and Begalis lost Pakistan. The loss is common.
After reading this article I'm again proud to be a Bangladeshi. Kudos to Mujib, respect for 3 million martyrs and utter respect for 2 millions mothers and sisters who lost their sanctity.
@Lala Gee: man, to become a billionaire you need a billion dollar at least ! As far as I know the whole of Pakistan can't muster a billion dollar where will you guys produce billionaires? My point is simply that even the "million" you have is very disproportionately distributed.
This is what Wiki says about Pakistani armed forces in East Pakistan in 1971:
According to one estimate, the Eastern Command needed at least 250,000 personnel; it barely had 150,000 (50,000 regular soldiers) by November 1971.[81] To fill the manpower gap, the East Pakistan Civil Armed Force (EPCAF) (17 planes and approximately 23,000 personnel)[82] and Razakars (40,000 members, against a target of 100,0000)[83] were raised after June 1971. The armed police (11,000 members)[84] was also reorganized and bolstered with 5,000 West Pakistani personnel.[85]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EvolutionofPakistanEasternCommand_plan
@VINOD:
Dear Vinod, I do not claim to be a soldier. I WAS a soldier of Pakistan Army who fought against insurgents in my own country. That does not in any way hold me responsible for war crimes. You mentioned the number of Prisoners as 94000. I would suggest visit some Indian publication if not Wikipedia which gives the details of units and formations in East Pakistan on 3 Dec 1971. Calculate the number with the help of someone who can tell you the strength of these units. I have the list and in my calculation the Army, Navy and Air Force personnel were not more than about thirty two thousands. Add another few thousands of some Para military troops from West Pakistan and very few civilians. The total strength could not be more than about forty thousand prisoners. The whole drama, full of lies was enacted on the direction of global powers executed through local actors for their vested interests. I have written on this in the local papers and no one has challenged my figures. I as infantry officer traversed about one third part of East Pakistan, mostly on foot and know how this drama unfolded. Actual facts are far different than perceptions created.
@Nazir Ahmed: Dear Mr Nazir Ahmed. You claim to be a soldier who was a prisoner of war. Your saying that "To top it all why were the prisoners kept in India for over two years when the war had ended and while in East Pakistan these prisoners were told of being in transit to Pakistan via India." does not fit in the scene Sir. Prisoners of war are not granted passages through the victor country they are tried for war crimes. You were held in India as prisoners and once your government agreed to the terms in Shimla agreement you were released. You must have seen world war pictures showing how the POWs were treated. So count your self lucky for 94000 thousand POWs were fed and sheltered for two long years and not tried for war crimes. Regards.
@Nazir Ahmed: Thanks for you first hand account, my apologies for the ill treatment meted out to you and your colleagues . Regarding para 2 of your note i am in complete agreement with you and would only like to add that we should divert our resources from defense related expenditure to development . The poor in our countries deserve a better deal.
@jagjit sidhoo:
I do not know why my saying that I was "treated well" by the Indians as a POW is being expected by Mr Sidhoo. To give some idea, I was not "treated well" nor did I expect to treated well by the Indians. Two persons in the camp where I was lodged were killed by Indian guards. Some of my colleagues were taken to a camp in Dheli where they were kept in solitary confinment in dark dungeons and physically tortured. Some of these tortured men lost mental balance. To top it all why were the prisoners kept in India for over two years when the war had ended and while in East Pakistan these prisoners were told of being in transit to Pakistan via India.
Despite my personal discomforts and that of my colleagues, I still feel that India and Pakistan should establish working relations and avoid war because both countries are having nuclear weapons which will cause unprecedented harm to common people of the region.
@Assad: Thks for the link as i had expected the Indian army conducted itself in a soldierly .manner. Mr Nazir Ahmed has not given his account , he must have been treated well but he does not want to say so.
kaalchakra is one who encourages Pakistanis in all their most self-destructive tendencies. :)
@kaalchakra: as far as i know in the eyes of every pakistani an indian is a evil person , why sharmila bose is too important now as because it suit your armys perspective. I would like to ask you to use logic not madrassa curriculam. sharmila bose was 10 years old in 1971 living in usa, she never set foot in indian sub continent untill recently, why her book which is based on interviews of pakistani army is more important to you. sharmila bose has no major book published before. one book published with other auther where she propogated to usa for F16 jet to be given to pakistan. seems like this lady a paid propaganda person by pakistani intelligence agency. you should look at all neutral newspapers of that time like, usa, uk, france, germany, japan, australia, you can look at you tube video to clarify yourself.
Hasnain Ali
From 1947 to 1971, Biharis were being massacred, looted, and discriminated against in West Pakistan. All West Pakistani efforts to get Bengalis to see reason, never highlighted in the media now, went unheeded. Just like Muslims in UP were uprooted from their homes, mosques destroyed and madrassas looted during the very dark days of Congress rule in UP, Bengalis had decided to impose their hegemony on everyone else. Pakistani army fought a brave, defensive battle with the troublemakers, and acquitted itself most honorably. If you really wish to know the truth, you should read the thorough research conducted by a Hindu Bengali lady scholar from Calcutta - one bose or ghose. She has no reason to be partial to anyone as she has also exposed the terrible lie that any Hindus were hurt in erstwhile East Pakista during the conflict.
@Amjad:
"I hope that the mixed race children in current Bangladesh are not discriminated against because they look more Pakistani." . The posture of @a hosain, sadly confirms that racism is very much alive, even among those who supposedly had higher moral ground. . @Deb:
"@omar nasrulla Why Azam Khan was popular?" . It was abundantly clear by what stood in the newspapers then.
@Aries: you still not telling us why you are not taking your beloved biharis now in refugee camp in bangladesh for 40 years. they want to go to pakistan. you cry so much for kashmiri muslim, iraqi what about the bihari in refugee camp.
@ jssidhoo
this article published here, sometimes back is interesting...
http://tribune.com.pk/story/307304/surrender-at-chittagong/
While i do not absolve General Niazi ,it must be remembered that these remarks were made after the Army had seen the horrors perpetrated by the East Bengal Regiment and the Awami League thugs on the Urdu- speaking population of East Pakistan that included West Pakistanis,Biharis and other Urdu-.speaking settlers. These are the kind of things often said in the fog of war and should be see seen in this context.. To say that 'genetic engineering' was a policy of the Army is stretching it a bit.
A bit too stretched by imagination and people saying things they were afraid to in the past fearing losing their hifi careers, shame on them for not speaking up. To me they are equally to blame and so are the rest of the elitists ruling over Pakistan from Ayub onwards and the public who didn't speak up. No wonder we are suffering for the follies done by ourselves. It's not Gen Niazi to blame only, but ve one else in the army. We should move on from this old story and try to build better ties not just with our Bangali brothers but also with other communities in our country who might feel the same, and not think that whatever is happening is done by Raw and Mossad and blame the Us and India and Iran, especially in relation to Baluchistan, lest its too late
@salma:
Or as some Pakistanis would like to believe, peaceful religious conversions and inflow of higher culture.
@ Yuri Kondratyuk
Ever wonder why Pak Punjabis are fairer than the Indian ones?
As a result of successful genetic engineering campaigns by invaders coming from the North West of course!
@omar nasrulla
Why Azam Khan was popular?
@omar nasrulla: You do seem to have some interesting stories to tell please share them with us.
@Hasnain Ali: Just because Yahya Khan and Niazi were Pashtun origin Pakistani generals is no reason for Bangladeshis to hate all Pashtuns; The same way most Baluch do not hate Pashtun in Baluchistan even though the Pashtun are mostly pro Pakistan. So maybe some of the Pakistani Pashtun ( and other Pakistanis) were racist toward the Bengalis who were short, dark and skinny compared to the native people of West Pakistan such as Pashtun and Punjabi but there are a lot of migrants from India who now live integrated in Karachi and Pakistani people do not hate them because the nation has evolved and moved on. I hope that the mixed race children in current Bangladesh are not discriminated against because they look more Pakistani.
when Brojen Das ----the great Bengali long distance swimmer was appointed to COACH the East Pakistani as well as the Central Zone {PANJAB] swim teams we flew on a very noisy Dakota over India. That was prior to the National swim championships in DACCA [1960] . At that time I was a young 19 year old medical student. We made deep friendships with the Bengali swimmers. However , it was obvious that General Muhammad Ayub Khan was an unpopular person ---while Gen Muhammad Azam Khan was very popular. Ask me the reason for this----if you are curious.
@Nazir Ahmed: We all know what happened to Bhutto,Mujib & Indira . What i would request you to throw some light on is how were the Pak POWs were treated in India? Would like to know your first hand experience as i have not read anything on this subject.
Genetic engineering is a serious subject, not to be taken lightly, least of all to make fun of it.It has greatly contributed in advancement in the field of bio-tech, by producing new/modified species of plant,animal and even human being.Genetic engineering, in some way even contributed in the birth of pakistan as well.
@Nazir Ahmed
There are two brands of history available in the market place.One is 'world history' the other one is 'pakistan history'; take your pick.
@....Nazir Ahmed..................unfortunately the rest of the world has other contrary information
@Yuri Kondratyuk: Hamood ur Rahaman commission, with limited mandate by not touching the poltical aspects, was to cover up the role of main Pakistani character involved in break up of Pakistan. The facts are 180 digree different than perception but a deliberate campaign to malign the Pakistan Army troops who were trapped there was launched by Mr Z A Bhutto. Imagine the number of about forty thousand total prisoners expanded to preposterous figure of ninety three thousand prisoners. In East Pakistan a large number of people were killed but who killed whom can be determined by knowing how many non Bengalis were there on 1 Feb 71 and how many were left by end of Apri; 71.
@Shahzad: What about them?
@jssidhoo: This thought is actually description of personal experience which is far different than perceptions created by the perperators of that horrendous crime. Main characters of that drama met their fate which they deserved, Bhutto hanged by his choice subordinate, Mujib by his own Army men, Indira Gandhi by her own guards.
@M. Ahmed: That is original thought
@faraz:
Partly true.
You must also acknowledge the fact that the ethnic cleansing, mass murder and rapes in East Pak would have reached unimaginable proportions if India didn't intervene. And going by the article, it certainly looks that 'Tiger' Niazi isn't the sort of person who has an active conscience.
@BlackJack: Mind your language please - we didn't create "Afghanistan problem", the Americans did. We supported millions of Afghans that took huge toll on our economical and social structure. What did you do for Afghan refugees? You are still causing damage to us by paring up with puppet Afghan government and creating unrest in Balochistan.
@BlackJack: You can say that, 'cause Indians have a stronghold over electronic media. Nevertheless, India was indeed actively involved in creating chaos in East Pakistan regardless refugee situation or whatever. India's role was definitely of enemy who took opportunity to worsen the already worse situation.
Abottabad was inhabited by Sikhs. Needless to explain more!
@Lala Gee: Why is it that every time a crime of Pakistan is mentioned, you go into the divergent loop of Kashmir, Lanka, China, Burma, Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray?
Is it an acknowledgement that the crimes Pak committed are indefensible?
@Shahzad:
I didn't read but certainly googled it. And i found that her work is described as being,"inaccurate, flawed in methodology of statistical analysis, misrepresenting referenced sources and being partial to Pak Army testimonies". BTW I would suggest you read the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report which universally acknowledged to be free of the flaws that bug Sharmila Bose's book.
What surprises me is the Pakistani reverence to statistically flawed writings like Dead Reckoning and the Sachar committee report that lack both intellectual rigor and honesty.
@Nazir Ahmed: There is very little that one has read about the treatment meted out to the Pakistani POWs while they were in India, could you throw some light on it ?
@Aries: i do not know what is your academic background , may be you are a madrasa educated. from 1947 to 1971 march not a single biharis were attacked in east bengal. biharis were attacked because they were working with punjabi army in killing innocent bengali citizen. because punjabi army promised the biharis that they will be rewarded after the operation searchlight. If you care so much for biharis why you are not taking them back to pakistan they are suffering for 40 years in refugee camp, each and every govt of yours abandoned them.take your bihari brother from our soil. i know very well no one wants them in karachi.
Sure....why don't you?
has anyone read air marshal asgar Khan's book "we learnt nothing from history" ?
@Lala Gee: It was India that sacrificed huge number of soldiers in fighting terror by sending army as IPKF and finally helped to destroy terror. What are you talking about Lala Gee. We did not "hunt with the Americans and ran with the terrorists"
@Lala Gee: Reading your comments I can make it out what course you are talking about and sad to note that he has forgotten that one army officer "Major Mushtaq went into a bathroom at the Command Headquarters and shot himself in the head” I am proud of what our Prime Minister said please note that at least he spoke the truth and confirmed that we acknowledge every wrong and try to correct it. Not like Pakistan where every one is eternally in denial mode and refuse to see what the whole world can see. After reading this article you are still saying it was an Indian conspiracy.
One man?
One man?
One man, however, evil he is, is simply not physically equipped to carry out the program described here. We all know that a whole lot of Pakistani soldiers were involved in this genetic engineering endeavor.
It is irrelevant that the idea or the order came from a single person. All involved are guilty.
@Yasser Latif Hamdani: Right, Bengalis, who might have arrived in Bengal some 3500 years ago or more, and when they are Muslim, their religion arrived 800 years ago or more - they are outsiders, "you are alll outsiders here".
@Ali tanoli: "Every thing happend for reason so what ever reason was in 1971 good thing happend to west pakistan bengalis should have given a seprate country in first hand 1947 with east bengal Culcuta, Jamshedpur etc."
Pretty generous with Indian cities eh? Given the 2 nation theory on which Pakistan was formed that Muslims are a separate nation, why would Hindu majority areas become part of the Muslim nation? Jamshedpur was not even part of Bengal (West or West).
It is quite heartwarming to see the real truth being faced by younger generation Pakistanis.I would also like to thank Express tribune for choosing this path of true journalism.Yes Bangladeshis have suffered a lot during 1971.My father told me that Pak forces called all the bank officials of one certain bank and killed them.There was also a strategy of killing all Bengali intellectuals so that independent Bangladesh cannot sustain itself.Bangladeshis are also moving forward although they will never forget the atrocities committed by the so called "Martial race".However they still hold deep resentment against today's Pakistan.Because Pakistan has not officially apologized for the genocide.To them this means that whtever Pakistanis did in 1971 was alright according to Today's Pakistan.My question is how hard is it to apologize?Japan has apologized countless times to Korea and China.Does that make them any lesser?
@Arun:
"Not those who are now living"
How does that translate into Bengali Muslims alone? Next you are going to say that Aryans were not outsiders. Oh wait... that is a stock Indian myth.
@Aries
Who started it? Pakistani army or Bangladeshi civilians? You can't draw a moral equivalence between 'pro-active' and 're-active' violence.
As repugnant as General Niyazi's alleged desire to change Bangladeshis' ethnicity/lineage is, one may judge him less harshly considering the fact that the great general himself might have been a product of a 'genetic engineering project' inspired in 711 AD by the great pakistani icon Md Bin Qasim.
@Ali tanoli: " ... pakistan bengalis should have given a seprate country in first hand 1947 with east bengal Culcuta, Jamshedpur etc. ... "
Just like you, Jinnah had no sense of geography. Muslim majority areas being awarded to Pakistan are understandable, but demanding Hindu majority areas on the basis of a solitary mosque in a ghetto is not such a bright idea.
@ A. Hosain of Bangladesh: could you please enlighten us about the mass killing of Biharis at Crescent Jute Mills in Khulna that took place in March 1971 and again in March 1972? Does anybody in BD recognise that atrocities were committed by both sides. It is time that Bengalis also accepted responsibility for the massacres that took place. It was not all one-sided. Hopefully there will be a truth and reconciliation commission one day that can draw a line over this sorry story.
Every thing happend for reason so what ever reason was in 1971 good thing happend to west pakistan bengalis should have given a seprate country in first hand 1947 with east bengal Culcuta, Jamshedpur etc.
Jinnah also said that Bengali Muslims were from outside Bengal. http://thepartitionofindia.blogspot.com/2012/04/jinnah-bengali-muslims-are-from-outside.html
As long as you do not throw off this poison [of provincialism] in our body politic, you will never be able to weld yourself, mould yourself, galvanize yourself into a real true nation. What we want is not to talk about Bengali, Punjabi, Sindhi, Baluchi, Pathan and so on. They are of course units. But I ask you: have you forgotten the lesson that was taught to us thirteen hundred years ago? [i.e., Islam] If I may point out, you are all outsiders here. Who were the original inhabitants of Bengal—not those who are now living. So what is the use of saying "we are Bengalis, or Sindhis, or Pathans, or Punjabis". No we are Muslims.
@BlackJack:
Wasn't this language clash also occurred in India immediately after independence when Hindus tried to suppress Urdu (widely spoken and understood by more people than any other language) in favor of Hindi/Sanskrit mix as Urdu was considered the language of the Muslims. This misadventure ended in total failure and the pure Urdu language was then adopted as Hindi with the Devanagari script for writing purposes. As a proof watch Indian movies of the 1950-1960 period and compare them with the movies of 1970-todate. You will notice the clear difference. Or just watch the Hindi 'Samachar' on Door Darshan and compare the language with the modern Indian movies.
India would have been divided into 16 nations or more if Nehru or Gandhi thought that "Hindi alone embodied the spirit of the Hindu or Indian nation". People would have laughed at Nehru/Gandhi. Unity in diversity and seperation of religion and state, saved India, and hleped create a sense of Indian-ness that transcends religion, ethnicity, language.
Wikipedia, says this about Mr Jinnah's policy about Bengali language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BengaliLanguageMovement
"In the height of civic unrest, Governor-General of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah arrived in Dhaka on 19 March 1948. On 21 March, at a civic reception at Racecourse Ground, he claimed that the language issue was designed by a "fifth column" to divide Pakistani Muslims.[19][20][21][22][23] Jinnah further declared that "Urdu, and only Urdu" embodied the spirit of Muslim nations and would remain as the state language,[8][21][24][25] labelling those who disagreed with his views as "Enemies of Pakistan". Jinnah delivered a similar speech at Curzon Hall of the University of Dhaka on 24 March.[9] At both meetings, Jinnah was interrupted by large segments of the audience. He later called a meeting of a state language committee of action, and overruled the contract that was signed by Khawaja Nazimuddin with the student leaders.[18] Before Jinnah left Dhaka on 28 March, he delivered a speech on radio reasserting his "Urdu-only" policy.[26]
@cosmo:
"Wow how smart. “Per capita income”: l you always use these this term mask the reality. Don’t you know, 1% of population in Pakistan owns more than 90% of the wealth."
Utter lie. Pakistan has more fair distribution of wealth as compared to India. How many Pakistanis are in the list world's top 100 billionaires (in US dollars) and how many Indians are in the Forbes list.
@imran: I liked your well-meaning comment, but it only brings to fore some of the inherent contradictions in the concept of Pakistan, as well as the key players. The fact is that the Pakistan movement did not emerge in either the regions that comprise West Pakistan or Bangladesh - its origins were in UP, and the language of its prime movers was Urdu. This was also a period of extreme tension on the Hindi/ Urdu language divide, and naturally Urdu assumed a larger identity as a 'muslim' language instead of merely a regional one - thus making it acceptable in W. Punjab (which also followed the script); this was a mere pre-cursor of all choices that Pakistan was yet to make to keep its 'muslim identity' at the forefront at the expense of its regional and ethic constituents. It is on this basis that Jinnah argued that Urdu, and only Urdu" embodied the spirit of Muslim nations and would remain as the state language, labelling those who disagreed with his views as "Enemies of Pakistan". West Pakistan also tried to force the Bengalis to give up the Devnagari based script and adopt an Arabic script instead - both of these alternatives only infuriated the Bengalis who could not understand why they couldn't continue as they had for the last couple of centuries. You may say that Jinnah was a fine gentleman, but the fact is that he was just as high-handed in dealing the aspirations of Bengal as future West Pak leaders - Pakistan to him was always the Western part.
@Riaz Haq: 1.00 BDT = 1.14845 PKR ?????????
@Zaheer Mohd.:
"GDP of Pakistan needs correction. It has been hyped up the Musharraf regime for more than 5 years. Once the correction is done, it will fall to the level of Bangladesh, or even less."
The GDP of Bangladesh and Pakistan according to wikipedia.org during 2011 are as follows:
Bangladesh: GDP (PPP): $282.229 billion) / Per capita: $1,692
Pakistan: GDP (PPP): $488.580 billion / Per capita: $2,787
And ratios are: GDP (PPP): 1.73 / per capita: 1.65
Hope this will clear any misconception.
I do not trust any economic figures, mortality figures, any thing of substance issues by authorities in Pakistan. Truth has no value and is just a nuisence in official Pakistan.
@Babloo: Hi Babloo you are right but only upto a point. Regardless of weather I agree with the concept of Pakistan or not I consider Jinnah as an upright man of great integrity. His this move probably originated from his intense desire to create a nation out of nothing. And think about it! Urdu was nobody's language. Was it a language of punjabis pukhtoons baluchis saraikis kashmiris sindhis. It was only a language of the migrant Indians who could hardly have imposed their language on Pakistan! So if it was not anyone's language then what are you talking about. Who was imposing what on who? Jinnah was a visionary but he was a human being after all. He probably was intensely aware of the fact that he made a country. But not a nation. He was inlove with this impossible idea of a nation. He acted like anyone who is hopelessly inlove with an idea. Unfortunately neither west nor east Pakistan understood his obsession. The east and west were already nations they did not want to lose their identities in the melting pot of Pakistan. If you were ever inlove with an idea you will know what I mean.
@Riaz Haq:
GDP of Pakistan needs correction. It has been hyped up the Musharraf regime for more than 5 years. Once the correction is done, it will fall to the level of Bangladesh, or even less.
will read book soon yet if like me u will visit bangladesh, u will realize that neither mujieb is considered a success story nor Bengali nationalism was a good case to follow. what Pakistani elite did was wrong but it does not proved mujeb & co correct. it was yaqub ali khan who supported mujieb before 1970 elections against mollana bahshani. there r many hidden facts in land slide victory of mujieb in 1970 election. i heard these facts while interviewing Bengali leaders at Dhaka and chitagong. one was kamal lohani, in-charge radio Bangladesh 1972 and other was Ajoy Roy an old communist. many more people at Dhaka club too have similar analyses yet out intellectuals do not want to see other side of the medal out of their usual anger. now after 41 years we should come out from anger and start analysing things. some interviews can be read at www,ajfpk.org i talked to mufeedul haq who along with his 5 friends established a freedom museum at Dhaka privately in 1996. he told me that neither mujieb nor his daughter or other Bengali rulers had any interest in establishing such museum so we did it by our own by taking money from people privately. when i interviewed him in 2009, he looks like 1857 revolutionary, who lost his believe in revolution. he admitted that something wrong happened during late 1970s when we supported people like mujieb. Mrs Datta also gifted me a research book which give data about expulsion of 5 million Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh from 1972 till 2007. in the last, with due respect to author, i will suggest reading of a book Travels and the road by a Calcutta base Bengali communist mohet sain. cannot we leave our anger and start analysing things?
@Yuri Kondratyuk: Read Dead Reckoning by Sharmila Bhose. Or atleast Google it . Clearly ET has not given my earlier comments on the subject.
@Lala Gee: Bad times Sirji! Pakistan is changing for worse. It is time to subject the state and the people to criticism so that this country will survive for thousand years to come.
@Shahzad: well, they are still missing..exactly like those in Balochistan, NWFP, Bangladesh, karachi etc.
@Babloo: Jinnah did not want to replace Bengali. He said Bengali could be provincial language of East Pakistan but Urdu would be the lingua franca or the state language of all of Pakistan. Wrong or right that is very different from how you've spun it.
Absolute non sense. I was one of those about thirty two thousand army men trapped in that drama staged to cause break up of Pakistan. My narrative is 180 digree different from Mr Khalid Ahmad and his ilk who keep propogating falsehood. Khadim Raja was replaced/removed from Command of 14 Div when Niazi took over eastern Command on 11 April. Hamood ur Rahman Comission, with limited mandate was to cover up real situation and its report never published. I would suggest readers to read what Sharmila Bose has to say about the whole thing.
@VINOD:
"@Lala Gee: Albert Einstain defined stupidity as “Doing something again and again expecting different results”! Gee Lala you are and remain in denial and rebutting history mode always and every time. Please try to understand what Einstain has said."
I had only one chance to meet a Bangladeshi in recent times. He and I was doing a same course in Canada. I was a bit reluctant to come close to him due to our bitter history. Honestly I was rather angry how the Bengalis played into the hands of India. However, one day he himself approached to me and started talking in an apologetic manner. He was definitely from an educated and well off family. This is what he said, "Our leaders mislead us and now we realize that we were the victims of Indian conspiracy; and that we still consider Pakistanis our brothers." No wonder we have very good relations with Bangladesh and Bangladeshi people, while your Prime Minister is compelled to say "Bangladeshi people hate India".
@Lala Gee
"No wonder all the four major neighbors (China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh) have unfriendly/uneasy relations with India."
We are so sorry. We will learn to act more humble in the future, promise. But seriously, cry me a river.
@Lala Gee: The mistake India made was not arming the LTTE but intervening there as a peace keeping force on the request of Sri Lankan government. India suffered huge loss due to its inability to retaliate against LTTE on being attacked, as a peace keeping force. India always supported Sri Lanka and as a result it suffered more at the hands of LTTE. People in Tamilnadu still angry for India's support to Sri Lanka in suffering of their ethnic brothers there at the hands of Sri Lanka. In any case, India never had any intention to genetically modify Sri Lankans by raping them.
@BlackJack:
"You are right, we made some mistakes in Sri Lanka in the 80s – that is why we have been extremely careful to avoid interference and to support rule of law over there ever since. Regarding your point on Kashmir, pls feel free to invade India."
Arming, training, and financially supporting LTTE rebellions in Sri Lanka was a mistake (because you were miserably made to fail with the active support of Pakistan), but it was right when you play the same game using Mukhti Bahni to stage a war against Pakistan. Your answer regarding Kashmir (duly noted) is indicative of the arrogance with which you treat your neighbors. No wonder all the four major neighbors (China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh) have unfriendly/uneasy relations with India.
at least there was no true son of Pakistan at that time. Not a single Officer came out that time and confess all the brutality . It's is easy to blame other than admitting your own fault. Why don't resign and not the part herd.
Even now every average person think his language , race and religion is better than other and have no respect for human .Exactly same mentality when we lost 41 years .
@lala gee "Following your logic Pakistan has every right to invade India " thanks for not exercising this right, I am alreadt shaking with fear!
@Lala Gee: Albert Einstain defined stupidity as “Doing something again and again expecting different results”! Gee Lala you are and remain in denial and rebutting history mode always and every time. Please try to understand what Einstain has said.
@Lala Gee: So what exactly is this ‘Hindutva Movement’ of BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Shiv Sena. Hindutva is a controversial subject and deals with Hindu identity - a rather assertive form of nationalism that ignores the other cultures that contribute to Indian ethos; however, it has nothing to do with raping women to change demographic composition.
@Lala Gee: What did the poor Sri Lanka do to India that you had to “play the same game” there as well. Following your logic Pakistan has every right to invade India when you kill 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims in Indian Occupied Kashmir. You are right, we made some mistakes in Sri Lanka in the 80s - that is why we have been extremely careful to avoid interference and to support rule of law over there ever since. Regarding your point on Kashmir, pls feel free to invade India.
Unfortunetly, today many of us think the same about the Balochistan. I have heard many of my Punjabi friends say "dekhte hain kese ye Balochi aazad ho k dikhatay hain". It seems we don't learn from history at all. Shame on us.
@ Ali Tanoli - Sylhet was inhabited by Indo-Aryan brahmins in the 16th century. Do I need to say more ?
@mr. righty rightist:
"actually this ‘genetic engineering’ is happening in Pakistan, as we comment here."
So what exactly is this 'Hindutva Movement' of BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Shiv Sena. You're not gonna say it is a Sanskrit name for 'Green Movement'. Are you?
@ mr. righty rightist
actually this ‘genetic engineering’ is happening in Pakistan, as we comment here. Hindu girls are being kidnapped, raped, married and force converted.
Killing of minorities, Shias, etc also come under this special branch of engineering.... we are social engineers...we shape the destiny of our nation!
@ a hosain
@Ali tanoli: u are obsessed with skin color . shame
Shame is an understatement. The ignorance/ low-iq is mind-boggling! :( No wonder, we specialize in begging and terrorizing...
@BlackJack:
"Undoubtedly India played a pivotal role in arming and sheltering the Mukhti Bahini as a means to bring about a rapid end to the unsustainable refugee influx and large-scale killings of Bengalis as well as specific targeting of intellectuals, of which Hindus formed a sizeable chunk."
What did the poor Sri Lanka do to India that you had to "play the same game" there as well. Following your logic Pakistan has every right to invade India when you kill 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims in Indian Occupied Kashmir.
actually this 'genetic engineering' is happening in Pakistan, as we comment here.
Hindu girls are being kidnapped, raped, married and force converted.
@Author:
Why is it that you always speak half truth that malign Pakistan and Pakistani people and leave the other side of the coin unmentioned? Is there not any positive thing about Pakistan and Pakistani people which you could ever discuss? Is India and Indians all angels and saints? Why not also show them the mirror sometime for a change. Why it has always to be Pakistan and Pakistani people to be ridiculed and condemned in your articles? By painting yourself in black and moving like a hunchback may attract attention and amuse the crowd but cannot not earn you respect.
It is always believed that Pakistanis are "genetically" stronger ( than Indian) race. The ratio, I believe is as high as 1:10, I mean one Pakistani man equal to 10 Indians. With so much installed capacity, it is not surprising if he ventures on proliferating indiscriminately and vigorously. This time however, just blame it on hormonal malfunction.
Agony is that, in spite of so many of these shameful events, we do not teach our children the correct history. No correction in character building, in new generation, is possible until they know how we their elders have brought this country to present shameful position. Beside correct Muslim history in India should also be taught stating why we reach to this immoral, unpatriotic and disgraceful condition.
@Ali tanoli: u are obsessed with skin color . shame
Good one, Army Generals still have same attitude towards civilians, you have shown a lot of courage to write these facts.
@Shahzad: "What about the missing persons in Kashmir"
Thanks for your concern. A rarity among Pakistanese indeed.
Most of the pundits are now living in refugees camps in Jammu, Delhi and some other towns.
We surely are very shameless people!
@politically incorrect, i am bangladeshi and i am reading it now but its not new to me , in my university in khulna bangladesh, there is a mass execution site known as gollamari killing zone.
Khaled Ahmed sahib so much honesty would be difficult for the Zaid Hamids to digest.
and Indian army is great they never committed any crimes?
what about General Mushraf
Thank you Mr Bhutto ...your personal greed for power broke up a nation ..Mujib had won the election he should have been allowed to form a Goverment .
Khalid Ahmed, would it be too much if you could add the role of ZA Bhutto and also Mukti Bhini in Bengal debacle. I'm very much interested in what is currently going on in Bangladesh where political figures are going missing and Britain is training death squads.
There many other questions on my mind but for time being give me your views on Bangla.
@Ali tanoli: Racist comment.
This may be news to citizens fed on a diet of hot potatoes, definitely not to the rest of the world. Still many question why the World dislikes Pakistan and fantasize about conspiracies. Every one wants to see positive changes in the country but who will bell the Cat, not the DFC folks for sure.
@Shahzad:
Inability to face truth is a full scale epidemic in Pakistan. What you said might have its own worth but, how does it even relate to topic at hand?
@Ali tanoli:
Ever wonder why Pak Punjabis are fairer than the Indian ones?
Dear sir thanks for telling your women all this. Fortunately people in other provinces knew all this. As 10-11 year old kid I used it listen BBC and Indian news to get alternative view. Everybody knew there what atrocities were being committed. Denial was to the point of disbelief, as I remember vividly ,when yahya spoke on radio after surrender. He lied to nation that defeat at one front is not defeat. Many people claim that if USA/ Nixon had not intervened then rest of Pakistan would have been occupied, as portion of Sindh was occupied and probably in one day Mir pur would have been taken Dear sir people do not share your thought from Punjab! Why?I I yet have to see a live person with your views from there....it is so rare. Anyway I fully appreciate you courage to think and write like this .
Pretty good case for genocide ---- it's past time that Pakistan re-write the bogus history books, make an apology and perhaps make reparations.
Why did the Pakistani journalists did not report about these atrocities then? What is the point in talking or writing abut them 40 years later?
The book by Anthony Mascarenhas titled "India Wins the War" is a must read for anybody who wants to know more about the circumstances during the birth of BDESH. Also, the book "The Birth of Bangladesh" by Jamna Das Akhtar is very interesting from the same point of view. Both books describe how the pak army unleashed a terror campaign of rape and genocide on east bengal with the aim of changing the racial composition of the bengali person. Diabolic and very similar to what the Mughals tried to do to the subcontinent.
Other than in the pages of Express Tribune, where else do you see any attempt to just look at the facts and the truth ? Express Tribune, unfortunately, represents a extremely small section of society. Pakistanis, who spoke the truth, were there in 1947, were there in 1971 and are here today. The issue is , they do not form part of the majority narrative as propogated by those that carry real power in Pakistan and the main political parties PPP, PML(A,B,C,D..), PTI or any other.
Bravo to Mr AHamed and ET for this article!
Interesting to see history repeating in a perverse way in Pakistan when one see approach of current ruling elite towards minorities like Ahmedis, Shias, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and Baloch people! Still the same swagger, same attitude!
BTW, Albert Einstain defined stupidity as "Doing something again and again expecting different results"! You can always refuse to accept this on the grounds that he was a Jew and this saying must a Jewish consipracy - just like his theory of relativity, E=MC2 etc. etc.
A thoughtful and well written article, it is an indictment on the shameful deeds of our Generals.There is minor misquote, Lt.General Niazi surrendered to Lt. General Jagjit Singh Arora GOC-in-C Eastern Command not to Major General Jacobs who was the Chief of Staff Eastern Command.
@politically incorrect: They don't need to read it. Their previous generation suffered through the events described in it.
I am ashamed. Hope Bangladesis don't read it.That would make me ashamed twice.
Great job Khalid Sahib, lets hope and pray present and future generations of Pakistan have the opportunity to read these lines.
What about the missing persons in Kashmir
Excellent as usual. Surprisingly, Pakistanis still continue to blame India for the loss of East Pakistan while paying lip service to 'certain mistakes on our part'. As I understand, Sarmila Bose has now become something of a celebrity in Pakistan for writing a book that has been questioned by most experts and historians. Undoubtedly India played a pivotal role in arming and sheltering the Mukhti Bahini as a means to bring about a rapid end to the unsustainable refugee influx and large-scale killings of Bengalis as well as specific targeting of intellectuals, of which Hindus formed a sizeable chunk. However, the fabled ability of Pakistanis to selectively glean, doctor and then disseminate information in second to none, and so I should not be surprised to continue to hear India accused of successfully driving a wedge between brothers and then tearing the country asunder.
Thank you Khalid Sahib for showing the real face of Pakistan which surely is very very ugly. I as ashamed to be associated with Pakistan.
i don't know if it makes any difference now but on behalf of my nation i from the depth of my heart ask for forgiveness from my Bengali brothers and sisters for all the atrocities committed against them in the name of my country.
Forward 41 years, and look at the "qoum". Their economy is way better than ours, their currency is stronger. It is now us who are hoping to get our genetics changed for the better.
This is extracted from Hamdur Rehman comission report. It can be easily googled for on WWW:
"From a perusal of Paragraphs 30 to 34 of Chapter 1 of Part V of the Main Report, it will be seen that the graveness of the allegations made against Lt. Gen. Niazi is that he was making money in the handling of Martial Law cases while posted as G.O.C Sialkot and later as G.O.C and Martial Law Administrator at Lahore; that he was on intimate terms with one Mrs. Saeeda Bukhari of Gulberg, Lahore, who was running a brothel under the name of Senorita Home, and was also acting as the General’s tout for receiving bribes and getting things done; that he was also friendly with another woman called Shamini Firdaus of Sialkot who was said to be playing the same role as Mrs. Saeeda Bukhari of Lahore; that during his stay in East Pakistan he came to acquire a stinking reputation owing to his association with women of bad repute, and his nocturnal visits to places also frequented by several junior officers under his command; and that he indulged in the smuggling of Pan from East Pakistan to West Pakistan. These allegations were made before the Commission by Abdul Qayyum Arif (witness No. 6), Munawar Hussain, Advocate of Sialkot (Witness No. 13), Abdul Hafiz Kardar (Witness No. 25), Maj Sajjadul Haq (Witness No. 164), Squadron Leader C.A Wahid (Witness No. 57) and Lt. Col Haliz Ahmad (Witness NO. 147)."
Utterly disgusting comments by Niazi. But I feel happy for the Bengalis; they deserved independence
General Niazi was a very loose character, there is no doubt about that. His excesses are well known. Frankly this is not even a news. The problem is if there are people like Gen Niazi in Balochistan.
Feeling ashamed of the fact that I am Pakistani....
still i will say its hindu/jew/christian/mossad/raw/cia/fbi/india/israel/usa/capitalist/communist conspiracy to malign islam and paksitan and they were the real culprit of pakistan dismemberment
Extrapolating genetic engineering from a dialogue allegedly some officer said as per some book is stretching it a bit too much.We know that the 1971 war was a terrible one with rights violations but this propaganda has been used to demonise the pakistanis for far too long.
The attitude about Bengali Muslims, is best illustrated by Jinnah's speech in Dhaka, immediately after partition, where he wanted to replace Bengali ( A language extremely closely related to "Hindu language Sanskrit") with muslim langage "Urdu" . It was all down hill there after ending in 2nd genocide of the indian subcontinent in 1970-71.