Today it has been 39 years since East Pakistan became Bangladesh. It has been longer that Bangladeshis have been politcially separate from Pakistan (39y) than they were together (24y). A new generation has grown up without seeing the time when the two countries were together. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then and this is a good time for both countries to forgive and forget about the past. I would go as far as to say it should be okay to seek forgiveness from each other and say sorry for the war of 39 years ago. Nobody becomes smaller in stature by saying sorry except for inflated egos. It can only heal and make friends. And Pakistan needs friends.
We want to wish Bangladesh prosperity and good luck in their future.
Also see earlier posts at ATP:
2007: A Pakistani in Bangladesh
2007: Bangladesh Turns 36: Bringing Stranded Pakistanis Home
2008: History’s Ghetto: Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh
2008: Sahabzada Yaqub Khan
2009: 1971: A Blot of Shame
2009: 1971: The Lessons We Did Not Learn
2009: 1971: The Forgotten Silence
2009: 1971: Hum kay thehray ajnabi…
2010: Remembering Lt. Gen. Azam Khan
Imran:
Sorry, you lost me. I don’t understand your post.
I said that Khushwant Singh said it had been sent to him from Islamabad but I also said that it had clearly been written by a non-Desi.
In any case, we also blame everyone but ourselves for our problems.
Nadia: I never said that the Army was not brutal: what part of “PA’s indiscriminate and often very brutal use of force” don’t you understand? I was referring to military operations AFTER Operation Searchlight (the assault on Dacca University that you refer to). Even the most rabid Bangal/Indian nationalist doesn’t allege that the PA was carrying out wholesale massacres before 25th March. That was being done by the Awami League against the Biharis–who got their own back with interest by joining the various razakar units organized by the Army.
In any case, Bangali propaganda does not contradict the Indian’s own casualty estimates for the PA. The Bangali propaganda is usually so third rate that refuting it is trivial. IIRC reading one “first hand” account where the survivor describes the G3 rifles used by the PA soldiers. Now the G3 is indeed the official PA issue rifle… but it was only issued to the Army in the mid1970s (IIRC 1976?). It wouldn’t even have been issued to SSG troops in 1971 as it is completely unsuitable for special forces–too big and heavy for their role.
Again I am not claiming the PA were angels with insanely restrictive rules of engagement. They weren’t; the Army was absolutely indiscriminate in the use of its (relatively limited) firepower and Bangali civilian casualties were numbered in the tens of thousands. However, these were usually ‘collateral damage’ (to use the American term) and to the extent that killings were “targetted” they were usually of male Hindus (there is a relatively easy but crude way to check).
The Army in E. Pakistan had no heavy equipment worth talking about: one tank regiment plus an independent squadron IIRC (i.e. ~60+ clapped-out tanks of WWII vintage, mainly Walker Bulldogs ‘bakshed’ to us by Uncle Sam as a way of getting rid of the junk in storage) and the regular artillery component for one division (i.e., one, maybe two?, regiment with WWII equipment as the East was not a priority for the PA) and one PAF squadron (14th squadron IIRC–the PAF had planes shot down by the IAF in Novemver 1971). I know from personal knowledge that much of the heavy equipment in E. Pakistan had originally been condemned by the British after WWII and then salvaged by the PA.
All the reinforcements sent AFTER Operation Searchlight were sent by air without ANY of their equipment other than personal weapons, LMGs and maybe light mortars (i.e., weapons you can stuff in the cargo hold of PIA passenger planes).
Anyway, I grow bored trying to educate the uneducatable; believe whatever you want to and don’t let facts get in the way.
Best wishes to Bagladesh future from a Pakistani.
@Fuzair
I am surprised that you blame us for all the foreign hands, yes it is Pakistan that advised the Israeli chief of army to visit occupied Kashmir he seemed to be on summer vacations there.
It is the first Israeli Prime Minister who in his first year in office gave this interview that Pakistan is a threat to its existence and India is their natural ally because it is against the existence of Pakistan (1967). In 1971 India sends its army to rescue people in a sovereign country, its us who violate UN resolutions on Kashmir, its us that kill thousands of Muslims in Gujrat, maybe we also were involved in the 13 independence movements going on in India.
If this is the case than we are special as we Muslims ought to be. A small country creating troubles in the great India, Afghanistan in the World , no doubt we ruled the Sub-Continent for a 1000 years.
We are so influential and attractive that in the largest democracy in the World the great India we inspire everyone from the Sikhs, Tamils, Maoists, Kashmires and also Jaswant Singh , everybody admires us and listens and act, thinks, practically executes every action as we wish.
Born Leaders (Muslims)
Conclusion “Either we are too smart or we are blessed”
Pakistan Zindabad
@fuzair
“The presence of upwards of a hundred thousand Mukhti Bahini (plus BSF troops) meant that the enemy was well trained, well equipped and clearly not a “civilian“ population being buthchered by the Army.”
Really!! Only on 25th March night, several hundred students were killed in Dhaka University.
More resources are here: http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?page_id=12
http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2010/12/15/1971-rape-and-its-consequences/
@ prasad, This is what happened to the 90,000 soldiers,
http://unheardvoice.net/blog/2010/05/02/195-war-criminals/
among them, there were 196 listed war crimianls. Bangladesh Govt initiated a trial process but beacuse of Bhutto’s skilled statesmanship, these war crimianls were handed over to Pakistan. Bangalis in Pakistan became hostages of Pakistan Govt. Bhutto admitted that Pakistan had formally requested China to use its veto power to bar Bangladesh from becoming a member of the United Nations
When Bangladesh applied to the United Nations, China cast its veto on August 25, 1972 in the Security Council to bar Bangladesh’s membership. Bangladesh was refused United Nations membership for wanting to try the war criminals.