UNFORTUNATELY, the way the traitor Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman was mentioned in our beloved country, the PTI and its leader made this traitor a hero and presented his heinous national crime as a symbol of freedom. The fall of Dhaka is a dark chapter in the history of Pakistan. Who was Sheikh Mujib? He was an agent of the notorious Indian agency RAW, involved in the conspiracy to break up Pakistan. The tragedy of 1971 did not happen suddenly; our enemy skilfully sowed seeds of hatred among the Bengalis since the establishment of Pakistan. Evidence lies in the 1970 elections where no political party from West Pakistan won a single seat in East Pakistan. The idea that Pakistan was a nightmare was instilled in the minds of the new generation of Bangladeshis. Administrative challenges were compounded by the 1,400 kilometres of Indian territory separating West and East Pakistan.
India encouraged Bengali rebellion, believing West Pakistanis harboured animosity and purposely kept Bengalis undeveloped. Indian troops, disguised as Pakistani soldiers, committed atrocities, fuelling East Pakistanis’ resentment against their own army. According to American diplomat Archer Blood, India provided safe haven for Mukti Bahini, supplying them with food, shelter, medical aid, and weapons training. RAW officer RK Yadav disclosed that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi proposed in Parliament on March 31, 1971, support for insurgency against the Pakistani Army. This plan, confirmed in B. Raman’s book “The Kaoboys of R&AW: Down Memory Lane,” underscored India’s covert operations inside Pakistan. One of the main reasons for Bengalis to rebel was the educational curriculum. In East Pakistan, the educationalists were Hindus, who poisoned the rebellion among the children there. India made ugly propaganda that West Pakistan was developing with the money of East Pakistan and they have been thrown into poverty. The issue of Karachi and Dhaka had been raised. A feeling was created among them that Dhaka should have become the capital under 55% of the population of East Pakistan. Similarly, Urdu-Bengali language fuelled the controversy. Questions were raised about the representation of East Pakistan in higher positions in the military and bureaucracy compared to West Pakistan. Not handing over power to Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman in the election of 1970 fuelled the fire and this ignited spark burned everything. Bengalis should be asked who were Khawaja Nazimuddin, Muhammad Ali Bogra, Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardi and Iskandar Mirza? Did they not belong to East Pakistan? MM Alam and Sarfaraz Ahmad Rafiqi were also Bengalis in the army.
The history of 1971 is a witness that Pakistan Army fought bravely despite adverse conditions and numerous challenges. The Pakistan Army was falsely accused of killing 3 million Bengalis. Noor-ul Islam, the editor of Dhaka’s English newspaper ‘Morning Sun’, who was not a supporter of Pakistan; also had to say that to ensure the death of 30 lakh people in three months, every day 11 thousand people have had to be put to death. In Sharmila Bosson’s book, Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War”, the killing of Bengalis by the Pakistan Army was called a huge lie. According to her, between 50,000 and 100,000 people were killed in this war. False statistics were shown for the actual massacre of the Bihari community; thousands of unfortunate Bihari families were wiped out. Officers from West Pakistan and their families were killed. According to a report, bodies were floating when the ship approached Chittagong. All the roads were full of dead bodies of Biharis and West Pakistanis.
A large-scale massacre took place in Santahar, a small Bihari town near Nattoor. Bengali analyst Tajam Hussain writes that the Mukti Bahini continued to kill non-Bengalis until 15 August 1975. He tells a sad story about Sirajganj, a town in Pabna where a number of Pakistanis were thrown into a jail building and set on fire. He adds that such killings were the favorite pastime of Mujib’s private armies led by the Mukti Bahini, while the western media remained silent on the desecration of Bihari women by Mukti Bahini Awami League goons. The Bihar community is still homeless and helpless.
Bangladesh and India put all the blame for the killings and genocide in the 1971 war on Pakistan, while India has deleted all records related to 1971. Indira Gandhi used the democracy card to spoil the image of Pakistan at the international level and made America and the West believed that Pakistan is under the worst dictatorship. In India, even if the Congress is in power, the extremist BJP, the proxy war against Pakistan continues continuously. From Baluchistan to former FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan, the same nefarious game is being played. It is high time that we do not allow our youths to become a tool of the enemy.
Alongside this, the sacrifices of the martyrs of 1971 are commendable. In his book “Pakistan: A Hard Country,” Anatol Lieven writes that if Pakistan were to be divided, doubts about its army should be sown and “poisonous propaganda” should be spread through political factions and social media. Today, we have witnessed how the nation is divided, especially how the minds of the youth have been poisoned. Lieven further states in his book that the Pakistan Army is the sole institution that has held the entire nation together. Undoubtedly, all four provinces are represented in the Pakistan Army, and every school of thought has equal opportunities for advancement.
The immediate concern is that we have not been able to distinguish between popularity and patriotism. It is not necessary that a leader who is popular is also a patriot. All the traitors in the world have taken advantage of that popularity. If a traitor is made a role model for the nation, what can be a greater treason than this? A political party or a political group has misled the youth through Facebook, X and other social media platforms to fulfil their nefarious ambitions and destroy the foundations of this country. It is sad to say that the rulers and institutions seem helpless in front of this group. They have already divided the country for their political interests. Now another Mukti Bahini is being formed somewhere? God! Do not incite the youth against the Pakistan Army and the state because this country cannot afford another tragedy. The Pakistan Army is the guarantor of Pakistan’s security and safety.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
