The document summarizes key events of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. It describes how Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League won democratic elections in Pakistan in 1970 but power was not transferred. The Pakistan military launched a violent crackdown in Bangladesh, leading Bangladesh to declare independence on March 26, 1971. India supported Bangladesh and 10 million Bangladeshis sought refuge in India, straining resources. After international failures to resolve the crisis, India intervened militarily in December 1971, achieving a swift victory and the liberation of Bangladesh.

1. DECEMBER 16,1971
THE DAY A NATION WAS LIBERATED

2. INDEPENDENCE OF BANGLADESH.
 After the First Democratic Pakistan Elections in 1970, Sheikh Mujibur of the
Awami League linguistically and culturally of Bangla background ,had won
with a clear majority, the Pakistan establishment was not willing to hand
over power.
 Pakistan Army starts Operation Searchlight in Dhaka and rest of the East
Pakisthan, attacking general civilians, political activists and Bengali
members of armed forces and police.
 During the early hours of 26th March1971 the independence
of Bangladesh was declared.
 It is the day when Pakistan lost nearly half its country in the name of
Bangladesh(East Pakistan).

3. CAUSES AND EVENTS OF LIBERATION WAR
 The biggest mistake was occurred in 1947 when British left a single
country in two pieces East Pakistan and West Pakistan separated by
hundreds of kilometers.
 Ethnic and linguistic discrimination was a key factor in the rise of Bengali
nationalist sentiment. Although East Pakistan had a larger population, West
Pakistan dominated the divided country politically and received more money
from the common budget.
 East Pakistanis were criticized in all the ways possible by West
Pakistan which ultimately lead for a separate nation.
 In March 1971 Pakistan authorities called curfews, paved way for
huge influx of military hardware and personnel from western Pakistan
by sea and air.
 By November 1971 genocide of multiple massacre's were carried
which caused an overall three million causalities.

4. MAP OF EAST AND WEST PAKISTAN

5. Commanders and leaders
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman A.A.K. Niazi (POW)
M. A. G. Osmani Tikka Khan
K. M. Shafiullah Abdul Hamid Khan
J.S. Aurora Mohammad Shariff (POW)
Sam Manekshaw Khadim Hossein Raja
Bangladesh , India Pakistan
Bangladesh Forces:175,000 Pakistan Armed Forces:365,000 (90,000
in East Pakistan
India: 500,000[2] Paramilitary forces: ~25000.
STRENGTH

6. UNITED NATIONS AND THE WORLD
 United Nations condemned the human rights violations during and following
Operation Searchlight, it failed to defuse the situation politically before the
start of the war.
 The United States supported Pakistan both politically and materially. US
President Richard Nixon denied getting involved in the situation, saying that it
was an internal matter of Pakistan.
 When Pakistan's defeat seemed certain, Nixon sent the aircraft
carrier USSEnterprise to the Bay of Bengal.
 The Soviet Union supported Bangladesh and Indian armies, as well as
the Mukti Bahini during the war.
 China knowing the situation of Bangladesh supported Pakistan which is an ally
of it.
 United Kingdom and France as a part of NATO supported United Nations.

7. INDIAN INVOLVEMENT
 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi toured a large number of countries in a bid to
create awareness of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis.
 An estimated 10 million Bengalis, sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam
and West Bengal. The resulting flood of impoverished East Pakistani refugees
placed an intolerable strain on India.
 The Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi quickly decided that it was more
effective to end the genocide by taking armed action against Pakistan than to
simply give refuge to those who made it across to refugee camps.
 West Pakistani politicians marched in Lahore and across West Pakistan, calling
for Pakistan to Crush India.
 The Indian military waited until December, when the drier ground would make
for easier operations and Himalayan passes would be closed by snow,
preventing any Chinese intervention.

8. DECLERATION OF WAR AGAINST INDIA.
 On the evening of 3 December Sunday, at about 5:40 pm, the Pakistani Air Force (PAF)
launched a pre-emptive strike on eleven airfields in north-western India, including Agra,
which was 300 miles (480 km) from the border.
 At the time of this attack the Taj Mahal was camouflaged with a forest of twigs and
leaves and draped with burlap because its marble glowed like a white beacon in the
moonlight.
 This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
 The Indian PM, Indira Gandhi, brought the country in the state of emergency and ordered
Indian army to reflect the aggression. Fierce military operations developed on the
ground, in the air and in the sea.
 There was no Indian intention of conducting any major offensive into West Pakistan but
to Liberate Bangladesh from west Pakistan.

9. AIR AND GROUND OPERATIONS
 India flew 1,978 sorties in the East and about 4,000 in the West, while the PAF flew
about 30 and 2,840. Total of 65 IAF aircraft were lost (54 losses were admitted).
 Pakistan borrowed F-104s from Jordan, Mirages from an unidentified Middle Eastern
ally (remains unknown) and by F-86s, F-5s from Saudi Arabia.
 Of the Pakistani losses, at least 24 fell in air combat (although only 10 air combat
losses were admitted, not including any F-6s, Mirage IIIs, or the six Jordanian F-104s
which failed to return to their donors).
 The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was one of the first
major engagements in the Western Sector during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
 The Indian Army quickly responded to the Pakistan Army's movements in the west and
made some initial gains, including capturing around 5,795 square miles of Pakistan
territory.
 Land gained by India in Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistani Punjab and Sindh sectors was later
ceded in the Simla Agreement of 1972, as a gesture of goodwill.

10. NAVAL OPERATIONS
 In the western theatre of the war, the Indian Navy, under the command of Vice Admiral
S.N. Kohli, successfully attacked Karachi's port in Operation Trident.
 The damage inflicted on the Pakistani Navy stood at 7 gunboats, 1 minesweeper,
1 submarine, 2 destroyers, 3 patrol crafts belonging to the coast guard, 18 cargo, supply
and communication vessels, and large scale damage inflicted on the naval base and docks
in the coastal town of Karachi. Three merchant navy ships and ten smaller vessels were
captured.
 Operation Trident was followed byOperation Python on the night of 8–9 December, in which
Indian missile boats attacked the Karachi port, resulting in further destruction of reserve
fuel tanks and the sinking of three Pakistani merchant ships.
 In the eastern theatre of the war, the Indian Navy isolated East Pakistan by a naval
blockade in the Bay of Bengal by the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
 According to one Pakistan scholar the Pakistan Navy lost a third of its force in the war.

11. US,BRITAN TRIED TO CORNER INDIA
 On December 10 Indian intelligence intercepted an American message indicating
that US Seventh Fleet led by the 75,000 ton nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the
USS Enterprise was steaming into the war zone.
 The world’s largest warship, with more than 70 fighters and bombers. The Seventh
Fleet also included the guided missile cruiser USS King, guided missile destroyers
USS Decatur, Parsons and Tartar Sam, and a large amphibious assault ship USS
Tripoli.
 Soviet intelligence reported that a British naval group led by the aircraft carrier
Eagle had moved closer to India’s territorial waters.
 American president instructed Chinese to move some troops toward the Indian
frontier. ‘Threaten to move forces or move them, which they never did.
 This was perhaps one of the most ironic events in modern history where the
Western world’s two leading democracies were threatening the world’s largest
democracy in order to protect the perpetrators of the largest genocide since the
Holocaust in Nazi Germany.

12. U.S.S.R A NEW FRIEND
 Indira Gandhi had failed to gain American support and sympathy for the
Bengalis, she finally took a hard move and on August 9, signed a treaty of
peace, friendship and cooperation with Soviet Union.
 Soviet Union sent Soviet fleet to the Bay of Bengal, Soviet cruisers, destroyers
and nuclear submarines, equipped with anti ship missiles, were sent from
Vladivostok.
 US ambassador to the United Nations George H W Bush introduced a
resolution in the UN Security Council, calling for a cease-fire and the
withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan. Believing India can win the
war and Indira Gandhi being determined to protect the interest of Bengalis,
Soviet Union vetoed out the resolution, thus letting India fight for the cause.

13. INDIAN FORESIGHT
 Standing between the Indian cities and the American ships was the Indian
Navy’s Eastern Fleet led by the 20,000-ton aircraft carrier, Vikrant, with
barely 20 light fighter aircraft.
 When asked if India’s Eastern Fleet would take on the Seventh Fleet, the Flag
Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Vice Admiral N. Krishnan, said: “Just give us
the orders.”
 The British and the Americans had planned a coordinated pincer to intimidate
India: while the British ships in the Arabian Sea would target India’s western
coast, the Americans would make a dash into the Bay of Bengal in the east
where 100,000 Pakistani troops were caught between the advancing Indian
troops and the sea.

14. SUPERPOWERS FACE OFF(USA,USSR)
 After Korea , Vietnam and few more conflicts it is the first time the super
powers faced each other in sub – continent.
 Soviets encircled them and aimed the missiles at the ‘Enterprise’. They had
blocked their way and didn’t allow them to head anywhere, neither to
Karachi, nor to Chittagong or Dhaka”.
 The Soviet ships had small range rockets (only upto 300 KM). Therefore, to
hold the opponent under the range, commanders ran risks of going as near to
the enemy as possible.
 Soviets lift the submarines and bring them to the surface so that it can be
pictured by the American spy satellites or can be seen by the American Navy!’
It was done to demonstrate, that we had all the needed things in Indian
Ocean, including the nuclear submarines.

15. SOVIETS WON A CONFLICT WITHOUT A BULLET
 Soviets intercepted the American communication. The commander of the
Carrier Battle Group was then the counter-admiral Dimon Gordon. He sent the
report to the 7th American Fleet Commander: ‘Sir, we are too late. There are
Russian nuclear submarines here, and a big collection of battleships’.
 Americans returned and couldn’t do anything. Soviet Union had also
threatened China that, if they ever opened a front against India on its border,
they will receive a tough response from North.
 From then to till now Russia had been our ally and a true friend.

16. A GLOURIOUS VICTORY
 'India won a glorious victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war. It was the first decisive
victory in a major war in centuries. And it was won singlehandedly, in the face of
opposition and threats from a majority of the UN member-States, including a
superpower. Every Indian patriot felt proud of this glittering chapter in the nation's
history.
 "Dacca is now the free capital of a free country. We hail the people of Bangladesh in
their hour of triumph. All nations who value the human spirit will recognize it as a
significant milestone in man's quest for liberty.“---Indira Ghandhi.(P.M. of India)
 The provisional government of Bangladesh arrives in Dhaka from exile.
 Mujibur Rahman was released from a West Pakistani prison, returning to Dhaka on 10
January 1972 and becoming the first President of Bangladesh and later its Prime
Minister.

17. HUMILIATION OF PAKISTAN
 For Pakistan it was a complete and humiliating defeat , lost half its
population and a significant portion of its economy.
 Also, the Pakistani military suffered further humiliation by having their
90,000 prisoners of war (POWs) released by India only after the negotiation
and signing of the Simla Agreement on 2 July 1972.
 Pakistan lost half its navy, a quarter of its air force and a third of its army.
 Moreover, the army had failed to fulfill its promises of fighting to the last
man. The eastern command had laid down arms after losing only 1,300 men in
battle. In West Pakistan 1,200 military deaths had accompanied lackluster
military performance.

18. Why is it important to remember 1971?
 It was the first time that the Indian leadership decided to take a decisive
action on moral grounds.
 It was the first time that India violated the UN charter.
 It was the first time that India handled pressure from US, China and Europe.
 It was the first time that India decided that an error made by the British in
division needed to be corrected by force.
 The only war that the independent Indian Army planned, executed and
carried out with precision and captured 93,000 prisoners.
 Today 1971 War is all but forgotten by the nation
CONCLUSION

19. I LOVE MY COUNTRY-MERA BHARAT MAHAN