Doing in Balochistan, what we did in East Pakistan ? what did we Learn?

[Leader]

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Requesting Pakistani members to show patience and try to learn from History.


A retired soldier does not want you to know his name. He is not ashamed of what he did for the Pakistan Army in what is now Bangladesh in 1971. Rather, he knows that, forty years on, this period of history is as strained and fraught as ever – and he fears the military might not be pleased that he wants to set down his version of the truth.

He just wants you to hear his tale of discrimination, confrontation and misunderstanding that led to the events of December 16, 1971. This is a day, the retired major says, he does not want to remember.

“We were surrounded by the Indian army for a week, and would have continued fighting till our last breath,” says the Pakistan major, who was posted in Comilla, a town a few kilometers from the Indian border, when war broke out in 1971.
With all communication cut off, supplies running short and having to defend the cantonment area with bare-bones resources, the situation was dire. “But on December 16, the Indians intercepted our radio communication efforts and told us that General Niazi had surrendered in Dhaka and there was no use in continuing fighting,” he says.

None of them believed it could be true, but confirmation came via the ever-reliable BBC radio. His commanding officer, a brigadier who was leading the battalion of some 4,000 men, agreed to surrender.
The major, who had been attacking the Indians from nearby hills with 1,000 men under his command, also retreated after the orders came. He was taken by the Indian military as a prisoner of war and spent two years in India before being set free.

When asked if he ever thought he would be surrendering in a country he thought of as his own, he says he never knew things could get so bad, but also claims the cracks in the system had started to show long before 1971.

The retired major, who is a third generation military officer, says that when he was young, he used to visit his father who was also posted in Chittagong, Bangladesh. “The civil service, military and other high ranking government positions were all occupied by West Pakistanis, who considered Bengalis an inferior race,” he says. Many times he saw Bengalis openly humiliated and treated like ‘untouchables’.
He saw the discrimination up close when he himself was posted to Bangladesh. “In 1970 I was sent to the same city where my father served – Chittagong. I made many close friends who were Bengalis there.”
He adds with a sigh that he lost all these friends, as they started avoiding him after the rifts that followed the elections of December 1970; some even became military enemies.
“The Bengalis had obviously won the majority, and wanted the first assembly session in Dhaka, but the army chief Yahya Khan, who headed the government then, refused. When talks failed in March 1971 a military crackdown against them was ordered,” the retired officer says.
“As a repercussion, the Bengalis started attacking back, and one of the largest orchestrated attacks which formed the basis of the independence movement for Bengalis was on March 26th 1971.”
“But not everyone defected from the military. One of my friends, who is a Bengali by origin, remained loyal till the end and retired as a brigadier and is now living in Rawalpindi,” he says, adding that many of his brigadier friend’s family members were killed because of his loyalty towards Pakistan.

“If the civilian government and the army of West Pakistan had realized that a military solution was not the answer, things would have been different. But the problem is that officers like me were discouraged from sharing our opinions on politics, so we kept quiet and followed orders,” he says.

For the officer, Pakistan’s own weakness in failing to make Bengalis feel a part of Pakistan led to the nine months of war and the break-up of the country. “We have not learnt much from the war. If we had, we would not be doing the same in Balochistan, where we are again depriving people economically. The government must act before it’s too late.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2011.

[Patriot]

Bullshit - I would believe this **** if People of Punjab, Sindh and NWFP were living like kings as a matter of fact only elite lives comfortably the common man is suffering everywhere.Besides - India can never interfere like 1971 now due to our nuclear weapons - These two are totally different situations..it's like comparing apple and oranges.Balochistan was is and will always remain part of Pakistan and you you are supporting so called separatists where the **** people like you are when minorities are treated like dirt by the majority of the pakistani population?Aka discrimination against Ahemdis yet you guys support it.

[Oscar]

These two are totally difference situation..it's like comparing apple and oranges.Balochistan was is and will always remain part of Pakistan.

Agreed.. balochistan has no India as its neighbor(although another neighbor of ours has been playing naughty recently after it too has fallen for the greed of resources) but it does have countries where other states may influence conditions.

Balochistan may not separate due to geographical and population limitations.. it will however develop into an area of permanent insurgency ala Kurdistan.
And/Or perhaps the approach used by Turkey for Kurdistan may also work here??

[Drawn_Sword_of_God]

Bangladesh far away from pakistan mainland, if it was in th mainland it would be a different situation. and Baluchistan is going to remain pakistani

[Pakistanisage]

Requesting Pakistani members to show patience and try to learn from History.


A retired soldier does not want you to know his name. He is not ashamed of what he did for the Pakistan Army in what is now Bangladesh in 1971. Rather, he knows that, forty years on, this period of history is as strained and fraught as ever – and he fears the military might not be pleased that he wants to set down his version of the truth.

He just wants you to hear his tale of discrimination, confrontation and misunderstanding that led to the events of December 16, 1971. This is a day, the retired major says, he does not want to remember.

“We were surrounded by the Indian army for a week, and would have continued fighting till our last breath,” says the Pakistan major, who was posted in Comilla, a town a few kilometers from the Indian border, when war broke out in 1971.
With all communication cut off, supplies running short and having to defend the cantonment area with bare-bones resources, the situation was dire. “But on December 16, the Indians intercepted our radio communication efforts and told us that General Niazi had surrendered in Dhaka and there was no use in continuing fighting,” he says.

None of them believed it could be true, but confirmation came via the ever-reliable BBC radio. His commanding officer, a brigadier who was leading the battalion of some 4,000 men, agreed to surrender.
The major, who had been attacking the Indians from nearby hills with 1,000 men under his command, also retreated after the orders came. He was taken by the Indian military as a prisoner of war and spent two years in India before being set free.

When asked if he ever thought he would be surrendering in a country he thought of as his own, he says he never knew things could get so bad, but also claims the cracks in the system had started to show long before 1971.

The retired major, who is a third generation military officer, says that when he was young, he used to visit his father who was also posted in Chittagong, Bangladesh. “The civil service, military and other high ranking government positions were all occupied by West Pakistanis, who considered Bengalis an inferior race,” he says. Many times he saw Bengalis openly humiliated and treated like ‘untouchables’.
He saw the discrimination up close when he himself was posted to Bangladesh. “In 1970 I was sent to the same city where my father served – Chittagong. I made many close friends who were Bengalis there.”
He adds with a sigh that he lost all these friends, as they started avoiding him after the rifts that followed the elections of December 1970; some even became military enemies.
“The Bengalis had obviously won the majority, and wanted the first assembly session in Dhaka, but the army chief Yahya Khan, who headed the government then, refused. When talks failed in March 1971 a military crackdown against them was ordered,” the retired officer says.
“As a repercussion, the Bengalis started attacking back, and one of the largest orchestrated attacks which formed the basis of the independence movement for Bengalis was on March 26th 1971.”
“But not everyone defected from the military. One of my friends, who is a Bengali by origin, remained loyal till the end and retired as a brigadier and is now living in Rawalpindi,” he says, adding that many of his brigadier friend’s family members were killed because of his loyalty towards Pakistan.

“If the civilian government and the army of West Pakistan had realized that a military solution was not the answer, things would have been different. But the problem is that officers like me were discouraged from sharing our opinions on politics, so we kept quiet and followed orders,” he says.

For the officer, Pakistan’s own weakness in failing to make Bengalis feel a part of Pakistan led to the nine months of war and the break-up of the country. “We have not learnt much from the war. If we had, we would not be doing the same in Balochistan, where we are again depriving people economically. The government must act before it’s too late.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2011.

You cannot compare East Pakistan ( BD now ) with any province of Pakistan. For one thing, East Pakistan was thousands of miles away from West Pakistan which is not the case with pakistani provinces which are contigous territory. Also BD culture is vastly different than Pakistani culture whereas most provinces have somewhat similar culture. Having said that I agree that we should be careful and protect the rights of all pakistanis.

My 2 cents says to drop this ultra sensitivity towards Regional Nationalism. My feeling about my self Identity is that I am just a Pakistani ( not Urdu, punjabi, Pathan, sindhi, Balochi or seraiki ) who happens to be just Muslim ( not shia or sunni etc.)

[azbaroj]

Every one should learn from the history though history says , " no one learn from the history " .

[Leader]

Agreed.. balochistan has no India as its neighbor(although another neighbor of ours has been playing naughty recently after it too has fallen for the greed of resources) but it does have countries where other states may influence conditions.

Balochistan may not separate due to geographical and population limitations.. it will however develop into an area of permanent insurgency ala Kurdistan.

when Indra wanted to continue her war game in Sindh, if you can recall what Shah of Iran said ? he said "if Pakistan breaks up, we will have our share"

keeping in view the Balochistan history and its geography. Role played by army is same, elements are same and God forbid consequences, probably same.
Thinking on lines that Baloch population and its geographical attachment with rest of the Pakistan will keep it together is the most undeveloped thoughtless opinion by some.

and dont exclude the foreign invasion, the heaviest element that can alter the situation in days.

P.S the right way forward is to give Balochistan and its people what they deserve, their equal rights, rather than to say oh the situation is not comparable, situation is different in Balochistan etc etc

--------------------poster 4,5 ref this post as answer to your questions.

[Drawn_Sword_of_God]

when Indra wanted to continue her war game in Sindh, if you can recall what Shah of Iran said ? he said "if Pakistan breaks up, we will have our share"

shah of Iran is long gone and the current Iranian regime is pressured from every side and is no shape to give us any threat, same goes with India. Baluchistan is not geographically positioned like Bangladesh which was a main factor why we lost it, Baluchistan is deep inside Pakistani territory, no way India can do anything unless their soldiers got invincibility cloak

Even the Iranians are a bigger threat to Baluchistan then the Indians

[Oscar]

when Indra wanted to continue her war game in Sindh, if you can recall what Shah of Iran said ? he said "if Pakistan breaks up, we will have our share"

keeping in view the Balochistan history and its geography Role played by army is same, elements are same and God forbid consequences probably same, thinking on lines that Baloch population and its geographical attachment with rest of the Pakistan will keep it together is the most undeveloped thought opinion by some.

and dont exclude the foreign invasion, the heaviest element that can alter the situation in days.

poster 4,5 ref this post as answer to your questions.

Its quite possible.. Iran is not a "Brother" all the time, they too have their vested interests.

[xTra]

Development not gun will solve Baluchistan Problem

[Drawn_Sword_of_God]

Development not gun will solve Baluchistan Problem

that is true, it will cause more hate for Pakistani army by the Baluchistani. it is proven several times that might does not crush everything, lets look at palestine, kashmir, the kurds for example.

[Awesome]

Bullshit - I would believe this **** if People of Punjab, Sindh and NWFP were living like kings as a matter of fact only elite lives comfortably the common man is suffering everywhere.Besides - India can never interfere like 1971 now due to our nuclear weapons - These two are totally different situations..it's like comparing apple and oranges.Balochistan was is and will always remain part of Pakistan and you you are supporting so called separatists where the **** people like you are when minorities are treated like dirt by the majority of the pakistani population?Aka discrimination against Ahemdis yet you guys support it.

The fact remains - the 'royalty' myth of the West Pakistanis did not cause the break up it was the fundamental right to vote and elect a government of their own choosing that broke the camel's back.

The leaders of West Pakistan, in which we must not forget the contribution of Bhutto when we talk about Yahya, both screwed this up and ultimately, its not the Bangladeshi's fault, not India's, its mostly the fault of these two characters.

[Patriot]

The fact remains - the 'royalty' myth of the West Pakistanis did not cause the break up it was the fundamental right to vote and elect a government of their own choosing that broke the camel's back.

The leaders of West Pakistan, in which we must not forget the contribution of Bhutto when we talk about Yahya, both screwed this up and ultimately, its not the Bangladeshi's fault, not India's, its mostly the fault of these two characters.

Of course but we can't compare that particular situation with Balochistan.The balochis themselves elect these sardars who in any case make sure that balochistan remains backward.

[53fd]

There is no comparison of Bangladesh with Pakistan. The people of West Pakistan were cut off from the events, & not aware of the realities in the East till 1971. They have not been impacted by it or traumatized by it, hence it is much easier for them to get over it & be apologetic.

If you want to apologize for what West Pakistan did, what about an apology for the 1 million Biharis killed by the Mukti Bahini in Bangladesh?

I am a Bihari, & my father & his siblings grew up in Bangladesh & did their early schooling there. Most of my Dad's side relatives were in Bangladesh as well pre-1971. I have felt the events of 1971 impact me directly. My avatar is of my uncle who was in the Pakistan Air Force in Chittagong, who was killed in April 1971 by rebels & received Sitar-e-Jurat. My Dad just about made it alive to Karachi from Dhaka in 1971, my family had to leave their houses & everything else to make it to Pakistan alive.

What happened in 1971 is done. No apologies from Pakistan. I am happy they got independence, & I am glad they are not part of Pakistan today. Germany did not apologize for the events that led to WW2, neither did the Soviet Union. And even in the case of 1971, it's different, because there were atrocities committed by both sides.

[eastwatch]

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Bangladesh far away from pakistan mainland, if it was in th mainland it would be a different situation. and Baluchistan is going to remain pakistani

Issue is not whether Baluchistan will remain in Pakistan or not. Issue is what policies your govt is taking in that Province. Is your govt depriving the baluch people from their natural resources? Is it killing people who dare to demand their rights as a Pakistani? Is it killing or imprisoning their leaders in the name of 'Pakistan khatre pe Hain' bullshit propaganda.

Look, I should not speak of ethnicity of Pakistan But, PA is almost under the control of Punjabis, and through PA, the Punjabis are forcing actions as they did during 1971. This situation must be rectified. Otherwise, India or no India, there will be similar repercussion in Quetta, too. There are other international players in that region. Regard USA as another player there, who may use the separatists through some other countries to escalate their war against Pakistan.