AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 231 of 332 The surrender ceremony was held at the Race Course, where thousands of Bangladeshis had already gathered. After inspecting the guard of honour, Aurora and Niazi sat at a small table and signed the Instrument of Surrender. The famous photographs of the occasion show Lt Gens Aurora and Niazi seated, and V Adm Krishnan, Air Marshal Dewan, Lt Gen Sagat Singh, and Maj Gen Jacob standing behind them. After signing Niazi removed his epaulettes, took out his personal revolver and handed it to Aurora, with tears rolling down his cheeks. The crowd at the Race Course began shouting anti-Pakistan slogans and threats to lynch Niazi. The Indian officers present formed a cordon around Niazi and whisked him off in an Indian jeep. So ended the 1971 war in the Eastern theatre. Mrs Gandhi announced the victory in the East in Parliament, with the ringing words, “Dacca is now the free capital of a free country”. Parliament erupted in cheers, and even Opposition leaders over the next few days praised her as the embodiment of Durga and Shakti. Having secured its major strategic objective, and thereby put an end to major humanitarian crimes — and just by the way, re-shaped the geography of the sub- continent — India announced a ceasefire in the Western sector as well, from 17 December. Over the next few weeks, the new country began the process of setting up national institutions, with support from India. 16 December is celebrated by the Indian armed forces as Vijay Divas, but its significance is not widely remembered outside the armed forces. We lost about 2,500 men killed, and about 4,000 injured; Bangladesh, of course, lost literally lakhs of people (some say up to three million), mostly civilians, over the period from March 1971 onwards. India’s comprehensive victory remains one of the most significant since World War 2, one of the few ethically “just wars” of the 20th century, and was widely studied for applicable lessons. In a tiny Delhi-based souvenir of that war, the inverted rifle and bayonet at the Amar Jawan memorial under India Gate belong to an unknown Indian soldier who gave his life in the Jessore sector. War is never a good thing; but if there has to be a war that plays a large role in the awareness of Indians, it should have been the 1971 war. We still seem to be a little Surrender Ceremony