Remembering 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War - IAF's Finest Hour

On the evening of December 3, 1971, as the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was returning to Delhi from Calcutta on board an Air HQ Communication Squadron aircraft the pilot came up to her Principal Adviser D.P. Dhar and asked him to come to the cockpit as there was an urgent message from Delhi.

- AIR MARSHAL VK 'JIMMY' BHATIA (RETD)

BACKGROUND

Dhar spent about three to four minutes in the cockpit, came out and spoke to Gandhi, walked back to his seat and turned to those sitting behind him and said, "The 'fool' has done exactly what one had expected." And this officially started the third round of military confrontation between the two nations-India and Pakistan since their creation by the British in 1947. However, the 1971 war was not due to Pakistan's inane desire to annex Kashmir by force. This time, the Pak President and Martial Law Administrator, General Yahya declared war against India to teach it a lesson as it was seen to be meddling in Pakistan's internal affairs. This is exactly what India was hoping for to be able to overtly start a military campaign in East Pakistan, along with the 'Mukti Bahini' force it had helped to train.

What started as a somewhat conservative military campaign, quickly turned into a blitzkrieg, resulting in the liberation of Dhaka within 14 days; and, the creation of a brand-new nation. Bangladesh rose from the ashes of East Pakistan where the fire was lit by none other than the Pakistan's political and military establishment itself.

However, none of this would have been possible but for the Indian Air Force (IAF), which not only spearheaded the military campaign to achieve absolute air superiority in the East, but also provided superb support to the ground forces in all facets of their campaign to achieve the seemingly impossible (at least initially) aim of Dacca's surrender that too, within the available diplomatically constrained timeframe.

"DEFENCE OF THE EAST LIES IN THE WEST": PAKISTAN'S FLAWED WAR DOCTRINE