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December 16, 1971�the way it was! By
Abul Kasem On this day, 16th of December, many Bangalees are going to celebrate throughout the world our extremely costly freedom that we own from the brute Pakistani soldiers. There will be many functions, ceremonies and remembrances that may bring tears to many and smiles on many faces. In this brief recount, I am going to narrate to you some of the events that I saw with my own eyes and what I had experienced personally on that wintry day in 1971.
In the month of November and December
1971, it was quite clear that the allied forces are going to win the war.
In fact, towards the middle of November all stations of AIR were
already giving the ultimatum to the Pakistani Army that they had no
alternative but to surrender. I
heard the speech given by the Indian force's chief General Sam Maneckshaw to
that effect. Of course, the
Pakistan army never admitted their hapless situation and the Dhaka Radio
predicted the eventual victory of Pakistan and the destruction of all the Kafirs
and the Munafiqs. Very few Bangalees ever tuned to the broadcasting of
the Pakistan radio knowing full well that those propagandas were nothing but a
bunch of boloney. Our most
favourite radio station was the BBC and our most reliable person for accurate
reporting was Mark Tally. There
were two sessions of the BBC Bengali service.
One was early in the morning and another one was at night. I guess very few Bangalees ever missed any one of those
sessions of the BBC. Therefore, the BBC was the heart and soul of the
Bangalees in those turbulent times. We
will also never forget Serajur Rahman and Shyamal Lodh of BBC for their
untiring, emotional and spirited reporting on the events in Bangladesh. For 24-hour news, everyone would tune to AIR whichever AIR
station may be that (Calcutta, Delhi --- etc.). We also heard the voice of Mrs. Indira Gandhi in the
recognition of Bangladesh as a sovereign country.
These are the moments no Bangalees of my generation would ever forget
and we will cherish these moments as long as we live in this mortal world. Any way, by the end of November 1971,
the Allied Air Force had the complete control of the azure sky of our
homeland. Although there was curfew enforced for most of the day, very few
people really bothered about that. People
would venture out to nearby place for their shopping of their quotidian needs.
Many people simply out of fear had dug trenches in their house compound for
bomb shelter. However, most venturesome people preferred to go to their
rooftops ignoring the danger that may come with it to watch the dogfight
rather than going inside the trench to heave a sigh of relief. We had very
little food to eat. But we were so happy that we forgot the food. I remember
eating rice with only daal (lentil) and salt. But they even tasted so good! Just about a couple of weeks before
the surrender of the Pakistan Army, the Indian airplanes dropped leaflets all
around Dhaka (possibly all around Bangladesh too) in English, Urdu, and
Bengali about the hopeless condition of the Pakistan Army and warned them of
their consequences in the hands of the enraged Bangalee if they delay their
surrender to the allied forces. The
leaflet also guaranteed the protection of the POW's (Prisoner Of War)
according to the Geneva Convention. Everyone
could feel that war was coming to an end although all around Dhaka there were
quite a few bombings by the Allied Air Force.
Those bombings were strictly limited to the cantonment and airport
area. There were very few civilian casualties due to those nonstop bombings.
In fact, every one welcomed those bombings.
At night, we could hear constant barrage of machine gun fire and sounds
of explosions. Those were the signs that our own Muktibahini freedom
fighters are approaching to Dhaka and they will not let the Pakistani army go
too easily. Twenty-four hours before the
surrender, there was a special announcement by all the stations of AIR that
the Pakistan Army had decided to surrender.
The official instrument of surrender ceremony will be held on the very
place where Sheikh Mujib declared the freedom of Bangladesh almost nine months
earlier on 7th.March, 1971. That is, the racecourse maidan. It was such an
irony. The news of the surrender
ceremony spread like a wildfire. Quite
predictably, the Pakistan Radio kept silence about the surrender ceremony.
We got the confirmation of the surrender in the trembling but emotional
voice of Serajur Rahman of BBC. I
cannot describe my feeling (and the feeling of all the Bangalees) with that
piece of news. We could not sleep
the whole night waiting to witness the surrender ceremony in racecourse maidan.
The AIR also warned people not to harm any retreating Pakistani soldier
by shooting, throwing stones, etc. If anyone were caught doing that, he would
be dealt with severely by the allied command. The announcement said that if
any Bangalee finds any Pakistani soldier who is injured or in any way invalid
then he must be taken to the nearest hospital or to the allied command
immediately. With those
announcements the allied force was able to restrain any desire by the
Bangalees to take the revenge on Pakistani soldiers who were all but
demoralized on that very day. At around 1.00 P.M of 16th December
1971 we (my younger brother and I) started walking from our home at Lalbagh to
the racecourse maidan. The surrender ceremony was scheduled for the late
afternoon may be around 3:00 to 4.00 P.M.
When we came to the street, we saw throngs of people. People and
people, people everywhere in the street.
For a moment I thought it was like another March 7th.
We saw many Mukti soldiers in plain clothes but with small
machine guns hanging by their shoulder. People were simply hugging and kissing
them. For one Mukti boy there
were hundreds of people waiting just to touch him.
How may I forget those unforgettable scenes! When we came near the medical college, we were surprised to
see a column of Pakistani soldiers walking on foot with their automatic rifles
on their shoulders. We also saw a person injured with gunshot lying on the
street and a few people trying to carry him to the hospital. We heard from them that the injured person threw some stones
at the retreating columns of the Pakistani soldiers and they had no choice but
use their rifles to protect themselves. As
far as I know, this was the only case of attack at the retreating soldiers by
the Bangalees. It is really surprising how the Bangalees resisted their
temptation to take their revenge on the retreating Pakistani soldiers after
what these brutes have done to us in the last nine-month period. We followed
to the letter the directives given by the allied forces concerning our fallen
enemies. All Bangalees should
remember this gentle and forgiving nature of ours. We finally made it to the racecourse
at around 2.30 P.M. The area was
already crowded with people. I
saw a huge convoy of Indian soldiers who had surrounded the area where the
surrender ceremony was about to be held.
We were quite lucky to find a place very close to the ceremony site.
Everyone was hugging and kissing each other.
It was as if every one was born again.
I saw that a few tables and chairs had already been placed where the
ceremony was to take place. A few Indian army officers were sitting there.
I saw General Jagjit Singh Aurora sitting at the centre chair. Other
few army officers with many stars flanked him on both sides.
I guessed they must be some Brigadiers and Maj. Generals of Indian
army. The Pakistani General A.A.K Niazi had not arrived yet.
Everyone was anxiously waiting for him.
Many people chanted slogans like Joi Bangla, Joi Sheikh Mujib, Joi
Indira, Joi Aurora, etc. These were impromptu slogans.
I did not hear any slogan condemning Niazi and his actions.
People were simply overwhelmed. They
had forgotten the hate. They simply wanted to celebrate their victory for once
and all. After about 20 minutes, an army jeep arrived at the site. It was the jeep that brought General Niazi and some of his Lieutenants. General Aurora and his men stood up. I saw General Niazi and General Aurora saluted each other in chost military fashion. Then General Niazi took his revolver out of his holster and put it on the table. This, of course was a symbolic act. The two Generals then shook hands and to our great surprise they hugged each other. It was just unbelievable! I never expected that to happen! I thought I saw both the Generals eyes were wet. All the gestures of General Niazi suggested that at last he was relieved. I thought that General Niazi was simply happy to surrender to the Indian army rather than dying in the hands of the Mukti boys. At last, he was on the hands of the professional soldiers who will ensure his safety and survival as per the Geneva Convention.
Then we saw General Aurora requested
General Niazi to sit beside him. The
two Generals then chit chatted while exchanging pleasantry.
At times we even saw them laughing a little bit.
Then another Indian army officer brought some papers.
I saw General Niazi sign on one of those papers first. Then General
Aurora signed. Both the Generals
then stood up, saluted each other and hugged one more time. There was a
thunderous clapping and cheers from the crowd.
Those were very very poignant moments for those who witnessed the
scene. Then we saw General Aurora ushered General Niazi in his (Gen.
Aurora) military jeep. The two Generals then drove off the racecourse ground
leaving the winter dust composed of mostly dead grass and fallen leaves. The
surrender ceremony thus ended abruptly without any fanfare.
It was really a very brief ceremony.
No pomp and circumstances to speak about. Everyone then started heading
home. When we arrived home at around
5.00P.M, we heard three chilling news. The
first news was the death of Pintoo, our next-door neighbour at the hands of
the Razakars. We went to his
house to hear the details. Pintoo�s
younger brother Montoo told us that both the brothers (Pintoo and Montoo) were
taken away on the 9th December by a few sweet-talking Razakers.
They were held captive along with many other young students and some
elderly people. They were kept in
a dark and dingy room and tortured regularly. The Razakars branded them as
enemies of Islam. They wanted to
know the whereabouts of many Mukti boys who were their friends and
classmates. I saw the torture marks in Montoo�s body.
I also saw a deep cut on his shoulder and his swollen eyes.
Montoo then told us that the Razakars killed his brother (Pintoo) in
front of him by shooting him in his head.
The Razakars then warned to kill him (Montoo) too if he did not tell
the whereabouts of his Mukti friends.
The Razakars also told him of theirs (Razakars) grand plan.
The plan was to kill all the University going students in Bangladesh
before the Indian soldiers could enter the city of Dhaka.
They even showed him an endless list of people they had targeted to
eliminate. Eventually, Montoo
managed to escape his captors. How
he did that is another story to tell. The second piece of chilling news was the missing of Dr. Fazle Rabbi. His house was just stones throw from our house. Dr. Rabbi was picked up from our area on the same night as Montoo and Pintoo were picked up. Montoo told us that Dr. Rabbi was tortured along with them. One day, the Razakars took Dr. Rabbi to another room and shot him right there. Montoo did not know what the Razakars did with Dr. Rabbi's dead body. We went to Dr. Rabbi's house to express our sorrow. His wife was crying. I saw his brother typing a letter,
stoically. I guessed it was
addressed to the UN Secretary General or something like that. The third chilling news was the
kidnapping of my closest friend Badiul Alam who was the President of EPSU of
the Ahsanullah Hall of EPUET (now BUET).
He and I were also covertly involved with provision of financial and
logistic support to our Mukti boys. Eyewitnesses told me that on the 13th of
December 1971 a few people came in a jeep and told Badiul that they had some
good news to give him about the Mukti Bahini and requested Badiul to
join them in their jeep. Some of
my friends told me that those people were members of the Islami Chatra Sangha
of EPUET. I am not one hundred percent sure, though. Until today, no one knows
what happened to Badiul. I am certain that his skeleton is in one of the mass
graves that have been found all around Bangladesh. Thus, I ended the 16th December 1971 mostly with personal sadness, with some grief and a little bit of joy knowing that we have a separate homeland call Bangla Desh (yes, it was spelled that way throughout the turbulent days of nine month period). I never knew that one day I would be asked by someone whom I met very recently in the cyber space to write about this day for posterity. Lest we forget, it was the day that engendered a new beginning for 75 million proud people who call them Bangalees. We were told that this new nation is going to be a secular nation for all people irrespective of who is Christian, Buddhist, Hindus, and yes, Muslim. But after 31 long years, what do we see in the horizon? Whatever happened to our call for secularism? How did Bangladesh abandon the cherish goal of our founding fathers? Isn�t it a real betrayal? These are the mixed feeling that I have in this auspicious moment. ------------------------------ Mr. Abul Kasem writes from Sydney, Australia. |
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