Answering propaganda: Did Pakistan army in 1971 surrender only to India?

Samarangan

Recently, a person has been claiming in various places, including talk shows, that the Pakistan Army only surrendered to the Indian forces in the 1971 war, and Bangladesh has no stake in it. His political identity is not that important to me, and the reason behind these campaigns is not to satisfy any anger, which is also not the topic of my discussion today. However, many people are confused by this without knowing it, so I think it is necessary to clarify some things.

Question: Was the surrender only to the Indian forces?

No. Although the Pakistan Army wanted it that way. Because they did not want to be ashamed of surrendering to a guerrilla force like the Mukti Bahini as a regular force, and besides, the Mukti Bahini did not sign the Geneva Convention. They thought that the Mukti Bahini would take terrible revenge for the atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army. However, the aspirations of the Pakistan Army were not granted. The Pakistan Army surrendered to the Joint Force. The Joint Force was a joint command of the Indian Army and the Bangladeshi Army, whose commander was Lt. General Jagjit Singh Arora. So when the Pakistan Army surrendered, Arora signed on behalf of the Joint Force and Niazi signed on behalf of the Pakistan Army.

In the talk show, the gentleman claimed that only India is written in the surrender document. I would advise him to take adequate amounts of Vitamin A, his eyes are very weak. It is very clearly written in the surrender document that this surrender is being made to Commander Arora, who is the commander of the Indian Forces and the “Bangla Desh Forces” in the Eastern Theater. As the commander of the joint forces, he was simultaneously the commander of the Mukti Bahini and the Allied Forces.

Surrender Document:
https://liberationwarbangladesh.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Pakistan-Deed-of-Surrender.webp

Question: So why wasn’t General Osmani present at the surrender ceremony?

General Osmani himself has answered this. He is the Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh, he will sit with the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan or the Chief of Army Staff of India. He cannot sit at the same table with a regional commander. You have to understand that here, Arora and Niazi, both are commanders of the regional Eastern Command, not army chiefs. According to General Osmani himself,

“Lt. J. Arora will represent General Manekshaw at the surrender ceremony. If General Manekshaw went, the question of accompanying him would have arisen. On the basis of sovereign equality, my position is equal to General Manekshaw. I cannot accompany General Arora, the head of the regional forces under his command, there. This is not a matter of ideology. This is a matter of protocol. I am sorry, I have been underestimated. There is a great lack of self-respect among us.”

So was there no representation of the Bangladeshi force at that event? Of course there was. All the commanders of the force who participated in the Dhaka operation were there. Group Captain A.K. Khandaker was present at the surrender ceremony, who was the highest-ranking officer among all the Bangladeshi officers at that time.

Question: Then why did India take the surrender document?

This is stupidity or a deliberate lie. There is never one surrender document, there are as many as there are parties. That is why there are three surrender documents of 1971. One is with Pakistan, one is in Delhi, India, and another is in the National Museum of Shahbagh. I will give pictures of signing three separate documents in the comments. Now my counter-question is, if Bangladesh was not a party at the time of surrender, then why was a document prepared and signed for Bangladesh?

Question: Why were all the prisoners of war taken to India?

The surrender document promised to treat Pakistani prisoners of war according to international norms. The Liberation Army did not sign the Geneva Convention, so it was only possible for the regular forces to treat prisoners of war according to the Geneva Convention. Moreover, it was not possible in the economic context of that time. Pakistan also surrendered in the first place due to this fear, I will discuss it in a later post.

Those who still have a burning desire for 1971 can spread various propaganda to satisfy their anger, but it won’t last long. It will simply fly away.