Imtiaz Alam Khan - History: the fall of Dhaka from Bihari eyes
NB: Yesterday was the 48th anniversary of the surrender of the Pakistan Army at Dhaka. This article is an interesting account by an eye-witness, a Pakistani of Bihari origin who remained loyal to Pakistan. Bihari's became targets of popular anger after the liberation of Bangladesh. Many rmain stateless citizens as Pakistan refuses to allow repatriation. This tragedy highlights the complexity of citizenship and statelessness in South Asia.
Incidentally, the fate of Shahjehan Bacchu shows that Muslims can be victims of persecution in Islamic countries. Just as Hindus can be victims of persecution by Hindutva; and Sikhs persecuted by Khalistanis. On a personal note, the Chinese position on that crisis and that of the CPI (ML) was utterly disruptive for the Naxalite movement of the time. It prompted many cadre to leave the movement in dismay. I was one of them. This was an anonymous letter I wrote then, which I did not own authorship of until 2013. DS
Imtiaz Alam Khan - History: the fall of Dhaka from Bihari eyes
.... On that harrowing day, just after Fajr prayers, there was a knock on the door of our flat. I opened the door and saw it was our Bengali neighbour Mallu Bhai. His actual name was Muhammad Ali Khan but everybody affectionately called him by his nickname. He lived with his family in the only other flat on our floor. This handsome man was usually a calm and collected person but today he appeared wildly excited. His eyes were shining, his cheeks were flushed and his voice was loud and shrill. “Imtiaz, have you heard the big new? Akashvani [All Indian Radio] says Pak Army is going to surrender today!”
I laughed loudly (little knowing that this would be my last laugh for a long time), “Oh, come on, Mallu Bhai,” I said, “you know better than to believe Akashvani.” Mallu Bhai replid, “No, you do not understand. This time they have given a [test] as proof to check the veracity of their announcement. They say that our planes will fly low over Dhaka but there will be no fire from the ground. The Pak army’s Ack-Ack [anti-aircraft] guns will stay silent.” On hearing this, I felt panic rising within me but I controlled myself and said, “Just think, Mallu Bhai, how is this possible? The Indian Army has not reached Dhaka. They are still far away. So then, why should Gen Niazi surrender? And to whom is he supposed to surrender?”
see also
Haunted by unification: A Bangladeshi view of partition
An Open Letter to the world on the Bangladesh crisis of 1971
Glory Days, or remembering how Indians love(d) China
Syed Badrul Ahsan - In Dhaka, return of a spectre
Incidentally, the fate of Shahjehan Bacchu shows that Muslims can be victims of persecution in Islamic countries. Just as Hindus can be victims of persecution by Hindutva; and Sikhs persecuted by Khalistanis. On a personal note, the Chinese position on that crisis and that of the CPI (ML) was utterly disruptive for the Naxalite movement of the time. It prompted many cadre to leave the movement in dismay. I was one of them. This was an anonymous letter I wrote then, which I did not own authorship of until 2013. DS
Imtiaz Alam Khan - History: the fall of Dhaka from Bihari eyes
.... On that harrowing day, just after Fajr prayers, there was a knock on the door of our flat. I opened the door and saw it was our Bengali neighbour Mallu Bhai. His actual name was Muhammad Ali Khan but everybody affectionately called him by his nickname. He lived with his family in the only other flat on our floor. This handsome man was usually a calm and collected person but today he appeared wildly excited. His eyes were shining, his cheeks were flushed and his voice was loud and shrill. “Imtiaz, have you heard the big new? Akashvani [All Indian Radio] says Pak Army is going to surrender today!”
I laughed loudly (little knowing that this would be my last laugh for a long time), “Oh, come on, Mallu Bhai,” I said, “you know better than to believe Akashvani.” Mallu Bhai replid, “No, you do not understand. This time they have given a [test] as proof to check the veracity of their announcement. They say that our planes will fly low over Dhaka but there will be no fire from the ground. The Pak army’s Ack-Ack [anti-aircraft] guns will stay silent.” On hearing this, I felt panic rising within me but I controlled myself and said, “Just think, Mallu Bhai, how is this possible? The Indian Army has not reached Dhaka. They are still far away. So then, why should Gen Niazi surrender? And to whom is he supposed to surrender?”
This repartee dampened
Mallu Bhai’s excitement considerably and he went to his home, murmuring, “Ok,
we will know the truth in a few hours.” Despite my bravado, I
was badly shaken. I went back inside my flat in a state of trepidation. I told
my family the news. We kept hoping and praying that it would turn out to be
false news. Every now and then, one of us would go to the balcony and scan the
sky for Indian planes. And then, what we
hoped would not happen, did happen.
The Indian planes came
around 10 am. The first few sorties
were made at considerable altitude but they soon started to fly lower and lower
until we could clearly see the pilots. In stark contrast to previous routine,
not a single shot was fired on them from the ground. It was the most bizarre
scene. We did not see, as we used to see, flames leaping from the ground to
attack these planes. Instead, large numbers of pamphlets were being thrown from
the planes. Printed in English, Bengali and Urdu, they invited the public to
Ramna Race Course ground in the afternoon to witness the surrender of the
Pakistan Army.
Intrigued and hopeful,
Bengalis flocked to the race course. There, in the presence of several lakhs of
Bengalis raising thunderous slogans of ‘Joy Bangla’ and ‘Jai Hind’, Gen Niazi
signed the Instrument of Surrender and handed over his pistol to General Arora
Singh. East Pakistan died and Bangladesh was born. At the end of the
ceremony, the mammoth crowd that spilled out from the Race Course Ground was on
an ecstatic high. The euphoria of freedom kicked in an adrenaline rush, making
the crowd boisterous. The cries of ‘Joy Bangla’ were now intermingled with
cries of ‘Kill the Pakistanis’. But no one dared to
attack the Pakistani troops; most of them were still armed. So, in their
murderous mood, the mob spread out in the city to kill and plunder the
supporters of Pakistan and the Pakistani army - the Biharis. A strange
celebration of independence.
An estimated 300,000
Biharis lived in Dhaka city. They were scattered in various localities of the
city, namely Shahjahan Pur, Kamla Pur, Motijheel, Purana Pultan, Nawabpur road,
Nawab Bari, Thatheri Bazar, Moulvi Bazar, Armani Tola, Islam Pur, Azim Pur,
Saddar Ghat, Eskatan, Dhanmandi, Dhakeshwari, Neel Khet, etc. In all these
localities, Biharis were in a minority amounting to five to seven percent of
the population.... read more:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1522385/history-the-fall-of-dhaka-from-bihari-eyessee also
Haunted by unification: A Bangladeshi view of partition
An Open Letter to the world on the Bangladesh crisis of 1971
Glory Days, or remembering how Indians love(d) China
Syed Badrul Ahsan - In Dhaka, return of a spectre
