Marking half century of an unacknowledged genocide
Several researchers have argued that at least 25,000 people were killed in a single night when marauding Pakistan military launched “Operation Searchlight” upon the sleeping residents in Dhaka was launched.
By Saleem Samad
In 1971 Pakistan’s military hawks sitting in Rawalpindi’s General Head Quarters (GHQ) planned a genocidal campaign on East Pakistan ( now Bangladesh) in which was supposed to be executed immediately.
The brutal campaign was launched exactly a fifty years ago – on 25 March with full ferocity and is believed to have killed thousands of people in the world’s worst one-day military crackdown in history.
Several researchers have argued that at least 25,000 people were killed in a single night when marauding Pakistan military launched “Operation Searchlight” upon the sleeping residents in Dhaka.
The intent to eliminate a race, language, and heritage during the brutal birth of Bangladesh, unfortunately, has not been internationally recognised as genocide and ethnic cleansing.
‘Operation Searchlight’ was jointly planned by Major General Khadim Hussain Raja, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 14th Division deployed in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and Major General Rao Farman Ali, the cunning civil-military adviser to Eastern Province of Pakistan Army. There was no particular reason for the operations name, writes Gen Raja in his book “A stranger in my own country” published a year after his death.
The military hawk General Yahya Khan and also Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA), on the back of his mind, was determined not to hand over political power to Awami League, which has won a landslide victory in the Pakistan National Assembly. Yahya had several tricks up on his sleeves regarding the handover of power to the majority political party and holding the first National Assembly session in Dhaka in March 1971.
Khan, in a top-secret meeting with military hawks in Rawalpindi, ordered the Eastern Command to finalise a plan for a crackdown in January or early February 1971, suspension of all political activity and revert to Martial Law rule.
Lieutenant General Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, Commander Eastern Command held a crucial meeting with Khakis at Dhaka cantonment, debriefed that the President [Yahya Khan] would announce sine die of the National Assembly session on March 1, 1971.
‘Operation Blitz’ was approved by Rawalpindi GHQ and the instructions were urgently shared with Brigade commanders to standby for their respective responsibility. The plan permitted the armed forces to move against defiant political leaders and to take them into protective custody, wrote General Raja.
On the ground, two top brasses in Dhaka, Lt Gen Yaqub Khan and Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan, Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Navy and also Governor of former East Pakistan deliberately attempted to scuttle the crackdown.
Both the top military leaders advised Khan for a political settlement with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, president of Awami League.
Angry President Yahya hurriedly relieved Admiral Ahsan as Governor of East Pakistan and appointed General Yaqub as the Governor. The appointment was short-lived and was also relieved for proposing for political dialogue with Mujib.
President Yahya’s blue-eyed commander was Lt Gen Tikka Khan (the Butcher of Balochistan) for replacing General Yaqub to head the Eastern Command. On 16 March, President Yahya Khan in a bid to buy time for deployment for ‘Operation Searchlight’ sat for a debate with Sheikh Mujib on his Six Point agenda. Tikka Khan informed the regional commanders that the negotiations with Sheikh Mujib, who was a hard nut to crack, was prepared for a military crackdown.
On 18 March, Gen Ali and Gen Raja sat on a drawing board for a top-secret plan ‘Operation Searchlight’, which was more brutal. While Yahya and other hawks from Rawalpindi were in Dhaka along with a fresh team of replacements, the President unilaterally gave a thumbs-up for the launching of dreaded ‘Operation Searchlight’.
Before the execution of the genocidal campaign, President Khan fled Dhaka before the military crackdown. Hours after he landed safely at Rawalpindi, ‘Operation Searchlight’ commenced with cruelty. The GOC Gen Raja instructed that ‘Operation Searchlight’ be launched on the night between 25 and 26 March 1971. Later Gen Raja, the mastermind of ‘Operation Blitz’ and ‘Operation Searchlight’ was unceremoniously removed and pushed back to GHQ.
Well, Gen Raja in his book has lamented that “This was a momentous decision and I was very sad for the country. The supreme authority had decided to plunge the country into civil strife; the end result was a foregone conclusion.”
At the end of nine months of the bloody independence struggle, the 93,000 Pakistan troops surrendered, in light of the Geneva Convention joint command of the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini after a humiliating defeat on 16 December 1971.
Before, the surrender of Pakistan troops and auxiliary forces, the Muslim militias from Pakistan’s tribal areas, and dreaded henchmen who were recruited from Islamic parties have already caused a heavy toll among the millions of people.
They committed the crime against humanity, genocide, rape as a weapon of war, loot, arson and desecration of prayer halls of different faiths, especially the Hindus, Buddhist and Christians.
The scale of conflict was so brutal that it created the world’s largest war refugees who took shelters in neighbouring states. India had to bear the financial burden of looking after the 10 million refugees in overcrowded camps.
The heartbroken news is that the 195 Pakistan military officers listed for committing war crimes were repatriated along with 93,000 prisoners of war in 1974.
Despite the fact that Clause 13 of the Tripartite Agreement signed between Bangladesh-India-Pakistan demands that the 195 accused would face military court in accordance with Pakistan Army Act, 1952 – but instead, they enjoyed impunity.
Nevertheless, for millions, the pangs of crime against humanity remain fresh in their memory as a dark chapter during the bloody war of independence.
The scares of ‘Operation Searchlight’ still haunts the people in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, a few years ago had appealed to the United Nations to declare the dark-night on 25 March 1971 as ‘Genocide Day’.
Saleem Samad, is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellow (USA) and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>
Views are personal and International Affairs Review neither endorses nor is responsible for them.
