March 25, 1971: When the Indian subcontinent changed
On March 25, 50 years ago, the Pakistan army led a genocidal crackdown in Dhaka, which changed the course of the history of the Indian subcontinent. It led to the Liberation War, the division of Pakistan, and the creation of Bangladesh.
President Yahya Khan asked the Commander of the Pakistan Army’s Eastern Command and the governor of East Pakistan, General Tikka Khan, to “sort out” the Bengali population seeking greater autonomy. “Operation Searchlight” was unleashed as darkness descended on Dhaka on March 25. That night, the Pakistan army launched murderous assaults on the police lines, Dhaka University’s Jagannath Hall, Iqbal Hall, and girls hostel, Rokeya Hall, as well as in the Hindu-dominated areas of old Dhaka. By the morning of March 26, some 7,000 Dhaka residents lay dead. From then on, the independence of Bangladesh became inevitable.
Pakistan’s Hamoodur Rehman Commission conveniently pinned the blame for the Pakistan Army’s defeat in erstwhile East Pakistan to atrocities, corruption, and cowardice. The moral turpitude of the officers of the Pakistan army might have precipitated Bangladesh’s Liberation War, but it was not the main reason for the Pakistan army’s defeat. General Tikka Khan, who ordered and supervised the crackdown and killings of March 25, 1971, had none of President Khan’s vices. The failures attributed to the Pakistan army trivialise the magnitude of oppression and alienation of the people of Bangladesh; their constant humiliation ever since the time they opted to be a part of Pakistan. They also absolve the Pakistan political class of the stigma of defeat.
The genocide in Bangladesh started even before the March 25 crackdown. Upon the postponement of the session of the National Assembly of Pakistan on March 1, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for civil disobedience. In response, in Rangpur, the Awami League brought out a procession, which was fired upon by pro-Pakistan Biharis encouraged by the local administration. From then on, and until the liberation of Bangladesh, nearly 20,000 houses were demolished and approximately 50,000 people killed in genocidal attacks on Rangpur’s population. Researchers have so far identified 35-40 mass execution fields at Rangpur. In the nine months until the liberation of Bangladesh, an estimated three million people died, and 200,000 women suffered sexual violence by the Pakistan army and its accomplices.
Pakistan was created on imperfect foundations, made possible by Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s guile, popular mobilisation, mistakes made by contemporary politicians, and the feeling among a large section of India’s population that they constituted two nations. The British, Jinnah, and leaders of the Congress all contributed to India’s Partition.
Once created, Pakistan needed nurturing and a common purpose. Unfortunately, its leaders were not equal to the task. The country was a geographic anomaly. The binding element between its two wings was not sufficient to hold it together without an inspirational effort. This was never attempted.
The remarkable success that Jinnah had in mobilising public opinion in favour of the idea of Pakistan and in selling the two-nation theory, blinded Pakistan’s political elite to the pull of the linguistic factor as a binding force among the peoples constituting erstwhile East Pakistan. The political leaders there indeed felt that Islam was an important imperative in deciding their political future, which is why they had supported the creation of Pakistan. That did not mean, however, that the Bengali leaders were committed to Urdu as the national language of Pakistan. Yahya Khan’s decision to postpone the Constituent Assembly indefinitely, notwithstanding the sweeping Awami League electoral victory, created conditions for a showdown. Accounts of what happened in Dhaka in March 1971 indicate that after the Pakistan Army retreated to within the cantonment, a non-cooperation movement involving the whole of the civilian population took hold of East Pakistan. General Tikka Khan arrived in Dhaka on March 7. The chief justice of East Pakistan, Badruddin Ahmad Siddiki, refused to swear him in as the new governor.
The administration, judiciary, and police all refused to obey the orders of the Pakistan establishment, and effectively began reporting to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose call for the creation of a new nation came on March 7 in a speech at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka. Public expectation was that he would declare Bangladesh’s independence. What he said was somewhat short of that. He declared the start of a liberation struggle. The die was cast. Independence was then only a matter of time.
The Mukti Bahini was a decisive factor in India’s quick victory and the liberation of Bangladesh: The Pakistan army surrendered on December 16, 1971, less than two weeks after the war broke out. The brilliant Indian campaign benefited from the support of the people of Bangladesh, but its victory was also hastened by the mistakes of Pakistan’s ruling elite.
What is the foremost lesson of the March 25 massacre? Nation-building needs inclusiveness. It is important never to alienate the people, for discontent can change quickly to anger, and then to hatred. What happened to Pakistan is an object lesson of how not to ruin a nation. The fractured psyche of the people of Bangladesh created a fractured Pakistan, transforming the map of South Asia.