Why did India help in 1971?
By Shah Mohammed Saifuddin
Unlike our other neighbors India has a special place in our history
because of its help in our liberation war. When the Pakistani military
was murdering hundreds of thousands of unarmed people and raping the
women of the then East Pakistan, India came forward with its helping
hand and contributed to arming and training the mukti bahini. Almost
10 million people took shelter in India, especially in the states
adjacent to East Pakistan border. Nobody inBangladesh questions the
fact that we got help from India but many question the nature of the
help. Was it selflesshelp or India had a strategic interest in helping
Bangladesh?
With a view to find out the truth we have to analyze what India gained
from our freedom struggle and its attitude toward Bangladesh after our
liberation war. Let us examine the entire thing from strategic,
economic, and political point of views.
Strategic point of view
India’s peculiar geographic position constituted a major threat to its
national security. Due to the geographic location of then East
Pakistan, the seven sisters were completely isolated from the
mainland. A small corridor, popularly known as chicken neck, was the
only passage that could be used for traffic movement. Militarily,
India was pretty vulnerable especially due to Chinese presence along
the border. The war that was fought between India and China taught
India the lesson that faster troops mobility is the only way to win a
war. So, India needed transit facility through East Pakistan to
transport troops and logistics faster to defend its vulnerable North
Eastern states. Besides that,Pakistan was playing a vital role in
instigating the insurgents in Assam and elsewhere to break up the
entire region. The Indian military strategists were out of options and
didn’t know how the North Eastern region would be saved. The Hawkish
politicians in India came to the conclusion that breaking up Pakistan
is the only way to save the militarily insecure North Eastern region.
By doing so,
•They could weaken Pakistan and reduce the threat level.
•Recapture the Pakistani portion of Kashmir
•Create a new state that would be militarily and economically weak and
provide the much needed transit for troops and logistics
transportation
•Project India as a regional superpower and warn all elements inimical
to India’s security that India had the power to defend itself.
Economic point of view
India also had an economic objective to dismember Pakistan. India was
a country with huge population and needed additional resources to
uplift its economy. The economic cooperation with Pakistan was all but
encouraging. Besides that, the water resources of the Himalayas were
needed for India for irrigation and power generation. Due to
Pakistan’s strong military, India was unable to use the resources
unilaterally. Despite being a third world nation,Pakistan was a huge
economic market that was able to absorb millions of dollars worth of
Indian commodities.But the hostility between the two nations retarded
the possibility of a robust economic cooperation between the two
nations.
Indian policymakers thought that if they could break Pakistan and
create a new and weaker Bangladesh then they would be able to gain
unrestricted access to its economic market. India knew that as a new
nation, Bangladesh would need cheap industrial products to revive its
economy. So, there was a tremendous potential for economic cooperation
between the two nations. India also wanted to get transit through
Bangladesh to transport raw materials for its North Eastern states.
The economically backward North Eastern region needed more investment
and various products to energize its economy. So, the Indians thought
Bangladesh would be much more beneficial for Indian economy than East
Pakistan. The economic calculation was very accurate because India
managed to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cheap
products to Bangladesh both legally and illegally. They destroyed the
thriving jute industry of Bangladesh to build their own right after
our independence.
India flooded the local Bangladeshi market with its products and
offered millions of dollars more as loans to buy Indian commodities.
We were reduced to a trading nation and almost destroyed the very
basis of our own industry. Indiaencouraged smuggling along the
Indo-Bangla border so the government of Bangladesh had to close the
border to stop the rampant smuggling to save the local traders. India
never wanted an economically prosperous Bangladesh rather it wanted to
use us as a market for its own products and in the process make us
dependent on them.
If we look at the present situation, the lopsided trade relation
between the two nations speaks volume of the Indian intention to help
us in 1971. Bangladesh is an open market economy and allows duty free
access for Indian products to our market. But India follows a
restricted policy when it comes to importing Bangladeshi products and
imposed numerous tariffs and para-tariffs on the Bangladeshi goods.
The yawning trade imbalance is a testament to the fact thatIndianever
wanted an economically self-sufficient Bangladesh [and now PUNJAB and
PAKISTAN].
Political point of view
Former Indian foreign secretary Mr. Dixit said, "We helped in the
liberation of Bangladesh in mutual interest, it was not a favour,"
His statement is clear evidence that India did not help Bangladesh on
humanitarian ground. India had a long-term strategic plan to dismember
Pakistan for its own gain. India had cultivated deep political
relation with the disgruntled elements within the erstwhile East
Pakistan. [1] As per a senior RAW intelligence officer, “Bangladesh
was the result of a 10 year long promotion of dissatisfaction against
the rulers of Pakistan”.
This goes to prove that helping Bangladesh was not an instantaneous
decision of India rather it was a carefully designed strategic plan
that was executed in pinpoint precision.
One of the top bosses of RAW, K. Sankaran Nair, was responsible for
training the erstwhile East Pakistani officers inguerrilla warfare. He
also established excellent relation with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The
relation was maintained via a RAW operative Mr. Banerjee. RAW even
funded the 1970s election, in which Sheikh Mujib emerged as the winner
[2].
But after the liberation, things did not go the way India had planned.
Mujib was assassinated and Awami League was ousted from the power.
General Ziaur Rahman came to power and adopted an anti India foreign
and defense policy to drag Bangladesh out of Indian sphere of
influence. He established good economic and political relation with
America and China. He also repaired relations with the Middle Eastern
countries and created a huge opportunity for the Bangladeshi workers
in the Arab nations. Money started to pour in and the economy got
better. He amended the constitution to give it an Islamic flavour in a
country where 90% people were Muslims. The Indian policymakers
observed the political development in Bangladesh and clearly
understood that things were getting worse as far as Indian interest
was concerned.
In the meantime, General Ziaur Rahman took various measures to upgrade
the military. A close defense relation was established between
Bangladesh and China. This irked the military establishment of India.
They considered it a hostile act and found it hard to digest. The
disgruntled elements in Delhi decided to create a rebel group in
Chittagong hill tracts to keep Bangladesh under pressure and drain as
much resources of this newly born poor country as possible. Shanti
bahini played havock with the lives and properties of the people in
CHT. General Zia quickly decided to populate CHT with Bengalees to
maintain the territorial integrity of Bangladesh. In the meantime,
India forcefully occupied South Talpatty disregarding Bangladesh’s
request for a joint survey to determine the ownership of the Island.
[3] General Zia was assassinated in 1981 and many observers believe
that RAW had a hand in the incident.
General Ershad came to power in 1982 and more or less followed the
same foreign policy as General Zia. But Ershad knew he should not
annoy India beyond a certain limit so a tendency to keep India in good
humour was obvious in his India policy. During his tenure, he agreed
to abolish the guarantee clause from the water sharing treaty signed
by General Zia. It went against our national interest because after
abolishment of the guarantee clause, Indiareduced the water supply
even further and that affected our agriculture and ecology. But the
fact of the matter is even General Ershad couldn’t take a fully
pro-Indian stance due to public pressure. He had to continue the
military modernization and amended the constitution to declare Islam
as the state religion. This drew ire from the top leaders of India.
Ershad didn’t even try to take any initiative to give transit to India
fearing wide spread protest across the country.
Actually, the Indian leaders knew that the only party that was able to
meet the Indian strategic demands was Awami League. They never stopped
keeping relations with Awami League and provided all sorts of logistis
support to Sheikh Hasina. According to some well-informed observers,
India provided Tk. 300 crore to Awami League to win the 1996
election(Weekly Shugondha, 26th April, 1996). India’s clandestine
support for a particular party is a testament to the fact that India
had a strategic reason to help Bangladesh in 1971.
If India’s help was altruistic in nature, India would have tried to
win the hearts and minds of the people of Bangladesh but they never
felt the need to do that and continued with their policy to
clandestinely help bring Awami League to power. Even today, India
leaves no stone unturned to malign Bangladesh. The Indian foreign
ministry spends millions of dollars to hire foreign journalists to
make fictitious reports to portray Bangladesh as Taliban sympathizer.
Fortunately, Bangladesh took quick action to hang a few mis-guided
Mullahs who were creating some disturbances. Bangladesh even signed
various treaties to help the international community to combat
terrorism.
More can be written to prove that India’s help in 1971 was not an
altruistic one rather it was for gaining strategic advantages. India
has an ambitious vision of becoming a world power but how can they
achieve their goal if they cannot convince their neighbours that their
intentions are benign? Using force to subjugate the weaker neighbours
is not the way to go to establish a relation based on mutual trust and
respect.
References
1.RAW: Top-Secret Failures, p: 5
2.Ibid. , p: 8
3.Limits of Diplomacy: Bangladesh, Partha. S. Ghosh
http://bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=173793
By Shah Mohammed Saifuddin
Unlike our other neighbors India has a special place in our history
because of its help in our liberation war. When the Pakistani military
was murdering hundreds of thousands of unarmed people and raping the
women of the then East Pakistan, India came forward with its helping
hand and contributed to arming and training the mukti bahini. Almost
10 million people took shelter in India, especially in the states
adjacent to East Pakistan border. Nobody inBangladesh questions the
fact that we got help from India but many question the nature of the
help. Was it selflesshelp or India had a strategic interest in helping
Bangladesh?
With a view to find out the truth we have to analyze what India gained
from our freedom struggle and its attitude toward Bangladesh after our
liberation war. Let us examine the entire thing from strategic,
economic, and political point of views.
Strategic point of view
India’s peculiar geographic position constituted a major threat to its
national security. Due to the geographic location of then East
Pakistan, the seven sisters were completely isolated from the
mainland. A small corridor, popularly known as chicken neck, was the
only passage that could be used for traffic movement. Militarily,
India was pretty vulnerable especially due to Chinese presence along
the border. The war that was fought between India and China taught
India the lesson that faster troops mobility is the only way to win a
war. So, India needed transit facility through East Pakistan to
transport troops and logistics faster to defend its vulnerable North
Eastern states. Besides that,Pakistan was playing a vital role in
instigating the insurgents in Assam and elsewhere to break up the
entire region. The Indian military strategists were out of options and
didn’t know how the North Eastern region would be saved. The Hawkish
politicians in India came to the conclusion that breaking up Pakistan
is the only way to save the militarily insecure North Eastern region.
By doing so,
•They could weaken Pakistan and reduce the threat level.
•Recapture the Pakistani portion of Kashmir
•Create a new state that would be militarily and economically weak and
provide the much needed transit for troops and logistics
transportation
•Project India as a regional superpower and warn all elements inimical
to India’s security that India had the power to defend itself.
Economic point of view
India also had an economic objective to dismember Pakistan. India was
a country with huge population and needed additional resources to
uplift its economy. The economic cooperation with Pakistan was all but
encouraging. Besides that, the water resources of the Himalayas were
needed for India for irrigation and power generation. Due to
Pakistan’s strong military, India was unable to use the resources
unilaterally. Despite being a third world nation,Pakistan was a huge
economic market that was able to absorb millions of dollars worth of
Indian commodities.But the hostility between the two nations retarded
the possibility of a robust economic cooperation between the two
nations.
Indian policymakers thought that if they could break Pakistan and
create a new and weaker Bangladesh then they would be able to gain
unrestricted access to its economic market. India knew that as a new
nation, Bangladesh would need cheap industrial products to revive its
economy. So, there was a tremendous potential for economic cooperation
between the two nations. India also wanted to get transit through
Bangladesh to transport raw materials for its North Eastern states.
The economically backward North Eastern region needed more investment
and various products to energize its economy. So, the Indians thought
Bangladesh would be much more beneficial for Indian economy than East
Pakistan. The economic calculation was very accurate because India
managed to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cheap
products to Bangladesh both legally and illegally. They destroyed the
thriving jute industry of Bangladesh to build their own right after
our independence.
India flooded the local Bangladeshi market with its products and
offered millions of dollars more as loans to buy Indian commodities.
We were reduced to a trading nation and almost destroyed the very
basis of our own industry. Indiaencouraged smuggling along the
Indo-Bangla border so the government of Bangladesh had to close the
border to stop the rampant smuggling to save the local traders. India
never wanted an economically prosperous Bangladesh rather it wanted to
use us as a market for its own products and in the process make us
dependent on them.
If we look at the present situation, the lopsided trade relation
between the two nations speaks volume of the Indian intention to help
us in 1971. Bangladesh is an open market economy and allows duty free
access for Indian products to our market. But India follows a
restricted policy when it comes to importing Bangladeshi products and
imposed numerous tariffs and para-tariffs on the Bangladeshi goods.
The yawning trade imbalance is a testament to the fact thatIndianever
wanted an economically self-sufficient Bangladesh [and now PUNJAB and
PAKISTAN].
Political point of view
Former Indian foreign secretary Mr. Dixit said, "We helped in the
liberation of Bangladesh in mutual interest, it was not a favour,"
His statement is clear evidence that India did not help Bangladesh on
humanitarian ground. India had a long-term strategic plan to dismember
Pakistan for its own gain. India had cultivated deep political
relation with the disgruntled elements within the erstwhile East
Pakistan. [1] As per a senior RAW intelligence officer, “Bangladesh
was the result of a 10 year long promotion of dissatisfaction against
the rulers of Pakistan”.
This goes to prove that helping Bangladesh was not an instantaneous
decision of India rather it was a carefully designed strategic plan
that was executed in pinpoint precision.
One of the top bosses of RAW, K. Sankaran Nair, was responsible for
training the erstwhile East Pakistani officers inguerrilla warfare. He
also established excellent relation with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The
relation was maintained via a RAW operative Mr. Banerjee. RAW even
funded the 1970s election, in which Sheikh Mujib emerged as the winner
[2].
But after the liberation, things did not go the way India had planned.
Mujib was assassinated and Awami League was ousted from the power.
General Ziaur Rahman came to power and adopted an anti India foreign
and defense policy to drag Bangladesh out of Indian sphere of
influence. He established good economic and political relation with
America and China. He also repaired relations with the Middle Eastern
countries and created a huge opportunity for the Bangladeshi workers
in the Arab nations. Money started to pour in and the economy got
better. He amended the constitution to give it an Islamic flavour in a
country where 90% people were Muslims. The Indian policymakers
observed the political development in Bangladesh and clearly
understood that things were getting worse as far as Indian interest
was concerned.
In the meantime, General Ziaur Rahman took various measures to upgrade
the military. A close defense relation was established between
Bangladesh and China. This irked the military establishment of India.
They considered it a hostile act and found it hard to digest. The
disgruntled elements in Delhi decided to create a rebel group in
Chittagong hill tracts to keep Bangladesh under pressure and drain as
much resources of this newly born poor country as possible. Shanti
bahini played havock with the lives and properties of the people in
CHT. General Zia quickly decided to populate CHT with Bengalees to
maintain the territorial integrity of Bangladesh. In the meantime,
India forcefully occupied South Talpatty disregarding Bangladesh’s
request for a joint survey to determine the ownership of the Island.
[3] General Zia was assassinated in 1981 and many observers believe
that RAW had a hand in the incident.
General Ershad came to power in 1982 and more or less followed the
same foreign policy as General Zia. But Ershad knew he should not
annoy India beyond a certain limit so a tendency to keep India in good
humour was obvious in his India policy. During his tenure, he agreed
to abolish the guarantee clause from the water sharing treaty signed
by General Zia. It went against our national interest because after
abolishment of the guarantee clause, Indiareduced the water supply
even further and that affected our agriculture and ecology. But the
fact of the matter is even General Ershad couldn’t take a fully
pro-Indian stance due to public pressure. He had to continue the
military modernization and amended the constitution to declare Islam
as the state religion. This drew ire from the top leaders of India.
Ershad didn’t even try to take any initiative to give transit to India
fearing wide spread protest across the country.
Actually, the Indian leaders knew that the only party that was able to
meet the Indian strategic demands was Awami League. They never stopped
keeping relations with Awami League and provided all sorts of logistis
support to Sheikh Hasina. According to some well-informed observers,
India provided Tk. 300 crore to Awami League to win the 1996
election(Weekly Shugondha, 26th April, 1996). India’s clandestine
support for a particular party is a testament to the fact that India
had a strategic reason to help Bangladesh in 1971.
If India’s help was altruistic in nature, India would have tried to
win the hearts and minds of the people of Bangladesh but they never
felt the need to do that and continued with their policy to
clandestinely help bring Awami League to power. Even today, India
leaves no stone unturned to malign Bangladesh. The Indian foreign
ministry spends millions of dollars to hire foreign journalists to
make fictitious reports to portray Bangladesh as Taliban sympathizer.
Fortunately, Bangladesh took quick action to hang a few mis-guided
Mullahs who were creating some disturbances. Bangladesh even signed
various treaties to help the international community to combat
terrorism.
More can be written to prove that India’s help in 1971 was not an
altruistic one rather it was for gaining strategic advantages. India
has an ambitious vision of becoming a world power but how can they
achieve their goal if they cannot convince their neighbours that their
intentions are benign? Using force to subjugate the weaker neighbours
is not the way to go to establish a relation based on mutual trust and
respect.
References
1.RAW: Top-Secret Failures, p: 5
2.Ibid. , p: 8
3.Limits of Diplomacy: Bangladesh, Partha. S. Ghosh
http://bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=173793
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