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EAST PAKISTAN –
1971
DISTORTIONS AND
LIES
COLONEL NAZIR
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V3_UxclzAZOPAeyf8Klfso_EHPV2SZ1mGG3sZ-h7CBc/edit 1/92
AHMED
Recounting personal experiences of a journey spanning over seven

decades, beginning at remote rural environments to soldiering during
most eventful period of Pakistan’s short history; revealing undisclosed
facts about causes and consequences of Indo-Pakistan
Wars(1965,1971,Kargil Episode)and offering a common man’s
perspective to rediscover the path towards a peaceful and prosperous
Pakistan
Revised Edition
(2015)
2
Copyright © Colonel (Retired) Nazir Ahmed

2015
First Published – September

2013
Email: [email protected]
3
The book is dedicated to Farkhanda, my wife who bore

with my circumstances with grace and fortitude making
idyllic home; raising children blessed with exceptional
abilities and sterling character
4
List of
Contents
The
Experience Part- I
1. Prologue 6 2. Village Life 10 3. Ayub Khan’s Era 27 4. Yahya Khan’s

Rule 41 5. Call to Arms 45
Part - II 6. Move to East Pakistan 54 7. Thakurgaon 66 8. Panjbibi 91 9.
Prisoner of war 109
Part - III 10. Back home to a ‘New’ Pakistan 130 11. South Waziristan
141 12. Reverting back to Khakis 145 13. Army Hajj Contingent – 1984
152 14. Shikarpur and Thereafter 167 15. Lure of Mountains 176 16.
Retirement and Post Retirement Years 192
Opinions Part- IV 17. Conflict with India

207 18. The Stranglehold 215 19. 11 Sep 2001 and its Aftermath 230 20.
Taliban 235 21. Regional Context 239
5
22. The Fallacy of Army’s Rule 243 23. Army’s Challenges and Response
251 24. Overcoming Unrest in Balochistan 259 25. The Question of
Provinces in Pakistan 266 26. Local Governments and Community
Development 278 27. Provision of Justice 284 28. Outline of a New Order
287 29. Epilogue 299
Annexes Annex A – List of 34 Punjab Officers in East Pakistan 301 Annex
B – Excerpts from Statement of Air Marshal Inamul Haque Khan 304
Annex C – Order of Battle of Pakistani Troops
in East Pakistan - 3 December 1971
313
Annex D – Dr. Sarmila Bose – The Courageous Pakistan Army Stand on
Eastern Front: An Untold Story of 1971 Indo-Pak War
321
Maps and Photographs Map 1 – 34 Punjab (R&S) First Day’s Actions 57
Map 2 – 34 Punjab (R&S) Clearnace of Bhurangamari Salient 63 Map 3 –
34 Punjab (R&S) Area of Responsibility 67 Map 4 – 34 Punjab (R&S)
During Counter Insurgency Operations
and 1971 War
90
Map 5 – Charlie Company 34 Punjab (R&S) in Hilli Sector 91 Photographs
– Meeting Point of three massive mountain ranges of the
world and Viewpoint made for the travellers

186 & 187 Photopraphs – Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Yaman at USAIS,
Fort Benning 197 Wing Commander Ahmed Adnan, T Bt with his F-16 198
Major Ahmed Omar receiving Sword of Honour at RMA 199 Photopraphs –
34 Punjab Officers at Thakurgaon - July 1971 303
6
Prolog
ue
No claim of erudition, literary merit or pretence of sagacity prompts me to

write the following account. The stimulus in undertaking this demanding
endeavour is to state some facts which would help negate false
perceptions about the tragic events in erstwhile East Pakistan during that
fateful year – 1971. Being one of about thirty four thousand armed forces
personnel who spent over two years in Prisoners Of War (POW) camps in
India, I have felt extreme frustration and helplessness on vicious lies about
proceedings of that tumultuous period resulting in breakup of Pakistan, the
largest Muslim country of the world.
While the number of prisoners was exaggerated to a preposterous figure

aimed at denigrating Pakistan Army, the atrocities attributed to men of the
Army are the greatest falsehood propagated and pursued even after over
forty years of that catastrophic event. Every year around 16 December the
local press has been derisively writing about the disgrace of a military
defeat, despite the fact that those men, who performed their task beyond
the call of duty were abandoned with a purpose. The breakup of our
country was caused by factors other than the result of military operations. It
will become evident from events described in this narrative that the plan to
dismember our country was hatched in West Pakistan by those people who
did not see their chance of coming to or retaining power in a united
Pakistan. They used military operation as catalyst to expedite
implementation of their plan. They got ready support from outside forces
with India in the lead, instigating, training and launching terrorist groups
from their soil into East Pakistan, followed by outright invasion to wind up
the plan.
The theme to demonise the contingent of Pakistan Army trapped in East

Pakistan is fully exposed by Dr Sarmila Bose in her book ‘DEAD
RECKONING - Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War’ published in 2011.
A research scholar of impeccable credentials, her conclusions are result of
detailed investigation of events by interviewing accusers of murders and
atrocities, visiting sites of reported crimes to find details from people of
those areas and questioning concerned officers of Pakistan Army. She has
been travelling to Pakistan and Bangladesh in connection with her
research spanning over a period of some years (2003 to 2006). She
concludes that the claims of killings attributed to Pakistan Army during
1971 are
7
grossly exaggerated and accusations of atrocities patently false. In

introduction chapter of her Book, she laments about Pakistanis on
‘deafening silence from the majority of those who had served in East
Pakistan’.Obviously with her educational and cultural background she does
not understand that those of us who served in East Pakistan during 1971
are shy with the pen, not inclined to undertake writing of our accounts. A
few who wrote,including Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the
commander of Pakistani forces in East Pakistan narrated similar facts as
by Dr Bose but their version does not get acceptance coming from a
maligned and defeated party. General Niazi’s book ‘The Betrayal of East
Pakistan’ published in 1998 gives overall picture of the situation on ground
and the predicament he was faced with in dealing with
callous,unresponsive and unconcerned ruling junta of the time. It is
revealing study in the backdrop of vigorous propagation of fictional
narrative for so many years. General Niazi who took over command of
troops in East Pakistan on 10 April 1971 restored State writ in the country
by end of April 1971 in just three weeks. Army operations under his
command were strident and swift, creating enabling conditions for
resumption of political process but that never happened because it was not
intended by Yahya-Bhutto combine, with Yahya being in the driving
seat.Brigadier Karrar Ali Agha’s book ‘Witness to Carnage, 1971’ published
in 2011 fills another important gap in the records. Brigadier Agha, then a
Major posted as staff officer in the Headquarters East Pakistan Rifles
(EPR) during the period gives graphic details of events at different places.
He also sheds light on the proceedings of negotiations held at Dacca
between leadership of Awami League, Pakistan People’s Party and
General Yahya’s Government.
My basic motivation to write is to refute the outrageous lie of the grossly

exaggerated number of prisoners of war. With about 34,000 (thirty four
thousands) armed forces personnel that include Army, Navy and Air Force
and another about ten to twelve thousand persons in different categories
including some civilians, the total number of persons incarcerated in India
as prisoners of war comes to about forty five thousands. The number of
armed forces personnel can be easily calculated from the details of
formations and units located in East Pakistan on 16 December 1971 that I
have included as annex. This information was available in the form of order
of battle given in the Indian publications right
8
after the war but no effort was made by Pakistani media or academia to
find out facts. Against reality, a preposterous figure of ninety three
thousand prisoners was invented and fed to Hamoodur Rehaman
Commission creating an impression that a large part of Pakistan Army had
surrendered to Indians in East Pakistan. That is a lie which must be
exposed even if so much time has passed.
I have made an effort to recount what I saw and experienced as an infantry

officer who traversed through almost whole of North and North West
Bengal, a good part of it on foot. My unit 34 Punjab, starting its march from
Dacca on 11 April 1971 carried out its assigned tasks in areas Narsinghdi,
Bhairab Bazaar, Ashuganj, Kishorganj, Mymensingh, Nitrakona, reaching
Durgapur on borders with the State of Meghalaya in India; then moving
towards west, crossing over River Brahmaputra/Jumna to Rangpur,
clearing areas Nageshwari, Bhurangamari up to borders with the State of
Assam in India; finally reaching Thakurgaon – Pachagarh in the extreme
north western corner of the country bordering the State of West Bengal in
India by June 71. Detached from unit in first week of August, my Company
operated in areas Hilli, Panchbibi, Patnitola, finally reaching Naogaon when
the war concluded. A perusal of Bangladesh map will show that this was a
very long journey and an enormous undertaking. Seeing events at close
quarters on ground over such a vast area, my observations, taken from a
far wider sample give a fuller picture, different than the perceptions created
and propagated during all these years.
In addition to giving detailed account of events in East Pakistan, the events

that I witnessed and was a participant of, this account has turned into
memoirs starting with life at a small village in Pothowar region of Pakistan.
It gives glimpses of history of Pakistan, described from the perspective of a
common man who is neither a historian writing from a distance in time and
space, giving subtle twists to events according to his understanding and
interpretations; nor it is written by someone in undue haste to build false
image, save reputations or mere glorification of a side, like some Indian
authors who brought out books on the conflict within weeks on conclusion
of war.
Apart from misleading the public about real causes of breakup of Pakistan,
otherwise also some vital facts in our short history got distorted. Realities
were
9
substituted by carefully crafted presumptions, spreading lies through
controlled media, the state owned Pakistan Television introduced in 1964

and Radio Pakistan, turning devils into heroes and vice versa. The present
state of all pervasive media is recent phenomenon and came much later
than those momentous events; the two wars with India and
dismemberment of Pakistan. My narrative thus challenges prevailing
perceptions about rulers and exposes lies with which they befooled the
people.
My account starts with recounting the atmosphere of serenity and

contentment in lives of common people of Pakistan before 1965 War, in
contrast to growing insecurity, uneasiness and agitation of later years
caused by dishonest and incompetent rulers and policy makers, leading to
current chaotic situation that we find ourselves in. I have tried to portray
some aspects of life one lived in rural environments about sixty years back.
This part was demanded by my children, particularly Ahmad Yaman the
eldest, who was keen to record unbelievable changes in living conditions
and social environments that have taken place in these years. My children,
who used to visit the village as little boys, would listen to the state of affairs
prevailing in rural areas not long ago with scepticism and disbelief. The
changes, particularly in agricultural processes and overall village life of
comparative isolation and self sustenance have been rapid and
fundamental, replacing old ways, taking away the romance of rural life.
First three parts (Parts I, II and III) of the book contain ‘The Experience’
that I went through. Counter insurgency operations in erstwhile East
Pakistan culminating in war with India in 1971 have been chronicled in
some detail in Part II where I was a participant or a witness. Part IV
conveys my opinions on matters of collective concern formed while
struggling through the journey of life.
Nazir Ahmed
Islamabad 11
March 2016
10
THE
EXPERIENCE
Part-
I
Village
Life
As I look back at my journey through life, the kaleidoscope starts with the
momentous event of creation of Pakistan. For a child of about five years, it
was not possible to comprehend its impact. There was no conflict, fighting,
arson, looting or unrest of any kind in our area. My village Kufri, (renamed
Bilalabad) is situated about twelve kilometres away towards west from
Talagang, a tehsil headquarters then part of Campbellpur /Attock district in
the rain fed Pothohar region of Pakistan. In that village there were a few
Hindu families and one Sikh family residing at that time. The Hindu families
were more affluent because of owning better tracts of land and doing small
businesses including money lending. As the migration started, the Hindu
families gave keys of their houses to neighbours with the understanding
that they would be coming back after sometime when the dust settled. In
most cases the neighbors accompanied them from the village up to the
town of Talagang to bid them farewell. If an Indian ex- Prime Minister, Dr
Manmohan Singh felt nostalgic to invite his class fellow from Village Gah,
near Chakwal to India after almost sixty years of that event, he must have
nurtured fond memories of peaceful life in those times in this part of the
land. Later we heard of killings, mainly in the towns along the railway line
running from Rawalpindi to Lahore, an unfortunate chapter of our history
whatever the reasons which caused this madness.
The cause of partition of Indian sub-continent into two independent
countries, Pakistan and India however was very clear. We as children,

while walking in the street would be shooed away by Hindu women coming
across in the street for the reason that according to them even a touch to
their clothes by Muslims, even if they were children would make them
‘Bhrisht’ i.e. unclean. Houses of Hindus were off limits to Muslims. Both
communities could not use same utensils for eating or drinking. For quite
some times after the partition large earthen vessels (matkas) in our school
remained marked with ‘Hindu’ water and ‘Muslim’ water. Even the food was
different, the Muslims eating beef that was anathema to
11
Hindus who revered cows. Both communities had lived under a system
where the Muslims, less in numbers were a dominant class for almost a
thousand years.
The Muslims came into the Indian sub-continent from a position of strength
that they enjoyed for about a thousand years despite being less in numbers
than Hindus. Before the advent of nation states and present democratic
systems the general public was ‘subjects’ of the kings and not ‘citizen’ of a
State. As the Muslim emperors and kings were ruling most parts of the
sub-continent starting from early eleventh century, the Muslims as a
community did not feel threatened or in danger. End of British rule from the
sub –continent created a different situation where rule by a majority under
the promised democratic system would relegate the Muslims to a position
of permanent minority.
To avoid that possibility and to secure Muslim’s interests, Quaid-e-Azam

(Great Leader) Mr. Muhamad Ali Jinnah gave a call for a separate
homeland for Muslims. His call reached all parts of the sub-continent
despite very limited means of communications in those days resulting in
emergence of Pakistan.
Life in the household with agricultural background entailed multiple chores
like grazing animals after the school hours, bringing fodder from fields,
chopping wood and other numerous small tasks mostly involving outdoor
activities. I still feel longing for the fragrance of land and its crops of
different seasons. The village at that time was a self-sufficient unit meeting
almost all the requirements of life. The means of transporting materials
were mainly confined to camels for longer distances and donkeys for short
hauls. Movement of people was mostly on foot. For distant travel, camels
were used to carry the women and children being placed in ‘Kajawas’ (a
wooden contraption). The present means of communications which make
movement of goods and material so easy were not available then. The
communities were therefore forced to stay self-contained, devising their
own solutions to meet essential requirements.
Travel was an adventure undertaken under extreme compulsion. As a child

I would hear my grandmother narrating account of very long travel on
camels and the railway network during second and third decades of
twentieth century. My grandfather Malik Sher Muhammad and another
person named Ghulam
12
Muhammad were the first two Muslims from our village who acquired
primary education in whatever system was in place during last decade of
nineteenth century. Both young men got inducted into revenue department
as ‘Patwaris’ and were called ‘Munshis’ a title that continued to be used for
their next generation. Munshi Sher Muhammad, my grandfather died young
when my father was just six months old. Munshi Ghulam Muhammad
reached ripe old age. As school children, we would see him wearing
‘Sherwani’ and ‘Kullah’ holding a long staff in his hand gracefully strolling
out of his house to visit his piece of land watered by ‘Persian Wheel’
running on his well located nearby. He had given part of his spacious
dwelling on eastern corner of the village for village school that remained
functional till a new building was constructed by the department in nineteen
sixties.
My grandfather ‘Munshi’ Sher Muhammad was selected as member of a

small team of revenue officials deputed to the State of Las Bela on the
Arabian Sea coast for making revenue record of the State. Because of that
my grandmother had a chance to travel on the newly introduced railway
system more than once. She would narrate as to how they would travel on
camels to catch a train at Injra Railway Station on Attock – Mianwali
Section, the nearest one from our village. Unpredictable Soan River had to
be crossed before reaching railway station which posed problems. The
train journey would take three days. There were no fast moving trains
available then. Karachi at that time was a small place, the travellers mostly
staying at Khara Darr and Mitha Darr in one of the two inns named after
their owners (I cannot recollect the names of those owners that
grandmother used to tell). From Karachi to Bela the journey was conducted
in seven stages, each stage covered in one day travelling on the camels.
The first stage was from Khara Darr to Hab Chowki, from where the State
of Las Bela started. Midway was Uthal and the seventh stage was Bela.
After serving in Las Bela for about seven years my grandfather returned to
village, spending last years of his life before he died in 1925 complaining of
chest pain. There was no method or facility to diagnose heart attacks that
he may have suffered.
The village community was self-sufficient in its basic needs. Food was
grown in the fields, sown with the old plough using two animals, the
practice of thousands
13
of years as can be seen in murals from the Indus Valley civilization

preserved in frescos at ruins of Harrapa and Mohan Jo Darro. Introduction
of 'tractor' has eliminated the need of old plough and its related gear which
is becoming extinct and will fade away altogether from the agricultural
scene.
Wheat, the main crop was sown in early winters after the land had been
prepared by ploughing at least twice and then its surface made plain with
the help of a heavy wooden plank known as ‘majj’ pulled by the two
animals. Sowing was done by adding a device known as ‘nal’ to plough
and the seed released in the ‘nal’ by an experienced hand to avoid
cluttering or leaving gaps. Gram and mustered were also sown during the
same period. The crops took about six months to be ready for harvesting
and depended totally on the rains for growth in our rain fed areas. Wheat
crop was ready for harvesting in mid April, by 1st of Besakh in the Bikrami
Calendar in the Punjab and Pothohar region. The festival of ‘Besakhi’,
celebrated with zest particularly by the Sikh community was to start the
harvesting process.
The first step was to cut the crop. Armed with sickles the whole household
would reach their fields early in the morning and start cutting plants,
binding these into manageable sizes for easy handling. Anyone who
lagged behind in cutting would invite the neighbors and relatives for help.
This was called ‘Maang”. The food served to them would be very well
prepared 'Dall Chana' with 'Tandoori Roti' during early part of the day. In
the evening it would be 'Ghee' and 'Shakar' (brown sugar) consumed with
the Tandoori Roti. This was standard practice from which no one deviated.
The food otherwise was very simple. Wheat was staple diet supplemented
by Millet (Bajra), Corn and Maize (Jowar) for some months in the winters.
For afternoon snacks, particularly for children, seasonal grains like gram,
corn, millet and maize were roasted by the local Bhatiara/Bathiari who
started work after Zuhar prayers and closed by Maghrib prayers. Milk was
not sold in the village. It was processed to make butter and ‘lassi’ a drink
which was available free of cost to anyone who did not have animals of his
own. Pulses, occasionally chicken and vegetable grown in the village by
some families called ‘Maliars’ on small pieces of irrigated land around the
wells were consumed mainly with the evening meal. Meat would be
available only when someone’s animal became sick
14
and had to be slaughtered. Other source of meat was through hunting of

the rabbits and birds.
Coming back to the processing of the harvested wheat, the next stage was
to separate grain from the plants which involved spreading plants on a
compacted part of the field, called ‘Khalara’ and crushing these with the
help of heavy branches of trees bound in a certain pattern pulled by the
animals moving in circles. This was known as ‘gah’ and the device made
with the help of branches known as ‘mairra’. Once the plants were
thoroughly broken, the whole material would be collected in a heap of
particular shape known as ‘dharr’. Further process was dependent on
gentle breeze to separate grain from the husk ‘Bhoosa’ by throwing up
small portions of the material in the air using a device known as ‘karahi’.
The grains being heavier would fall near the heap and husk a little away
completing the separation process. This however would take a couple of
days to complete because blowing of breeze in a certain direction and
speed was not there all the time. The husk would be compressed with the
help of five to six cots ‘Charpoys’ bound together to form an open container
turning it into a cone shaped ‘Bhowara’ for use during the year for feeding
animals. The grain would be put into jute bags containing two and a half
maunds (about one hundred kilograms) each. The measures used were
vessels of various sizes like ‘Chaha’ equal to about three ‘Sers’ (its fourth
part a ‘Paeeni’ and ‘Lap’ being the smallest measure). One ‘Ser’ was a little
less than a kilogram. It was further divided into ‘Pao’ a fourth part and
‘Chitank’ the sixteenth part. Similarly for currency, one rupee was also
divided into sixteen parts called ‘aanas’ which was further divided into four
parts called ‘paisa’. One could make purchases of small requirements even
against half a paisa, called ‘dhela’. Smaller coins like ‘Pai’, ‘Ratti’ and
‘Kauri’ had gone out of use by then; only their names used in metaphors.
The coins were of metal, the Ruppee of silver and other smaller one of
different metals. Paper currency came later.
After completing process in the field at ‘Khalara’, the grain would be loaded
on camels and brought home, a happy ending of a long, difficult process in
which everyone from the house including children had remained involved.
This whole process of harvesting crops has now been simplified by the use
of tractors and
15
other agricultural machinery during recent years. The equipment and

gadgets used in agricultural process before advent of Tractor age like,
‘Hal’, ‘Jula’ ‘Panjali’, ‘Karah’, ‘Tringul’, ‘Karahi’, ‘Maj’, and many others have
become extinct.
With wheat brought home, the season of marriages started. After keeping
certain quantity of wheat for domestic requirements till next crop, additional
wheat was sold to generate funds for marriages and other expenses.
In our rain fed area, crop yields totally depended on weather conditions
during the year. If it rained at appropriate intervals when needed for crops,
enough grain was produced in both seasons to meet essential needs. But it
was not always so. Starting in early nineteen fifties there was a period of
drought spreading over about seven continuous years, the rains being
scanty and untimely. It caused a famine as limited stocks of grains of all
kinds got exhausted. There was no help from other parts of the country, the
means of communications and transporting materials being
rudimentary.The famine conditions due to lesser rains were compounded
by arrival of locust storms for a couple of years that would eat away every
green leaf sprouting from the earth. We as children from schools were the
‘main force’ employed to fight the menace. We joined the villagers who
used to dig a long trench and we would drive the product of hatched locust
eggs called ‘poong’ towards the ditch to be buried in it. A poisonous
medicine was also used in the process. Our whole day was spent in the
fields and we were rewarded with glass of milk prepared from ‘milk
powder’a novelty for us seen for the first time. It came as aid from America;
a name becoming familiar as later a new variety of wheat that gave better
yield and was light in colouralso came from USA replacingthe old variety.
During prolong famine, a time came when people had to grind the seeds of
‘pohli’ the yellow colored small thorny plant found in wheat fields at the time
of harvesting wheat. The bread made from its flour was tasteless and
difficult to swallow. Older people would remember such famine earlier when
people had to feed themselves by processing bark of trees.
The main population of our village was of the Awan tribe who had come in
this area about one thousand years back when King Mahmood of Ghazni
16
(Afghanistan) started his attacks across the Indus River. The tribe led by
Qutub Shah settled in the area bounded roughly by Soan River in the North
to Salt Range in the south/south west and line Chakwal – Choa Saidan
Shah in the east. The tribe was of Arabic origin who had ventured east in
search of livelihood and ultimately landed up in this region. A theory, that
the tribe is from local Jaat stock as given by some British writers, in not
tenable. The use of household words describing utensils in the house and
other items of daily use were pure Arabic words like ‘Sahnak’ for the large
earthen utensil used to knead flour, the word ‘Tabak’ for the larger plate
and ‘Sahanki’ for small plate, ‘Wassal’ for the onion and such so on. These
names were different from the words used for describing these items of
daily use in rest of the surrounding areas. The title of ‘Malik’ with the
names of Awans is an Arabic word, different from titles added to the names
of people of other tribes and casts in the area. The dress and style of its
wearing was peculiar, particularly the style of wearing headgear. The
‘Chador’ covering lower part of the body was of two different sizes, a larger
one for formal occasions and a comparatively smaller one for normal use.
These were different from small ‘Dhoti’ worn in Punjab.. Till the fifties and
early sixties there was no concept of getting out of one’s house and moving
about in the village without headgear. Haircut was also of a particular

pattern. All this gradually changed after nineteen sixties due to external
influences and changing environments.
As mentioned earlier, the village was self sufficient in most of its

requirements of daily life. The main source of income being through
agricultural activity, the agriculturist was supported by other artisans. Under
a term called ‘saip’ the artisans were attached with different agriculturist
families to get a share from the harvested crops as compensation for their
work. There was no concept of cash remunerations. A ‘Lohar’ combined
the work of blacksmith, carpenter and mason. The weaver produced cloth
from thread woven by the women at home on their ‘Çharkha’. Mian
Muhammad the weaver in our neighbourhood was a very skillful artisan
producing Khes (sort of light weight blanket) of very intricate designs when
he was free from producing coarse cloth for general use. The coarse cloth
was taken by ‘Dhobi’ (washer man) to a stream, Nullah Ankar, about five
kilometers away from the village for bleaching it to white from its original off
white colour. Dhobi was also responsible to prepare food for weddings and
other
17
occasions in his famous ‘Deg’ locally known as ‘Rangan’. The ‘Teli’

produced oil in his small factory, a ‘Ghaani’ from the local oilseeds like
‘Mustard’ and ‘Tara Mira’. A potter produced earthen wear of all kinds used
in the household through a long, laborious process requiring considerable
skill and aesthetic sense. In fact all the artisans working in the village had a
well developed aesthetic sense related to their work producing very
presentable products. The cobbler ‘Mochi’, apart from mending shoes
would also make new shoes, starting the process from treating the hides to
producing finished shoes of particular patterns for men and women. In my
village a large community of cobblers was concentrated producing fancy
ladies shoes called ‘Khussas’ using golden thread to embellish the tops.
This was a well organised handicraft industry. An elderly man, Haji Noor
Muhammad with his impressive attire including a stylish headdress would

collect the pairs of shoes from the community every evening and would go
to Talagang on a ‘Tanga’ a horse drawn carriage, to deliver the produce to
a shop owned by Sheikh Yousuf, a ‘Khoja’. These shoes were then sent to
other cities and were quite a famous variety.
The barber ‘Nai’ was an institution in him. Apart from his work of haircutting
and some shaves, a new trend of not growing beards, the barber was the
messenger whose message was considered most important. He was the
event manager on occasions like marriages and funerals. His wife was to
assist him in managing the female side. She was also the matchmaker
suggesting matches and communicating between the parties. The barber’s
house was also the beauty parlour, the women visiting to get their hair
done, making plaits and braids of different patterns for special occasions.
Barber also acted as a surgeon, who would circumcise the children by
diverting their attention followed by a quick cut with a sharp blade. He
would apply a self prepared balm to heal the wounds. The healing process
was long and painful. Aulia Nai, an elderly man was expert in such surgery.
In my childhood I had cuts from Baba Aulia twice in his treatment for some
kind of boils on my hands and I carried the scars for a long time.
The medical services were provided by Hakeem Ghulam Muhammad,

whose shop or ‘Matab’ was full of aromas due to preparation of different
medicines. He was good in understanding and diagnosis of ailments by
traditional method of holding
18
a patient’s wrist to check the pulse ‘Nabz’. His medicines were mainly
herbal, prepared by him in his shop. His young assistant was continuously
busy in grinding something in a marble bowl known as ‘Kharl’.
There were a few families of vegetable growers, the ‘Maliars’ who would
grow vegetables on small pieces of land irrigated from nearby wells. These
wells were located on eastern and western sides of the village on the
banks of small seasonal Nullahs. Water from the wells was drawn through
‘Persian Wheel’ using animals to run the wheel. Main components of the
system were ‘Chakli’, ‘Khara’, ‘Mahl’ and ‘Lota’ using wood and local
material, later replaced by iron components brought from other parts of
Punjab. Water was brought by women in pitchers from these wells. On
western side of the village a small spring, which dried up later gave very
good quality water used for drinking.
Fetching water was a major work for women, generally done in the
afternoon. At this time there was lot of rush on the wells. Usually they
would carry two pitchers on their heads, an odd one carrying three. In the
houses pitchers would be kept on wooden stands for three to five pitchers
known as ‘Gharwanji’. The water being a very scarce commodity and
brought to the house with much labour would be carefully used for drinking
and cooking. Men would generally take bath in bathrooms outside the
Mosque; with water taken from the well located inside mosque premises.
From that well, water was taken out with the help of bucket pulled by rope
fixed on a round wooden structure by one person assigned with this job for
which he was compensated by the community. The women would generally
bathe on the wells from where they brought water. Washing of clothes was
mainly done on the wells and on a stream close by the village which had
running water that has dried up now. The present day emphasis on rain
water harvesting was then practiced in the form of water being stored in
small reservoirs known as ‘Bann’ at suitable places in the undulating
ground. This water was used for drinking by animals and the people alike
particularly while working in fields away from the village.
Life in the village was very different from present times. There was no
electricity, main source of light after sunset was earthen lamp filled with
locally made oil from Tara Mira. This lamp, called ‘Diva’ would be placed on
a wooden platform
19
known as ‘Darokha’ with some steps to adjust its position. Lantern had also
come into use and a few Patromax lamps, a novelty used for special
occasions like weddings. The lamps would be used for a short duration
because people routinely consumed evening meals just after Maghrib
prayers and would go to sleep after Isha prayers. This enabled everyone to
start the next day early.
The first job of women of the household was to grind flour for the day on
their ‘Chakki’, a job done by the morning prayers time, prepare food and
deliver to the men who started their work on the fields after morning
prayers. Ploughing and working the fields was major task spread over most
of the year. It was time consuming and laborious to prepare even a small
field with the help of old instruments pulled by the animals. With
introduction of tractors one cannot conceive the timeframe and effort
involved in agricultural activity in those times.
Whole families, brothers and cousins were lodged in rows of adjacent

houses. There were few disputes among men but womenfolk would have
many things against each other that they would take out in the absence of
men. Some fertile minds would invent their own invective according to the
situation. Crime was almost nonexistent. One murder in the village in my
childhood was that of a person being thrown in an unused well by his wife
with the help of her paramour. In another incident a party, a small ‘Lashkar’
armed with sticks and ‘Kulharis’ (axe) attacked the Mohalla of cobblers due
to some dispute. In the ensuing battle two men, one from each side, were
killed. Romantic liaisons were discreet and dangerous but village life was
not lacking in these.
Overall atmosphere was that of peace and contentment as the limited

requirements of people were being met. The children were a happy lot as
there was plenty of time to play in the fields outside village which would
continue till late during moonlit nights of summer’s months. Marriages were
mostly arranged in summers after harvesting wheat crop which generated

income to be spent on such occasions. Marriage proceedings were quite
lengthy, starting about two weeks before the actual date of marriage. The
bridegroom’s friends and male cousins would get together in the evenings,
their main activity singing songs where everyone was persuaded to sing.
Without modern days microphones, singing taxed the vocal cords but some
of the young men could sing very well.
20
Hafiz Sadiq, apart from reciting the Holy Quran, had melodious voice for
songs and used to remain in great demand on these occasions. Folk
dances by men on the sound of 'Dhol', the drum, were performed with
enthusiasm and verve. Hussain Dholi (called Senu; many of us did not
know his real name nor bothered to find out as distorting names was
normal practice) was the only one from village who remained quite busy
and his work was supplemented occasionally by getting more 'Dholis' from
the neighbouring village Akwal when required, particularly on the occasions
of bull races.
Husain Dholi had also to provide his services to the women performing
their dances. Otherwise men were not to be seen around the place where
women would gather to perform 'Gharoli' a set of female folk dances, an
important part of the marriage proceedings. Women would go to the village
'cultural center' in the afternoon, carrying a small size decorated earthen
pitcher, a small 'Ghara' to perform 'Gharoli', their session ending before
sunset. Although that small pitcher is extinct, the practice has been
immortalized by our great singer Aabida Parveen in her popular song 'main
yar the Gharoli bhardi' meaning that I dance for my friend. This 'cultural
center' was an open space with a rainwater pond at one corner of it,
located on eastern end of the village under massive 'Pipal' trees. During
Eid days a 'Mela' would be organised at this place. Main entertainments
during the Mela at this spot were competition to carry weights, swings for
children and stalls of various eatables, mainly sweetmeats. Groups of
acrobats would also visit occasionally to display their skills like walking on
a rope and other likewise items.
Occasionally some theatre groups called ‘Nutt’ would be invited to perform

in the villages, a group from village Hamok in Khushab being very popular
in the area in the fifties. They would stage traditional dramas based on the
love stories like Heer Ranjha and Sohni Mahinwal etc. The show would be
arranged in the fields during the nights, particularly around dried water
storage ponds called ‘Banns’, because its layout facilitated the view of
spectators. People from adjoining villages would also come over to enjoy
the performance which would last till the time of Fajar prayers. In late fifties
theatre groups of Alam Lohar and Inayat Bhatti started coming to Talagang
to perform, their shows attracting lot of people. Once a story
21
teller came to the village and was accommodated in ‘Hujra’, a room within
mosque premises. He stayed for quite a few days. At night after Isha
prayers, he would start narrating his stories which were listened to with rapt
attention because of their interesting content. ‘Hujra’ was part of the
mosque used as a guest room for travelers staying for the night. At
Maghrib prayers, the prayer leader would announce that there were so
many guests that night for the food to be provided to them which would be
done by different households.
The children like adults were equally enthusiastic viewers and listeners to
the entertainment programmes. Parents were not worried about the
children, knowing that they were in a group and in the company of cousins
and some elder, the overall environments being peaceful without any
threat. If some dispute erupted the worst would be a fist fight or use of
sticks. Firearms were nonexistent. There were only two licensed weapons,
12 gauge shot guns, in the village; one with my father and another one with
Haji Noor Muhammad, the person I have mentioned earlier. There was no
concept of keeping any unlicensed weapon. Police was much feared, a
single Police constable appearing in the village would create a scare.
‘Baithak’ a larger room in the house of some men, who had the charm to
attract audience, was another institution that provided opportunity to
communicate and share experiences. My father’s ‘Baithak’ would come
alive after Maghrib prayers, particularly during the long winter nights when
men would gather to share the day’s proceedings and enjoy smoking
tobacco, the ‘Chilam’ taking rounds,the smoke filled room with frequent
bursts of laughter emanating from the company of people at peace with
themselves. During summers, in the absence of electricity, roof tops were
the venue for comparatively shorter meetings, the gentle breeze providing
some relief after the day’s work.
Apart from listening to singers who occasionally staged their performances

in the area, another source of enjoying the music was through
Gramophone, a novelty in the area. My father enjoyed listening to music
particularly in his later years having collected a large number of 78 rpm
records. We, the children of our household became familiar with names like
Kallan Khan, Muhhammad Ali Faridi, Muhammad Hussain Nagina Waley
Qawwals and Ghazal singers like Zuhra Bai
22
Ambale Wali, Shamshad Bai, Akhtari Bai, Master Madan, K L Saigol and
others. Mian Muhammad Hussain from a nearby village ‘Chowkhandi’, who
contributed a good number of records to my father’s stock, would travel
considerable distance from his village to our home for enjoying listening to
music in my father’s company. Mian Muhammad Hussain in his younger
days before emergence of Pakistan had been travelling to Delhi carrying
goods on his camels with trading caravans where he had listened to most
of the renowned singers in their famous abodes. He could differentiate
between subtle nuances of ‘Raaga’ and ‘Raagnis’ some names like
‘Kaanra Shahana’ and ‘Mian ki Todi’ coming up apart from familiar ‘Bhairon’
and ‘Malkaunce’ etc.
When I started going to school, it was a lower middle school housed in a

rented building in one corner of the village in a fairly open area. It had
classes from first to sixth grade. Later during some reorganisation the
classes were reduced to five which remained so for a long period till the
school was shifted to a newly constructed building near the road and
classes raised to middle and then high school level. My first teacher was
Lal Khan Dali from a nearby hamlet known as Dhok Dali; an elderly well
built man who had served in the Army and after retirement had taken up
teaching. Till old age he taught first grade class and was expert in
developing interest of small children in learning. Headmaster of the village
primary school was Master Abdul Hadi our immediate neighbour in the
village. He was a dedicated teacher who would organise extra classes for
students of class five who had to appear for the examinations at the middle
school of neighbouring village Saghar. These classes were held between
the Maghrib and Isha prayers in a vacant house near the main Mosque.
Well prepared for the examination when I appeared before an elderly
teacher Syed Alam Shah at Saghar School, he asked me a question as to
why Mir Anis, the poet was known as Mir Anis Lakhnavi. In chaste Urdu my
reply was that Lakhnow was name of a city and the people from that city
were known as Lakhnavis. My reply and the tone impressed the old man
who asked other teachers present as to whose son I was? When he was
told that I was son of Malik Abdul Razaq, the old man was pleased.
My father, an agriculturist had joined education department during the

period when World War II was attracting young men from our area into
Army. He was a
23
charismatic personality well known for his knowledge, inimitable style of

dress and mannerism. Securing first position in Punjab Province during
senior teacher’s course had given him the recognition he deserved. He
held the degree of ‘Fazil e Farsi’ commonly known as ‘Munshi Faazil’, a
graduation in subjects less English. The names of Persian writers and

poets like Qa-ani, Khaaqani, Rumi, Attaar, Firdosi, Saadi, Hafiz and others,
heard in childhood remain imprinted in the memory. He opted for premature
retirement finding the changing environments in education department not
to his liking.
Coming back to Syed Alam Shah, the old man at Saghar School belonged
to a neighbouring village Dher Mond and had been teacher of the then
Headmaster of the School, Malik Karam Ilahi from village ‘Dhulli’. All the
old teachers were dedicated men respected by the society who did great
service in inspiring children of the new nation, preparing them to shoulder
their responsibilities in life. It is not surprising that the product of those ‘Tat’
schools did great service to the nation in various fields. ‘Tat’ was thick
matting woven in length used for small children in primary classes who
were to sit on ground. Tables and benches were made available in
secondary level schools. Management of the schools was done at the
District level by the District Boards for Education. An effective inspections
system was in place, the District Inspectors and Assistant District
Inspectors at the District and Tehsil level respectively carrying out regular
inspections to check the standards.
When I joined class sixth in Saghar School, I was told by Syed Alam Shah
that during his period of teaching Persian, I would stand by his chair
instead of sitting on the bench at my assigned place. I would read out the
text and the teacher would explain the meanings. If any of my class fellows
was to commit a mistake and the teacher wanted to punish him, he would
ask me to give four blows on the neck of that student, two on each side. He
would ask me to harden my fists by practicing on stones on my way back
home. Promoted to class seventh, I was given relief of not standing next to
the teacher’s chair and did reading from my bench. My first experience of
getting the blows on my neck and how one felt was in class seventh. While
reading the text I committed a mistake and the teacher told Akbar sitting
next to me to give me four blows. Akbar had been frequent
24
receiver of my blows so he used his full force to do the job. For a short
while there was complete blackout before my eyes. I took some time to
recover from the shock. The teacher realising that Akbar had been extra
efficient in obeying the command, got out of his chair with some difficulty
and himself gave Akbar a few blows with his feeble hands. Akbar one day
told me that the famous compendium of classic tales ‘Alif Laila’ in Urdu was
available at their house. I showed my eagerness to borrow that for some
days which I did and got engrossed into reading the fascinating tales. It
took some months to recover from the images of fairies and princesses
floating in imagination and thoughts on a raw mind. May be such early
experiences make a person an incorrigible romantic in life.
The distance between our village and the school at Saghar was about
seven kilometers on a dusty track. It involved crossing of two perennial
streams which would be flooded during rains. We the children from my
village, substantial in number used to move in groups. Going to and
coming back from school was fun, particularly while coming back when
there was some spare time to indulge in pranks. Three years in Saghar
School passed and after class eighth I moved to Talagang High School for
matriculation, residing in boarding house on the edge of a seasonal stream
on eastern end of the town. This stream with its white unpolluted sand was
arena of a most entertaining game of ‘Kabbadi’ organised by the local
organisation once every week. Players from other parts of the region would
also be invited to participate in the game. Competing teams would come to
the venue with beating of drums and lot of fanfare. It was most enjoyable to
see the whole proceedings. Compounder Shafi was star player whose
specialty was to jump over the opponent, putting one foot on the
opponent’s shoulder. For this Shafi would make his opponent get into a
position which facilitated his trick. Every player knew his technique but
would get beaten by his dexterous moves.
There were many other occasions to enjoy witnessing various kinds of

sports like the bulls races, a pair of bulls pulling load of mud. These
competitions were frequently held in different villages and promoted rearing
of very good quality animals of ‘Dhani’ breed, famous for their beauty and
agility. The animals reared by a family of Talagang, the Sabunia Maliks,
known as such because of owning a local 'Desi Sabun' (soap) factory,
continued to win first prize in the annual festival
25
held at Lahore for a number of years. Other significant means of

entertainment were frequent ‘Melas’, the main event being annual three
days festival organised by the local administration at Talagang. One major
attraction on this Mela was the game of 'Pirr Kaudi' for which famous
players of area including surrounding districts would participate. Akbar
Niazi from some village in Mianwali district was a famous player of that
game in late fifties. The game was different from 'Kabaddi' which is played
in a confined space and is still being played, the East Punjab government
being its recent patron. 'Pirr Kaudi' is played no more. In this game a player
challenges the opponents to catch him. Two players of the opponent team
accept the challenge. The challenger then starts running away from the
start point being pursued by the two men. The challenger, after running for
a few hundred yards remaining in sight of the audience, turns back to reach
the starting point avoiding being stopped by the two men pursuing him. He
scores the point if he can reach back to starting point without being
stopped. This game was played by tall men of ideal physique and it was a
pleasure to watch them running and using different techniques to score
their points. The pursuers would often use a technique called 'Kainchi'
(Scissor). This was to use one's legs in a scissor fashion to drop the
challenger entangling his legs. The challenger would mainly use his better
speed, pushing and slapping the pursuers when they tried to come near
him. This whole process was most amusing for the audience.
The overall environment was of contentment, happiness and enjoyment in

outdoor sports and Melas. Almost every man living in the village was self-
employed. The peasants after sowing their wheat crop would go to Karachi
in winters to work in construction industry as labourers till the time of
harvesting their crop in April, earning some cash during the period. The
animals would be looked after by the women and children. Women worked
more than men in the agricultural households. Service in Army was
preferred choice as agriculture could not provide sustainable livelihood to
the communities in the arid, rain fed area. As a young man I started this
journey of adventure spanning over three decades.
Looking back at the life as a witness and participant of events, I feel the
pain of distortions, misconception and lies about important events during
our short history as some would get revealed in the subsequent chapters.
26
27
Ayub Khan’s
Era
Pakistan, after independence, lost its founder Governor General,

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah just after one year. After another
three years the Prime Minister, Mr. Liaqat Ali Khan, a seasoned politician,
was assassinated in October 1951 as he was about to address public
meeting in Rawalpindi. Former bureaucrats, Mr. Ghulam Muhammad, Mr.
Iskander Ali Mirza, Mr. Muhammad Ali and others took over control of the
country indulging in power games with the result that no stable government
could be formed. In 1954 General Ayub Khan, the Commander-in-Chief
Army was inducted into cabinet as Defense Minister, a strange decision but
in keeping with mindset of rulers bent upon retaining power regardless of
propriety. The country did not have a constitution till 1956. In our first
constitution, East and West Pakistan were made into two equal units,
having equal representation in the National Assembly despite the fact that
East Pakistan had more population. After two years and frequent changes
of governments, President of Pakistan, Mr. Iskander Ali Mirza declared
Martial Law in the country on 07 October 1958 taking over control of the
government. In an atmosphere of deceptions and intrigues, he was
overthrown by General, later Field Marshal, Muhammad Ayub Khan, the
first Pakistani Commander-in-Chief of our national army, who assumed
control of Pakistan Government on 27 October 1958. Mr. IskandarMirza
was exiled to UK where he spent rest of his life.
Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan, a graduate of Royal Military

Academy Sandhurst, UK, groomed in British Military tradition was a
towering personality, a very impressive man. He took over leadership role
when military men were heading governments in many other countries
after conclusion of Second World War. At that time, countries like the US,
France, Spain, Yugoslavia and Egypt were led by former military men i.e.
General Dwight D Eisenhower, General Charles de Gaul, General Franco,
Marshal Tito, and Colonel Jamal Abdul-Nassir respectively.
The initial years of President Ayub Khan’s rule witnessed rapid progress in
every field. Right after independence, work on developing very sound and
farsighted plans for making overall progress had been undertaken by
dedicated and inspired men of the nascent State institutions. As the
political conditions stabilized, development in agriculture, education,
science and technology, industry
28
particularly in the textile sector, trading, commerce and almost every field
became a model for other third world countries. Two major water storage
dams, one at Mangla on river Jhelum and another at Tarbela on river Indus
were constructed after resolving water dispute with India through World
Bank in 1960, providing cheap source of energy. A country, predicted by
Indian leaders not to last for long had become a model of progress,
development and stability for developing countries that got their
independence from colonial rule after the Second World War.
Pakistan, during Ayub Khan’s rule was a liberal, peaceful, tolerant and
relatively prosperous society. Unemployment was almost zero. There were
lot of employment opportunities in the expanding industries in Karachi,
Hyderabad, Lahore, Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) and other cities. The
peasants in rain fed areas would get seasonal employment in construction
industry in the big cities between the period of sowing winter crops and
their harvesting time. Everyone seemed happy and satisfied with life,
having good opportunities of entertainment through frequent local festivals
and sports events of all kinds. The province of West Pakistan (present day
Pakistan) was governed from Lahore, the provincial capital by a Governor
assisted by a small team of ministers. Malik Amir Muhammad Khan,
Nawab of Kalabagh, the Governor was a man of sterling character and
outstanding administrative acumen. He ensured peace in the province.
East Pakistan was governed by General Azam Khan who enjoyed
enormous respect because of his hard work in reaching out to the common
man in his own inimitable style, making sincere efforts to solve people’s
problems. It was the golden period of life for a common citizen of Pakistan.
Two incidents will give glimpses of attitude of rulers towards the proprieties
and abiding by rules of law. In a TV programme some years back a retired
senior bureaucrat, late Syed Hashim Raza narrated that as Commissioner
Karachi he was approached by the President House to allot some land in
Karachi to a particular person. Since it was against rules, he refused to
make the allotment. When the President visited Karachi, Syed Hashim
Raza apprised him of the reason for his inability to comply with the
demand. The President’s response was that if something was against the
rules, it should not be done. Syed Hashim Raza
29
remained in his job and was never asked for a favour again. In another
incident told by Mr. Ahmad Hussain Kazi, a senior engineer, one of
President Ayub Khan’s nephews studying at Cadet College Hasan Abdal

left College without permission along with some other students including
Mr. Kazi to see a film at Ciroz Cinema in Rawalpindi. Here Gohar Ayub the
President’s son, who had also come to see the film, persuaded his cousin
to stay for the night, rejoining college by early morning. College authorities
noticed this absence and the student got rusticated. Requests to college
authorities by Gohar Ayub and then Major General Muhammad Rafi, the
President’s Staff Officer had no effect on college authorities to change their
decision. No one was removed from his post in the College for their refusal.
Comparison with attitude of President Ayub Khan and present ‘democratic’
rulers will give clear indication of the state of deterioration we have
descended into.
On external front relations with India had improved. Water dispute between
the two countries had been resolved by signing Indus Water Treaty in 1960
under the aegis of World Bank. Punjab, the land of five rivers which
extended from Indus in the west to Jumna on the east had been divided.
Some of the head-works of canals irrigating Pakistani Punjab were located
in Indian Punjab. This serious dispute adversely affected Pakistan’s
economy and people’s lives when the waters from head-works located in
India were stopped the canals became dry, thus causing obvious tension in
relations between the two countries. Ayub Khan’s detractors later would
accuse him of selling rivers to India, a most unjust criticism ignoring the
fact that part of Punjab going to India had equal right on the waters of
Punjab rivers. A peep into process of prolonged negitations over the issue
would be educative.
President Ayub Khan also offered India a joint defence pact against
external aggression. This was in line with thinking of British Indian Army
High Command at the time of partition of India as given by Lieutenant
General Sir Francis Tucker, then serving in India in his book. He wrote1;
‘Yet the frontiers were of as deep concern to Hindustan as to Pakistan, for
Hindustan, once they were breached, had no natural frontier left to her.
More
1
‘While Memory Serves’ by Lieutenant General Sir Francis Tuker, Cassell& Company Ltd –
London 1950, Pages: 22 — 27.

30
than that, Pakistan had kindred peoples and probable allies stretching
northward far over her mountain borders into Asia. If she could be by any
means persuaded to stand beside Hindustan, then the latter would have all
the advantage of this vast cushion of Islam between herself and danger.
India could then apply herself to her own undisturbed development with a
great feeling of security, knowing that her own men stood far from her
borders on the frontier of another State and shoulder to shoulder with the
soldiers of that State’.
In 1962 during the Indo - China skirmishes in the Himalayas; Pakistan

remained neutral and did not create any threat to India. Ayub Khan’s views
about relations with India and his abhorrence from any mention of fighting
or use of force is reflected from his remarks which my friend and fellow unit
officer late Khurshid Ahmad Mallal heard from the President. During an
annual Commanding Officer’s Conference held at the Punjab Regimental
Centre Mardan which was followed by Regimental lunch attended by
senior officers of the Regiment, then Lieutenant Khurshid Mallal heard the
President snubbing Major General Akhtar Hussian Malik, General Officer
Commanding (GOC) at Murree when he said to the President that ‘if you
allow me, I will get you Kashmir in matter of days’. The President’s
response was that ‘don’t talk such nonsense again’. Soon after, the
President was tricked by conspirators into allowing an action which started
armed conflict with India, derailing Pakistan from path of progress.
In 1964, Mr. JawaharLal Nehru sent Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, the
influential Kashmiri leader to Pakistan to meet with the Pakistani leadership

to work on negotiated solution of Kashmir dispute. It was great misfortune
for people of both the countries that while Sheikh Abdullah was busy in his
meetings in Pakistan, the tragic news of sudden passing away of Mr. Nehru
were received and he had to return to India immediately. That proved to be
a lost chance when the main cause of conflict between the two countries
could be peacefully resolved.
Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri took over leadership as Prime Minister of India
after the demise of Mr. JawaharLal Nehru in 1964. Mr. Nehru was an
important player on the world scene, a co-initiator of the Non Aligned
Movement along with Mr. Jamal Abdul-ul-Nassir of Egypt and Marshal
Joseph Bronze Tito of Yugoslavia. After his death, India was vulnerable to
possible fragmentation into its natural
31
divisions as a number of secessionist movements were active in different

parts of India. In the words Sir Winston Churchill, the great British leader;
“India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the

equator”.2
Mr. Churchill, as young subaltern had served in India, seeing much of the
subcontinent. He took part in operations as part of Malakand Field Force
against tribes in the areas now part of Pakistan. His observation is fully
supported by recorded history because the subcontinent was never ruled
from one power center. Hindustan was a collection of ‘Rajwaras’ (small
states) during thousands of years of its history. The sixth king of great
Mughal dynasty died struggling to conquer South India. Much before that,
the mythical king Ashoka became Buddhist, renouncing conquest
southwards after seeing enormous killing in the battle of Kalinga in present
day Indian state of Orissa. The semblance of unity under British rule is
deceptive because when they left India in 1947, there were five hundred
and sixty two states of varying sizes apart from directly ruled parts and vast
independent tribal regions in all parts of India. The states were
independent in all respects except that they could not establish diplomatic
relations with other nations of the world. It was Mr. JawaharLal Nehru’s
stature and leadership that started transformation of a heterogeneous,
divisive, multi religious, multi ethnic India to one united country. That
Pakistan helped India in transforming her from a geographical term into a
strong country by timely interventions (in 1965 and 1999) to overcome their
internal crises at the cost of being dismembered itself is a painful chapter
of history as being explained in the narrative.
The skirmishes on India-China border initiated by the Indians in 1962 were

used to manage and subdue internal dissentions. At that time the main
political party in southern India, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK),
representing Dravidians ethnic population was openly demanding
separation from New Delhi. A number of separatist movements were
waging armed struggle in the eastern parts of India. An external threat,
contrived and blown out of proportions helped
2
Speech at Royal Albert Hall, 18March
1931.
32
Mr. Nehru to suppress internal discord. After his death, it would have been
difficult for his successor to maintain unity, had Pakistan not initiated armed
conflict with many times larger neighbor that turned the tide of history.
The 1965 Indo-Pakistan War, Causes and

Consequences
After a few months of Mr. Nehru’s death, military forces of Pakistan and
India got involved in border skirmishes in Rann of Kuch, a marshy area in
the south near Arabian Sea, both sides accusing each other of starting the
clashes in early 1965. Cease fire was arranged by June 1965 due to efforts
of the government of United Kingdom (UK) and it was decided to resolve
the dispute through arbitration. After skirmishes in Rann of Kuch subsided,
Pakistan infiltrated personnel of Azad Kashmir forces followed by a group
of elite commandos; the Special Service Group of Pakistan Army into
Indian occupied Kashmir. Since the public in Indian Occupied Kashmir was
not privy to plans devised by initiators of this conflict, they did not provide
required support to the infiltrators, who were soon detected, some of them
caught, killed and the rest ex-filtrated. The Indians responded by artillery
shelling and captured some posts on the ceasefire line in Kashmir
including Haji Pir Pass, an important point that could facilitate Indians in
making further advances to capture more areas of Azad Kashmir.
On First September 1965, a brigade of Pakistan Army’s 7 Infantry Division,

was launched across cease fire line in Chamb Sector of Indian Held
Kashmir. Command of the operation was with Major General
AkhtarHussain Malik, General Officer Commanding 12 Division based at
Murree. 7 Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Agha
Muhammad Yahya Khan had been hastily brought from its concentration
area in Balloki Headwork where it was located since Rann of Kuch crisis.
The Brigade made rapid progress in capturing area up to Tawi River within
twenty four hours. Another brigade from 7 Division was to go for next
phase across Tawi to capture Akhnur and its bridge over Chinab River.
Here, on 2 September the Army High Command decided to make Major
General Yahya responsible for Chamb Sector. Yahya took his time to
proceed further causing delay of almost two days thus losing momentum,
giving the Indians time to induct more troops into the sector.
33
On 6th September, when Indians crossed International borders in Lahore

sector, Akhnur was just a few kilometers away from Mawanwali Khad, a
seasonal nullah where our troops had reached. According to Brigadier
Amjad Choudhry, who was commanding Corps Artillery allocated to the

sector, Gen Yahya confided in him that Akhnur was not to be captured.He
repeated the same to a team of Command and Staff College that
interviewed him at his Harley Street residence in Rawalpindi before his
death in 1980. To the questionon why he did not take Akhnur, he replied
“Because I was ordered not to do it”.
Failure to capture unoccupied Akhnur Bridge over River Chenab during

initial offensive in Chamb Sector of Kashmir, the reasons for change of
command and unnecessary rather deliberate delay breaking momentum of
the operation continues to remain a mystery and subject of debate. The
reason in my understanding is that the President as well as General
Muhammad Musa had not contemplated or planned to initiate all-out war
with India. Capture of an objective like Akhnur Bridge, the major link
between Kashmir and India would have certainly provoked an all-out war
that they wanted to avoid. Mr. Z A Bhutto the Foreign Minister has also
given assurance that skirmishes will remain confined within disputed area
of Kashmir.
Against expectations of the National and Army leadership, the Indians

crossed international borders on early morning of 6 September 1965 to
attack Lahore. The troops from Chamb-Akhnur Sector were pulled out to
counter Indian attacks launched against Sialkot on 8th September. Shortage
of troops had been indicated by the Army Chief, General Muhammad Musa
when operation to send infiltrators was in planning stage, apprehending
escalation of conflict to an all out war. His demand of raising two more
infantry divisions, roughly thirty thousand additional troops if the country
was to go to war, was partially met during the war by raising one division.
The War of 1965 lasted for seventeen days resulting into a stalemate. A
ceasefire was arranged by the United Nations and negotiations between
leadership of both countries facilitated by the Soviet leadership resulted in
Tashkent agreement restoring status quo ante.Pakistan’s armed forces
gave most commendable performance against greater numbers of the

enemy forces, denying them to
34
achieve their ground objectives. The most remarkable phenomenon

however was the spirit of Pakistani nation to show complete solidarity in
facing the Indians. The streets of Dacca and other cities in East Pakistan
saw large scale demonstrations against India although the Indians focused
their effort on West Pakistan with only an air raid at Lal Munir Hat in East
Pakistan. However despite the fact that India could not cause much
damage to Pakistan and its armed forces despite their numerical
superiority, the conspirators achieved their aim as Ayub Khan did not
survive in office for long after the War. In fact he suffered heart attack soon
after the war and never regained health that he had enjoyed earlier. Indian
Prime Minister Mr Lal Bahadur Shastri died of heart attack on conclusion of
proceedings at Tashkent, President Ayub Khan joining USSR Prime
Minister Mr Kosygin to shoulder Mr Shastri’s coffin to the aircraft.
The 1965 War between India and Pakistan effectively sealed Pakistan’s
fate as a strong and prosperous country. Pakistan drifted into this War by
machinations of a rabidly ambitious man in too much of a hurry, Mr Zulfiqar
Ali (Z A) Bhutto, the young foreign minister in Ayub Khan’s cabinet.
Working for global capitalist interests who wanted to derail Pakistan from
path of progress, he planned and worked to remove the President by
initiating armed conflict with India. The global forces had found Ayub Khan
obstructive to their dictates when he tried to keep them at the status of
FRIENDS and NOT become MASTERS. The largest Islamic country
progressing at unprecedented pace going out of their control was
unacceptable to global forces focussed on the region.
Z A Bhutto, a man armed with Brahamanic intellect, a courtesan’s charm

and a feudal’s duplicity, was gifted with qualities that are best described by
Sir Maurice James, the British High Commissioner in Pakistan (1961-65).
He had following to say about Bhutto,3
"Bhutto certainly had the right qualities for reaching the heights--drive,
charm, imagination, a quick and penetrating mind, zest for life, eloquence,
energy, a strong constitution, a sense of humour, and a thick skin. Such a
blend is rare anywhere, and Bhutto deserved his swift rise to power.....but
there was - how shall
http://www.baaghi.tv/bhutto-in-the-eyes-of-british-high-commissioner-sir-maurice-ja
mes/
35
I put it? - a rank odour of hellfire about him. It was a case of CORRUPTO
OPTIMA PESSOMA a flawed angel. I believe that at heart he lacked a
sense of dignity and value of other people; his own self was what counted.
I sensed in him ruthlessness and capacity for ill-doing which went far
beyond what is natural.
Except at university abroad, he was surrounded by mediocrities, and all his

life, for want of competition, his triumphs came too easily for his own good.
Lacking humility, he thus came to believe himself infallible, even when
yawning gaps his own experience (e.g. of military matters) laid him---as
over the 1965 war--wide open to disastrous error.
Despite his gifts, I judged that one day Bhutto would destroy himself --
when, I could not tell. In 1965, I so reported in one of my dispatches from
Pakistan as British High Commissioner. I wrote by way of clinching the
point that Bhutto was born to be hanged. I did not intend this comment as a
precise prophecy of what was going to happen to him, but fourteen years
later that was what it turned out to be".
Bhutto was born and brought up in Bombay (Mumbai) in India. At the time
of creation of Pakistan he was studying in USA. After completing his
studies, he came to settle in Karachi. Till early sixties, when he was a
minister in the Pakistan’s cabinet, he claimed to be an Indian citizen in
litigation to get his father’s property in Bombay, India. In Karachi soon after
his arrival from USA, he cultivated contacts with the then President Mr.
Iskandar Mirza by befriending Mirza’s son, Mr. Humayun Mirza. Although
already married, he contracted another marriage with a Persian girl
reinforcing his contact with Presidency through Persian second wife of the
President. A man of sharp intellect and impressive personality, he soon got
inducted in the cabinet as a very young minister. When Ayub Khan took
over from Iskandar Mirza, he retained Mr. Bhutto as a minister in his
cabinet first as Minister for Commerce and then as Foreign Minister of
Pakistan.
About his scheming and role in initiating armed conflict with India that led to
breakup of Pakistan, I got a chance of listening to a retired bureaucrat, a
veteran
36
foreign ministry official who reached the highest rank in our Foreign
Service. During conversation with his friend in my presence, he said that;
“Mr. Z A Bhutto, the Foreign Minister used to say that the only way to
remove President Ayub Khan was to initiate war with India. After 1965 War
he would use very derogatory and abusive language against Army”
I asked the bureaucrat's friend if he would say that in public. The response
was that the man would never do that.
Another foreign office veteran on the condition of anonymity had this

to say;
“Generally of course everyone in the foreign office would confirm that

Bhutto had a great part in the events that led to the country's breakup”.
This was the kind of attitude of our men at the level of making and
influencing decisions affecting our fate. Our Foreign Ministry was rightly
called ‘Foreigner’s Ministry’ in those days by common people.
The fact that Mr. Bhutto had decisive role in initiating this conflict with the
help of a small group was known in influential circles of that time.
Major General Syed Ali Hamid writes that after about one month of
skirmish in Rann of Kutch, Z A Bhutto suggested to his father, Major
General Shahid Hamid that it was time to attack India. Despite being
rebuffed he continued his advocacy of going to war with India. In
connection with matters of Kashmir Cell set up in the Foreign Office “to
de-freeze the Kashmir situation”, Z A Bhutto also visited senior army
officers at their residences and General Musa complained to the Field
Marshal that “Bhutto was brainwashing his officers.”
Syed Ali Hamid writes, “There is sufficient evidence to substantiate the fact
that the Field Marshal was reluctant to go to war. After the conflict he told
my father, “Shahid. These people pushed me into the War”.
Who were these people that the Field Marshal was alluding to? According
to Ali Hamid a coterie of bureaucrats including Defense Secretary Nazir
Ahmad and
37
others were supporting Z A Bhutto in his designs. About Major General

Akhtar Hussain Malik’s role he writes;4
“A number of bureaucrats from Rawalpindi used to go to Murree for the

weekend, where they would relax, play cards and chill out. Gen Akhtar, as
GOC 12 Division, would at times attend these sessions. Once he was
dared by the bureaucrats that Pakistan Army had done nothing for
Pakistan’s creation or the liberation of Kashmir. At this Gen Akhtar spoke
up that he had a plan and disclosed the rationale for Operation Gibraltar.
The bureaucrats were reportedly quite taken in and the Foreign Secretary
Aziz Ahmad went and reported it to the Foreign Minister Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto”.
To general public Bhutto was projected as a hawk working for Kashmir

cause whereas his real motives were personal. A few years back, US Air
Attaché in Pakistan during the period of 1965 war Colonel (retired) George
L Singleton, USAF wrote in his letter to a Pakistani newspaper that,
“Foreign Minister Bhutto largely engineered the foolish events that caused
or incited the 1965 war. Ayub Khan had to have known what was going on,
but his chief ‘goader’, if you will, into this war was Bhutto”.5
He further
wrote,
“The 1965 war was a monstrously dumb move on the part of Mr. Bhutto
and the Army chief of staff who clearly initiated the whole war”.
Colonel Singleton wrote this while responding to a controversy on the role

of Air Marshal Asghar Khan, the Air Chief at the time of Rann of Kach
skirmishes. Asghar Khan, on his own got in touch with Arjun Singh, his
counterpart in India asking him not to use Air Force to prevent possible
escalation. His statement that ‘Mr. Bhutto and the Army chief of staff clearly
initiated the whole war’ is corroborated by Colonel S.G Mehdiwho
writesabout his involvement in the 1965 war (excerpts);
http://pakistanthinktank.org/a-page-from-history-home-truths-of-the-1965-
war 5Dawn – June 14, 2007.

38
“This writer is a personal witness to the unfolding of this tragedy as I had

the honour to command our Army's Corps de elite, the Special Service
Group (SSG) at this critical juncture. In late May 1965, I was directed by
the Vice Chief of General Staff, (late Major General Abid Bilgrami) to go to
Murree and see GOC 12 Division, Akhtar Hussian Malik. The GOC's
briefing of the outline plan of Gibraltar operation left me stunned. The plan
was so childish, so bizarre as to be unacceptable to logical, competent,
professionally sound military persons anywhere in the world.
I frankly told General Akhtar Malik that the Operation was a non starter and
that I would render the same advice to the Chief and Vice Chief of General
Staff. At GHQ, the same day I briefed the CGS and VCGS, who listened to
me patiently. The result of my presentation however was barren of the
result. Major General Malik Sher Bahadur (The CGS) posed only one
question. You (Mehdi) say that operation Gibraltar as planned stands no
chance of succeeding, but Akhtar Malik (COG 12 Division) feels confident
of its success. My reply to the Chief of the General Staff was that, the
conflicting view point of Mehdi and Akhtar Malik notwithstanding, as Chief
of General Staff of Pakistan Army, he should also have an opinion on this
important matter as we were not playing a peace time war game, but with
the destiny of Pakistan itself. To this date I remember the reaction of the
CGS. He went red right up to his ears, and after a painful pause got up,
extended his hand to shake and brought the interview to an end with the
remarks that it is always interesting to listen to you!!”
He further writes
that;
“The simple truth emerging from the narrative is, that neither the C-in-C
Army nor General Staff had the guts to stand up to the President, Field
Marshal Ayub Khan, and tell him that his advisers in the ministry of Foreign
Affairs supported by GOC 12 Division, Akhtar Malik were taking him on a
long ride commencing with Gibraltar, leading to his downfall via Tashkent,
as it eventually proved! The loser in the final analysis was Pakistan,
described so feelingly by General K.M. Arif in an analysis carried by daily
Dawn', 6th September 1990. How and why Pakistan blundered into
war..........
39
At that time, the policy making in the country was highly personalised. The
institutions were weak and by-passed. Pakistan's Foreign Office with Mr.
Aziz Ahmed as the Foreign Secretary and Mr. Z.A. Bhutto as the Foreign
Minister called the martial tunes. It had miscalculated that despite
operation Gibraltar, the fighting was likely to remain confined inside the
disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Foreign Office is on record to
have assessed that India was not in a position to risk a general war with
Pakistan...... For inexplicable reasons the General Headquarters based its
operational plan in Kashmir on a wishful logic. The misplaced ego, the high
ambition and the naive approach of a selected few plunged the country into
an armed conflict. The outcome of the war, or the lack of it, eclipsed Ayub's
position”.6
Another writer, Arshad Ahmed, in an article on the 1965 war

writes;
‘Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto wanted to deprive Ayub Khan of his power, and this was
not possible until the strength, ego and pride of the army was not smashed.
This view was supported by Marxist leader Tariq Ali, who asked Bhutto
about the 1965 war, and Bhutto told him, “Until these generals are not
defeated it is not possible to get in power in Pakistan”.7
It would be interesting to find out exact written directive of the President

from the records of the President House/Foreign Ministry. Reportedly
President Ayub Khan’s gave just a two worded directive; ‘Defreeze
Kashmir’. Mr Z A Bhutto the Foreign Minister had succeeded in convincing
the President that it was time to instigate disturbances in Indian Held
Kashmir to bring Kashmir issue to world focus by sending some infiltrators
to start the process. This was done on the false assurance that problem
would remain confined within Kashmir, the disputed area.
As operation in Chamb Sector across the ceasefire line was in progress,

our High Commissioner in India Mr. Arshad Hussain on 3rd September
sent an urgent communication to our Foreign Office that India had decided
to launch attack
6
http://www.defencejournal.com/july98/1965war.htm 7 (Excerpt from article
Kashmir And The 1965 War By Shabir Choudhry, 1st October 1998.
(http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/shabir/shabir_1998_10_1.html)
40
across the international border in Lahore sector on 6th September. This

vital information was concealed from the President by the Foreign Minister
Mr. Z A Bhutto and his Foreign Secretary Mr. Aziz Ahmad because they
were themselves working to expand the conflict.
The years between 1965 war with India and that of 1971 war saw lot of
disturbance in the peaceful conditions prevailing before 1965. President
Ayub Khan’s position weakened as a result of an unnecessary and costly
war as intended by its initiators. Just few months after the war some armed
forces personnel from East Pakistan were arrested on the charges of

conspiracy to break up Pakistan with Indian help. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman,
leader of Awami League was also arrested for being involved. The case,
known as ‘Agartala Conspiracy Case’ had to be withdrawn due to political
pressure on Ayub Khan by political parties leaders from West Pakistan.
Mr. Z A Bhutto parted ways with his benefactor, President Ayub Khan,
whom he used to call 'Daddy', by launching his own political party, named
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The party was mainly supported and joined
by socialist element of the society, later sidelined by strong feudal elements
when Bhutto came to power after the 1971 war. The people were promised
food, clothes and shelter (Roti, KapraaurMakan), ownership of lands and
factories thus drawing support from large illiterate sections of the society
who continue to dream of those promises being fulfilled, giving repeated
chance to People’s Party through their votes to plunder national resources
for personal gains.
It is not a mere coincidence that a few months after 1965 war, ‘Agartala
Conspiracy Case’ involving Sheikh Mujibur Rehman working for creation of
Bangladesh came to light and Z A Bhutto left Ayub Khan’s cabinet to
launch agitation against the regime. Both were working in tandem as tools
of global forces for break up of Pakistan. The game was on.
41
General Yahya Khan’s

Rule
President Ayub Khan handed over power to the Army Chief General Yahya
Khan in March 1969 after agitations against his rule initiated by Mr. Bhutto
and also because of his sickness. There were reports at that time that the
President was forced to hand over power to the Army Chief instead of the
Speaker National Assembly according to the 1962 Constitution. Yahya
Khan announced general elections which were held in December 1970.
The results of elections were against calculation of the President and his
team who expected a split mandate in both East and West Pakistan.
According to results Awami League led by Sheikh Mujib Ur Rahman swept
elections in East Pakistan based on his six point formula demanding
provincial autonomy. Only two seats were won by others. In West Pakistan
Mr. Bhutto’s PPP won majority of seats in the provinces of Punjab and
Sind. The provinces of Frontier (now KPK) and Baluchistan voted for the
nationalist and religious elements.
General Yahya is credited with holding fair elections in the country but that
can only be said about West Pakistan. In East Pakistan the elections were
won by Awami League because of massive rigging, intimidation and
violence. The opponents of the Awami league were prevented to go to the
polling stations. The government machinery in the province was totally
ineffective and could not prevent Awami League workers who controlled
the polling process denying other parties to exercise vote.
A major decision by General Yahya before the polls was to break up 'One
Unit' which had been formed by amalgamating the existing provinces,
states and tribal areas into one Province of West Pakistan according to the
first constitution adopted in 1956. This arrangement was not changed in
the second constitution adopted in 1962. The decision to do away with One
Unit was reportedly taken on behest of Mr. Wali Khan who contacted
Yahya's brother Agha Muhammad Ali, a Police officer to ask his brother to
dismantle One Unit. This was not a public demand at that time. The public
demand was adult franchise, one man one vote, to replace the system of
Union Council members electing the President according to 1962
Constitution. This was granted in the Legal Framework Order formulated
by Yahya Khan's government and elections were held accordingly.
42
According to election results, Awami League had an overwhelming

majority. It was in a position to form the government but was not allowed to
do so, starting a chain of events which in a short span of one tumultuous

year led to break up of Pakistan. The National Assembly session, called at
Dacca on 03 March 1971, was boycotted by Mr. Bhutto who stopped his
party members to attend the session and threatened others from West
Pakistan of physical violence like breaking their legs if they tried to attend
the session. This development precipitated the crises causing widespread
disturbances leading to virtual anarchy. Military action to control the
situation further aggravated the situation resulting in open rebellion in East
Pakistan, culminating in war with India and break up of Pakistan. Mr.
Bhutto ultimately achieved his objective of ruling a country even if it were
only a part of what was once the largest Muslim country of the world
enjoying most prestigious position in the comity of nations.
General Yahya Khan as President mostly remained in an inebriated state

and did not want to leave the President House. A general impression about
him was that during service he was always hard up in clearing his mess
and club bills which mainly were for drinks he used to consume in large
quantities. On reaching the President House he found that the drinks were
free so his problem had been solved. He was enjoying the best quality
drinks free of cost. After elections, he first tried to get assurance from Mr.
Mujib to keep him as President even if was to be without any powers but
Mujib could not give him this assurance. Mr. Bhutto then invited him to
Larkana where understanding developed between the two. After this
meeting General Yahya postponed the National Assembly session called at
Dacca on 3 March 1971, precipitating the crisis.
General Yahya, after being released from detention by Zia ulHaq in 1977
lodged a petition in the Lahore High Court.8 The General made an affidavit
therein. In the said affidavit in paragraph 9, the following is stated,
“That this threat of Mr. Bhutto that whosoever will go to Dacca his legs will
be broken could put at stake the national solidarity. This aggravated the
situation in East Pakistan and was a violation of the legal framework order.
This threat from
8
Petition number 1649, year 1978, The Lahore High
Court.
43
Mr. Bhutto’s side provided a cause of revolt in East Pakistan. This was no
less dangerous than the six points and clearly meant separation of the two
wings of the country. The deponent times and again used to warn him and
it was a matter of habit with him that he listened patiently but never
bothered to act upon any advice. The speech delivered by Mr. Bhutto in
Iqbal Park was tremendously perilous to the integrity of Pakistan. Rather, it
was more suicidal to the integrity of Pakistan than the six point’s formula
....... but Mr. Z. A. Bhutto was a clever and venomous toad. Mr. Bhutto was
slave to his lust for power so much so that he proposed the concept of two
prime ministers in one country which the deponent strongly condemned. In
answer to Mr. Bhutto’s threatening speech of IDDHER HAM UDDAR TUM
at Karachi, Sheikh Mujib on 12.3.1971 also delivered a public speech
wherein he reiterated the unity and solidarity of Pakistan. It is the opinion of
the deponent that Mujib was patriotic at that time unlike Mr. Bhutto. Had Mr.
Bhutto not been elected to the Assembly he would not have been able to
make such unpatriotic speeches and statements which ultimately
contributed to the breakage of Pakistan.”
If one man is to be held responsible for dismemberment of Pakistan, it is

General Yahya Khan.
• First, he wrongly if not forcibly assumed power. According to the 1962

Constitution that was in place, the Speaker National Assembly was to
take over when President Ayub Khan was made to quit.
• Then Yahya Khan took a decision to break up one unit which had
come into being after detailed deliberations and delay of about nine
years when the first Constitution was adopted in 1956. Even in the
second Constitution changing the form of government from
parliamentary to presidential system, the arrangement of one unit was
not changed. West Pakistan under this arrangement had functioned with
great efficiency when the district governments were effective and the
Divisional Commissioners were in support of the district administration.
Yahya Khan’s decree in forming large unequal provinces is cause of
continuing political instability of present day Pakistan. If at all the
provinces were to be formed, the commissionaries
44
existing at that time in both wings should have been formed into new
provinces.
• After holding elections in 1970 he failed to form government and hand
over power to the political party leader who had won majority of seats
during elections. Although people around him were working for their own
interest but it is a fact that he succumbed to their devious plans which
caused break of Pakistan.
At another level the events were progressing according to the master plan
aimed at cutting Pakistan to size. This strand was working through Sheikh
Mujib and Z A Bhutto as scripted by their global masters.
45
Call to
Arms
After completing training at the Pakistan Military Academy as part of 2nd

War Course in June 1966, I joined 34th Battalion of the Punjab Regiment
then part of the 9 Infantry Division located at Kharian Cantonment. The unit
had been raised on 29 December 1965 at the Punjab Regimental Centre,
Mardan and moved to Jamrud Fort near Peshawar under the newly raised
9 Division. After a few months the Division was ordered to move to Kharian
Cantonment, built with US aid in mid fifties. On reaching Kharian I found
that the unit was deployed on ceasefire line, later termed ‘Line of Control
(LOC)’ after the 1971 war. Only a small rear party was left at Kharian. I
joined the Battalion Headquarters located at a small place named
‘Padhaar’ in Bhimber Sector. The unit was then being commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Abdul Rashid, who had taken command on
promotion. I was first posted to ‘D’ Company located in area Dewa - Batala.
Here apart from enjoying the ripe mangos falling from the massive old
trees, I listened to interesting accounts from Subedar Abdul Rahman about
his journey as part of 6 Jammu and Kashmir Battalion of State Forces from
Jammu to Bunjicrossing over Burzil Pass and his company commander
Captain Hassan Khan’s role in liberation of Gilgit and Northern Areas.
Subedar Abdul Rahman, a wrestler from Bhimber area was then a Lance
Naik in Hassan’s Company.
I was soon moved to a post named ‘Ban Chihraan’ in ‘C’ Company

opposite ‘Lalial’ post occupied by the Indians. These were well known land
marks referred to in the context of fighting during recently concluded 1965
war. My company commander here, Major Riaz Hussain Javed was a tall,
loud and very energetic person, a good hockey player. He later died of
heart attack while commanding a battalion of Azad Kashmir Regiment at
Kharian. Other company commanders included Majors Razzaq, Raja
Asghar, and Captain Shaukat Butt. Captain M Saeed Azam Khan, a Janjua
from the famous village Mator near Rawalpindi who was the first officer to
join the unit on its raising, was holding key appointment of Adjutant of the
unit. Saeed Azam with whom I had long association afterwards was a saint
like person with a subtle sense of humour, never joining dubious activities
and had the grace to tolerate others follies without rancor. Major Nisar
Muhammad Khan, the second in command had also joined the unit at
Padhaar. The unit
46
reverted back to the Cantonment in September 1966 where an intensive

period of training started. Here the unit was converted from normal infantry
battalion to the Reconnaissance and Support Battalion, taking over
vehicles, weapons and equipment from 25 FF in swapping roles.
All units of the Division were newly raised comprising two types of
manpower. One category was of skeleton staff taken from old units and
some retired personnel recalled during the September 1965 war with
India.The other category was of young recruits joining after a short period
of training at respective Regimental Centers. The Division was commanded
by Major General Bahadur Sher, a fearsome officer who was an ideal
choice to mould raw manpower into an effective fighting machine. His
dedication, hard work, commitment and competence made 9 Division a
highly trained, motivated and spirited formation in just three years of his
command. During my later service I did not see any other general officer
who’s orders were obeyed hundred percent. He was the man who could
ensure implementation of his orders by constantly guiding and monitoring,
getting the best out of his command.
Since his methods and approach were unique and never replicated by
anyone later, a little detail would not be out of place. Main points in
organising training of raw manpower of the Division with possible offensive
role as Army Reserve were:
• During first year, the scope of training was limited to individual, platoon
and company level training. While in the cantonment, no officer including
Commanding Officers could come to the offices before 10 AM. They had
to remain in the unit training area with the troops. The small arms issued
to the Division were the newly introduced Chinese 7.62 mm caliber
series weapons which included pistols, rifles, sub machine guns, light
and heavy machine guns. Extensive practice on functioning of these
weapons was given enabling the men to dismantle and assemble these
weapons in complete darkness of the nights. The firing results of the

units were genuinely above 80%. A very different approach was
adopted to achieve these results. Every unit would give half of their
training grant to the Engineer Battalion of the Division who would
prepare targets and make these available at firing ranges along with
range organisation, the
47
manpower and safety measures laid out. The units just had to take
their weapons and ammunition and start their firing practices without
wasting time on fixing targets and safety flags etc. The firing was
done by the individuals without spoon feeding or being given words
of command for every action, a major deviation from normal practice.
After start of firing by the first detail, there was only one word of
command given by the officer in charge throughout the day i.e. ‘Detail
Change’ till the day’s proceedings were concluded. The men would
advance to the firing point, take up position, fire and clear their
weapons, all their actions being watched by an NCO quietly without
speaking a word. He could just tap a man’s shoulder if there was
some mistake but it was very rare. The officer seeing that everyone
had completed the process would order ‘Detail Change’. On this all
waiting details that would be busy in carrying out different practices
like using aiming rests, mirrors to correct their positions, and other
musketry practices would change to next position. It gave
tremendous confidence to soldiers in handling weapons and firing
standards improved to a great degree. The range organisation was a
model which unfortunately was not emulated.
• During the second year scope was expanded to battalion level training.
In outdoor exercises mostly practicing offensive operations, the General
would be present in the battalions at two occasions; the orders by the
battalion commanders and standing on the objective of battalion attacks
that was mostly during the nights. He would get timing of units adjusted
to ensure that he did not miss any battalion event. Prayers for his
sickness never materialised.
• During the third year, progressing to brigade level training, brigade

exercises were held culminating in a divisional exercise. Instead of an
elaborate control organisation to conduct Divisional exercise, the
General assisted by four officers had complete control of the Divisional
exercise, the two brigades advancing on two different axes in ‘advance
and encounter battle’ role. While getting run down on actions by the
units on wireless sets of his small control net, he himself manning his
set instead of an operator
48
or staff officer, he would ask for the actions of various company

commanders whom he would refer by name. He knew the company
commanders and their abilities by now having frequent interaction
with them during the last three years. Since he was using wireless
sets of my unit and I had the frequency, it was great education
listening to him and his grasp of continuously changing situation.
• The General would provide guidance for the smallest detail. He had
ordered that the vehicles when stopped or parked must face the
direction in which these had to move out. If the moving column had to
stop even for a very short duration, the vehicles were immediately
camouflaged by using appropriately garnished nets. This appeared
cumbersome at first but with practice it became easier. Once Lieutenant
Colonel Saeed Qadir (later Lieutenant General) commanding officer of
Electrical and Mechanical Engineer (EME) Battalion of the Division
came to our Mechanical Transport Park asking to start up the vehicles.
34 Punjab had about 150 vehicles, mostly jeeps to carry the recoilless
rifles and machine guns detachments. His purpose of visit was to find
out which of the vehicles emitted smoke. While returning from exercise
area, the General has observed our vehicles emitting smoke and
instead of asking our CO, he asked the EME officer as to why these
vehicles had defects. The General knew who was to be made
accountable to get results from his subordinates.
• For physical training apart from the normal routine, a special exercise
plan known as BX Plan was introduced. These exercises of about fifteen
minutes were to be done before the afternoon games period and every
individual was to do these at that time wherever he was located. The
cooks carried out these exercises outside their place of duty i.e. the
Cook Houses.
• Almost half of the year was spent outdoors in the exercise area
bounded by Grand Trunk (GT) Road in the west, up to Bhimber in the
east and from Jhelum River down to the Chenab River. There was no
dearth of fuel required for training and we had become familiar with the
terrain to the extent that we could even refer to old trees in the area.
49
• Although every day created some amusing scene, I will quote one
such incident which still brings smile in solitude even after so many
years. In initial phase of training in our new role when most of our
weapons were jeep mounted, one afternoon the General called our
Commanding Officer (CO) to his lonely tent pitched in the area of
Daulatnagar on Gujrat – Bhimber road. We were busy in our platoon
level outdoor training, our unit camping near Daulatnagar. While the
Divisional Headquarters was working at Kharian in normal routine, the
General had pitched his tent in the collective training area, with just a
small detachment from the Military Police and a staff officer with him.
Concerned about how the weapons and equipment were being placed
on the jeeps, the General briefed our CO about his idea and told him
that he will see the load tables of different vehicles. Next morning he
came for visit where vehicles of company headquarters and my platoon
were lined up in a nullah bed near Daulatnagar and started with his
usual fault finding and outbursts. We were all standing beside our
vehicles according to seating order, the driver standing beside the
driver’s seat, commander besides his seat and others in the same
pattern. I could hear my driver engrossed in remembering ALLAH by
repeating ‘Ya Allah, Ya Allah’ in whispers which were quite audible to
me. When the General asked a jeep driver that how much tyre pressure
was to be maintained, the driver although aware of the answer and the
limits of pressure also written on the tyre in front of him stammered in
his response. Our CO completely absorbed in the situation shouted at
the driver asking him in Urdu which meant,
‘Jawan, do not get scared, if the General has to eat

someone he will eat me not you’
The General concluded his visit realizing that he had overdone his
acting by getting such response from our CO who was otherwise
most deferential, if not scared of the man.
• A large number of young officers, Second Lieutenants joined the newly

raised units who had sprinkling of seniors officers taken out from the old
units. Officers from short courses were passing out from the Pakistan
50
Military Academy every month so after one year of being raised, each
unit had about ten to twelve Second Lieutenants on its strength. To
improve their professional competence and mould them into effective
team, the General ordered a very comprehensive promotion
examination spread over about two weeks for them to get the next
rank, of a Lieutenant. According to Army rules no such examination is
required and the promotion is granted after completion of short
period. It was a very unusual and interesting activity when about one
hundred and twenty young officers spent about two weeks together in
outdoor activities being put through tests of physical fitness, firing
skills, decision making in battle situations, knowledge about

administration, rules and regulations etc. It created very healthy
feelings of comradeship among the officers of different arms and
services in the Division in addition to a concentrated dose of
professional training.
• There is endless tale of interesting incidents. Each day was an exciting

day generating activity stimulated by boundless commitment to achieve
professional excellence by everyone in the Division under an inspiring
commander.
The years between 1966 and 1971 spent at Kharian were full of learning,
adventure and joy. The life and its requirements were very simple. A young
officer’s pay in mid sixties when I joined my unit was less than Rupees
500/- (five hundred) per month. This was more than enough because the
expenses on food were about one third of pay and rest of the amount was
enough for other expenses i.e. on clothes, travel and entertainment, mainly
cinema even if one had to travel to other cities. The quality and quantity of
food was much better than one can afford these days. The day started with
bed tea. Breakfast comprised porridge, two eggs, bread, butter, jam and
tea. After some snacks with tea or coffee in the offices/unit, lunch in the
mess contained two dishes, one a meat dish and the other vegetable or
lintels and fruit. That was followed in due time by evening tea with biscuits.
Dinner again was an elaborate affair in the form of frequent dinner and
guest nights. The expenses on the day's meal, the 'daily messing' was not
to exceed Rs 3.5 as laid down in the regulations. However the
51
messing would exceed that limit at times. A strict check was kept by the
officer detailed as Mess Secretary and further supervised by the second in
command of the units as their duty.
The officer’s messes and the officers clubs served drinks from well stocked
bars. We who had joined in bulk after 1965 War, mostly from the villages
were from different family backgrounds where in our houses and
environments we were not exposed to use of spirits. On joining the units
we were initiated into drinks by our seniors. Some of us started enjoying
occasional drinks particularly during the week ends. Most favourite place
was the garrison club where one had the facility to watch a movie screened
on a wall out in the open, a game of ‘Tambola’ and a bottle of very fine
quality Murree Brewery beer in the summers. During winters Whiskey and
Jinn were in demand. The ‘Aabdaar’, a term no more in use, who poured
drinks ordered at the bar remained quite busy on the weekends. Liquor
was freely available throughout the country from particular shops that had
the license from the government to sell it. Even opium was available from
specified shops having license to sell till late nineteen fifties. Sale and
consumption of spirits was banned by Mr. Z A Bhutto in his last days in
power to please Mullahs expecting to save his rule.
The routine of officers in an infantry unit started with physical exercise

period in the morning with the troops. After that we would come back to the
mess to change into uniforms, have breakfast and rush back for training
with the troops which lasted till mid morning. After attending the training in
unit training areas we would come to the company offices located in the
residential barracks of troops to attend to office routine. At lunch time we
would go back to the messes, have some rest after lunch and then come
back to units for a sports period with the troops. This lasted till about
sunset after which we would get back to our rooms in the mess and
prepare for the supper in the mess or dinner/guest nights which were quite
frequent. These were attended by senior officers of the unit in turn basically
to ensure propriety and grooming of young officers. All this running about
during the day was done on rented bicycles. Every unit maintained a cycle
shop to cater for the needs of the officers and the soldiers alike. Television
was
52
introduced in 1964, a novelty not available at the household level. The life
therefore was mostly spent outdoors in healthy activities.
Cinema was main source of entertainment in those days. There were a

number of cinemas providing entertainment for the whole families. There
were different charges for various classes of seats within the cinema halls;
front seats being the cheapest and galleries at the back costlier. The
charges of tickets varied from half a rupee to about three rupees at the
maximum. Whole families could watch movies together because there was
no vulgarity in the films like present times. Some cinemas screened
English films only. In Rawalpindi, Cirose (which is still not demolished)
Plaza and Odeon screened English films. For watching Indian movies
people would travel to Kabul when these got banned to be screened in
Pakistan after 1965 war. Travelling from Kharian to Rawalpindi or Lahore
on weekends was frequent because it was not expensive, the bus fare
being about two and half rupees to both cities as Kharian is almost at equal
distance from both major cities. My roommate Asif Ali Rizvi would make the
choice of destination easy. According to him as we came out on the G T
Road, parking our bicycles at the Petrol Station, the first bus in either
direction was to be taken to reach Rawalpindi or Lahore. We would stay
with our fellow officers in the Messes so there was no expense on lodging.
Expenses on food and watching the films were not much burden on the
pocket.
For entertainment of troops, the units would invite singers including singing
and dancing girls to perform in the open on special occasions like raising
days or on some other excuse. Aziz Mian Qawwal had been recently
introduced into the army units and was in great demand. He was once
invited by our unit and gave mesmerizing performance during good part of
the night in our unit lines entertaining the troops, one soldier going into
trance oblivious of surroundings affected by Sufi poetry. On the eve of our
departure to East Pakistan, the unit arranged a function inviting singer
Bilqees Khanum along with a dancing girl from Lahore and another bunch
of dancing girls from nearby Lalamusa. The soldiers would also sing and
perform skits particularly targeting the seniors for their idiosyncrasies.
53
I picked up the habit of some reading, starting with the biographies. On

weekends I would often travel to Rawalpindi and spend a few hours at
London Book Company in Saddar where now a bakery stands. Books in
paperback did not cost much, about five rupees for a Penguin Classic.
Libraries were also well stocked and there was culture of making use of
these fine institutions. Reading was a pleasure which I enjoyed for a few
years till I landed into the turmoil in East Pakistan followed by a period of
incarceration. After that I lost energy required to concentrate on reading
books, my reading capacity restricted to magazine and newspaper articles.
54
THE
EXPERIENCE
Part –
II
Move to East
Pakistan
My unit was required to move to East Pakistan in April 1971 to replace 27

Baluch, a unit of similar composition, according to orders issued by the
General Headquarters in their annual movement/rotation plans for the
units. I, a Captain then, was doing Martial Law Duties as a member of
Special Military Court at Lyallpur (later renamed Faisalabad). Late one
evening I got a message to move back as the unit was to move in
emergency to East Pakistan. 9 Division from Kharian had been ordered to
move immediately. Another division, the 16th Division from Quetta had also
been ordered to move as a consequence of Army action of 25 March 1971

to overcome unrest in East Pakistan. Before moving these two divisions,
there was only one infantry division; the 14th Division of Pakistan Army
located in East Pakistan. This Division had four brigades instead of normal
three, each brigade comprising three infantry battalions. Out of the total
twelve infantry battalions in these brigades, seven battalions were from the
East Bengal Regiment.9 These units and about thirteen thousand troops of
para military East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) revolted. Bengali troops in the
remaining units’ which were up to thirty percent in some of these units had
also to be disarmed. 14 Division was thus virtually ineffective till
reinforcements arrived from West Pakistan.
The two divisions moving to East Pakistan were not to take their complete
elements i.e. Armour Regiments, full complement of Artillery, Engineers,
Signal and service units etc. Authorised strength of an infantry division was
then about fifteen thousand persons. Practically these two Divisions moved
just with their
9
Seven regular army Bengali infantry battalions of East Bengal Regiments (EBR) were present
in East Pakistan in March 1971. The 1st EB was in Jessore, attached to the 107th Brigade. The
2nd EB was in Joydevpur north of Dacca, attached to the 57th Brigade. The 3rd EB was in
Saidpur with the 23rd Brigade, and the 4th EB was in Comilla with the 53rd Brigade. The 8th EB
was preparing to ship to West Pakistan and was at 75% strength in Chittagong. The East
Bengal Regimental Center (EBRC) in Chittagong housed 2,000 Bengali troops including the
newly raised 9th EB. The 10th EB, a training unit, was in the Dacca cantonment attached to the
14th Division. Bengali officers commanded the 1st, 2nd and the 10th EB, while the rest were
under West Pakistani officers.
55
infantry battalionsby air to reinforce the troops in East Pakistan. Roughly

about twenty thousand troops were airlifted to reinforce the small garrison
trapped in East Pakistan.
Our move started from Kharian by train up to Karachi and then onward by
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to Dacca on a circuitous route passing

over Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The Indians had stopped our flights over
India earlier by staging a drama of hijacking. A Fokker aircraft, nick named
Ganga, was brought to Lahore by some Kashmiri persons resulting in
banning of Pakistan’s flights over India thus increasing flight time from two
hours to almost seven hours. Mr. Z A Bhutto was prompt in embracing the
hijackers praising their action.
It was a most remarkable achievement of our national carrier, the PIA, to

move these troops in a very short time. The airline staff worked tirelessly
far beyond their call of duty. We could genuinely take pride in their
performance and achievement. Otherwise also the PIA was considered
one of the best airlines in the world. Air Marshal Noor Khan, in his younger
days when he was Air Commodore worked in his inimitable style to make
our airline one of the top ones in the world. The motto adopted ‘great
people to fly with’ truly reflected their status. Noor Khan was replaced by
Air Martial Asghar Khan, another outstanding professional. The airline lost
its position by induction of political workers which gradually eroded its
efficiency to land it in its present state. Karachi, a city of lights in those days
was hub of air travel east of Suez. Gulf region airports then did not exist.
I along with my company landed at Dacca Tejgaon Airport by mid day on

6th April, the unit’s move being completed by 8th April 1971. In the company
I had two more officers, Captain Muhammad Afreen and Lieutenant
Muhammad Saeed Tariq (who embraced SHAHADAT on 13 December
1971 at Panjbibi, District Bogra). We were just carrying our personal
weapons, their ammunition and a spare pair of uniforms in our backpacks.
Our heavier equipment and weapons like vehicles, recoilless rifles etc were
to move by sea from Karachi to Chittagong from where these were to be
collected later. We could get hold of our equipment after the completion of
first phase of operations by end May 1971.
56
It may be difficult to understand for our younger generation, living in the

age of instant communications that we had no clue about situation in East
Pakistan before we landed in Dacca. On reaching Karachi, before
undertaking air journey we got the feelings that something was seriously
wrong in that part of our country. This information was provided by the
people coming back from East Pakistan on return flights from Dacca. It
gave very harrowing details of atrocities being committed by Bengali
criminal gangs on non Bengali population because the State had lost
control and had stopped functioning in that part of the country. It was on
reaching Dacca that we learnt about the grave situation and some details
of Army action started on 25 March 1971 to restore State writ in East
Pakistan.
Initial Operations - April

1971
After assembling and doing duties in Dacca for a couple of days, the unit
was given the task to clear area up to Narsinghdi, a small town north east
of Dacca. The unit was placed under 14 Division, losing its affiliation with
the 9 Division. The unit concentrated across a stream by crossing over
Demra ferry site in south east of the city on 10 April and started its move
on the morning of 11th April. It was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Hafeez Ur Rahman, Alpha Company commanded by Major M Saeed Azam
Khan, Bravo Company by Major Khurshid Ahmad Mallal, Charlie Company
by Captain Nazir Ahmed (author) and Delta Company by Captain Nisar
Hussain Bukhari. The move towards north started along Dacca-
Narsinghdi- Bhairab Bazar road with Major Mallal’s company leading. We
had mustered a few small civilian vehicles including a Volkswagen
ambulance to make one platoon (about thirty plus strength) mobile. This
mobile platoon commanded by Captain Mian Bux Baloch led the advance
movement, rest of the troops following on foot along the road. We also had
the support of four Artillery guns following behind us under command Major
Khurram Jahandur.
As soon as the leading platoon covered a distance of about three

kilometers, it came into a well laid ambush from the both sides of the road
through trees forming a horseshoe pattern. Leading platoon took up
position alongside the road to return fire. According to well practiced drill
without losing time, the following platoon was given code word “Babbar
Sher Alpha” by Major Mallal, the
57
company commander ordering the platoon to come behind rebel’s position

moving from the right side, keeping a distance of about one thousand
yards from the rebel’s position. Alpha in our code word meant move from
right and Bravo was for move from the left side depending upon the lay of
the ground. The distance of one thousand yards was considered safe from
enemy small arms fire even if the move had to be in open without any
cover available. Naib Subedar Abbas leading his platoon started moving at
quick pace, unmindful of the firing which he knew could not be effective, to
come behind the positions from where fire was coming.
As the rebels realised that they were being encircled, they started gradually
withdrawing taking advantage of the cover available to them as could be
seen from decreasing intensity of their fire. Their withdrawal was being
covered till last by one light machine gun (LMG) position. To tackle this
LMG fire, Naik Amanullah along with a sepoy (whose name I cannot
recollect now) from the platoon trying
58
to encircle rebels, started crawling towards the position. The area in front of
the trees from where fire was coming was open and without any cover
except for slightly raised edges of the fields from where rice crop had been
harvested. Naik Amanullah reached LMG position from behind and
physically got hold of the man firing it. In the process he got a bullet in his
thigh. Naik Amanullah, was an interesting character. He had recently been

demoted from Lance Havildar to Naik. This had happened to him second
time. He would always do some funny thing to deserve a demotion soon
after he got promotion because of his seniority. He rejoined the unit after
his wound had healed. The person who was firing the LMG to cover
withdrawal of rebels from ambush site was a stout, well built person.
Despite efforts, he did not speak a word. He did not look like a Bengali. In
all probability he was an Indian working with rebels as we learnt of Indian’s
physical involvement later. During exchange of fire few unoccupied
thatched huts caught fire, most likely torched by retreating rebels which
were later shown as evidence of arson against the Army.
As that position got cleared in about two hours’ time and unit was preparing
to resume advance, General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major General M
Rahim Khan landed on the roadside in a small helicopter. He had recently
taken over command of 14 Division replacing Major General Khadim
Hussain Raja.General Tikka Khan Commander Eastern Command had
also been replaced by Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan (AAK) Niazi
who assumed command on 10 April 1971.
Major General Rahim was briefed by our CO about the situation. The move
restarted with Alpha Company (Major Saeed Azam) leading. Study of the
map indicated a possible rebel’s position about five kilometers ahead in
areas of two road bends. As our leading elements neared first road bend,
the CO ordered my company to move towards a possible escape route of
the enemy and take up position to block that route. I quickly moved in that
direction and as soon as reached the indicated position, fire fight in the
road bends area had begun. During this firing, the unit called for Artillery
fire from the four guns following the column. Captain Muhammad Saleem,
my course mate from 2nd War Course was artillery observer directing the
fire. Distance between rebel’s position deployed in
59
tree lines and our troops on the road was about hundred fifty yards apart.
Because of miscalculation, all the four shells landed on our own positions.
First shell landed directly on a LMG being fired by Second Lieutenant
Abdul Ghafoor killing him instantly. Second shell landed near the CO
injuring Subedar Major Alam Badshah, the third wounded Captain Saleem,
the artillery observer who had called for fire and the fourth one also killed
and wounded some men. In all, there were four dead and five wounded
from this volley of our own fire.
As I reported to the CO on wireless set that I had taken up position as

ordered, he told me to come behind the enemy positions from a flank. I
started to move keeping about one thousand yards distance from small
arms fire that was ineffective, the bullets landing near us which did not stop
our move. As my company reached behind enemy positions from a flank,
darkness of the night had taken over. Firing had stopped and the rebels,
taking advantage of the darkness and cover available to them from the
woods withdrew towards Narsinghdi. I established contact with the unit and
then learnt of casualties suffered by the unit that day.
Next morning i.e. on 12th April we resumed advance towards Narsinghdi.

On reaching a small stream we found the road bridge demolished. The
troops had to wade through water. By afternoon we approached the town
where we saw a number of people lined up on road, some wearing Jinnah
caps and carrying Pakistan flags raising slogans ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. They
informed that the miscreants had fled (Malaun log bhag gia).
After a day‘s stay at Narsighdi, the unit was ordered to prepare for move
further north towards Bhairab Bazar where rebels were entrenched across
Meghna River at Ashuganj rail/road Bridge blocking movement towards
Brahmanbaria in the east. The position was very difficult to approach and a
brigade size operation of considerable complexity was reportedly being
planned. It was to approach the rebel positions from three directions i.e.
frontally over the bridge, through the river using river craft and from behind
the positions landing some Special Services Group (SSG) troops using few
available helicopters. The operation, however, got swiftly completed when
SSG troops commanded by the legendry TM, Major Tariq Mahmud (later
Brigadier who lost his life during a practice para jump in
60
Gujranwala Cantonment) assaulted the positions from behind after

heli-landing at dawn. The rebels, suffering heavy casualties, abandoned
their trenches and ran towards east leaving huge caches of arms in their
abandoned positions.
After spending about two days at Bhairab Bazar, the unit moved over the
Ashuganj Bridge towards Brahmanbaria. After covering some distance in
that direction it was ordered to turn back and move north in the direction of
Kishorganj, as part of the Brigade tasked to clear area up to Mymensingh.
In this move there was no opposition encountered but the march to
Mymensingh took us over a week ending on 23 April. As our Brigade
approached from the east, another force supported by some tanks had
already reached the city from south a day earlier as transpired later after
some confusion and loss of life. A branch of River Brahmaputra running
east of city separated the two forces. On reaching the river from east our
leading troops were fired upon from across the river. The fire fight raged for
some time when noise of tanks getting started in Mymensingh was heard.
This rumbling of tanks caused alarm. After frantic efforts to establish
contact the confusion got cleared. The Division had failed to coordinate the
movement causing this unfortunate situation resulting in loss of life of two
soldiers of the leading unit of our Brigade. The reason given was that our
Brigade was out of communication with the Division. The elderly Brigadier
Zulfiqar Khan had been marching with us, losing contact due to the
distances involved and lack of appropriate communication equipment.
While marching towards Mymensingh, normal routine was to start the
move early morning and after covering a distance of roughly 30 to 35

kilometers set up camp for the night. On first day of our march, main
problem confronted was from where to procure meals because there was
no system of logistics supporting the move. When the unit halted for a
break at mid day, solution was found in searching for rice and cooking
utensils from abandoned houses. It took lot of time to prepare a meal of
boiled rice and some lentils. Later it became a practice to prepare meal of
boiled rice and meat by slaughtering a goat or even a calf taken from the
abandoned habitats en route. As our column advanced, the local
population living in small villages/hutments on the route vacated their
houses and moved away on sides to avoid contact with the force. As we
approached towns
61
the people came out on the road with Pakistan’s flags. This was to assure
the troops that there was no need to take any hostile action. Bulk of the
population from these towns en route had also left to safer areas in the
interior avoiding contact with the forces because of uncertainty and fear
caused by Army action in Dacca.
While marching towards Mymensingh, the unit stayed for a day at

Kishorganj, a small town connected with Dacca on the railway network.
Here for the first time since we started from Narsinghdi, we got some ration
supplies through improvised transportation on the railway track by the
efforts of our quartermaster, Captain Shafiq Sarwar Malik. Leaving one
company (Delta, commanded by Major Nisar Bukhari) at Kishorganj, the
unit resumed onward march towards Mymensingh.
On reaching Mymensingh we came to know of the mass killings of the non

Bengalis in that city. Residents of a colony of non Bengalis (Biharis) had
been killed to the last soul. Some people had taken refuge in the main
mosque but they were also killed. Here the Commanding Officer, made
responsible to restore order, held meeting with the Deputy Commissioner
and the Superintendent of Police, a daily routine to review the situation.

Since on arrival of troops the rebels had left the place withdrawing to India,
there was no more trouble in the area. Normal activity by civil
administration was resumed as the Army reached the areas where anarchy
had prevailed for few months that caused atrocities and killings of the non
Bengali population in the district particularly the city of Mymensingh.
Here, we came under command another brigade, commanded by Brig

Noor Ahmad Hussain. The unit was tasked to secure area up to Durgapur
bordering Indian State of Meghalaya towards north. Two companies, Alpha
and Bravo under the Second in Command (2IC), Major Muhammad Hafeez
Raja secured the area without any resistance.
The unit stayed in Mymensingh/Durgapur area for about a month before it

was ordered to move to Bogra in North Bengal, crossing River Jumna. By
this time railway system had been largely restored and the unit moved by
train to
62
Bahadurabad Ghat on river bank. The vast river was crossed by means of
a large ferry; rather a small ship which took more than one hour to cross
the great waterway. On reaching the other bank we were informed that
instead of Bogra we were to proceed to Rangpur in the north.
On reaching Rangpur, coming under command 23 Brigade, the unit was

tasked to clear the area of Bhurangamari across Dharla River. This large
salient with its base on the river was surrounded by India from three sides.
One Captain Nawazish, a Bengali officer had established rebels position
across river, covering the main route and other possible crossings. He had
started conducting raids on our thinly held positions manned by 25 Punjab.
For planning the operation to clear that area, Brigade Commander,

Brigadier Abdullah Malik (later Major General) accompanied by CO 29
Cavalry, took our CO and the company commanders to the area held by 25
Punjab. Briefing had been arranged in the Company Headquarters of Major

Khalid (25 Punjab) who gave a rather grim picture of the situation. After his
briefing, plan given by CO 29 Cavalry, Lieutenant Colonel Sagheer Hussain
Syed (later Lieutenant General) included crossing the river frontally with
four amphibious tanks (the only ones available in East Pakistan) and a
crossing from a different site by about fifty men of 34 Punjab, thus bagging
the rebels. On this our CO showed reservations on use of such a small
force to capture a large, well entrenched enemy occupying position
stretching over about three to four kilometers on the river astride main
route. Lieutenant Colonel Saghir made a remark that if they (34 Punjab)
could not do it, he would do it with his own troops. On this a very
unpleasant exchange of words took place, Major Khursheed Mallal taking
on the Colonel with some harsh words in a nasty tone. That ended the
meeting. Although our CO interjected to reduce tension but damage was
done. Abdullah Malik, visibly annoyed ordered that the unit should plan and
carry out the operation as they like. Sagheer Syed then showed inability to
provide the amphibious tanks.
Major Khurshid Mallal who caused this unpleasant situation had earned
some reputation of being an abrasive person. A ‘Gallian’ who joined 2
Punjab after passing from the Academy soon got himself inducted in the
Special Services Group (the SSG). While travelling with his platoon for
some duty in Sindh, he
63
created a rumpus at Hyderabad Railway Station in which the Station

Master got seriously hurt. Expelled from SSG, he joined an infantry
battalion where he had verbal dual with the CO on parade ground. Placed
on ‘Adverse Report’ he joined 34 Punjab at Kharian. Here, given the
importance by appointing him as Adjutant, a key appointment of the unit,
his positive side overtook his weaknesses. He proved a most responsible,
competent and hardworking officer. Every day, we the younger lot would
not want to even talk to him because of his harsh attitude and ticking off on
minor faults during duty hours. But off duty hours he would be jovial,
exuberant, reaching out to get everyone out for fun, a most likable
companion. On demand from us his juniors, his blue coloured Vaxhaul, the
only car in our bachelor quarters, used to make frequent evening trips to
Lalamusa for watching the dancing girls singing and dancing in their
famous abodes. It was not considered any crime then.
64
Crossing of Dharla River to proceed further towards Nageshwari and

Bhurangamari was attempted during next night from the place earlier
suggested by Sagheer Syed but it was obviously occupied as was
expected. The unit had to launch a frontal assault wading through water to
reach the enemy positions. During this operation the unit lost two men.
After securing enemy position on river bank, the unit started advance to
clear area up to borders which took another three days. Brigadier Abdullah
Malik was so annoyed with the unit due to above mentioned incident
involving Sagheer Syed that when informed about the unit securing far
banks of Dharla River by his Brigade Major Abdul Haq Mirza he remarked
that ‘tell the unit that this operation is failure from my side’.
After clearing that area, 34 Punjab was ordered to relieve 8 Baluch at

Thakurgaon in the extreme northwest, handing over Bhurangamari sector
to 25 Punjab. Starting from Dacca, the unit had changed many formations
and ultimately landed at a place where it had to fight its final battle. It had
covered great distances overcoming opposition in clearing vast areas from
rebels, a feat unmatched by any other unit operating in East Pakistan
during that period.
When we were at Mymensingh, the CO (Hafeez Ur Rahman) ordered

Captain Muhammad Afreen of my Company to proceed to
Dacca/Chittagong and other places and bring mechanical transport of the
unit which had reached by ship at Chittagong and some of the vehicles
particularly recoilless rifles mounted on jeeps had been distributed to
different units spread all over. Captain Muhammad Jamil had arrived with
the unit’s equipment and stores but he could not manage to move the
equipment upwards. In fact he had no clue as to where the unit was
located because of the continuous movement up to that time as I have
narrated. When Captain Afreen was leaving, he overheard CO telling Major
Mallal that we could write off this officer. In his assessment the officer
would take months to recollect the distributed vehicles from different places
because of severely disrupted communication network and disturbed
conditions. When Captain Afreen, with his indomitable will, unbounded
courage and superb improvisation abilities brought all the vehicles,
equipment and stores in less than a month’s time while we had reached
Rangpur; the CO was surprised on this outstanding feat of the officer. Later
he would remark that if this officer had been part of the
65
British Army operating in such like situation, a book making absorbing

reading could have come out on the problems confronted by him and
methods adopted to overcome those problems in completing this task. The
officer deserved to be awarded for his achievement but we in 34 Punjab
were working with different mindset; oblivious of self interest, struggling to
overcome difficulties in most extraordinary conditions prevailing at the time
in East Pakistan.
66
Thakurga
on
On reaching Thakurgaon in June 1971, the unit relieved 8 Baluch which

was to go elsewhere; leaving one company commanded by Captain Akbar
Niazi at Pachagarh. The area of responsibility spanned about one hundred
and fifty kilometers of border with India. The unit, with strength of about six
hundred men was responsible for the Thakurgaon sub division of Dinajpur
District tasked to maintain law and order and restore normal living
conditions for the disturbed civilian population besides looking after the
borders. This was seemingly impossible task. A part of the sub division, a
finger like area projecting towards Nepal in the north west named Titulia,
had not been cleared from the rebels because it was difficult to hold, being
a thin strip in firing range of Indians from both flanks. In the deployment
made by CO, three companies in addition to 8 Baluch Company were
placed along the borders and the remaining one company placed at
Thakurgaon. My company was deployed along the border with India
covering about sixty kilometers length of the border. Company
Headquarters(HQ) with one platoon was located at a place named Rani
Shankail, one platoon commanded by Captain Muhammad Afreen placed
at Nek Mard and the third platoon commanded by Lieutenant Muhammad
Saeed Tariq at Pirganj (there were more than one towns of this name). ‘A’
Company commanded by Major M Saeed Azam Khan was deployed
towards north of my positions in area Balidangi – Ruhea and ‘D’ Company
(Major Bukhari) further north and east to cover the area of responsibility
given to the unit.
We started patrolling the area and contacting people in the villages to

restore their confidence, helping them to overcome fear caused by the
events of last few months. This area had remained comparatively peaceful
being away from the major cities. During the period of lawlessness when
there was no government control all over East Pakistan in the months of
Feb, March and April, the non Bengalis had been killed in large numbers all
over the country. Here at Rani Shankail we found a small group of Pathans
who had survived the ordeal. Their business was money lending and they
were in the area to collect their dues. They had survived because this area
had not been affected by the hatred rampant in other areas particularly
large cities.
67
The period from June till August was comparatively peaceful with few
incidents by rebels, the Mukti Bahini conducting a few raids, including one
on my Company HQ during one night and planting mines, coming from

across the border.
The fact that rebels could not establish any sanctuary in the Thakurgaon
sub division was due to untiring struggle of the officers and men of our unit.
The efforts were spearheaded by the new CO, Lieutenant Colonel (later
Brigadier) Amir Muhammad Khan, one of the pioneers of Special Services
Group (SSG) who had replaced Hafeezur Rhaman in July, the later going
to Command and Staff College Quetta as Directing Staff, a prestigious
career assignment. Colonel Amir was nicknamed Governor by the unit
officers because of his name, cast, style and manner resembling the
redoubtable Malik Amir Muhammad Khan, Nawab of Kalabagh, ex
Governor of West Pakistan during earlier part of Ayub Khan’ era. Colonel
Amir, a courageous man was ideally suited in inspiring his command for
the task assigned to the unit that was responsible for restoring and
maintaining
68
peace in a very vast area, countering Indian sponsored terrorism and

finally fighting the Indians. At all stages his towering personality was source
of strength, contributing to successful outcome of the assigned tasks.
The ‘Governor’ would get hold of Maulvi Tameez ud Din, a local Jamaat
Islami Amir almost every morning and start his tour of the area addressing
people covering different villages according to a systematic plan. His focus
was to explain to the people as to what caused this tragedy and that the
army was for their service and was there to help them. His efforts and that
of rest of the officers and men succeeded in denying sanctuaries to Mukti
Bahini formed by Indians in the vast area of our responsibility. Their
attempts remained confined to cross border activity mainly in laying mines
on different tracks in the area near borders which caused some casualties
to our officers and men. In our efforts to reach out to the people in our
areas of responsibility, workers of Jamaat Islami were great help in
organizing meetings with the villagers to restore their confidence, remove
fear and seek help in denying rebel sanctuaries. They were most reliable,
honest and truthful people who later suffered political victimization and
continue to do so at the hands of Sheikh Mujib’s followers.
During one such patrolling mission along the border Lieutenant Abdul
Waheed embraced Shahadat due to Indian mortar fire. Naib Subedar
Abbas got his leg amputated due to mine laid on a track. The CO’s priority
was so focused on continuous touring the area that one day when
Commander Eastern Command Lieutenant General AmirAbdullah Khan (A
A K) Niazi landed at the Battalion Headquarters at Thakurgaon; the CO
was out on his normal tour. There was some lack of coordination between
the Brigade Headquarters and the unit, as our Adjutant, Captain Javed
Anwar Cheema claimed ignorance about the visit while Brigade Major
Abdul Haq Mirza insisted that he had informed the unit Adjutant on
telephone. Such incidents further aggravated relations between the unit
and its immediate higher formation. This was one factor because of which
no one from our unit got any gallantry award because the citations for
awards forwarded to Brigade were not processed as it transpired later;
although performance of the officers in some actions merited highest
gallantry awards.
69
About awards, Lieutenant Colonel Hafeez Ur Rahman, the CO till mid July
1971 did not initiate any recommendation. It was suggested to the CO to
initiate citations for awards for the first day’s actions. On that day we had
two encounters and cleared the opposition in a very short time in most
audacious manner. In those actions we had suffered nine casualties
including one officer being martyred. The CO’s response was that we were
being paid for the job and should not claim awards for fighting against
rebels. This was faulty logic because the bullets fired by rebels were
equally lethal and acts of bravery merited recognition.
After change of command, the new CO sent some recommendations

including that of Captain Muhammad Afreen for an action in Pachagarh
area but because of unsporting attitude from the Brigade Headquarters as
alluded to from the incidents mentioned earlier, these recommendations
were not processed. Later when the gallantry awards were announced
after few months, a large number of people from other units had been
bestowed with gallantry awards. As the awards were announced, I got in
touch with Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Muhammad Safdar (popularly
known as ‘ginger’, a Khattak from Shaidu near Nowshera) of my unit who
was posted at Headquarters Eastern Command as staff officer dealing with
the awards. I asked him as to why 34 Punjab had not received any awards
having lost two officers by then and having achieved some most
spectacular successes in operations. He informed that Eastern Command
had not received any citation/recommendation about any one from 34
Punjab.
The only gallantry award received by the unit was Tamgha e Jurrat (TJ) to
Havildar Muhammad Sharif (retired as Honorary Captain) after repatriation
from the Indian POW camps in 1974. One of our anti tank platoon had
been placed under command 27 Brigade deployed in Brahman Baria area
opposite Indian State of Tripura in the East. This platoon was commanded
by the burly Captain Mian Bux, a Chandio Baloch from Sindh. Brigadier
Saadullah, on repatriation made a special effort to initiate Havildar Sharif’s
citation and got him this award for an action during battle near Aashuganj
Bridge on Meghna River in December 1971. Brigadier Saadullah was a
very reputed officer for his courage, character and competence. His
Brigade while withdrawing from Brahmanbaria towards Bhairab Bazaar
was being closely followed by advancing Indians from east. On reaching
70
Meghna River, the Brigadier with a small force carried out a rear guard
action to facilitate his Brigade in crossing the great water obstacle. In this
he used Anti Tank Platoon of 34 Punjab, Havildar Sharif being one of the
detachment commanders. This action caused the Indians to recoil, leaving
tanks in running condition. Troops of the Brigade could thus cross over the
River without interference from Indians. Brigadier Saadullah was
impressed by performance of Havildar Sharif in this action and after
repatriation he ensured that the NCO was awarded.
Havildar Sharif’s case is interesting. He was our Officer’s Mess NCO

working for quite some time in that appointment very efficiently. While at
Thakurgaon, he was removed from that task because he was getting meat
free of cost but charging the Mess a nominal amount knowing that the
officers would not tolerate getting anything free of cost from the public. The
Officer in Charge of the messing while checking found that the rates of
meat were very low so he probed to find the facts. This caused Sharif’s
removal from mess duty to a task which earned him his award.
With our experience about gallantry awards, it is evident that distribution of

gallantry awards depends on personal whims of individuals. Deserving
men are mostly left out and those seeking favours with good writing skills
who can paint better picture to the distant higher headquarters are
awarded. To eliminate chances of this injustice we must do away with the
gallantry awards. Instead, the families of those who sacrifice their lives
must be supported by the State to live a life of comfort and dignity, being
provided with adequate resources commensurate with their social
standing. Similarly those who become disabled should also get required
support to live the life with maximum facilitation and ease. This will
eliminate the causes of concocting false stories by those seeking glory
through questionable means. This will also put the men going into action at
mental peace knowing that their families are assured of support in any
eventuality.
To continue with the narrative, my company remained deployed along the

vast stretch of border for over a month after which it was relieved by B
Company (Major Khurshid Mallal) as another task was awaiting me. During
this deployment period every day was full of surprises and adventure. A
few days after arrival at
71
Rani Shankail, my Company Headquarters was rained with mortar shells

during the night. The attackers were chased up to the borders about ten
kilometers away. This was our first encounter with the Mukti Bahini
operating from their sanctuaries inside India.
Once I, with about ten men, marched out to see the two abandoned border
out posts (BOPs) in my area earlier manned by the former East Pakistan
Rifles (EPR) who had joined the rebels. After visiting one post and then
moving along the border to reach the next one it started to get dark. I
decided to stay the night there. This post was about two hundred meters
away from an opposite Indian post, only a small stream separating the two.
As darkness thickened, I realised that it was very dangerous to stay on the
post with just ten men carrying personal weapons without any other fire
support or even communications with any one because the wireless set, an
old PRC-10 was out of range with others in the Company. I decided to take
my men to a clump of trees located about six hundred yards away from the
post along the stream and told them not to make even a slightest noise
which could give away our location. At about 2 a.m. we heard noise of
some vehicles moving towards the Indian post. Obviously it was additional
force coming for some action as I had apprehended. About one hour after
arrival of the vehicles, intense small arms firing started at our post from
which I had moved away.
These were some extremely anxious moments for me because generally

our men are trigger happy in such situations and want to fire back. I had
told my men that if we could see someone coming towards us, only then
we will fire and that too not without my specific orders, myself firing the first
bullet. Otherwise they just had to watch, rather get the feel of the show. As
the night was very dark we could not see the enemy but just their direction
of fire through tracer bullets. The firing continued for about an hour and
those were some of the tensest moments of my life. One mistake by
anyone of us, just a bullet fired, could land us in a situation jeopardising our
life for no good cause. A familiarisation mission in our own territory had
landed us in precarious position which could be exploited by the enemy.
72
As continuous firing by the Indians did not get any response from the post,
they stopped firing. After sometime the noise of vehicles starting and
moving away from Indian post indicated that additional troops were going
back to where they had come from. By now it was dawn. I told my
colleagues that we will sneak back into the post unobserved by the enemy
making use of available cover which we did. At the post we lit fire creating
smoke showing our presence with confidence that since additional enemy
troops had gone back, the enemy post could cause us no harm. We
prepared our tea and some breakfast at leisure before leaving the post for
return journey, again using cover so that our leaving the post could not be
observed by the enemy. This morning episode, though unnecessary, was
to keep the enemy guessing about our presence or otherwise on the post
during night and our so effective fire control. On reaching the company
headquarters I was admonished by the CO on telephone for remaining out
of communication for two days. I did not tell him the whole story to escape
further rebuke.
At Ranishankail local Police Officer, the Station House Officer (SHO) was
an elderly, mature and wise person. Known as ‘Bara Babu’ as SHOs were
known, he was a great help in bringing peace and normalcy in the area
reassuring the population that Army was there to help restore peace. Our
own effort to reach out to the people and interact with them by addressing
small gatherings in different villages brought positive response from the
population who had been fed with misinformation that Army was ruthlessly
killing the local population. The spread of fear had a genuine reason
because at start of the operation in Dacca on the night of 25th March 1971,
the Army in Dacca caused death of civilians by some indiscriminate firing.
Although both Generals responsible for this operation, Major General
Khadim Raja and Lieutenant General Tikka Khan had been replaced but
the damage was done. Bulk of the population fled Dacca to the areas in the
interior of the country spreading the news. When we reached Dacca on 6th
April and were initially deployed inside the city, my company being in the
Jaggannath College, the city gave a deserted look. Very few people could
be seen on the streets of Dacca.
As the troops started arriving from West Pakistan, they were formed into
columns and dispatched from Dacca in different directions to clear areas
up to the borders
73
and link up with troops of 14 Division isolated and trapped in certain areas.
These troops met resistance at the initial stages of operations but the
people involved in mass killing of non Bengalis escaped to India, retreating
at leisure by blowing up bridges and culverts in the path of advancing
troops to retard movement. While retreating towards India the rebels kept
spreading panic among the population about the Army coming forward to
cause them harm.
Killings and
Atrocities
Large scale killings and atrocities were committed in East Pakistan but who
were perpetrators of these crimes and who were the victims will be clear
from the pattern of Army operations explained, at the cost of some
repetition, in the following paragraphs.
On 25 March 1971 when military action was ordered in Dacca, very few
troops were located at the Cantonment in Dacca. The troops of 14 Division,
the only Army formation in East Pakistan were located in small
cantonments all over the country. The force had become ineffective
because more than half of its strength revolted and the remaining force got
confined to barracks. West Pakistani officers and men serving in the units
of East Bengal Regiment and East Pakistan Rifles were brutally killed
along with their families including small children. A few were lucky to
survive like Lieutenant Colonel Khizar, commanding a Battalion of the East
Bengal Regiment because of an act of unusual mercy by his Second in
Command Major Khalid Musharraf, was handed over to the Indians. Some
survivors of a company extricating from Kushtia to rejoin their unit were
also handed over to Indians. These officers and men went through
prolonged incarceration as POWs in India and were repatriated with the
main force after over two years of the conclusion of War. Dead bodies of
officers killed in places like Mymensingh and Thakurgaon were dragged
into bazaars as we came to know on reaching these places. These officers,

posted to East Pakistan Rifles and were located away from the few
cantonments fell prey to rebels and criminal gangs operating with impunity
for those months when the State had lost control over that part of the
country.
74
About twenty thousand troops were flown by PIA to Dacca in about two
weeks’ time to reinforce East Pakistan garrison. As the troops arriving from
West Pakistan started their move outwards from Dacca, each column
encountered a number of blocking positions in the form of well laid out
ambushes. The pattern was same on all directions indicating well
coordinated plans. As narrated before in the progress of our column
advancing towards north from Dacca, the bridges on streams were blown
off making the vehicular movement impossible. The progress therefore was
slow in accordance with the speed of marching columns which had to
negotiate water obstacles causing further delay. This gave the rebels
freedom to indulge in unspeakable atrocities on non Bengalis before
retreating towards borders at their leisure. The Army columns advancing
towards borders thus could not lay their hands on the people who needed
to be killed.
During the initial phase, as the troops advanced on different routes

outwards of Dacca, the civil population of small villages located en route
vacated their houses and moved away to avoid contact with the Army. In
the towns, while most of the population had moved away due to the fear,
some people stayed on and came out on the roads carrying Pakistan flags
to avoid firing from the approaching columns. By the time the columns had
reached up to the borders, a substantial number of civilians had also
crossed over to India fearful of the approaching Army. These people were
put up in temporary camps in the border area and were later used as
recruiting ground for forming of the Mukti Bahini. After few months, the
people in these camps wanted to come back to harvest their paddy crops.
By now they were clear that the Army was helping people to restore normal
life, not killing them. The Indians forcibly detained these people by erecting
fences around them and placing guards to prevent their move back. They
were assured that by December they would be allowed to go back. We, on
our part had established reception camps at different places along the
borders for people returning from India. These camps would receive very
few people trickling in. These people would be registered, given some help
in the form of food items and allowed to go home.
After declaration of war on 3 December, I received over one thousand

people at Panjbibi camp. They informed that the guards had been removed
from the camps.
75
The Indians, apart from taking young men for induction in Mukti Bahini
were indulging in large scale molesting of captive women. Almost all the
women of child bearing age whom I saw returning to the camp after
declaration of war were pregnant. Pictures of women in such conditions
were printed by the Times magazine and other publications which we saw
in the POW camps attributing crimes to men of Pakistan Army. I had a
Bengali young man working with me as volunteer who had moved with
family to India in the initial days. He had two wives. Both had been
detained by the Indians.
At Hilli railway station the border was demarcated with the help of
corrugated iron sheets placed vertically. The Bengali civilians were being
kept in camp nearby. At night there would be wailing, shrieks and noise
when the Indian troops would comb through the camp, a daily routine to
get hold of girls to be taken to their bunkers for the night. Conversely the
Indian propaganda campaign was supported by the world media to
demonise Pakistan Army by attributing acts of molestation of Bengali
women.
Three under strength Divisions of Pakistan Army had been put into a very
difficult situation of overcoming resistance and restoring normal living
conditions. The officers commanding these units were well aware that this
task could not be done by tolerating indiscipline resulting in committing
crimes. It was understood that any such laxity would be most detrimental in
keeping the discipline, so essential for success of the mission. During initial
stage of the operation, four persons of my unit were punished by holding
their court martial on charges of trespassing private premises. They were
dismissed from service and sent to jail on receipt of complaints from the
civilians. The prevailing environments of constant danger subdued carnal
desires and passions. Still if someone could afford to indulge in such
thought for some time, particularly in the rear areas, there were facilities
available in almost every small and large town where sex workers in
defined localities would cater to such needs. Given that these army units,
operating without rest or relief for about ten months in most
disadvantageous position could retain their cohesion and fighting spirit is
ample proof of a disciplined force doing its best against great odds.
76
Similarly the stories of killing of Bengali civilians attributed to Pakistan

Army were exaggerated beyond limits. At the start of operation from Dacca
on 25 March 1971, some people had been killed due to indiscriminate firing
in the city as we came to know on reaching Dacca. Main place where
people got killed was Dacca University where rebels were concentrated.
Because of dissatisfaction of High Command with handling of the operation
on that night of 25/26 March, both the Generals responsible were relieved
of command. Major General Khadim Raja the General Officer Commanding
14 Division was replaced by Major General M Rahim Khan and Lieutenant
General Tikka Khan, Commander Eastern Command was replaced by
Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan (A A K) Niazi who arrived in East
Pakistan in first week of April 1971, assuming command on 10 April 1971.
As the troops arrived from West Pakistan and started moving to reach
borders in different directions from Dacca they did not find the people who
deserved to be killed as explained above.
Large scale killing of non Bengalis, mostly the people who had migrated
from India to East Pakistan and the West Pakistanis working in East
Pakistan was done by Bengali rebels joined by criminal elements during
the months of Jan to April 1971 when the government had no control over
the situation. Another spree of large scale killings and atrocities on non
Bengalis was unleashed after 16 December 1971 by Bengali armed gangs;
like Qadir Bahini in Tangail area north of Dacca. The Indian occupation
Army took some time to control such bands of criminals operating in other
areas where non Bengali population was still left ultimately confined to
ghettos in Dacca.
The scale of this killing can be determined from the numbers of non
Bengali population residing in East Pakistan in January 1971 and those left
after the war. These people were killed in thousands during that period of
about four months from January to end April 1971 which was of complete
lawlessness in the whole country. Criminal gangs in the garb of Awami
League activists indulged in unspeakable atrocities. The hapless non
Bengalis would be collected at one place, their women were gang raped
and then killed. As the Army columns were advancing towards borders on
different routes on foot, the bridges and culverts on the roads having been
blown, progress of move was slow and predictable
77
allowing criminal gangs to indulge in an orgy of killings at their leisure.

When a column led by Brigadier Jahanzeb Arbab reached Santahar
railway junction in North Bengal, the place was littered with dead bodies
killed moments before arrival of the Army. Other columns also witnessed
signs of similar atrocities. On reaching Mymensingh we found people of a
whole colony of non Bengalis butchered; even those who had taken refuge
in the mosques had not been spared and were killed inside the mosques.
When our column was moving towards Brahamanbaria from Aashuganj

Bridge and was recalled to move towards Kishorganj towards the north,
lots of dead bodies of freshly killed people were found lying along the
railway line. Recollection of such atrocities becomes more painful when the
lies and false perceptions blaming Pakistan Army have become an
accepted truth.
Dr. Sarmila Bose in her book ‘DEAD RECKONING – Memories of the 1971
Bangladesh War’ published in 2011 is a research study on the subject of
killings and atrocities during that war. She spent some years (2003-6) in
her research, repeatedly travelling to Bangladesh and Pakistan in search of
truth. She completely negates Indo-Bangladesh narrative on these issues,
absolving Pakistan Army to have committed rapes, atrocities and murders.
Raid across Jagdal

Hat
Proceeding with my narrative, as my Company was replaced and brought

to Thakurgaon in July, Captain Muhammad Afreen was taken away by the
CO to lead newly formed Commando Platoon. This platoon comprised of
about twenty young soldiers who went into an operation in Pachagarh
area. A rebel position of considerable strength was positioned on the
approach from Pachagarh into the Titulia salient. Since it had been decided
not to go into Titulia salient because it was difficult to hold a narrow strip of
land flanked from three sides by Indian territory, this rebel position had not
been cleared. The rebels, undisturbed since last so many months has
started giving trouble.
Paucity of troops did not allow use of adequate strength to launch a

conventional attack so it was decided to conduct a raid on those positions.
Only two platoons could be made available for the raid. While one platoon
from 8 Baluch Company
78
(Captain Akbar Niazi) took up position to engage the rebels from front,
Capt Afreen with his commandos surprised the rebels by reaching their
position from the rear by a meticulously planned move. It was a swift raid
on a well prepared rebel’s defensive position across a stream opposite
Jagdal Hat, a small village between Amar Khana and Pachagarh. The raid
resulted in over sixty rebels killed and many more injured at a cost of only
one of our soldier losing life and four young soldiers getting injured. The
rebels suffered injuries while withdrawing and fleeing in the open,
subjected to our artillery fire using special fuse (high explosive air burst)
which made the shell burst at some height above ground. These shells
would cause great damage to exposed persons who were not under cover
in trenches. Captain Cheema from Artillery, accompanying raiding party
told that he had personally counted fifty five bodies but there were still
more in the area where Lieutenant Qaswar Naseer’s section had gone
closer to the Indian border. The party had to quickly withdraw before any
Indian reaction. This raid was classic combination of audacity, meticulous
planning and preparation by Capt Afreen which was hallmark of all his
actions during the prolonged struggle. In at least three such actions he
deserved the highest gallantry awards but as explained earlier we were not
working for worldly honours because of our peculiar circumstances and
attitudes.
A few days’ stay at Thakurgaon was a great relief. Here the Battalion
Headquarters were located in the old East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) Wing’s
accommodation. At the entrance of this complex two Bengal tigers were
kept in cages at the main gate by EPR people. Our unit inherited these
from 8 Baluch and continued to look after these wild animals. As transpired
later, most obnoxious stories were invented of putting people into tiger’s
cages. Dr. Sarmila Bose in her book gives account of those making such
allegations which she found false as explained in her narrative. During her
visits to Pakistan during her research work for her book ‘Dead Reckoning,
Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War’, she interviewed our then CO,
Brigadier Amir Muhammad Khan in connection with this story.
The Battalion Officer’s Mess was located a little away in a Rest House.
‘Chacha’ Jahan Dad, the head waiter looked after officers with his peculiar
patronizing
79
style. Jahan Dad was a dedicated man who served the unit officers with
love and commitment. As prisoner, he was offered by the Indians to be
repatriated earlier but he preferred to remain with the officers in POW
camp. An ex Havildar, retired from one of the old Punjab battalions, he had
got enrolled as Mess Waiter with the newly raised 34 Punjab in 1966. He
died at ripe old age while still serving in the unit. In those few days when I
could enjoy the food in the Mess, Jahan Dad treated me with most
delicious pineapples that he had stocked in the refrigerator. Those
pineapples were recovered from an abandoned field when almost half its
yield had already been consumed by conservancy staff of the unit. Fruit in
East Pakistan was in abundance, particularly coconuts, mangoes, litchi,
bananas and kathal; a fruit with pungent smell and difficult to prepare for
eating. Since it was known to increase potency, the trouble to peel it was
considered worth the effort by the locals. It was said that if some part of its
pulp stuck one's beard while eating carelessly, the pulp could not be
removed; rather beard had to be shaved off. Banana from a place
Munshiganj near Dacca had a special fragrance found nowhere else.
Move to Bogra/ Hilli

Sector
One late evening as I was about to go to sleep after day’s work and
consuming dinner, there was a knock at the door of the room. Captain Mian
Bux Baloch informed me that early next morning I was to go to Brigade
Headquarters (Bde HQ) at Rangpur where I had to meet the General
Officer Commanding (GOC) 16 Division who was visiting the Brigade. Next
morning I started for Rangpur. After travelling for about two hours I reached
Bde HQ where I was rushed in to meet the GOC, Major General Nazar
Hussain Shah, a bulky man who knew me from Kharian where he was
commander of one of the brigades of 9 Division. He welcomed me and told
me that my company will be operating under 205 Brigade and I should start
travelling on Road Rangpur – Bogra where somewhere en route I will find
Brigadier Hassan, Commander 205 Brigade, travelling northwards. I
started travelling further south looking for the Brigade Commander whom I
found meeting a small crowd along the roadside in a school near Plasbari,
a small town. He told me to join him as he was travelling to visit 4 FF
located in area Hilli, a small village and a railway station on the north-south
railway line in North Bengal.
80
We reached 4 Frontier Force (FF) Battalion HQ located at a small village,

rather few hutments named Chattni. Here I was briefed by Brigadier
Hassan that there was a possibility of an Indian attack on 14th August, our
Independence Day. Since Hilly offered the shortest approach to Indians in
reaching Road Rangpur – Bogra, main communication artery in North
Bengal, my Recce and Support (R&S) Company had been provided to the
Brigade to strengthen 4 FF positions. On a map, he indicated a track
junction which was supposed to be my battle position and told me to
reconnoiter this position before my company arrived.
The Indian border at Hilli ran along the railway line for some distance. In
fact the main entrance of Railway Station Building, built before partition,
opened into India and was now blocked with the help of corrugated iron
(CGI) sheets. A look at alignment of the border would indicate that Hilli
town should have been part of Pakistan but it was learnt that an influential
Hindu family owning a factory on that side got the alignment changed
resulting in a very unusual demarcation of the border. There were some
other such travesties in deciding border demarcation in the northern part of
Bengal where some ‘enclaves’ inside Pakistan were Indian Territory and
vice versa.
I did my reconnaissance in heavy rain and on very difficult slushy ‘kachha’

tracks. The two small American Jeeps, M-38 A1, which I had with me,
helped me to negotiate the torturous terrain. After two days my company
started arriving from Thakurgaon area in groups by train disembarking at
Hilli Railway Station. I had two officers, Captain Afreen and Lieutenant
Muhammad Saeed Tariq commanding two platoons and Subedar Aziz
Khan, an experienced, mature JCO, commanding the third platoon.
The composition of my R&S Company was one anti tank platoon

comprising twelve 106 mm Recoilless Rifles (an anti tank weapon), another
platoon with six Medium Machine Guns and third platoon with twelve Light
Machine Guns. All these weapons were mounted/carried on the jeeps. On
reaching East Pakistan the number of anti tank guns was reduced from
twelve to six in a Company, considering that the area was not much
suitable for use of tanks so there was lesser need of anti tank weapons.
This premise proved wrong particularly in North Bengal where the Indians
used tanks during the winters as area was suitable for

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6/15/2019 Complete Book - Google Docs

Recounting personal experiences of a journey spanning over seven

Copyright © Colonel (Retired) Nazir Ahmed

First Published – September

The book is dedicated to Farkhanda, my wife who bore

1. Prologue 6 2. Village Life 10 3. Ayub Khan’s Era 27 4. Yahya Khan’s

Part - II 6. Move to East Pakistan 54 7. Thakurgaon 66 8. Panjbibi 91 9.

Prisoner of war 109

Opinions Part- IV 17. Conflict with India

world and Viewpoint made for the travellers

No claim of erudition, literary merit or pretence of sagacity prompts me to

While the number of prisoners was exaggerated to a preposterous figure

The theme to demonise the contingent of Pakistan Army trapped in East

grossly exaggerated and accusations of atrocities patently false. In

My basic motivation to write is to refute the outrageous lie of the grossly

I have made an effort to recount what I saw and experienced as an infantry

In addition to giving detailed account of events in East Pakistan, the events

substituted by carefully crafted presumptions, spreading lies through

controlled media, the state owned Pakistan Television introduced in 1964

My account starts with recounting the atmosphere of serenity and

The cause of partition of Indian sub-continent into two independent

countries, Pakistan and India however was very clear. We as children,

To avoid that possibility and to secure Muslim’s interests, Quaid-e-Azam

Life in the household with agricultural background entailed multiple chores

Travel was an adventure undertaken under extreme compulsion. As a child

My grandfather ‘Munshi’ Sher Muhammad was selected as member of a

of years as can be seen in murals from the Indus Valley civilization

and had to be slaughtered. Other source of meat was through hunting of

other agricultural machinery during recent years. The equipment and

about in the village without headgear. Haircut was also of a particular

As mentioned earlier, the village was self sufficient in most of its

occasions in his famous ‘Deg’ locally known as ‘Rangan’. The ‘Teli’

Muhammad with his impressive attire including a stylish headdress would

The medical services were provided by Hakeem Ghulam Muhammad,

Whole families, brothers and cousins were lodged in rows of adjacent

Overall atmosphere was that of peace and contentment as the limited

mostly arranged in summers after harvesting wheat crop which generated

Occasionally some theatre groups called ‘Nutt’ would be invited to perform

single Police constable appearing in the village would create a scare.

Apart from listening to singers who occasionally staged their performances

When I started going to school, it was a lower middle school housed in a

My father, an agriculturist had joined education department during the

charismatic personality well known for his knowledge, inimitable style of

graduation in subjects less English. The names of Persian writers and

There were many other occasions to enjoy witnessing various kinds of

held at Lahore for a number of years. Other significant means of

The overall environment was of contentment, happiness and enjoyment in

Pakistan, after independence, lost its founder Governor General,

Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan, a graduate of Royal Military

independence from colonial rule after the Second World War.

President Ayub Khan’s nephews studying at Cadet College Hasan Abdal

‘Yet the frontiers were of as deep concern to Hindustan as to Pakistan, for

London 1950, Pages: 22 — 27.

In 1962 during the Indo - China skirmishes in the Himalayas; Pakistan

In 1964, Mr. JawaharLal Nehru sent Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, the

influential Kashmiri leader to Pakistan to meet with the Pakistani leadership

divisions as a number of secessionist movements were active in different

“India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the

The skirmishes on India-China border initiated by the Indians in 1962 were