Propagating misinformation

In the 1971 Bangladesh liberation struggle, the India Bangladesh Joint Command forces or Mitrobahini (Alliance army, an alliance between Indian Army and Bangladesh Liberation forces like Muktibahini and Mujibbahini) as it is called by Bengalis, provided the final push in what was already a widespread guerrilla struggle. The huge role of the Bangladesh forces was stressed yesterday by Abhay Krishna, the current General Officer Commander-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Eastern Command of the Indian Army in the "Victory Day" function in Kolkata. There was widespread intelligence on the ground that Pakistani Army didn't have. There were huge swathes of East Bengal that was held by local freedom fighter armies controlled either by various left-wing groups and pro-Awami League groups like Tangail's Kaderia Bahini led by Bongobir Kader "Bagha" Siddiqui. Then there was widespread sabotage of Pakistani installations including the daring amphibious attack by Bengali freedom fighters on the Chittagong port that crucially disabled the Pakistani Navy and supplies including oil. Then there were Muktibahini units which fought alongside the Indian Army as part of the Joint command during the final push. In fact, the first attack in that final assault was done by the rudimentary Bangladesh air force. And all this happened in the context of years of Bengali nationalist political mobilisation in Bangladesh. To reduce this to an Indian Army versus Pakistani Army war may suit certain narratives but certainly doesn't match historical facts on the ground that is well documented for anyone who would care to look. And nothing established this fact more clearly that the text of the final surrender document of the Pakistani forces that happened in Dhaka on 16th December, 1971 in the Race Course ground. The full text of that document is reproduced below:

"Instrument of Surrender

Signed on December 16, 1971

The PAKISTAN Eastern Command agree to surrender all PAKISTAN Armed Forces in BANGLA DESH to Lieutenant-General Jagjit Singh Aurora, General Officer Commanding of the Indian and BANGLA DESHI forces in the Eastern Theatre. This surrender includes all PAKISTAN land, air, and naval forces as also all para-military forces and civil armed forces. These forces will lay down their arms and surrender at the places where they are currently located to the nearest regular troops under the command of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA.

The PAKISTAN Eastern Command shall come under the orders of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA as soon as this instrument has been signed. Disobedience of orders will be regarded as a breach of the surrender terms and will be dealt with in accordance with the accepted laws and usage of war. The decision of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA will be final, should any doubt arise as to the meaning or interpretation of the surrender terms.

Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA gives a solemn assurance that personnel who surrender shall be treated with dignity and respect that soldiers are entitled to in accordance with the provisions of the GENEVA Convention and guarantees the safety and well-being of all PAKISTAN military and para-military forces who surrender. Protection will be provided to foreign nationals, ethnic minorities and personnel of WEST PAKISTAN origin by the forces under the command of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA.

[Signature]

(JAGJIT SINGH AURORA)

Lieutenant-General

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief

Indian and BANGLA DESH Forces in the

Eastern Theatre

[Signature]

(AMIR ABDULLAH KHAN NIAZI)

Lieutenant-General

Martial Law Administrator Zone

Commander Eastern Command (PAKISTAN)"

Nowhere is the term "Indian Army" mentioned in this Instrument of Surrender. Spreading of misinformation from an official Twitter account of ADGPI, Indian Army is a serious matter since the ADGPI is entrusted with the function of "Public Relation (PR) activities, Media Relations, and Monitoring, Info release, Publicity, Image Projection and Perception Management (PM). It primarily aims to establish conditions that lead to confidence in our Army and its readiness to conduct ops in peacetime and war." Surely, in such efforts, truth should not be a casualty in an Army formed under the aegis of a Constitution whose motto is "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth always wins). This is also in violation of the "Policy on use of Social Media by All Ranks in the Indian Army" that has been posted by the Facebook account of the ADGPI, Indian Army, which clearly states, "Users of social media, both serving and veterans are cautioned to verify the facts before accepting before accepting content circulation in Social Media as truth". Does this not apply to the people running the official ADGPI social media accounts themselves?

Why is it so important that the Joint Command was mentioned in the surrender document and not the Indian Army, as ADGPI would like Indian citizens to believe? Firstly, that was the reality. But from the New Delhi stand-point in 1971, this was much more than a technicality. New Delhi had always maintained during its feverish diplomatic efforts in the United Nation and various capitals that it was not the aggressor (which was Pakistan's constant charge) and that they were merely assisting the already existing armed liberation struggle in the context of a huge refugee influx when no other way was left and that too after Pakistan's declaration of war. New Delhi maintained this as its position till the very end. In fact, this is why it is said that Indira Gandhi has insisted that the first assault in the Eastern front happened in the hand of a Bengali liberation force. This is the now legendary air sortie. Today, when USA is Modi's India's dear friend, it is easy to forget the cold-war politics at the United Nations, when the Soviet Union siding with India and Bangladesh was crucial to the success of the liberation struggle and keeping out China and USA from direct involvement in the Bangladesh war, averting a multi-front struggle that would be disastrous. In 1971, if the Indian Army had claimed that it went in to defeat Pakistan Army all by itself and hand over East Bengal to Bangladeshis, it would have been disastrous. Thankfully, the Indian Army of the time was not in the business of making random claims and quasi-political statements in public forum and TV shows for public consumption. It let the civilian government do the talking, as it should, as per the Constitution. The Indian Army is not an autonomous institution and is squarely under the Ministry of Defence just like any other Union government entity is under its corresponding Ministry.

Such statements by the Indian Army also have consequences for the present. The obvious one is of course that Indian citizens are being fed misinformation about the past of the army they pay for by the army itself. But outside the Indian Union, in the People's Republic of Bangladesh, a crypto-Islamist narrative exists that uses every opportunity to play down and dilute the crucial role of the Indian Army in the Bangladesh liberation struggle using various conspiracy theories. Misinformation propagated by official Indian Army sources only adds credibility to the mischievous and communally inspired conspiracy theory peddlers for whom the Hindus of Bangladesh are essentially leftover Indian citizens and the role of the Indian Army in the liberation struggle is synonymous with some "Hindu" role in the liberation struggle that does not fit their narrative. The present government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is trying to fight these kinds of communal elements and this sort of false claim by the Indian Army puts the government in a very tough spot. Delhi does not exactly have a good reputation in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and very recently Maldives has swerved into the Chinese camp. New Delhi might want to do a bit of honest soul-searching about why this is the case.

The misinformation that the ADGPI is part of a larger narrative that exists in the Indian Union's domestic space. In the Indian Union, the 1971 liberation war has a certain crypto-communal subtext, as being a reversal of the 1947 religion-based Partition. It is looked upon as a negation of the Two-Nation theory with the result of that being a validation of the favourite Hindu nationalist "Akhand Bharat" or One Nation idea. But the reality is, 1971 didn't reverse 1947. East Bengal didn't join the Indian Union after 1971. It charted its own path, demonstrating that the reality of South Asia is not of One composite nationality or Two religion-based nationalities but of multiple language based nationalities.

(The views expressed are strictly personal.)