Unprecedented, Humiliating But Historic Pak Surrender

On Friday, December 16, 2022, it will be 52 years since the unprecedented and historic surrender of Pakistani Soldiers at the Dhaka Racecourse. I can proudly say that I am one of the few lucky Army Soldiers who fought on both the Eastern and Western War Fronts in that War. Four years before our generation crossed twenty five, I was involved in the biggest,fearest and fastest war since World War II. We taught Pakistan a lesson it will remember till she is alive. We divided Pakistan, which had always shown inherent hostility towards India, into two shackles.
On 03 December 1971, India entered Pakistan on both fronts under "Operation Cactus Lily'', raising the spectre of the Third Indo-Pak War. War ended on 16 December with the Surrender Ceremony of the Pakistan Army.



On 15 December 1971, repeated broadcasts on All India Radio reverberated East Pakistan along with intermittent dropping thousands of Pamphlets in/on Dhaka throughout the day.Both asked Pak Army to give up or else face massacre by Bangla Gorillas.Indian Army Chief, General (later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw, through his Radio Broadcast urged Pakistan Eastern Army Commander, Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi and the Pakistan Army deployed in East Pakistan to surrender.Although the situation in East Pakistan was dire, there were at least 26,400 Pakistani Troops in and around Dhaka at that time. Gen AAK Niazi; disheartened by aggressive posture of the Indian Army and unbelievable rapid advance,firmly requested Pakistan Army Chief, General Gul Hasan Khan, and President General Yahya Khan that; if a humiliating defeat in East was to be avoided, Pakistani Authorities, through American/ British initiative in UN Security Council, must arrange/call for an Immediate Cease Fire. But due to continuous appeal of Gen Sam Manekshaw and fear generated by the daring Indian Air Attack on the Raj Bhavan during first half of 15 December,71; Niazi again urged/begged Pakistan Army Chief that "Cease Fire must be executed only under supervision of the United Nations Representatives in Dhaka".At that time, one Advancing Brigade of India (3000 Soldiers) was only 18 Kilometres from Dhaka.

A book authored by then Major General JFR Jacob, “Surrender of Dhaka: Birth of a Nation” and his own autobiography “An Odyssey in War and Peace” makes very interesting reading.

At six in morning on 16 December, 1971, Captain (later Lt Gen) Nirbhay Sharma of Para Regiment, took a handwritten letter on plain paper by Maj Gen Gandharva Nagra, GOC, 101 Composite Area, addressed to Lt Gen AAK Niazi at East Pakistan Army Headquarters. Nagra, who had intimately known Niazi during his interactions with hin when he was Military Attaché in Rawalpindi wrote; “My dear Abdullah, I am here. The game is up. I suggest you give yourself up to us and we will take care of you”.

After that; at Ten O'clock on the same morning; Indian Eastern Command Chief of Staff, Gen Jacob and his Staff Officer entered Pakistan Eastern Command Headquarters located in Dhaka's Tejgaon Cantonment. Both were unarmed/carried no weapons.They carried an approved draft of “Complete Total Surrender” prepared after approval of Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora, Chief of Eastern Command of the Indian Army. Jacob placed this draft before Gen Niazi.

Gen Niazi was furious on seeing the draft. “Ye kya hai? I had proposed a bloody Cease Fire, that too under supervision of the United Nations.........I will not surrender whatever may happen. I will be bloody damned,if I do…..”.

Gen Jacob was composed and calm. He said in a councilatory and understanding tone of voice; "Look Niazi, agar Cease Fire hua to bhi Mukti Vahini use manegi ya nahi ye main nahi janta. What Army does the United Nations have which will save you from their f…..g/bloody wrath?.... But if you surrender before us, I will guarantee your safety and safety of your Ninety Thousand Troops and their Families. Think it over at your pleasure. Main tumhe aadha ghanta deta hun. I will,then,be back for your answer……!

Saying so much, Gen Jacob stormed out of Niazi's office and sat basking in the sun on the sprawling, lush lawn in front of his office. After half an hour, Jacob went back to Niazi's office. A tense Niazi was looking into space with hopeless, forlorn eyes with Surrender Draft scattered before him.

Gen Jacob glared at Niazi and asked in a stern,cold voice; "Manjoor hai?". Niazi did not say anything. Jacob asked the same question thrice. Niazi was still silent. Then Jacob said “To main ye maan leta hoon ki ye aap ko manzoor hai”. Niazi hopelessly nodded his head.

Gen Jacob put Three Conditions before visibly shaken and almost trembling Niazi; a) Surrender Ceremony will be held at open Racecourse Ground in Dhaka, in front of all present,Indian and International, Radio/Television/Newspaper Reporters and local Bengali Crowd; b) Pakistan Army will give “Full and proper Military Guard of Honour" to the Indian Army Officer taking Surrender; and c) General Niazi will take out and hand over/present his Sword and Shoulder Badges of Ranks to the Indian Army Officer taking the Surrender.
Niazi was reluctant to accept these terms. “No way. I will surrender in my office and not in front of the local public/ International Media,” he said.

But Gen Jacob did not accept it. "The surrender will take place in the open, in front of the whole world, and that's final" he boomed.

"But I don't have a Sword. Ladai ke Maidan mein koi Talwar leke jata hai kya?" Niazi said in a compassionate, pleading tone."No problem. Then Surrender your f…..g Revolver" baulked Gen Jacob.

Gen Niazi invited Gen Jacob and his Staff Officers for lunch. Visionary Jacob had anticipated this and pre-obtained permission for this from his Army Commander before coming to Dhaka. When these people came out of Niazi's office, representatives of the International Media had already gathered there,anticipating that there was something fishy going on at Pak Military Headquarters.

A correspondent for the Western Newspaper "Observer", Gavin Young, who had an idea of where the VIP convoy might be headed, shouted "General… We too are hungry.Can We Join You?" A smiling General Jacob gestured with a vigorous nod of his head.All the Reporters piled into a Truck parked nearby. Young was allowed by Jacob to sit in his jeep.

When the convoy reached Pak Eastern Command Officers' Mess, Reporters' eyes widened to see such a grand pomp, grandeur and pageantry there in the War Zone.Arriving in the Dining Hall,walking on majestic soft carpets, Guests dined on Silver Platter. The very next morning, people world over, read with bated breath,Gavin Young's lucy and juicy article,"Extra Ordinary, Unimaginable Surrender Lunch" in the Observer.

Bang Bir, Tiger Abdul Qadir Siddiqui had played a major role in the Freedom Struggle of Bangladesh and in the formation of Mukti Bahini in its initial stages. Mukti Vahini provided invaluable Strategic Assistance to the Indian Army.Tiger Siddiqui,along with 17,000 Qadiriya Mukti Yoddhas from Tangel Region of East Pakistan was first to join/come to Indian Army in April,1971.These Qadiria Yodhdhas entered Dhaka immediately after Indian Army following their footsteps. Siddiqui was later decorated with the "Bir Uttam '' Gallantry Award by the Government of Bangladesh. I,then serving as a young Second Lieutenant in the Special Frontier Force (SSF), worked with Tiger Siddiqui, an expert in Guerrilla Warfare, between May and November, 1971. It was a pleasure to work with this daredevil individual in muddy,slushy fields of East Pakistan,going day in day out,for strikes against the entrenched Pak Army.He had an uncanny similarity with thought process of Brigadier Shabeg Singh,our Boss and Mentor of Clandestine Operations in East Pakistan under aegis of Research And Analysis Wing of A N Kaw.

Soon after Gen Jacob left Niazi's office, preparations for the Surrender Ceremony were undertaken by Pak Army supervised by Indian Army Officers. When this famous Siddiqui got the wisp of Gen Jacob's arrival and Surrender Ceremony,he along with hundreds of his supporters, came to the Racecourse at around noon.

As soon as he reached the Racecourse, the furious Tiger thundered,"Where is Niazi? I want him to be handed over to me". When he got the news of Siddiqui's arrival at Racecourse, General Jacob quickly came there. He put Siddiqui on the spot, calmly saying; “Siddiqi, listen to one thing carefully. You have certainly done an amazing job by taking our side in this fight against Pak Army. Our Army Chief and Prime Minister also appreciate you,your men and your invaluable contribution. But, be clear that if Niazi gets even a scratch today, neither he nor Pak Army will surrender. And then we will again have to go back to the battlefield.But this time against you”. Siddiqui was shocked to see Gen Jacob's rising cold temper. Seeing the angry red face of Jacob; a frightened, cowed down Siddiqui stomped his feet and stormed out of the venue.It was a case of "Masterly Situation Control'' under adverse conditions.
It was the magnanimity of General Sam Manekshaw that he would depute/send Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aroda, Indian Eastern Command GOC in C and the mastermind behind swift Indian Victory in East Pakistan, to Dhaka to take the Surrender instead of him.It was this, giving all the due to deserving, which had made Sam Bahadur, the Darling of Indian Soldiers.

On 16 December 1971, Gen Arora landed at Dhaka Air Base with his wife at Four in the Evening.The Racecourse Ground was jam-packed with joyous, boisterous Bengali Crowd. In fact,it was overflowing with spontaneous slogans like "Indian Army Zindabad, Pakistan Murdabad" and "Handover Niazi to us" renting the air frequently. With every passing moment, people's demand to hand over "Pak Goons" to them was gaining momentum.This was the worst situation the Indian Army was afraid of/worried about.

Pakistan Soldiers had gathered in the open ground Fully Armed.Indian Army deliberately did not take away their weapons and ammunition because then they would have surrendered "Without Weapons" and Indian Army Top Brass wanted them to surrender "With Weapons". When Pakistani Soldiers gave an Armed Salute during Guard of Honour to Gen Aroda, they had bullets in their weapons but weapons pointed down as a Mark of Respect for Gen Aroda. The might of Pak Army had to bow in a humble respect to him.

This was a very bold step taken by the Indian Army. In an enemy country, their Army Commander was facing Enemy Soldiers seething with anger due to humiliation of Surrender heaped on them, to an Army they had been fighting for the last two and a half decades. This certainly requires real guts and our Army had plenty of it.Foreign Correspondents termed it as "An extraordinary but unwanted show of Indian Brawn,very uncommon World over". Their apprehension was substantiated, as a few days later,President of Egypt, Abdul Gamal Nasser, was assassinated while taking Passing Parade Salute when an Auxiliary Gun mounted on a Tank fired at him.After assassination of Gamal, bullets are now removed while saluting in India too.The funniest thing was, Indian Army Officers at the Surrender Venue were unarmed,only the Soldiers with/ escorting them had weapons. During the ongoing Ceremony, continuous flashes of International Television Cameras stunned/blinded astonished eyes of the Crowd.
After the Guard of Honour, General Niazi first signed the Surrender Instrument/Letter in front of the whole world. According to the BBC, Niazi had only initialled "AAK Nia" without signing in full. But an alert Indian Officer noticed and after being pointed out, Niazi appended his full signatures. This photo of the "Signing of the Surrender Instrument'' was on the front page of every Newspaper and top news item in Electronic Media around the world. Now, it is a Legendary Photograph World Wide.

After signing the documents Niazi, bending at the waist, handed over his Pistol to General Aroda. He then removed his "Badges of Ranks" from his shoulders and placed them in front of the Indian General and finally took off his Waist Belt and handed it over to him. Along with this,6,000 Pakistani Officers and Soldiers assembled for the event,laid down their Weapons on their left on the Ground. The whole event was completed in just Fifteen Minutes.
According to eyewitnesses, General Niazi's eyes were full of tears to the brim. After that, a shaken and dejected Niazi was taken to a safe place in a jeep under full escort due to him. Coinciding with this event; 87,000 Pak Army Soldiers stationed all over East Pakistan at different locations, surrendered before Indian Army Officers in Charge of those Areas in the same manner.

1971 Indo-Pak War was won under able and inspiring leadership of Gen Sam Manekshaw and East Pakistan due to Tactical Brilliance of Gen Jagjit Singh Aroda. But the thing to remember is, it was the First Public Surrender since World War II. Likewise, it was the First and probably the Last Instance of such a large number of Soldiers "actually surrendering" in the World. It was a priceless moment of extraordinary joy for the likes of me and all Other Soldiers and Indians who took part in this war.

At Five in the evening the same day, Gen Sam Manekshaw broke the news to Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi that "Pakistan Army has made an 'Unconditional Surrender' and Dhaka is now Independent". The Overjoyed Prime Minister announced in the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament; "Dhaka is now the Capital of an Independent Country. We salute brave people of Bangladesh at this Moment of Victory. Our Army has done a Magnificent Job and I am proud of them”. Parliament unanimously erupted and joyous Members cheered full throat on hearing this much awaited announcement. It is said that then Leader of Opposition, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee referred to the Prime Minister as "Ranchandi Durga" in his Thanks Giving Speech In Parliament. However, he subsequently denied saying anything like that.

In his autobiography mentioned above, Gen Jacob writes;” That day, while walking around the lawns of Niazi's office for half an hour, I was thinking, what if Niazi refuses to surrender? At that time there were approximately 26,000 Pakistani Soldiers in Dhaka and we had only 3,000 Soldiers,that too,18 kilometres away from Dhaka. Then I realised that if he refuses to surrender, there is nothing I can do.”

When Gen Jacob was Governor of Punjab, he was asked a question pertaining to his Autobiography;"What would you have done if you were in Niazi's place?" Gen Jacob answered with a sigh; "I would have fought India with those 26,000 soldiers till,not even a single drop of blood was left in my body..........”.

Surrender of 93,000 Armed Soldiers,at a time in this way, was a unique miracle in the History of the World and it was brought about by the Brave Fauji Sons of India at the cost of their blood. At that time and moment, they lived their slogan “Hum Sirf Hatyaronse Hi Nahi, Hounslow ke Sath Bhi Ladte Hain''. This was/is one of the most vivid and proud moments of Indo-Pakistan Relations. Only 24 years after becoming Independent, India surprised and surpassed mighty America, China and Britain put together, who were aiding/siding Pakistan by running a brilliant, Thirteen-day “Lightning Campaign”.

After May,1971, India started providing actual Combat Training, Weapons, Ammunition and War-promoting Resources to Mukti Vahini under “Operation Jackpot”. I was an active small clog/ participant in that Training Wheel/System. That month of December and those days are still important for us Soldiers because the umbilical cord of the present is linked to the past.

General Mahmudur Rahman Committee of Pakistan conducted an Administrative Official Inquiry into the causes of embarrassing Pakistani defeat in 1971 War. In this report, a strange incident has been mentioned which took place on 07 December 1971. The situation in East Pakistan was turning grim, becoming very serious. It would have been only Four Days since the war started. As per that report,Gen Niazi burst into tears when asked about the War Situation by then East Pakistan Governor, Miyan Abdul Mutalib Malik. That reflects then State of Mind of Pak Army. On the night of 13 December,Malik left East Pakistan and General Niazi became the Military Governor of East Pakistan for the last three days of the War. General Niazi surrendered as the Zonal Army Chief as well as Governor General of East Pakistan.

Four days after his surrender, Niazi was made a Prisoner of War and taken first to Kolkata and then to Jabalpur. The Simla Agreement of 1972 agreed to the exchange of POWs and accordingly he was repatriated/ handed over to Pakistan on 30 April 1975 as the "Last Pakistani Soldier" to leave India. According to the Inquiry Committee, " Had Gen Niazi sacrificed himself on the battlefield, he would always have been remembered as a Great Hero or a Martyr of Pakistan''. On 2 February 2004, Niazi died in Lahore. Since the surrender was ordered by then President Gen Yahya Khan; Gen Niazi continued to staunchly claim that Yahya and some elite Military Officers in Rawalpindi were responsible for the infamous, humiliating defeat.

On 22 December 1971, Gen Yahya Khan, resigned and handed over the Presidency to then Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto put Yahya under house arrest. After coming out of house arrest, he also went to Allah on 03 August 1980 at Rawalpindi.

Gen Gul Hasan Khan was Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan till March 1972. Later he was sent as Pakistan's Ambassador to Greece and Austria. Gul Hasan resigned from his post in protest against the maltreatment of his Mentor, Zulfikar Bhutto. In 1999, he also became dear to Allah.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was accused of rigging the General Election in 1977. Gen Zia-ul-Haq overthrew Bhutto in a Military Coup and later hanged him ruthlessly to the horror of the World. This, all major participants in this gruesome drama met an ignominious end. This was to be their Destiny.

This whole game was in keeping with the Ancient Mughal Tradition of seizing power with selfish motives, through gruesome bloodshed. This system continues even today in Pakistan. Pakistan Army and Military Officers who brutally massacred Bengali Population of East Bengal, were forced to Surrender in an Utter Shameful Manner. It was a Forceful Revenge of Destiny on the Oppressors.Indian Army was a witness to this gruesome episode.
I was fortunate enough to witness it by active participation on both Eastern Front while working with Mukti Vahini till 09 December and thereafter on Western Front during a Raid on Pakistan Gun Position In Poonch. Those were the days!!!