Bangladesh harps on 'truth' about 1971 victory, cites JN Dixit's book

In a fresh diplomatic salvo, Bangladesh Foreign Ministry on Wednesday raked up events of 1971 war and alleged that India ignored Bangladesh military commander when the surrender documents were signed between Indian Army and the Pakistan Army in Dhaka.

On December 16, 1971, Pakistan Army’s 93,000 troops had surrendered to Indian Army and the new nation of Bangladesh was born. The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh made a post on its Facebook page with a title ‘facts in history’.

It said Bangladesh emerged as a sovereign independent country on December 16, 1971, enduring a prolonged struggle and a nine-month long brutal war.

The post on Facebook quoted a book titled ‘Liberation and Beyond: Indo-Bangladesh Relations’, authored by former Indian foreign secretary and national security adviser J N Dixit.

It said, “A major political mistake at the surrender ceremony was the Indian military high command’s failure to ensure the presence of General MAG Osmani, Commander from the Bangladesh side on the Joint Command, at the (surrender) ceremony and making him a signatory.”

It claimed that Osmani's helicopter did take off but did not reach Dhaka in time for the surrender schedule and added that his presence could have helped in avoiding many of the political misunderstandings between the India and Bangladesh relations in the initial days.

“But there was widespread suspicion that his helicopter had been sent astray so that he could not reach Dhaka in time and the focus of attention at the ceremony was riveted on the Indian military commanders,” the FB post said citing the book.

The Foreign Ministry's post concluded, “We celebrate our glorious Victory in 1971; we celebrate the Truth.”