Note - Let me say in the beginning, I only seek to state, stop building romantic hued dreams on Pakistan and Bangladesh. Accept them as they are and live with it, including their important stakeholders, specially the religious elite, harbouring deep rooted biases. I only wrote this off hand in response to some people I know espousing deeply philosophical and idealistic thoughts about Bangladesh and Pakistan, while we have just lost troops in JK. Simply live with what it is. These people were asking about the context.
Sir
I will give you the context.
My father Maj Gen Rajendra Nath, PVSM (Retd) commanded 62 Mountain Brigade in 1971 in the Bangladesh Theatre. His first draft of Military Leadership in India had this aspect in detail but the book was already too lengthy. I helped in editing it.
1971 War Refugees
The first wave was primarily Hindus. From then East Pakistan. The instructions were from the Pakistani Army - one rifle, hundred rounds, chase out the men and if so at times the ladies were kept back. Later as resistance started refugees from other faiths also came. When like my father, other officers started asking questions, they were all advised to avoid this as it had implications for community relations in India itself.
During the War
When they entered then East Pakistan they found temples damaged and troops from Pakistan even using the inner areas - the holy spaces for sleeping and what not. My father acknowledged he punished quite a few of them for this. Pregnant Hindu women had been bayoneted too, people recounted to them. And not all were Pakistanis but also local elements aligned with Pakistan.
Maj (later Brig AP Dutta) VrC
I interviewed him. He told me he felt like shooting the Pakistanis and loyalist elements as they advanced seeing what depravity they had wrought. As a Bengali, he felt it deeply. Even the RMO - the Doctor -a Bengali - got emotional and sought permission to take revenge. I have written about this earlier.
Post the war
As the refugees were shipped back, the trucks carrying them were stopped and stoned and the newly appointed Govt officials also asked why they were all coming back. Their return had to be forced at times. Some truck drivers - from Punjab and Rajasthan, were even injured during the stone throwing.
Decades later
When the press in Dacca stated my father was there, very few of his generation were fit to go or rather around, a few Mukti Bahini and even other elements and Hindus quietly met him and said this was not the Bangladesh we sought as it was very fundamentalist in orientation and even going more and more that way. Some minority officers in Bangladesh - civilians - said they worked but with a feeling of suffocation.
Now that is the context. There are certain aspects we tend to gloss over. We should not.
I am not a philosopher to let it go.
My father Maj Gen Rajendra Nath, PVSM (Retd) commanded 62 Mountain Brigade in 1971 in the Bangladesh Theatre. His first draft of Military Leadership in India had this aspect in detail but the book was already too lengthy. I helped in editing it.
1971 War Refugees
The first wave was primarily Hindus. From then East Pakistan. The instructions were from the Pakistani Army - one rifle, hundred rounds, chase out the men and if so at times the ladies were kept back. Later as resistance started refugees from other faiths also came. When like my father, other officers started asking questions, they were all advised to avoid this as it had implications for community relations in India itself.
During the War
When they entered then East Pakistan they found temples damaged and troops from Pakistan even using the inner areas - the holy spaces for sleeping and what not. My father acknowledged he punished quite a few of them for this. Pregnant Hindu women had been bayoneted too, people recounted to them. And not all were Pakistanis but also local elements aligned with Pakistan.
Maj (later Brig AP Dutta) VrC
I interviewed him. He told me he felt like shooting the Pakistanis and loyalist elements as they advanced seeing what depravity they had wrought. As a Bengali, he felt it deeply. Even the RMO - the Doctor -a Bengali - got emotional and sought permission to take revenge. I have written about this earlier.
Post the war
As the refugees were shipped back, the trucks carrying them were stopped and stoned and the newly appointed Govt officials also asked why they were all coming back. Their return had to be forced at times. Some truck drivers - from Punjab and Rajasthan, were even injured during the stone throwing.
Decades later
When the press in Dacca stated my father was there, very few of his generation were fit to go or rather around, a few Mukti Bahini and even other elements and Hindus quietly met him and said this was not the Bangladesh we sought as it was very fundamentalist in orientation and even going more and more that way. Some minority officers in Bangladesh - civilians - said they worked but with a feeling of suffocation.
Now that is the context. There are certain aspects we tend to gloss over. We should not.
I am not a philosopher to let it go.
PS
If you want I will tell you about Kashmir too ! I was a civilian there and saw both the friendships and at times the deep biases there.
If you want I will tell you about Kashmir too ! I was a civilian there and saw both the friendships and at times the deep biases there.
Roll-Up Covers:
ReplyDeleteMiller Machine & Fabrication, Inc.
Specializes in custom roll-up covers for various industrial applications.
Website: Miller Machine & Fabrication
Beltservice Corporation
Offers a range of roll-up covers and industrial belting solutions.
Website: Beltservice Corporation
Roll-Up Cover Company
Provides a variety of roll-up covers for machines and equipment.
Website: Roll-Up Cover Company
Rollup Covers manufacturer
Laser Machine Bellows manufacturer
Bellows Covers manufacturer