Beginnings of the war: I was travelling from Delhi to Jodhpur by Jodhpur mail on the night of December 3, 1971. Suddenly all lights went off and the train continued its run in utter darkness. Sometime later, we were told that the war between India and Pakistan has broken out. Next day, the morning newpapers flashed news about air strikes by Pakistan on all major airports of India. The response was almost instantaneous. The war was declared and Indian Air Force went into action late on the night of December 3, 1971 and in the early hours of the morning of December 4, 1971 and bombarded almost all the airports of West Pakistan. The bombers of Jodhpur went deep into Pakistan territory including Karachi and Sargodha and were happy to report that they were successful in hitting most of the targets. Unlike 1965, Jodhpur was in a much better position during 1971. Jodhpur airport was the base of the air force, with underground hangers on the borders at Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Civil defence measures were immediately put in place. There was no panic in the city and everything kept on moving in the city as normal.
Background of the war: Pakistan became an independent nation on the basis of two nation theory, through partition of India by the British Government in 1947. Muslim majority provinces of Sindh, Balochistan and North West Frontier Province went to Pakistan and became provinces of West Pakistan. After the partition of Punjab and Bengal, Muslim majority part of Punjab became a province of West Pakistan and Muslim majority part of Bengal became East Bengal, which happened to be the only province of East Pakistan. Geographically, West Pakistan and East Pakistan were separated by a distance of more than 1000 miles (1600 kilo metres). Although, Pakistan was formed on the basis of religion, the people living in different provinces of Pakistan had different ethnic identities, different cultures and different languages. East Bengal was the most populous province of Pakistan and the population of East Pakistan was slightly more than the total population of all the four provinces of West Pakistan. As such, there were always some demonstrations, protests and agitations in East Pakistan on issues related to language, culture and human rights. General Elections were held in Pakistan in 1970 and Awami League of East Pakistan led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman won almost all the seats in East Pakistan and got an absolute majority in the national assembly, thereby, staking a claim for the office of the prime minister of Pakistan. This possibility was not acceptable to Zulfikar Ali Khan Bhutto, who was the prime minister of Pakistan at that time. Demonstrations, riots and massacres followed, leading to crackdown by the army in East Pakistan on 25 March 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was arrested on the night of 25 March 1971 and was taken to West Pakistan.
Birth of a new nation: Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971 by Major Zia-ur-Rehman on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. This was followed by the formation of government of Bangladesh in exile by leaders of Awami League. It was supported by the defection of East Pakistan Rifles and Bengali officers of Pakistan army, navy and marines, who formed the nucleus of Bangla Desh force, which was subsequently named as Mukti Vahini. In the meantime, the crackdown and atrocities by Pakistan Army continued, leading to the flight of almost 10 million people from Bangladesh to West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura in India. Refugee camps were opened in India all along the border with Bangladesh. These camps were subsequently utilized for the recruitment and training of Mukti Vahini with the help of Bengali defectors of Pakistan Army.
War in Bangla Desh: Bangladesh is a land full of rivers and rivulets, with hill ranges in the north and delta of rivers Ganga and Brahamputra in south. Bangladesh is bound by the borders of India on the north, east and west and by the Bay of Bengal in the south. After the crackdown of Bangladesh by Pakistan in March 1971 and the unabated flow of refugees to India and the declaration of full support to Bangladesh by India, it looked as if the war in Bangladesh was imminent. However, the Indian Army did not seem to be in a hurry. They waited for the monsoon to pass and then the lands to dry up and for the snowfall to begin in the Himalayas to minimize the chances of any intervention by China in the conflict. In the meantime, the build up of Mukti Vahini and the emergence of Bangladesh nationalism, led to Crush India calls by the people in Pakistan. President Yahiya Khan of Pakistan called the people of Pakistan to prepare for war in November, 1971 and the war finally broke out with air strikes by Pakistan on 3 December 2017.
India had sufficient time to prepare for the war. Almost within a week after the retaliatory airstrikes on 3 and 4 December, 1971 Indian Air Force enjoyed almost complete air superiority in east as also the west. In the meantime, the western command of the navy bombarded and blockaded Karachi, thereby sealing Pakistan from the south from intrusion, while the eastern command of the navy bombarded and blockaded Dhaka and sealed the Bay of Bengal from outside intervention. Land forces of the Indian Army were very well prepared for a swift and offensive war in Bangladesh. They made a three pronged attack with nine divisions from all sides. Pakistan army was mostly on the defensive, having dug out in major towns and cantonments like Khulna, Jessore, Dhaka and Chittagong. Indian Army bypassed most of the opposition and reached Dhaka swiftly and issued an ultimatum to the entrapped Pakistan Army Commander on 16 December 1971 to surrender. Incidentally, the Indian Commander Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Arora and Pakistan Army commander Lt Gen A A K Niazi happened to be batch mates of Indian Military Academy and were intimately known to each other. Niazi had almost no choice. It was either unconditional surrender or mass massacre. Pakistan Army surrendered on 16 December 1971 with 93000 serving personnel, making it as one of the biggest surrenders of a fully armed fighting force in military history. Instrument of surrender was signed by Lt General AAK Niazi commander of eastern command for Pakistan and Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Arora, General officer Commanding of Eastern Command for India at 4.00 PM on 16 December 1971 in Dhaka. The prisoners of war were taken to India and were subsequently returned to Pakistan after the Shimla agreement.
War in the west: War in the western sector had limited objectives. India was able to get complete air superiority within a week of the outbreak of war. Two thirds of Pakistan occupied Kashmir was liberated and the Indian troops made heavy gains of land in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujrat sectors. There was no intension for escalating the war on the western front.
Aftermath: Bangladesh became an independent country and was recognized by India. Pakistan lost East Pakistan, which had more than half the population of Pakistan. Pakistan also lost one third of its army with the surrender of 93000 soldiers at Dhaka. USSR supported the action of India in Bangla Desh but was sympathetic about the losses suffered by Pakistan. USA, Iran and China were in support of Pakistan. Seventh fleet of American Navy had moved to Bay of Bengal, but due to the swift campaign by Indian Army in Bangladesh, there was no time for foreign involvement. President Yahya Khan of Pakistan resigned and Zulfikar Ali Butto became the president of Pakistan. Simla agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in July 1972 leading to the recognition of Bangladesh by Pakistan. On the western front, the troops moved to their pre-war boundaries and all prisoners of war including Lt Gen AAK Niazi and 93000 personnel of his command were released and handed over to Pakistan.