INDIA READY TO SPRASH NAPAKS By Joga Rao
THE WEEKLY BLITZ (Bombay) October 23, 1971
Even as I write, the sky over Delhi is overcast with heavy clouds, but they also bring, along with the rains, the ominous message of fury and thunder of tanks and artillery poised for action on our borders on the East and the West. Pakistan has been itching for a fight, and the provocations have piled up to a point of no return. But this time it will not be a mere scratch to satisfy the itch it will be a smash-up of Yahya Khan and his military citadel. The guns may begin to boom in unison with, or even as an echo of, the Divali crackers, which is indicative of how far the tension "has mounted and how narrow the distance between the battle ready forces of the countries is becoming. If only Pakistan bad Its way the war would have been over by this time, but their plans failed.
The military junta had planned an Israeli-type of attack even as the Congress was in session in Simla. They wanted to blast our Air force bases and planes in the northern region .and then roll in their heavy armor followed by the infantry. The Plan even went to the extent of the sounding of the scramble, in the early hours of October 9, and the Pak planes bad actually taken off but our radars had picked up these man oeuvres, and prompt counter-action by the Indian Air Force, coupled with early Intelligence reports, scotched the Pakistani designs. Gathered from reliable sources, this information has, however, neither been confirmed nor denied by official sources.
The Pakistani intentions and preparations for a confrontation with India are clear from the menacing deployment of forces on our Western borders and, also on the frontier between India and Bangladesh. The heaviest concentration of Pakistani troops is in the Sialkot-Jammu sector. For the first time, Pakistan has put one and a half divisions of armour, consisting of nearly 500 operational Pattons and tanks of Chinese make, in the forefront in this sector. Most of these tanks have been made operational only recently, through the munificence of the Nixon administration. By sending starter-trigger assemblies the Americans have made many of these otherwise idle tanks operational.
Pakistan is planning a frontal attack in this sector with a view to encircling Kashmir and cutting off Jammu from the rest of the country. An indication of this is available from reports of the flight of the civilian population from Sialkot, which is only eight miles from the Jammu border. The reports further say that the border towns of Chapter, Daska, Sambrial, Maharajke, Philora, Chabara and Chavinda up to Naroval to the north-west of Sialkot look deserted. Nearly 50 per cent of Sialkot’s population of five lake has fled towards Lyallpur and Multan The western border is bereft of the civilian population owing to the induction of 12 Pakistani divisions in the whole area. In clear violation of the cease-fire agreement they have massed troops on the border line in Kashmir and have restricted the movement of UN personnel across the international line. Kashmir today is, however, entirely different from what it was in 1965. With the absence of Sheikh Abdullah and Mirza Afzal Beg, who are banned entry into Kashmir, the Plebiscite Front is completely demoralised. This has considerably dampened the Pakistani designs of infiltration into, and assault through, occupied Kashmir.
The entire Pakistani ruling clique is in panic, and a mad dog when cornered can bite at any time. The hawks in the military junta have been forcing Yahya into a military confrontation. Whatever delay or hesitancy there is, is due entirely to some of the saner elements who know the consequences. What these will be have been categorically and bluntly stated by Jagjivan Ram. His Saying that the war would be fought on Pakistani soil is a significant pointer to the mood of the Government and our generals. “We shall go right up to Lahore and Sialkot and shall not come back whatever the consequences”. These were the words of the Defense Minister.
The point is that left to herself India does not want a war, but she cannot compromise her dignity and security which is now at stake. The Pakistani rulers fully realist the consequences of a war against India, but they are banking on international intervention as soon as hostilities start. Though Mrs. Gandhi has not spoken so bluntly as Jagjivan Ram, the latter could not have done so without the realization of the prevailing mood of the Prime Minister. The so- called efforts of intervention by non-aligned countries is nothing but eyewash. This time they are not willing to come to the aid of Pakistan by counseling restraint to Indian
What has made the position of the Pak military junta worse is the studied silence of China in giving an assurance of physical intervention in the case of a flare-up. Those has not abated, it has not been stepped up too. The Americans, on the other hand, have been literally dumping vital parts to liven up the rickety Pak Army and sustain the confidence of the Pak regime. There appears to be some strength in the rumors that the American armament manufacturers and the CIA are out to scuttle Mrs. Gandhi’s trip to the U.S. and this can be achieved only through a war between the two countries before she leaves Delhi.
Her presence in the U.S. at this stage will bolster up the anti-Nixon lobby, which may prove suicidal to him in the coming elections. Whether Nixon himself thinks alike is a moot point, but the hawks in the State Department and the armament industry are wary of a teammate between him and Mrs. Gandhi at this juncture. So, it is more or less this war lobby in the U.S. which is egging on Yahya to take the suicidal plunge into a war with India. The escalation of the activities of the Mukti Bahini in Bangladesh has landed the Pakistani military junta into a bigger mess than the Americans are in Vietnam. In the early stages of Pakistani genocide in Bangladesh, authentic information indicat- ting the reasons behind the brutalities was available here. At first, Yahya and his generals thought the whole thing would be over in 72 hours. Later, owing to the mass defection of the East Pakistan Rifles and Mujahids, they thought the operations would be over in a week, but all their plans went hay-wire.
Now the Mukti Bahini has spread throughout Bangladesh in a strength of over one lake, which is certainly a force to reckon with. Chittagong and Chalna ports are half paralyses, and only four trains have been able to run in the last one week. With the Mukti Bahini gradually and inexorably whittling down the Pak Army machinery in Bangladesh, the killer-generals have no other option but to have a direct military confrontation with India.
Pakistan’s four and a half divisions and nearly 100 tanks have now moved to the border from the interior, the maximum concentration being at the ‘neck’ and the Tripura-Garo Hills sector. Pakistan’s biggest thrust will come, however, from the west. They are surer there and have the necessary men and material and the logistics to have a crack at us. They are cornered and they know it. Even Yahya’s last-minute bid to impaled the Soviet Union to counsel India to exercise restraint has failed. The Soviet Union has bluntly told him to go to hell. And to hell he and his generals will go!
Even as I write, the sky over Delhi is overcast with heavy clouds, but they also bring, along with the rains, the ominous message of fury and thunder of tanks and artillery poised for action on our borders on the East and the West. Pakistan has been itching for a fight, and the provocations have piled up to a point of no return. But this time it will not be a mere scratch to satisfy the itch it will be a smash-up of Yahya Khan and his military citadel. The guns may begin to boom in unison with, or even as an echo of, the Divali crackers, which is indicative of how far the tension "has mounted and how narrow the distance between the battle ready forces of the countries is becoming. If only Pakistan bad Its way the war would have been over by this time, but their plans failed.
The military junta had planned an Israeli-type of attack even as the Congress was in session in Simla. They wanted to blast our Air force bases and planes in the northern region .and then roll in their heavy armor followed by the infantry. The Plan even went to the extent of the sounding of the scramble, in the early hours of October 9, and the Pak planes bad actually taken off but our radars had picked up these man oeuvres, and prompt counter-action by the Indian Air Force, coupled with early Intelligence reports, scotched the Pakistani designs. Gathered from reliable sources, this information has, however, neither been confirmed nor denied by official sources.
The Pakistani intentions and preparations for a confrontation with India are clear from the menacing deployment of forces on our Western borders and, also on the frontier between India and Bangladesh. The heaviest concentration of Pakistani troops is in the Sialkot-Jammu sector. For the first time, Pakistan has put one and a half divisions of armour, consisting of nearly 500 operational Pattons and tanks of Chinese make, in the forefront in this sector. Most of these tanks have been made operational only recently, through the munificence of the Nixon administration. By sending starter-trigger assemblies the Americans have made many of these otherwise idle tanks operational.
Pakistan is planning a frontal attack in this sector with a view to encircling Kashmir and cutting off Jammu from the rest of the country. An indication of this is available from reports of the flight of the civilian population from Sialkot, which is only eight miles from the Jammu border. The reports further say that the border towns of Chapter, Daska, Sambrial, Maharajke, Philora, Chabara and Chavinda up to Naroval to the north-west of Sialkot look deserted. Nearly 50 per cent of Sialkot’s population of five lake has fled towards Lyallpur and Multan The western border is bereft of the civilian population owing to the induction of 12 Pakistani divisions in the whole area. In clear violation of the cease-fire agreement they have massed troops on the border line in Kashmir and have restricted the movement of UN personnel across the international line. Kashmir today is, however, entirely different from what it was in 1965. With the absence of Sheikh Abdullah and Mirza Afzal Beg, who are banned entry into Kashmir, the Plebiscite Front is completely demoralised. This has considerably dampened the Pakistani designs of infiltration into, and assault through, occupied Kashmir.
The entire Pakistani ruling clique is in panic, and a mad dog when cornered can bite at any time. The hawks in the military junta have been forcing Yahya into a military confrontation. Whatever delay or hesitancy there is, is due entirely to some of the saner elements who know the consequences. What these will be have been categorically and bluntly stated by Jagjivan Ram. His Saying that the war would be fought on Pakistani soil is a significant pointer to the mood of the Government and our generals. “We shall go right up to Lahore and Sialkot and shall not come back whatever the consequences”. These were the words of the Defense Minister.
The point is that left to herself India does not want a war, but she cannot compromise her dignity and security which is now at stake. The Pakistani rulers fully realist the consequences of a war against India, but they are banking on international intervention as soon as hostilities start. Though Mrs. Gandhi has not spoken so bluntly as Jagjivan Ram, the latter could not have done so without the realization of the prevailing mood of the Prime Minister. The so- called efforts of intervention by non-aligned countries is nothing but eyewash. This time they are not willing to come to the aid of Pakistan by counseling restraint to Indian
What has made the position of the Pak military junta worse is the studied silence of China in giving an assurance of physical intervention in the case of a flare-up. Those has not abated, it has not been stepped up too. The Americans, on the other hand, have been literally dumping vital parts to liven up the rickety Pak Army and sustain the confidence of the Pak regime. There appears to be some strength in the rumors that the American armament manufacturers and the CIA are out to scuttle Mrs. Gandhi’s trip to the U.S. and this can be achieved only through a war between the two countries before she leaves Delhi.
Her presence in the U.S. at this stage will bolster up the anti-Nixon lobby, which may prove suicidal to him in the coming elections. Whether Nixon himself thinks alike is a moot point, but the hawks in the State Department and the armament industry are wary of a teammate between him and Mrs. Gandhi at this juncture. So, it is more or less this war lobby in the U.S. which is egging on Yahya to take the suicidal plunge into a war with India. The escalation of the activities of the Mukti Bahini in Bangladesh has landed the Pakistani military junta into a bigger mess than the Americans are in Vietnam. In the early stages of Pakistani genocide in Bangladesh, authentic information indicat- ting the reasons behind the brutalities was available here. At first, Yahya and his generals thought the whole thing would be over in 72 hours. Later, owing to the mass defection of the East Pakistan Rifles and Mujahids, they thought the operations would be over in a week, but all their plans went hay-wire.
Now the Mukti Bahini has spread throughout Bangladesh in a strength of over one lake, which is certainly a force to reckon with. Chittagong and Chalna ports are half paralyses, and only four trains have been able to run in the last one week. With the Mukti Bahini gradually and inexorably whittling down the Pak Army machinery in Bangladesh, the killer-generals have no other option but to have a direct military confrontation with India.
Pakistan’s four and a half divisions and nearly 100 tanks have now moved to the border from the interior, the maximum concentration being at the ‘neck’ and the Tripura-Garo Hills sector. Pakistan’s biggest thrust will come, however, from the west. They are surer there and have the necessary men and material and the logistics to have a crack at us. They are cornered and they know it. Even Yahya’s last-minute bid to impaled the Soviet Union to counsel India to exercise restraint has failed. The Soviet Union has bluntly told him to go to hell. And to hell he and his generals will go!
Posts
0 Comments :
Post a Comment