THE HINDUSTAN TIMES (Now Delhi) September 30, 1971
Although today newspaper reports on the Mukti Bahini’s operations and its successes against the Pakistan army are not as wildly exaggerated as they used to be during the early days of the Bangladesh war, they are still realistically sanguine and reflect a degree of unfamiliarity of the nature of the military operations that are being conducted in that country. For Instance, there are frequent reports about “liberated" areas under the occupation of the Bahini. A delegate to the recent International Conference on Bangladesh claimed that the guerrillas are taking a toll of 5,000 Pakistan army casualties every month and that the Pakistan Government Is forced to spend up to 150 cores per month on the counter-insurgency operations, these overtly optimistic reports help nobody, least of all the Mukti Bahini. Ultimately, such reports will lead to impression that the defeat of the Pakistan army is just around the corner and that the Bahini is well able to achieve its aims by itself. One of the reasons for this unrealistic reportage is that though we now know something of the strength, organization and tactics of the Mukti Bahini, not much is known about the method of operation of the Pakistan army.