Indian Army veterans, Mukti Joddhas recount 1971 war drill

Camarederie and bonding were at full display today when the 'old boys' of the Indian Army and the Mukti Joddhas, who fought shoulder-to-shoulder to liberate Bangladesh in 1971, reunited to celebrate the 46th anniversary of the war with Pakistan.
Recounting tales of valour and courage at the Army's Eastern Command headquarter Fort William here, the Mukti Joddhas (liberation warriors of Bangladesh) and war veterans talked of how they coordinated with each other to force the Pakistan Army to surrender.
Bangladesh celebrates its independence day on December 16 and India hails the day as "Vijay Diwas".
"We had gone into the erstwhile East Pakistan on guerrilla operations much before the formal war started on December 3 and trained young Bengali men for combat," said Brig. (retd) B K Ponwar, who was then a strapping young lieutenant aged 23.

Speaking enthusiastically about the courage of the Mukti Joddhas and support of local people, Ponwar said wherever the Indian Army evicted Pakistan Army personnel, they were greeted by slogans of 'Indian Army Zindabad'.
"The Pakistani Army had a storage of 30 days' ammunition and provisions when the war begun in the eastern sector, but what they lacked was loyalty and conviction and thus lost the war," he said.

Speaking highly about the Indian cooperation all along their fight for liberation, Mosharraf Hossain, a Mukti Joddha and minister in the Bangladesh Cabinet, said that without the India, it would not have been possible to attain independence.

He spoke of how the Indian Army trained the Mukti Joddhas for a period ranging from just three days to three months to prepare them to take on the Pakistan Army, which committed genocide on the Bangladeshis.
Hossain, who was leading the 72-member Bangla delegation to commemorate the Vijay Diwas, said a memorial tomb was being erected in Bangladesh to pay homage to the Indian soldiers and Mukti Joddhas who laid down their lives during the 1971 war.
Lt Gen (retd) Mollah Fazie Akbar said he joined the Mukti Joddhas at the age of 15, and shared stories of battles fought together with Indian Army personnel.

"While we were fighting for our liberation, the Indian Army was fighting for us and there stands out their greatness," said Bangladesh MP Abdus Shahid, who was also a Mukti Joddha, trained at Kailashahar in Tripura.
He said Bangladeshi women greeted the Indian soldiers with food and pethas (rice cakes) in many towns and villages after the Pakistani forces were pushed out.
Brigadier (retd) A P Datta of the Indian Army said his family hailed from Sylhet district in Bangladesh and was at heart a Bengali and Bangladeshi.
"We are neither Hindus nor Muslims, we are Bengalis. Never in the history has a war been fought on the issues of language and culture," he said.

Datta talked of how the Mukti Joddhas gave the Indian Army cover for landing and other operations like crossing rivers and building pontoon bridges and also provided crucial intelligence on the movement of the Pakistan Army.