Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque and Dr. Abul Kashem Mozumder :
Admittedly international response to our liberation war a potent source of strength to the legitimate government in exile. As soon as the Mujibnagar government took over to organize liberation forces and mobilize opinion across the world with the flurry of diplomacy international response was spontaneous and heartening. Veteran political leaders including senators, MPs and incumbents came up with meaningful initiatives to organize advocacy moves against terrible acts perpetrated by the Pakistan occupation army expressing wholehearted sympathy for the freedom loving Bengalis and liberation forces. They could well understand sorrows and tribulations of the refugees escaping, hungry and sick across the Indian border. Despite Junta’s frantic attempt to prevent foreign observers journalists and legislators news of most terrible spectacle on earth with full details of atrocities and rapine were not unknown.
Active role of the government of India and Soviet Union was admittedly great and focused on our liberation war. USA was reportedly to be straddling the fence in the unprecedented Junta made catastrophe drawing world wide criticism with Indo-USA relations plunging to the lowest ebb. Nixon Kissinger administration did not necessarily reflect the views of the American people on tragedy of Bangladesh. Indian response to the tragedy of Bangladesh with humanitarian helps deserve special mention. Official and non-official organizations and cultural think tanks in India did what best could be done to organize actions against continuing atrocities and help out the battered Bangalees taking refuge in India. There happened to be continuous flow of refugees. Thanks to Indian government led by the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for bearing the brunt of managing about ten million refugees and extending help to the liberation forces in their fight for exterminating the Pakistani occupation army. With her support and encouragement liberation forces were beginning to strike back. She was making every effort to take care of the piteous refugees.
The influx was so staggering that new miseries could well be anticipated. The government of India was making all-out efforts to address the ‘bitter sorrow of refugees’ giving them food and inoculating them against diseases even with its scarce resources. Indian Minster of external affairs visited USSR and other countries with diplomatic mission explaining that heavy burden was placed on Indian government due to panic-stricken refugees who took shelter in India. Equally worth-mentioning was the role of Soviet Union, the only big power that wholeheartedly supported India in its sincere effort to combat tragedy in Bangladesh with military solution as the last resort. It was the power that tackled evil design of Nixon-Kissinger government using its veto power at the right moment. In fact India, USSR, Nepal, Bhutan, Cuba and a host of East European countries gave enthusiastic response to our liberation war. The Soviet Union sympathized with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini during the war, recognizing that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals-the United States and China. The USSR gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This assurance was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971.
The USA extended both political and material support to beleaguered Pakistan. Such a support arose from the apprehension of President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that Soviet Union was likely to expand its influence into South and Southeast Asia. Pakistan was a close ally of the People’s Republic of China with whom Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and where he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America’s new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China the bonafides of the United States as an ally, and in direct violation of the US Congress-imposed sanctions on Pakistan, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan, routing them through Jordan and Iran, while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the ‘genocidal’ activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram. It prompted widespread criticism and condemnation both by Congress and by the international press. The then US ambassador to the United Nations George H W Bush-later 41st president of the United States-introduced a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a cease-fire and the withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan. It was vetoed by the Soviet Union. The following days witnessed a great pressure on the Soviets from the Nixon-Kissinger duo to get India to withdraw, but to no avail (http://www.globalsecurity.orgfmilitary /world/war /indo-pak war1971.htm)
When Pakistan’s defeat in the eastern sector seemed certain, Nixon ordered the USA Enterprise (seven fleet) into the Bay of Bengal The Enterprise arrived on station on 11 December 1971. It has been documented that Nixon even persuaded Iran and Jordan to send their F-86, F-104 and F-5 fighter jets in aid of Pakistan. On 6 December and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of ships and a submarine, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok; they trailed U.S. Task Force 74 into the Indian Ocean from 18 December 1971 until 7 January 1972. The Soviets also had a nuclear submarine to help ward off the threat posed by USA Enterprise task force in the Indian ocean. All USA efforts failing our liberation forces came out victorious in 16 December 1971 thanks to India and Soviet Union for extending all out supports to flush out the war criminals from the country.
(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque, Professor, Department of Public administration, Chittagong University and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder, Professor of Public Administration, Jahangirnagar University. [Currently, Member, Bangladesh Public Service Commission])
