The Constant Liberation

by anderson

Newshoggers Historical News Note -- On March 26, 1971, the Bangladesh Liberation War broke out, pitting then West Pakistan against both East Pakistan and India. In response to Pakistan's Operation Chengiz Khan, a series of pre-emptive air strikes on Indian air bases and radar carried out later that year, the Indo-Pak War began in full, lasting thirteen days. 90,000 Pakistani soldiers were taken prisoner, East Pakistan was surrendered and Bangladesh was formed.

Needless to say, this didn't sit well back Islamabad way. Never has.

The agency was the invention of Major General R. Cawthome, a British army officer who served in Pakistan and became the ISI�s second director. Its early years were accompanied by frequent criticism for failures surrounding Pakistan�s wars with India. Even today, the army has yet to come to terms with the intelligence failure surrounding India�s shock military intervention in 1971 in the former East Pakistan, which led to the creation of Bangladesh. �

After that humiliating military defeat, which also led to more than 90,000 Pakistanis prisoners of war being taken by India, Pakistan�s military establishment decided �never, never again�,� says one former Pakistani general. �To this day, the military�s thinking and that of the ISI is driven by 1971.�

Part of this drive was manifest almost immediately by Zia al Haq's expansionist madrassas policies. From 900 in 1971, the number of Pakistani maddrasses soared to "8,000 official and 25,000 unofficial in 1988." [See Roy Gutman�s How We Missed the Story, p. 20].  Being a military dictator, Zia, of course, was a favoured US ally and backed in this venture, the would be crops for the war against the Soviets.

In forty years, the liberations have scarcely stopped, what with deluded lefties, communist conspirators, unstable tyrants and terrorist supporters running amok.  Constantly.  We've got several and varied "liberations" firmly and not so firmly underway right now. Wonder what the fortieth anniversary of those will look like?