On December 16, 1971 the Pakistan army in Bangladesh unconditionally surrendered to the joint Indian and Bangladeshi forces. With the signing of the Instrument of Surrender, Bangladesh came into being and united Pakistan was at an end.
However, in Pakistan the state-controlled and censored media was in denial. The day after General Niazi of Pakistan had surrendered all 93,000 soldiers and paramilitary units under his command in Bangladesh and the guns had fallen silent in the East, the Dawn newspaper, published from Karachi, declared: "WAR TILL VICTORY". The story of the Pakistani surrender was contained in one sentence of an article entitled "Fighting ends in East Wing: PAF hits in West". The surrender was spun as follows:
Latest reports indicate that following an arrangement between the local commanders of India and Pakistan in the Eastern theatre, fighting has ceased in East Pakistan and Indian troops have entered Dacca.
While newspaper headlines around the world announced the surrender of the Pakistani army and the creation of Bangladesh, the Pakistani population were presented with an alternate reality. This alternate reality would continue for four more days until the collapse of the military regime of Yahya Khan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the man who failed to win the prime ministership of a united Pakistan a year ago at the ballot box, would now take over as leader of the remaining wing of Pakistan.
Below are the front pages of the Dawn newspaper from December 4, 1971 to December 20, 1971. The headlines chronicle the unraveling of the false reality created by the military regime in the last days of united Pakistan. [Click the images for a PDF of the front page.]
December 4, 1971
India enters the war on December 3, 1971 to stop the genocide in Bangladesh.
December 5, 1971
December 6, 1971
December 7, 1971
December 8, 1971
December 9, 1971
December 10, 1971
December 11, 1971
December 12, 1971
December 13, 1971
December 14, 1971
December 15, 1971
The tone of the reporting changes, indicating for the first time that the war is not going well.
December 16, 1971
December 17, 1971
Pakistan army in Bangladesh unconditionally surrenders.
December 18, 1971
December 19, 1971
December 20, 1971
Yahya Khan’s government collapses and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto takes over in Pakistan.
Awesome….
These are the history.
MMR Jalal
A lovely history in documents. It reminds me of Michael Parenti’s account of press in the Third Reich reporting victory after glorious victory. Of course people did start to get suspicious when they noticed the victories were happening closer and closer to Berlin! It’s no wonder that Pakistan has it’s own Stab-in-the-Back myth.
Wonderful blog.
I wanted to tell you that I took the liberty to talk about your blog and
posted a link of your post-
http://www.docstrangelove.com/2008/12/16/the-last-days-of-united-pakistan/
on another blog: http://changinguppakistan.com/2008/12/01/mumbai-attacks-ramifications-for-pakistan/#comment-2979
Hope its alright.
This is what I wrote about your post there: “This is a blog by a Mash who
“unravels the false reality created by the military regime using media in
the last days of united Pakistan to keep the general Pakistanis in the
dark†in his words. Mash is a native Bangladeshi who seems to have done
extensive work to chronicle the country’s past/evolution. He has actually
posted DAWN’s front page for those 10-12 days in Dec ‘71 and its
striking to see how far away from reality some of the messages were”
Chemical Ali must have been a protégé of Dawn.
I meant Comical Ali.
Comical Ali is alive and well in Pakistan. If you see some of the TV coverage & rhetoric coming out of there is simply unbelievable.
Hello,
You don’t know me, but my Rubel Chachu from London recommended this blog to me. I must say, I loved this entry! I’m currently working on my senior Honors project on Bangladesh’s Liberation war, and this information would be great to incorporate into the piece.
Thank you and keep writing!
-Sarah Rahman, New Jersey
AS A PROUD SOUTH ASIAN, I REALLY FELT BAD WHEN I RESEARCHED THE NET ON BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR.uNLIKE , THEI NDIANS AND PAKSI, YOUR NATION SUFFERED TWO TRAUMAS..I N1947 AND 1971. YOU PEOPLE TRULY DESERVED FREEDOM FROM [PAKISTAN.IN INDIA TOO ,IN 1964 , LANGUAGE CLASHES ENSUED AND SO DID OTHER STATES EXPRESSD THIER DISSENT BUT MOSTLY, INDIAN LEADERS TREATED THE PEOPLE OF THESE STATES WITH KIDGLOVES, UNLIKE WHAT PAKISTAN DID ON MAR 25, 1971. BENGALI GENOCIDE CAN EASILY TAKE ITS PLACE AS THE SECOND MOST GHASTLY EVENT IN THE MODERN HISTORY AFTER HOLOCAUST
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Pakistan lost the war and thats a fact. You (Pakistan) lost the war your eastern half. You (Pakistan) lost your integrity. Your NIAZI “SURRENDERED” and if they you will ever try to counter us in a declared war then you might as well have to leave your country and go to Afghanistan to take shelter.
Pakistan lost the war and thats a fact. You (Pakistan) lost the war your eastern half. You (Pakistan) lost your integrity. Your NIAZI “SURRENDERED” and if they you will ever try to counter us in a declared war then you might as well have to leave your country and go to Afghanistan to take shelter. go and save your asses
THIS PAKISTANI BASTARDS THINK THAT THEY CAN TAKE OUT INDIA .. LET INDIA DECLARE A WAR WITH PAK .. AND LETS SEE HOW WE INDIANS FUCK THIS PAKISTANI ASSHOLES REAL HARD …
We committed mistakes in East Pakistan and our enemy capitalized on it. This is a natural strategy. We should’nt have given the Indians the chance of their lifetime. Now since time has passsed and what’s done cannot be undone, I think we should accept the creation of Bangladesh as a closed and past transaction. Pakistan, or for that matter, no country in the world can manage to fight a war and sustain it on two fronts when there is a 1000 mile enemy territroy between the two parts of the country and an active insurgency, openly supported, armed and funded by the enemy is taking place in one part of the country.
Hats off to the Pakistani troops who fought the Mukti Bahini and their Indian mentors simultaneously and gave in when they were overwhelmed. Surrender after fight is no shame at all. The French surrendered to the British, the British surrendered to the Americans, the Germans surrendered to the Russians, and even the great Indians surrendered to the Chinese during the 1962 Indo-Chinese war. Remember?……….. 1962? ………..Shame all around? Indian dead bodies strewn across ravines and fields?……A whole country behind you and you cannot stop the Chinese troops from fucking you Indians??????
So you Indians should stop barking like dogs and look after your own asses. Daily you people get fucked in Kashmir and Assam. Those days are not far when India will dis-intigrate and implode under its own weight.
When Pakistan was united, it fought the Indian Juggernaught to a standstill in 1965. Events were no longer in Pakistan’s control in 1971, rather Pakistan was in control of events.
But we have taught you Banias a good lesson in Kargil. Remember the ‘Duck Shoot’ at Kargil and the countless body bags that India had to import and committ corruption and earn “gooz” thereby?
We are always one-up on India. They exploded their faulty “khokhlay” nuclear “crackers” and we responded with our real Nuclear tests at Chaghi. So dont try to overawe us with your size and weight, we know to shove it up your asses (no matter how black they may be).
So fuck you Indians for all times to come!!!
And may I tell you bastards one more thing. I will never be coming to this page again. So write as much as you bastards would like to, answering with abuses and invectives. I have the satisfaction of fingering you madarchods and running off with it. hahahahaha!!! FUCK YOU RAMA FUCKING BANIAS!