Dhaka had 30,000 defenders against 3,000 of Indian Army. But such is the impact of threatening the centre of gravity that General Niazi agreed to surrender.
The Indian planning system did not encourage individuals based on ‘what they knew’, but on ‘whom they knew’. Many left for countries that recognised their talent.
The new law, which the government has framed as a moral duty, forced major platforms like Dream11 & Zupee to shut operations, wiping out hundreds of crores in market capitalisation.
Joint Doctrine for Special Forces Operations, released Wednesday, also outlines plans for the future expansion of AFSOD and the creation of Joint Service Training Institutes.
Putin sees this as a victory. Europeans have decided to deal with Trump on his terms for the sake of the larger Western alliance. We look at the lessons for us in India.
I have wanted to ask the same question dozens of times..as Rishi Rana is asking
What did the super bright strategist general of uncommon brilliance himself do in his 40 years to make a difference.
If the answer is – to wait for retirement and write these bitter narratives then …(less said the better)
Like all large armies, Indian army also has a Director of Military Operations. With its huge pyramid of commanders, it is difficult to digest the fact that India had no operational plan for its long northern border, especially the Eastern Ladakh border. Evidently, PLA planned well and has put India in an expensive fix in Ladakh. One hopes that our operational planners have plans in place to prevent such occurrence along the rest of Indo-china border.
The Vijay Divas should be celebrated jointly by India and Bangladesh in a big way, given the magnitude of the win and birth of a new country. After the second World War, the 1971 war is the biggest win by any country in the world which lasted only 17 days and resulted in surrender of over 79,000 Pakistani soldiers. India should have resolved all unsolved boundary issues with Pkistan then and there. But its okay considering that there was too much international pressure as it was a defeat also for USA which directly supported Pakistan and also for China. But the fact is that no country faced such a crushing defeat and cut into halves as Pakistan did. Cudos to the soldiers of Indian military and fighters of Mukti Vahini.
General Panag saheb, now let us look at the brilliance of General Niazi. Remember our Generals and Niazi are from the same school. He knew sure well that his resources are limited. There was no help from West Pakistan, China or USA. A killed soldier cannot be replaced, a bullet lost cannot be replaced. Therefore he knew even holding out was not possible and he had to surrender. The question was to whom and how fast so that no soldier of his will be killed. He kept all his soldiers together in the towns, (a Roman tactic). He did not fight the Indian army till they reached Dhaka. Observe his brilliance in surrendering without any condition to the first Indian General he met, thus surrendering to the Indian Army and not to Mukti Bahini. Thus safety of POWs was Indian army’s responsibility. Also note he did not destroy the railway lines so that Pakistani soldiers can be transported to India and not remain in Bangladesh. So was there a unwritten understanding between Gen. Niazi and our Generals? Something like: Pak soldiers to hold on to the towns till Indian soldier reached the towns. The Indian army brings its soldiers as fast as possible to Dhaka. The Pakistani General surrenders to Indian army without firing a bullet. And finally the Pakistani soldiers are carted to Indian territory within a week.
Very interesting article. However, could the General please expand on the topic and elaborate on what operational actions were taken by Gen. Jacob, Gen. Sagat Singh and others once it became evident that Dacca was within grasp, and how the army switched gears to go for the big prize. What operations taken by the Indian army made Gen. Niazi realize the game was up and surrender? Please also elaborate on the theme in relation to our shortcomings in relation to 1947-48, 1962, 1965, Kargil and finally Eastern Ladakh – what could have been done, but was done and what was not, and how the result was poor for us . It would be a major effort – perhaps in the scope of a series of articles, or even a book – but it would be hugely instructive and much-needed in the cause of educating the public as well as bringing greater professionalism at the top levels of our military establishment. The General is absolutely right in saying that our focus is excessively on the tactical level – high emotion about the sacrifice of our soldiers in individual engagements, deification of the armed forces or just nationalistic ranting and raving, but very little educated analysis. Gen. Panag’s writing is a refreshing and a great service to the cause of better defending India.
Hon. Lt. Gen Panag. Please share with us what efforts did you make to correct armed forces view from being tactical to operational one during your 40 years tenure in the armed forces especially as GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command. And are you trying to influence the change in thought process as Member of Armed Forces Tribunal.
I don’t think China did anything brilliant! It was not a open war, rather a steal, when india was not looking. Even then they were stopped.
I have wanted to ask the same question dozens of times..as Rishi Rana is asking
What did the super bright strategist general of uncommon brilliance himself do in his 40 years to make a difference.
If the answer is – to wait for retirement and write these bitter narratives then …(less said the better)
Like all large armies, Indian army also has a Director of Military Operations. With its huge pyramid of commanders, it is difficult to digest the fact that India had no operational plan for its long northern border, especially the Eastern Ladakh border. Evidently, PLA planned well and has put India in an expensive fix in Ladakh. One hopes that our operational planners have plans in place to prevent such occurrence along the rest of Indo-china border.
The Vijay Divas should be celebrated jointly by India and Bangladesh in a big way, given the magnitude of the win and birth of a new country. After the second World War, the 1971 war is the biggest win by any country in the world which lasted only 17 days and resulted in surrender of over 79,000 Pakistani soldiers. India should have resolved all unsolved boundary issues with Pkistan then and there. But its okay considering that there was too much international pressure as it was a defeat also for USA which directly supported Pakistan and also for China. But the fact is that no country faced such a crushing defeat and cut into halves as Pakistan did. Cudos to the soldiers of Indian military and fighters of Mukti Vahini.
General Panag saheb, now let us look at the brilliance of General Niazi. Remember our Generals and Niazi are from the same school. He knew sure well that his resources are limited. There was no help from West Pakistan, China or USA. A killed soldier cannot be replaced, a bullet lost cannot be replaced. Therefore he knew even holding out was not possible and he had to surrender. The question was to whom and how fast so that no soldier of his will be killed. He kept all his soldiers together in the towns, (a Roman tactic). He did not fight the Indian army till they reached Dhaka. Observe his brilliance in surrendering without any condition to the first Indian General he met, thus surrendering to the Indian Army and not to Mukti Bahini. Thus safety of POWs was Indian army’s responsibility. Also note he did not destroy the railway lines so that Pakistani soldiers can be transported to India and not remain in Bangladesh. So was there a unwritten understanding between Gen. Niazi and our Generals? Something like: Pak soldiers to hold on to the towns till Indian soldier reached the towns. The Indian army brings its soldiers as fast as possible to Dhaka. The Pakistani General surrenders to Indian army without firing a bullet. And finally the Pakistani soldiers are carted to Indian territory within a week.
Very interesting article. However, could the General please expand on the topic and elaborate on what operational actions were taken by Gen. Jacob, Gen. Sagat Singh and others once it became evident that Dacca was within grasp, and how the army switched gears to go for the big prize. What operations taken by the Indian army made Gen. Niazi realize the game was up and surrender? Please also elaborate on the theme in relation to our shortcomings in relation to 1947-48, 1962, 1965, Kargil and finally Eastern Ladakh – what could have been done, but was done and what was not, and how the result was poor for us . It would be a major effort – perhaps in the scope of a series of articles, or even a book – but it would be hugely instructive and much-needed in the cause of educating the public as well as bringing greater professionalism at the top levels of our military establishment. The General is absolutely right in saying that our focus is excessively on the tactical level – high emotion about the sacrifice of our soldiers in individual engagements, deification of the armed forces or just nationalistic ranting and raving, but very little educated analysis. Gen. Panag’s writing is a refreshing and a great service to the cause of better defending India.
Thank you for educating the youth of India about extraordinary initiatives taken by military.
The General is an intelligent man, but the miasma of his pettiness & spite is overpowering.
Impressive eye-opener!
Hon. Lt. Gen Panag. Please share with us what efforts did you make to correct armed forces view from being tactical to operational one during your 40 years tenure in the armed forces especially as GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command. And are you trying to influence the change in thought process as Member of Armed Forces Tribunal.