Why Indira could not take POK despite victory in 1971 war

- After the Pakistani dictator General Yahya Khan ran out of patience, he made the big mistake of attacking India in December 1971, the Indian Army called Pakistan's troops. Pakistan was left with no option but to surrender after India retaliated with a jaw-dropping Pakistani offensive. At that time 93 thousand soldiers of Pakistan were captured by India. Pakistan not only lost the war but also lost itself. There was no way Pakistan could stand against India. A large section of war experts believe that India could have taken advantage of this situation to force Pakistan to withdraw its troops from PoK.

It has been 52 years since India's historic victory in the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. Due to the fact that India supported the Bengalis who were fighting to separate from Pakistan and create Bangladesh with body, mind and money, Pakistan invaded India on December 3, 1971. Indian army is sitting ready to attack Pakistan.

India gave such a jaw-dropping response to Pakistan's invasion that Pakistan was weakened in 13 days. By occupying Dhaka on December 16, 1971, the Indian army inflicted an indelible defeat on the Pakistani army. The commander of the Pakistani army, General Niazi, surrendered to the Indian General Jagjit Singh Arora along with 93,000 soldiers at Nakaliti Tharni.

Pakistan Army surrendered to India on 16th December so India celebrates Victory Day on 16th December every year and salutes the bravery of Indian soldiers, pays homage to the martyrs who lost their lives in the war for the country. Dignitaries including the Prime Minister participate in the Victory Day celebrations. This year too, all this happened and at the same time, the same old question has come up again, why India could not take back the occupied Kashmir (PoK) from Pakistan, despite giving a crushing defeat to Pakistan in the 1971 war?

This question is important because PoK is at the center of the rivalry between India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan have fought four wars so far. Except for the 1971 war, all three wars resulted from Pakistan's ambition to occupy the entire Jammu and Kashmir. The reason for the 1971 war was the war for the liberation of Bangladesh but the issue of Kashmir was an opportunity for India to take back PoK, but whether India has wasted that opportunity has been debated for years.

The 1971 war remains central to this debate as in 1971 India forced the Pakistani army to kneel down and surrender while the remaining three wars were truceed. Pakistan attacked to seize Kashmir in 1947, we won the war, but Jawaharlal Nehru had the half-wit to take the matter to the UN.

On October 22, 1947, after Pakistan's Pithus attacked Kashmir, the operation to dislodge them lasted for 14 months. Nehru went to the United Nations through Wayda and accepted a ceasefire from 1 January 1949, out of which one third of Kashmir went from our hands. The rest of the Indian army has created a situation to end the game and take over the entire Kashmir.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Prime Minister when Pakistan attacked in 1965. The Indian army has captured 3900 square kilometers of new territory of Pakistan by gnashing the teeth of the Pakistani army. While our army was advancing, we had to accept a ceasefire due to the pressure of the countries of the world including Russia. After Pakistan's invasion of Kargil in 1998, when our army pushed forward the Pakistani army, the Indian army was in a position to invade PoK and occupy it. At that time Atal Bihari Vajpayee also bowed down to the pressure of the world and accepted the ceasefire.

In the war of 1971, the situation was completely different. India was helping Mujibur Rehman's liberation movement from the back door, and after the Pakistani dictator General Yahya Khan lost patience, he made the big mistake of attacking India in December 1971.

Pakistan started the attack by attacking on the eastern and northern fronts. Pakistan launched a major attack by air force but India was ready to respond. Pakistan was left with no option but to surrender after India retaliated with a jaw-dropping attack on Pakistan. At that time 93 thousand soldiers of Pakistan were captured by India. Pakistan not only lost the war but also lost itself. There was no way Pakistan could stand against India. A large section of war experts believe that India could have taken advantage of this situation to force Pakistan to withdraw its troops from PoK.

The question is, why Indira Gandhi could not do that? America threatened to attack India for interfering in the Bangladesh issue, but Indira swallowed the threat. It is natural to ask why Indira, who had such a strong will, missed the opportunity to take PoK.

Only Indira can give a definite answer to this question, but it is believed that Indira could not take military action to take back PoK due to the pressure of the Soviet Union who helped India and the economic burden. Russia was on India's side in this war but felt that after the creation of Bangladesh, India's work was done, so it forced Indira not to take further military action.

Apart from the military costs incurred by the war, Indira is also believed to have been shaken by the burden of Bangladeshi infiltrators and the burden of keeping Pakistan's 93,000 prisoners of war.

If Indira had remained firm even after the surrender of Pakistan and ordered the Indian army to advance, history would have been different. We used to celebrate both Vijay Divas and Kashmir Divas in December itself.

Operation Genghis Khan: Started by Pakistan, completed by India

The 1971 war between India and Pakistan lasted only for 13 days. In 13 days, the Indian army brought Pakistan to its knees and divided it into two parts and created a new nation of Bangladesh by giving independence to East Pakistan.

The war started with Pakistan invading on December 3, 1971. Pakistan named the invasion of India Operation Genghis Khan. Under Operation Genghis Khan, Pakistan attacked 11 air bases of India simultaneously. On December 3, 1971, at 05:40 PM, Saber Jets and Star Fighters of the Pakistan Air Force entered the Indian border and started bombing these 11 air bases, officially declaring war.

The Pakistan Air Force targeted and bombed 12 military air bases in Ambala, Agra, Avantipur, Bikaner, Halwara, Jaisalmer, Bhuj, Uttarlai, Pathankot, Srinagar, Amritsar and Jodhpur. Apart from this, Pakistan bombed to destroy defense radars of Amritsar and Faridkot. Along with the air strike, Pakistan has also started shelling the Indian Army in Kashmir. India had known for a long time that Pakistan would attack, so it was sitting ready. India retaliated strongly and forced the Pakistani army to surrender within 13 days.

After winning the 1971 war, Maneksha became the field marshal

Sam Maneksha, on whose life the film Sam Bahadur is doing the rounds, was the hero of the 1971 war against Pakistan. Only two military chiefs in India's history have attained the rank of Field Marshal. India's first army chief General Cariappa and Sam Maneksha were the only two army chiefs to become field marshals.

On January 15, 1949, when the British completely handed over the charge of the Indian Army to the Government of India, Lieutenant General Kadandera M. Cariappa became the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. Before that, General Kariappa was given the title of Field Marshal for his great work during the first war of 1947 against Pakistan. General Sam Maneksha, who led India to a glorious victory in the 1971 war and tore apart Pakistan, was the second army chief to become a field marshal.

Field Marshal is the highest rank in the military of any country in the world. Usually the military chief of a country has a four star rank but a field marshal is a higher rank. A field marshal is an officer of five star rank. Five star rank is awarded only to military officers who have shown great gallantry.