Operation Searchlight
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Operation Searchlight
Operation Searchlight was the codename for a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the operation on the basis of anti-Bihari violence carried out en masse by the Bengalis earlier that month. Ordered by the central government in West Pakistan, the original plans envisioned taking control of all of East Pakistan's major cities on 26 March, and then eliminating all Bengali opposition, whether political or military, within the following month. West Pakistani military leaders had not anticipated prolonged Bengali resistance or later Indian military intervention.Pakistan Defence Journal, 1977, Vol. 2, pp. 2–3. The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last major Bengali-held town in mid-May 1971. The operation also directly precipitated the 1971 Bangladesh genocide, in which between 300,000 and 3,000,000 ...
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Mukti Bahini
The Mukti Bahini ( bn, মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War, War of Liberation that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. They were initially called the Mukti Fauj. On 7 March 1971 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman issued a call to the people of East Pakistan to prepare themselves for an all-out struggle. Later that evening resistance demonstrations began, and the military began a full-scale retaliation with Operation Searchlight, which continued through May 1971. A formal military leadership of the resistance was created in April 1971 under the Provisional Government of Bangladesh. The military council was headed by General M. A. G. Osmani''Unconventional Warfare in South Asia: Shadow Warriors and Counterinsurgency'', Gates and Roy, Routledge, 2 ...
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Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. The war began when the Pakistani Military dictatorship, military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the 1971 Bangladesh genocide, Bangladesh genocide. In response to the violence, members of the Mukti Bahini—a guerrilla resistance movement formed by Bengali military, paramilitary and civilians—launched a mass Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war against the Pakistani military, liberating numerous towns and cities in the initial months of the conflict. At first, the Pakis ...
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Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army. Modern usage varies greatly, and in some cases, the term is used as an honorific title that may have no direct relationship to military service. The rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier, brigade general or brigadier general. In some smaller military forces, such as those of Monaco or the Vatican, colonel is the highest rank. Equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth's air force ranking system, the equivalent rank is group captain. History and origins By the end of the late medieval period, a group of "companies" was referred to as a "column" of an army. According to Raymond Ol ...
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Bengalis
Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia. The current population is divided between the independent country Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and parts of Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur. Most of them speak Bengali language, Bengali, a language from the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language family. Bengalis are the List of contemporary ethnic groups, third-largest ethnic group in the world, after the Han Chinese and Arabs. Thus, they are the largest ethnic group within the Indo-Europeans and the largest ethnic group in South Asia. Apart from Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Manipur, and Assam's Barak Valley, Bengali-majority populations also reside in India's union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islan ...
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Inamul Haque Khan
Air Marshal Inamul Haque Khan ( ur, ; 25 May 1927 – 10 August 2017) was a Three-star general, three-star air officer in the Pakistan Air Force who is known for his role as Air Officer Commanding, AOC of the Dacca airbase of the Pakistan Air Force. In 1971, Inamul Haque Khan, as Air Commodore, was one of the highest-ranking officers to be taken as a Prisoners of war during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, prisoner of war by India after Pakistan Eastern Command, Eastern Command's General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Commander Lieutenant-General A.A.K. Niazi signed Instrument of Surrender (1971), an instrument of surrender with Indian Army's Eastern Command (India), Eastern Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, GOC-in-C, Lieutenant-General Jagjit Singh Aurora. After his Delhi Agreement, repatriation in 1974, he continued to serve in the Air Force with distinction, and eventually joined President of Pakistan, President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Zia-ul-Haq's Zia regim ...
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Mohammad Shariff
Admiral Mohammad Shariff ( ur, ; 1 July 1920 – 27 April 2020), was a Pakistan Navy senior admiral, who served as the 2nd Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and a memoirist who was at the center of all the major decisions made in Pakistan in the events involving the war with India in 1971, the enforcement of martial law in the country in 1977, and the decision in covertly intervening against Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Gaining commission in the Royal Indian Navy, he participated in World War II on behalf of Great Britain before joining the Pakistan Navy in 1947 as one of the senior staff officers. In 1969, he was appointed the Flag Officer Commanding of the Eastern Naval Command in East Pakistan during the civil war there, followed by the foreign intervention by India in 1971. After the war, he was taken as a war prisoner along with Lieutenant-General A.A.K Niazi, the commander of Pakistan Army's Eastern Command after conceding the surrender of the Pak ...
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Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded as a two-star rank with a NATO code of OF-7. The term originated in the days of naval sailing squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy. Each naval squadron was assigned an admiral as its head, who commanded from the centre vessel and directed the squadron's activities. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships that bore the brunt of a battle. In the rear of the squadron, a third admiral commanded the remaining ships and, as this section was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of it was typically the most junior. This has continued into the modern age, with rear admiral the most junior admiralty of many navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank i ...
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Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In other countries, it is a non-commissioned rank. Origins and history The word and rank of "Brigadier" originates from France. In the French Army, the Brigadier des Armées du Roi (Brigadier of the King's Armies) was a general officer rank, created in 1657. It was an intermediate between the rank of Mestre de camp and that of Maréchal de camp. The rank was first created in the cavalry at the instigation of Marshal Turenne on June 8, 1657, then in the infantry on March 17, 1668, and in the dragoons on April 15, 1672. In peacetime, the brigadier commanded his regiment and, in maneuvers or in wartime, he commanded two or three - or even four - regiments combined to form a brigade (including his own, but later the rank was also awarded to l ...
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Rao Farman Ali
Major General Rao Farman Ali ( ur, ; January 1, 1922 – 20 January 2004) was a Major General in Pakistan Army, and political figure who is widely considered a key architect of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide the Bangladesh Liberation War. Commissioned in September, 1943 as a forward observer in Regiment of Artillery, he served as military adviser to the Pakistan army, and oversaw the deployment of military police aided with local militias (razarkars) during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He testified his responsibilities in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission in 1972 but denied allegations of genocide committed in Bangladesh in spite of the Hamoodur Rahman Commission which proved the involvement of misconducts and genocide of Pakistani military personnel. Upon being forced to retire, he joined the Fauji Foundation as an agronomist, and founded the Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited in 1978. From 1985–88, he served as petroleum minister and National Security Advisor in Presid ...
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Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a lieutenant general outranking a major general, whereas a major outranks a lieutenant. In the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and in the United States, when appointed to a field command, a major general is typically in command of a Division (military), division consisting of around 6,000 to 25,000 troops (several regiments or brigades). It is a two-star general, two-star rank that is subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the rank of brigadier or brigadier general. In the Commonwealth, major general is equivalent to the navy rank of rear admiral. In air forces with a separate rank structure (Commonwealth), major general is equivalent to air vice-marshal. In some countries including much of Eastern Europe, major ...
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Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi
Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi (1915 – 1 February 2004) was a Pakistan Army general. During the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he commanded the Pakistani Eastern Command in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), he signed the instrument of surrender as in 16 Dec. '71 his forces had to surrender to the Indian Army's Eastern Command's commander Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora by the order of the then President of Pakistan Yahya Khan. Niazi's area of responsibility comprised the defense of East Pakistan from India during the war in 1971, and authors and critics within the Pakistani military held him morally responsible for his decision to unilaterally surrender the Pakistani Eastern Command, which resulted in the war's end in a decisive Indian victory as well as the independence of Bangladesh. After being taken and held as a prisoner of war by the Indian military, he was repatriated to Pakistan on 30 April 1975 as part of the De ...
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