Breaking Through Every Barrier, Liberation Forces March Towards Dhaka
December 13, 1971. It was 5 pm. A housewife from a family in Dhaka was rushing her suddenly ill husband to the PG Hospital. The ambulance was traveling along a deserted road on Elephant Road in Dhaka. The sounds of gunfire and grenade explosions filled the air, with occasional bursts of machine gun fire.
That housewife was Jahanara Imam. She recalls such scenes of war-torn Dhaka in her book Ekattorer Dinguli. The day before (December 12), the Liberation Army and Allied Forces had started the operation to capture Dhaka. Fearing a potentially dangerous situation, Dhaka on December 13 was tense. Indian forces patrolled the skies at various times of the day. Meanwhile, the advancing Liberation Army and Indian troops were several miles away from the main city.
The commanding officer of the 1 East Bengal Regiment, Moinul Hossain Chowdhury, was stationed in Narsingdi with his battalion. They were near the Narsingdi Railway Station, heading towards Dhaka. However, on December 13, Joint Commander Brigadier Mishra ordered them to stay put in Narsingdi. In contrast, the Indian forces continued advancing towards Dhaka.
According to Anandabazar Patrika, the Indian forces crossed Narsingdi and moved ahead. Another group liberated Tangail and Mirzapur and moved towards Joydevpur. At that point, the distance between the besieged Dhaka and Indian forces was only about 11-12 miles.
In such a situation, the Liberation Army did not want to stay behind. Despite Brigadier Mishra’s orders to remain in Narsingdi and oversee its defense, Moinul Hossain Chowdhury ignored the orders. He started advancing with his battalion towards the front. In his book Ek Janaraler Nirob Sakkhya: Swadhinatar Prothom Dashak, he wrote that he recalled the intense competition among Allied forces during World War II for who would reach Berlin first to establish authority. This inspired him to move towards Dhaka.
The next day, at noon, Moinul’s battalion reached Demra. Along with them was nearly 800 soldiers from the 2 East Bengal Regiment. That day, some freedom fighters from Sector 3 also reached Demra. A brief exchange of fire took place with Pakistani forces as they took positions behind the industrial area.
Dhaka-Pindi Divergence in War Strategy
By December 13, a split had emerged within the Pakistani forces regarding the continuation of the war. The military in Rawalpindi wanted to continue the fight with India to the bitter end. However, the situation in Dhaka was different.
On that day, Malcolm W. Brown, a reporter from The New York Times, wrote from Rawalpindi, citing diplomatic and government sources, that Pakistani military officials were unwilling to accept the disintegration of their territory. There was no prospect of indirect negotiations with India at that point. A military spokesperson even said that the ceasefire request sent to the United Nations by Major General Rao Forman Ali from East Pakistan on December 10 was unauthorized.
While the military in West Pakistan opposed the ceasefire, the situation in East Pakistan was different. Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the commander in East Pakistan, visited Dhaka’s Governor House on December 13 for the first time. He met with the Governor's military advisor, Rao Forman Ali. During their meeting, he ordered the dispatch of the ceasefire message.
Rao Forman Ali has described the event in his book How Pakistan Got Divided. The Bengali translation of the book was published by UPL. Forman Ali wrote that Niazi wanted the ceasefire message to be sent from the Governor House. Essentially, after the defeat in the war, Niazi wanted to shift all responsibility to the Governor’s office. Later, though, the message was not sent.
Forman Ali also mentions that around 11 am that day, Indian forces launched an airstrike on the Governor House. A pillar in front of the office was damaged. Following this, the Governor (A.M. Malik) resigned and took shelter in a bunker, citing the lack of attention from Islamabad as the reason for his resignation.
Advancement Towards Bogura
In northern Bangladesh, Bogura was one of the major strongholds of the Pakistani army. On December 13, the Allied Forces began their operation to capture the city. Lieutenant General J.F.R. Jacob wrote in his book Surrender at Dhaka that the prosperous area of Dalankota in Bogura was under the control of the remaining forces of the 205 Infantry Brigade. The Pakistanis fought desperately to defend it. Eventually, the fighting stopped. The 340 Mountain Brigade captured 20 officers and 500 other soldiers, establishing control over the northern part of Bogura.
