THE BIRTH OF A NATION

THE BIRTH OF A NATION
(Continued from my last Blog 'Drums of Destiny)

“This is the BBC, London. The news in Hindi follows..” the crackling sound wafting across the ether was faint, as all the officers in the mess crowded round the small radio set, leaning forward to catch the late night news bulletin from London. BBC was always considered the authentic news and we learnt more about the war from London than from the heavily censored news from All India Radio. 

BBC Late Night News Bulletin

Tonight, the news was grim and the news reader tersely read out the report we were all dreading! Pakistan Air Force (PAF) planes had attacked the forward Airforce bases in western India during early hours of 03 Dec and have drawn first blood. The places attacked included Indian Air Force (IAF) bases at Srinagar, Amritsar and Pathankot, followed by attacks on Ambala, Agra, Jodhpur, Uttarlai, Avantipur, Faridkot, Halwara and Sirsa. Apart from IAF bases, the PAF attacked railway stations, Indian armour concentrations and other targets.
Even to an inexperienced person like me, the writing on the wall was clear. We were going in to a headlong confrontation with Pakistan and many lives were going to be lost on both sides.

As I walked back to our tent that night the distant guns seemed particularly loud and I was imagining the loss of life and property that the people around the airfields would’ve suffered! I was hoping now that somehow this conflict should end soon.

The next day, It was announced that a full scale war has been declared and the casualties started arriving thick & fast. All the surgical wards were full and surgeons were operating day and night to save lives. I was placed on 24 hours notice to move to cross the border in to Bangladesh (the new name given to the liberated land carved out of erstwhile East Pakistan). We had started to receive a number of Prisoner of War (POW) casualties and a new ward was opened for them with extra security provided by armed guards.  We already had a separate ward for Mukti Bahini (Liberation force of Bangladesh), while the rest of the wards were full of Indian soldiers. It occurred to me that this was a unique situation where we were treating patients of three different nationalities under one roof!

Bangladesh on the world Map 1971

Comilla, (the city across the border from Tripura) was already over run by Indian Army and the local population were reportedly greeting the entry of Indian soldiers in to the city streets. But the Comilla Cantonment was a fortified complex defended by Pak army and was still offering stiff resistance to the army’s advance. Since I was earmarked to enter this cantonment after the area falls in to our hands, I was very excited and tracking updates every day. I was thrilled to be the selected from among our group to cross the border and was the subject of envy from my colleagues who wished they could join me in this venture.

The Real Action Heroes of Indian Army

The daily reports from the battle front were upbeat. The PAF resistance in Bangladesh skies was decimated and Indian forces were advancing rapidly toward Dacca (the capital city) from 6 different directions to defeat the enemy.  Now victory was in sight and there were smiles on every face among the wounded soldiers that their colleagues were soon going to finish the task they had all set out for. But the news from BBC that night spoke of a US Aircraft Carrier sailing towards the Bangladesh coast and everyone was suddenly worried about escalation of conflict. 

The signing of the Surrender Document 
17 Dec 1971 at Dacca
(Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Arora  GOC-in_C (EC)
signing the document
 as Gen Niazi watches)

I will never forget that historic date of 17^th Dec 1971 when the entire Pakistan army in Bangladesh surrendered to the Indian Army and 93,000 Pak soldiers & officers lay down their arms and were taken as prisoners of war. The Indo Pak war of 1971 drew to a close with a momentous victory for the Indian Armed Forces

The big guns at the border fell silent for the first time and there were many local groups of civiians coming down to our hospital to congratulate the Indian soldiers and distribute sweets.

There was a meeting in our hospital the next day and plans to close this hospital and move in to Comilla where a large military hospital in proper buildings was to be taken over by our hospital so that we could set up there. I was thinking that now was the time that I will be called to move as advance party to the new location, but I was surprised when I was told that there was no need to have an advance party and the whole hospital can be taken to Comilla after loading all the equipment on to  convoy of trucks. Then came the bombshell announcement! They need an experienced junior officer to stay back and look after the emergency room here for some more time! I was taken aback when it was announced that Lt Ram will stay back and hold fort in the present location after the hospital moves to Comilla! I tried to protest that it is not fair and that I was the person who was all set to go to the new location in the first place and now I was being left behind!

But all my efforts to change their decision were of no use and over the next week I saw that all the existing patients either get discharged or transferred to the rear hospitals. Suddenly all the wards were empty with all the medical equipment being packed & loaded on to a convoy of trucks. I watched in envy as all my friends pack up their belongings rushing to get in to the vehicles (earmarked for officers and nursing officers) and drive off one by one, waving farewell to me. I stood for a long time watching in dismay as the long line of trucks slowly disappear out of sight, leaving me alone in the hospital.

Slowly I returned to my tent next to the emergency room (MI Room) and looked at the long row of empty wards. The large hospital now looked deserted & eerily silent, without the hustle and bustle of staff. I felt very lonely and wondered when I will be reunited with my friends again! 

(To be continued… watch this space!)