Manekshaw's refusal to go to war against East Pakistan early in 1971 cost lakhs of civilian lives and brought ten million refugees into India

It is customary for everyone in India to pay glowing tributes to late Field Marshal Manekshaw annually in December when the anniversary of India's successful liberation of Bangladesh comes. A biopic on him was released yesterday.in time for the season. A close study of not widely publicised records of the events leading up to the liberation of Bangladesh shows the Indian Army General failed in his dharma which was to go to war when his country needed it most.

Field Marshal Manekshaw

When the killing by the West Pakistan Army in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) started in March 1971, the Mother told PM Indira to liberate Bangladesh. In a conversation with the Indian Army Chief Manekshaw, corroborated by a video interview of him some years ago, Indira asked him to go to war against the East Pakistan Army. He refused and offered to resign if she insisted on the grounds that the Army needed months of preparation and the terrain was impossible for an invasion during the monsoon. Indira backed down and as a result, till seven months later when the war would at last begin, lakhs of Bangladeshis, most of them civilians, were massacred by the East Pakistan Army, and 10 million (1 crore) Bangladeshi refugees into India (Most of them never went back causing a huge setback to Indian economy). Manekshaw was finally forced to go to war with Pakistan because Pakistan attacked India on 3rd December! If not, I think, he would never have gone into the war and got retired with all pensionary benefits peacefully. The dharma of an Army General is to accomplish what the Prime Minister of the nation tells him (and her words were indeed the Divine Will in this instance) whatever the odds against the success. The Army is supposed to be ready to go to war within hours of the call of the nation, rain or shine. He failed which resulted in massive deaths and the refugee problem that plagues India to this day.

Given below are the details of exactly how the war was delayed and finally forced India into it.

The genocide in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) by Pakistan started in early March 1971. Lakhs of people were killed and raped and about 1 crore refugees poured into India in the following seven months.

Chuknagar: The largest genocide by East Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971

April 3, 1971 

The Mother’s message to Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi on her request for advice on the Bangladesh crisis:

“India must recognize Bangladesh. This is urgent”

April 7, 1971 The Mother: I received some news from Indira who told me that they’re sending all the help they can up there [to Bangladesh]. They are taking a very positive position. But she says that the outcome will probably be war with Pakistan, and maybe even with China – they’re expecting it.

April 14, 1971

Pakistani troops have almost entirely sealed the Bangladesh border with India. The Chinese have massed their troops near the northeastern borders.

30 April 1971

Mother’s Note published in an Ashram periodical:

“The situation is serious. It is only a strong and enlightened action that can pull the country out of it.” Blessings.

May 8, 1971

News Report on ‘The Hindu’: The Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi today set to rest all speculations about an early recognition of Bangla Desh by indicating quite clearly that the government of India did not propose to do so in the near future.

The Mother: [...] Now, it’s five weeks already.... [...] It’s already more difficult. If they put it [the war against Pakistan] off again, it will be even more difficult. [...]

May 15, 1971

The Mother: [...] And already over two million refugees have come into India, and they’re expecting the two million to swell to ten million. And India won’t have anything to eat. [...]

June 26, 1971 The Mother: It seems war is inevitable. […] they [Govt. of India] will declare war. I am informed almost directly. [...] The [Divine] Force is clearly working in favor of India, that I see...

June 30, 1971 The Mother: On the one hand, they say that the war is imminent; on the other hand, war is useless – all that supported by what I am supposed to have said. [...] They have missed the moment.

They’ve lost the chance [to take Pakistan by war]. [...] Parliament seems to be in favor of war – Parliament wants war, but it’s the government that doesn’t want.

July 17, 1971 The Mother: And it’s [the Bangladesh crisis] on a large scale, you see, almost a world scale, at least a national one, in this country, but ... it has repercussions in China, Russia, Europe, America. They’ve made ... such a mess, you know, with this whole [Bangladesh] affair, it’s dreadful – dreadful. Now, they’ve found a solution: the Americans are trying to come to an agreement with the Chinese – that’s the last straw! – to help Pakistan massacre people.

December 3, 1971

India-Pakistan war began on this day because Pakistan attacked India’s western border. December 15, 1971 The Mother: This war is.... I am busy all the time, all the time. We get letters from the front; several generals and high-ranking officers say they feel my presence all the time. And it’s true, I am busy all the time.

[Excerpted from the Agenda of the Supramental Action Upon Earth, Institute of Evolutionary Research, Paris, 1971]

India recognized Bangladesh on December 6, 1971, and the East Pakistan Army surrendered to the Indian Army on 16th December 1971 marking the liberation of Bangladesh.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's letter thanking the Mother after the war and the Mother's reply: