It has been 50 years since India liberated Bangladesh from the clutches of Pakistan’s Islamist regime. The 1971 war was done and dusted in 13 days. That is all it took for India’s brave armed forces to break Pakistan into two pieces. To mark the golden jubilee celebrations of the historic win, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defense Minsiter Rajnath Singh attended the Vijay Diwas celebrations in Delhi.
Both houses of Parliament also paid tribute to the soldiers who had died in the war. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said soldiers’ sacrifices would “inspire future generations” and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu praised their “display of dauntless courage”.
But the Gandhis are not happy. Neither in tweets nor during the Vijay Diwas celebrations in the national capital was former Prime Minister-cum-dictator Indira Gandhi mentioned. Indira Gandhi was ignored, and rightfully so. In the aftermath of the 1971 war victory, Indira Gandhi hogged all the limelight which belonged to India’s armed forces and its astute leaders, and not a prime minister who was inkling to push India into a war prematurely, ill-prepared and during the unforgiving summer months.
Gandhis are Irked
The Gandhi dynasty broke down on Thursday as Prime Minister Modi, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and, others ignored Indira Gandhi for the insignificant entity that she was back in the day. In poll-bound Uttarakhand, while addressing a public gathering, Rahul Gandhi said, “Today a function was held in Delhi regarding the Bangladesh war. There was no mention of Indira Gandhi in that function. The woman who took 32 bullets for this country, her name was not there in the invitation because this govt is afraid of the truth.”
Rahul Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Vadra broke down as well, as she said, “Our first and only woman Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi is being left out of the misogynist BJP government’s Vijay Diwas celebrations. This, on the 50th anniversary of the day that she led India to victory and liberated Bangladesh. @narendramodi ji, women don’t believe your platitudes. Your patronising attitude is unacceptable. It’s about time you started giving women their due.”
How Indira Gandhi “led India to victory” and “liberated Bangladesh” like a superwoman, of course, remains incomprehensible to lesser mortals like us.
Giving a complete pass to any reference of Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister Modi had said, “On this special day of Vijay Diwas, I had the honour of paying my respects at the National War Memorial and merging into the Eternal Flame, the four Vijay Mashaals which traversed across the length and breadth of the country over the course of last one year.”
Indira Gandhi’s “Contribution” – The Grand Lie
For the last few years, an effort is being carried out by Congress historians to discount the contributions of Sam Manekshaw andJFR Jacob and give all credit to Indira Gandhi. The Congress has even got two books published surreptitiously by its loyalists; one by Jairam Ramesh and the other by Chandrasekhar Dasgupta, which seek to downplay the role of Sam Manekshaw in the 1971 victory against Pakistan.
Sam Manekshaw had been often unequivocal in his opinions, which is why he had been at loggerheads with many yesteryear leaders of the then Congress government. He once famously said, “I wonder whether those of our political masters who have been put in charge of the defense of the country can distinguish a mortar from a motor; a gun from a howitzer; a guerrilla from a gorilla, although a great many resemble the latter.”
Read more: JFR Jacob– The Indian who masterminded the fall of Dhaka
Sam Manekshaw’s brilliance was acknowledged by the entire nation during the 1971 Indo Pak War. Sam had openly refused to acknowledge the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s orders of marching into Bangladesh [then East Pakistan] during the summer season. He asserted that ‘wars cannot be won without adequate preparation’.
Indira Gandhi did what any Prime Minister would. For any Prime Minister, the large-scale genocide underway in East Pakistan would have been unbearable. And then, there was the threat of Pakistan roping in China to curb the independence movement in East Pakistan, in which case India’s northeast region would suffer as collateral. Apart from giving the go-ahead for the war on Pakistan, Indira Gandhi played virtually no role.
To top it all, she returned all prisoners of war to Pakistan; failed to retake Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, spread the red-carpet for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at Shimla and made a clown of herself while at it.
As such, it is no coincidence that the BJP-led government has decided to give a pass to mentions of Indira Gandhi at the 50th Vijay Diwas celebrations. Even if after 50 years, Indira is finally getting what she deserves.