Indira Gandhi & Bangladesh liberation war ✒ Jayasurya The credit to Indira Gandhi was in denial of INDIRA Gandhi’s role and India’s in the liberation Bangabandhu’s leadership in uniting 75 million war of Bangladesh and its emergence as an people as a monolith and in preparing them to independent and sovereign country have been make any sacrifice for their freedom and talked about in Bangladesh across all divides independence. No leader in modern history came but mainly in private spheres, not public ones, close to the way he had united the people of and seldom in any details. There appears to be a Bangladesh to overcome the fear of death for taboo in the country about giving Indira Gandhi fighting for their independence. The official’s and India too much credit for reasons never reference to Bangladesh-India relations as those explained satisfactorily. between soul mates was in denial of reality. A senior political official at the Prime Minister’s Notwithstanding the above, Indira Gandhi and Office broke the taboo while speaking at the India played significant roles in the Victory Day celebrations of the Bangladesh independence of Bangladesh. After the Pakistani deputy high commission, Talkathon, on military attack on unarmed Bengalis on March December 17, 2019. He doubted whether 25, 1972, India kept its border open that allowed Bangladesh would be independent today the Bangladesh refugees in millions to take without Indira Gandhi and her decision to shelter inside India. support the freedom-loving people of Bangladesh with the might of the Indian armed In retrospect, Indira Gandhi’s decision to keep forces. He further said that since that decision, the India-Bangladesh border open was a Bangladesh-India relations have been between masterstroke because it ensured that the two soul mates and not just between two Bangladesh liberation war would succeed unlike friendly neighbours. He believed that Indira those in Africa that had failed. One such war Gandhi and India’s roles were the reasons still fresh in memories of many that had failed Bangladesh’s liberation war was successful was the attempt of Biafra. Lieutenant-Colonel while some of the wars of national liberation in Ojukwu had led the people of Biafra, a province Africa undertaken in more or less the same time of Nigeria, to war for national liberation were unsuccessful. between May 1967 to January 1970. Between 500,000 to two million people died of starvation The official went over the moon with the credit in that war and 100,000 military personnel were that he gave Indira Gandhi and India for the killed. Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Zambia, and emergence of Bangladesh as an independent and Tanzania recognised the independence of Biafra. sovereign country. He also went over the top Israel, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Rhodesia, and while describing the bilateral relations between the Vatican provided Biafra with support and the two countries as those between soul mates. assistance. A TO Z INDIA ● JULY 2021 ● PAGE 12