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All India Radio reports were censored and generally
broadcast two days after any event due to the
censorship and approval process. Radio Pakistan
had no credibility as it invariably broadcast
lies and was aptly called Radio Jhootistan (liar-istan).
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) reports
were trusted, relied and were generally correct.
But how its correspondent/s reported that IAF
had airdropped 5000 troops, nearly ten times more
than the actual figure of 540, is a mystery.
Either the correspondent made a genuine mistake
– thankfully – or it was planted on
him by India’s external intelligence agency,
RAW, which played a great role in the war.
RAW’ s Director R N Kao monitored and directed
behind-the- scene developments day and night while
one of his able deputies, Shankaran Nair, was
at the eastern front, donning uniforms when needed,
and helping Bangladeshis organize the Mukti Bahiti
liberation force.
I met both the officials some 30 years back,
particularly Mr Nair who was seconded to the Minorities
Commission as its Secretary in the post-Emergency
phase. Neither of them was willing to share operational
details then.
IAF’s supremacy of the East Pakistani skies,
the BBC report and the pinpoint, precision IAF
attack on the Governor’s House around the
same time as if coordinated, the feeling of claustrophobia
in the Pakistani leadership due to the breakdown
of their communication channels, the Indian Army’s
classic operational victories, and the resolute
will displayed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
made the Pakistani leadership give up when it
did.
The war could have lasted a few hours more otherwise,
with the same result but costing more lives.
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