The Pakistan army conducted a widespread genocide against the Bengali population of East Pakistan, aimed in particular at the minority Hindu population, leading to approximately 10 million people fleeing East Pakistan and taking refuge in the neighbouring Indian states. The East Pakistan-India border was opened to allow refugees safe shelter in India. The governments of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura established refugee camps along the border. The resulting flood of impoverished East Pakistani refugees placed an intolerable strain on India’s already overburdened economy.
General Tikka Khan earned the nickname ‘Butcher of Bengal’ because of the widespread atrocities he committed. He was previously known as the ‘Butcher of Balochistan’ for other infamous atrocities he had committed. General Niazi commenting on his actions noted ‘On the night between 25/26 March 1971 General Tikka struck. Peaceful night was turned into a time of wailing, crying and burning. General Tikka let loose everything at his disposal as if raiding an enemy, not dealing with his own misguided and misled people. The military action was a display of stark cruelty more merciless than the massacres at Bukhara and Baghdad by Chengiz Khan and Halaku Khan… General Tikka… resorted to the killing of civilians and a scorched earth policy. His orders to his troops were: ‘I want the land not the people…’ Major General Farman had written in his table diary, “Green land of East Pakistan will be painted red”. It was painted red by Bengali blood.’
The Indian government repeatedly appealed to the international community, but failing to elicit any response, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 27 March 1971 expressed full support of her government for the independence struggle of the people of East Pakistan. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had concluded that instead of taking in millions of refugees, it was economical to go to war against Pakistan.On 28 April 1971, the Indian Cabinet asked General Manekshaw (Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee) to “Go into East Pakistan”. Exiled East Pakistan army officers and members of the Indian Intelligence immediately started using the Indian refugee camps for recruitment and training of Mukti Bahini guerrillas.
The mood in West Pakistan had also turned increasingly jingoistic and militaristic against East Pakistan and India. By the end of September, an organised propaganda campaign, possibly orchestrated by elements within the Government of Pakistan, resulted in stickers proclaiming Crush India becoming a standard feature on the rear windows of vehicles in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore and soon spread to the rest of West Pakistan. By October, other stickers proclaimed Hang the Traitor in an apparent reference to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Bangladesh, 16 December 1971 