Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( ' ) , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence , or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh , was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self - determination movement in East Pakistan and the 1971 Bangladesh genocide . It resulted in the independence of the People ' s Republic of Bangladesh . The war began after the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971 . It pursued the systematic elimination of nationalist Bengali civilians , students , intelligentsia , religious minorities and armed personnel . The junta annulled the results of the 1970 elections and arrested Prime Minister - elect Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . Rural and urban areas across East Pakistan saw extensive military operations and air strikes to suppress the tide of civil disobedience that formed following the 1970 election stalemate . The Pakistan Army created radical religious militias – the Razakars , Al - Badr and Al - Shams – to assist it during raids on the local populace . The Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence was proclaimed from Chittagong by members of the Mukti Bahini – the national liberation army formed by Bengali military , paramilitary and civilians . The East Bengal Regiment and the East Pakistan Rifles played a crucial role in the resistance . Led by General M . A . G . Osmani and eleven sector commanders , the Bangladesh Forces waged a mass guerrilla war against the Pakistani military . They liberated numerous towns and cities in the initial months of the conflict . The Pakistan Army regained momentum in the monsoon . Bengali guerrillas carried out widespread sabotage , including Operation Jackpot against the Pakistan Navy . The nascent Bangladesh Air Force flew sorties against Pakistani military bases . By November , the Bangladesh forces restricted the Pakistani military to its barracks during the night . They secured control of most parts of the countryside . The Provisional Government of Bangladesh was formed on 17 April 1971 in Mujibnagar and moved to Calcutta as a government in exile . Bengali members of the Pakistani civil , military and diplomatic corps defected to the Bangladeshi provisional government . Thousands of Bengali families were interned in West Pakistan , from where many escaped to Afghanistan . Bengali cultural activists operated the clandestine Free Bengal Radio Station . The plight of millions of war - ravaged Bengali civilians caused worldwide outrage and alarm . The Indian state led by Indira Gandhi provided substantial diplomatic , economic and military support to Bangladeshi nationalists . British , Indian and American musicians organised the world ' s first benefit concert in New York City to support the Bangladeshi people . Senator Ted Kennedy in the United States led a congressional campaign for an end to Pakistani military persecution ; while US diplomats in East Pakistan strongly dissented with the Nixon administration ' s close ties to the Pakistani military dictator Yahya Khan . India joined the war on 3 December 1971 , after Pakistan launched preemptive air strikes on North India . The subsequent Indo - Pakistani War witnessed engagements on two war fronts . With air supremacy achieved in the eastern theatre and the rapid advance of the Allied Forces of Bangladesh and India , Pakistan surrendered in Dacca on 16 December 1971 . The war changed the geopolitical landscape of South Asia , with the emergence of Bangladesh as the seventh - most populous country in the world . Due to complex regional alliances , the war was a major episode in Cold War tensions involving the United States , the Soviet Union and the People ' s Republic of China . The majority of member states in the United Nations recognised the Bangladeshi republic in 1972 . Background . in 1909 showing Muslim majority areas in green , including modern - day Bangladesh on the east and Pakistan on the west . ] ] Prior to the Partition of British India , the Lahore Resolution initially envisaged separate Muslim - majority states in the eastern and northwestern zones of British India . A proposal for an independent United Bengal was mooted by Prime Minister H . S . Suhrawardy in 1946 , but was opposed by the colonial authorities . The East Pakistan Renaissance Society advocated the creation of a sovereign state in eastern British India . Eventually , political negotiations led , in August 1947 , to the official birth of two states , Pakistan and India , giving presumably permanent homes for Muslims and Hindus respectively following the departure of the British . The Dominion of Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas to the east and the west with India in between . The western zone was popularly ( and for a period , also officially ) termed West Pakistan and the eastern zone ( modern - day Bangladesh ) was initially termed East Bengal and later , East Pakistan . Although the population of the two zones was close to equal , political power was concentrated in West Pakistan and it was widely perceived that East Pakistan was being exploited economically , leading to many grievances . Administration of two discontinuous territories was also seen as a challenge . On 25 March 1971 , after an election won by an East Pakistani political party ( the Awami League ) was ignored by the ruling ( West Pakistani ) establishment , rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was met by brutal suppressive force from the ruling elite of the West Pakistan establishment , in what came to be termed Operation Searchlight . The violent crackdown by Pakistan Army led to Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declaring East Pakistan ' s independence as the state of Bangladesh on 26 March 1971 . Pakistani President Agha Mohammed Yahya ordered the Pakistani military to restore the Pakistani government ' s authority , beginning the civil war . The war led to a sea of refugees ( estimated at the time to be about 10 million ) flooding into the eastern provinces of India . Facing a mounting humanitarian and economic crisis , India started actively aiding and organising the Bangladeshi resistance army known as the Mukti Bahini . Language controversy . In 1952 , Governor General Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared that " Urdu , and only Urdu " would be the federal language of Pakistan . However , Urdu was historically prevalent only in the north , central , and western region of the subcontinent ; whereas in East Bengal , the native language was Bengali , the most easterly branch of the Indo - European languages . The Bengali - speaking people of Pakistan constituted over 50 % of the country ' s population . The government stand was widely viewed as an attempt to suppress the culture of the eastern wing . The people of East Bengal demanded that their language be given federal status alongside Urdu and English . The Bengali Language Movement began in 1948 , as civil society protested the removal of the Bengali script from currency and stamps , which were in place since the British Raj . The movement reached its climax in 1952 , when on 21 February , the police fired on protesting students and civilians , causing several deaths . The day is revered in Bangladesh as the Language Martyr ' s Day . Later , in memory of the deaths in 1952 , UNESCO declared 21 February as International Mother Language Day in 1999 . Disparities . Although East Pakistan had a larger population , West Pakistan dominated the divided country politically and received more money from the common budget . Bengalis were under - represented in the Pakistan military . Officers of Bengali origin in the different wings of the armed forces made up just 5 % of overall force by 1965 ; of these , only a few were in command positions , with the majority in technical or administrative posts . West Pakistanis believed that Bengalis were not " martially inclined " unlike Pashtuns and Punjabis ; the " Martial Race s " notion was dismissed as ridiculous and humiliating by Bengalis . Moreover , despite huge defence spending , East Pakistan received none of the benefits , such as contracts , purchasing and military support jobs . The Indo - Pakistani War of 1965 over Kashmir also highlighted the sense of military insecurity among Bengalis , as only an under - strength infantry division and 15 combat aircraft without tank support were in East Pakistan to thwart any Indian retaliations during the conflict . Political differences . Although East Pakistan accounted for a slight majority of the country ' s population , political power remained in the hands of West Pakistanis . Since a straightforward system of representation based on population would have concentrated political power in East Pakistan , the West Pakistani establishment came up with the " One Unit " scheme , where all of West Pakistan was considered one province . This was solely to counterbalance the East wing ' s votes . After the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan , Pakistan ' s first prime minister , in 1951 , political power began to devolve to the new President of Pakistan , which replaced the office of Governor General when Pakistan became a republic , and , eventually , the military . The nominal elected chief executive , the Prime Minister , was frequently sacked by the establishment , acting through the President . The East Pakistanis observed that the West Pakistani establishment would swiftly depose any East Pakistanis elected Prime Minister of Pakistan , such as Khawaja Nazimuddin , Muhammad Ali Bogra , or Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy . Their suspicions were further aggravated by the military dictatorships of Ayub Khan ( 27 October 1958 – 25 March 1969 ) and Yahya Khan ( 25 March 1969 – 20 December 1971 ) , both West Pakistanis . The situation reached a climax in 1970 , when the Awami League , the largest East Pakistani political party , led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , won a landslide victory in the national elections . The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan , and thus a majority of the 313 seats in the National Assembly . This gave the Awami League the constitutional right to form a government . However , Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ( a former Foreign Minister ) , the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party , refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan . Instead , he proposed the idea of having two Prime Ministers , one for each wing . The proposal elicited outrage in the east wing , already chafing under the other constitutional innovation , the " One Unit scheme " . Bhutto also refused to accept Rahman ' s Six Points . On 3 March 1971 , the two leaders of the two wings along with the President General Yahya Khan met in Dacca to decide the fate of the country . After their discussions yielded no satisfactory results , Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a nationwide strike . Bhutto feared a civil war , therefore , he sent his trusted companion , Dr . Mubashir Hassan . A message was conveyed , and Rahman decided to meet Bhutto . Upon his arrival , Rahman met with Bhutto and both agreed to form a coalition government with Rahman as Premier and Bhutto as President . However , the military was unaware of these developments , and Bhutto increased his pressure on Rahman to reach a decision . On 7 March 1971 , Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( soon to be the prime minister ) delivered a speech at the Racecourse Ground ( now called the Suhrawardy Udyan ) . In this speech he mentioned a further four - point condition to consider at the National Assembly Meeting on 25 March : He urged his people to turn every house into a fort of resistance . He closed his speech saying , " Our struggle is for our freedom . Our struggle is for our independence . " This speech is considered the main event that inspired the nation to fight for its independence . General Tikka Khan was flown into Dacca to become Governor of East Bengal . East - Pakistani judges , including Justice Siddique , refused to swear him in . Between 10 and 13 March , Pakistan International Airlines cancelled all their international routes to urgently fly " government passengers " to Dacca . These " government passengers " were almost all Pakistani soldiers in civilian dress . MV " Swat " , a ship of the Pakistan Navy carrying ammunition and soldiers , was harboured in Chittagong Port , but the Bengali workers and sailors at the port refused to unload the ship . A unit of East Pakistan Rifles refused to obey commands to fire on the Bengali demonstrators , beginning a mutiny among the Bengali soldiers . Response to the 1970 cyclone . The 1970 Bhola cyclone made landfall on the East Pakistan coastline during the evening of 12 November , around the same time as a local high tide , killing an estimated 300 , 000 to 500 , 000 people . Though the exact death toll is not known , it is considered the deadliest tropical cyclone on record . A week after the landfall , President Khan conceded that his government had made " slips " and " mistakes " in its handling of the relief efforts due to a lack of understanding of the magnitude of the disaster . A statement released by eleven political leaders in East Pakistan ten days after the cyclone hit charged the government with " gross neglect , callous and utter indifference " . They also accused the president of playing down the magnitude of the problem in news coverage . On 19 November , students held a march in Dacca protesting the slowness of the government ' s response . Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani addressed a rally of 50 , 000 people on 24 November , where he accused the president of inefficiency and demanded his resignation . As the conflict between East and West Pakistan developed in March , the Dacca offices of the two government organisations directly involved in relief efforts were closed for at least two weeks , first by a general strike and then by a ban on government work in East Pakistan by the Awami League . With this increase in tension , foreign personnel were evacuated over fears of violence . Relief work continued in the field , but long - term planning was curtailed . This conflict widened into the Bangladesh Liberation War in December and concluded with the creation of Bangladesh . This was one of the first times that a natural event helped trigger a civil war . Operation Searchlight . A planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army – codenamed " Operation Searchlight " – started on 25 March to curb the Bengali independence movement by taking control of the major cities on 26 March , and then eliminating all opposition , political or military , within one month . Before the beginning of the operation , all foreign journalists were systematically deported from East Pakistan . The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last major town in Bengali hands in mid - May . The operation also began the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities . These systematic killings served only to enrage the Bengalis , which ultimately resulted in the secession of East Pakistan later in the same year . The international media and reference books in English have published casualty figures which vary greatly , from 5 , 000 – 35 , 000 in Dacca , and 200 , 000 – 3 , 000 , 000 for Bangladesh as a whole , and the atrocities have been referred to as acts of genocide . According to the " Asia Times " , At a meeting of the military top brass , Yahya Khan declared : " Kill 3 million of them and the rest will eat out of our hands . " Accordingly , on the night of 25 March , the Pakistani Army launched " Operation Searchlight " to " crush " Bengali resistance in which Bengali members of military services were disarmed and killed , students and the intelligentsia systematically liquidated and able - bodied Bengali males just picked up and gunned down . Although the violence focused on the provincial capital , Dacca , it also affected all parts of East Pakistan . Residential halls of the University of Dacca were particularly targeted . The only Hindu residential hall – Jagannath Hall – was destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces , and an estimated 600 to 700 of its residents were murdered . The Pakistani army denied any cold blooded killings at the university , though the Hamood - ur - Rehman commission in Pakistan concluded that overwhelming force was used at the university . This fact , and the massacre at Jagannath Hall and nearby student dormitories of Dacca University , are corroborated by a videotape secretly filmed by Professor Nurul Ula of the East Pakistan Engineering University , whose residence was directly opposite the student dormitories . The scale of the atrocities was first made clear in the West when Anthony Mascarenhas , a Pakistani journalist who had been sent to the province by the military authorities to write a story favourable to Pakistan ' s actions , instead fled to the United Kingdom and , on 13 June 1971 , published an article in the " Sunday Times " describing the systematic killings by the military . The BBC wrote : " There is little doubt that Mascarenhas ' reportage played its part in ending the war . It helped turn world opinion against Pakistan and encouraged India to play a decisive role " , with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi herself stating that Mascarenhas ' article has led her " to prepare the ground for India ' s armed intervention " . Hindu areas suffered particularly heavy blows . By midnight , Dacca was burning , especially the Hindu - dominated eastern part of the city . " Time " magazine reported on 2 August 1971 , " The Hindus , who account for three - fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead , have borne the brunt of the Pakistani military hatred . " Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested by the Pakistani Army . Yahya Khan appointed Brigadier ( later General ) Rahimuddin Khan to preside over a special tribunal prosecuting Rahman with multiple charges . The tribunal ' s sentence was never made public , but Yahya caused the verdict to be held in abeyance in any case . Other Awami League leaders were arrested as well , while a few fled Dacca to avoid arrest . The Awami League was banned by General Yahya Khan . Declaration of independence . The violence unleashed by the Pakistani forces on 25 March 1971 proved the last straw to the efforts to negotiate a settlement . Following these outrages , Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration that read : Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country . On Thursday night , West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dacca . Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh . Violent clashes between E . P . R . and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pakistan on the other , are going on . The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh . May Allah aid us in our fight for freedom . Joy Bangla [ May Bangladesh be victorious ] . Sheikh Mujib also called upon the people to resist the occupation forces through a radio message . Rahman was arrested on the night of 25 – 26 March 1971 at about 1 : 30 am ( as per Radio Pakistan ' s news on 29 March 1971 ) . A telegram containing the text of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ' s declaration reached some students in Chittagong . The message was translated to Bengali by Dr . Manjula Anwar . The students failed to secure permission from higher authorities to broadcast the message from the nearby Agrabad Station of Radio Pakistan . However , the message was read several times by the independent Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro Radio established by some rebel Bangali Radio workers in Kalurghat . Major Ziaur Rahman was requested to provide security of the station and he also read the Declaration on 27 March 1971 . Major Ziaur Rahman broadcast announcement of the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . This is Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra . I , Major Ziaur Rahman , at the direction of Bangobondhu Mujibur Rahman , hereby declare that Independent People ' s Republic of Bangladesh has been established . At his direction , I have taken the command as the temporary Head of the Republic . In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , I call upon all Bengalees to rise against the attack by the West Pakistani Army . We shall fight to the last to free our motherland . Victory is , by the Grace of Allah , ours . Joy Bangla . The Kalurghat Radio Station ' s transmission capability was limited , but the message was picked up by a Japanese ship in the Bay of Bengal . It was then re - transmitted by Radio Australia and later by the British Broadcasting Corporation . M . A . Hannan , an Awami League leader from Chittagong , is said to have made the first announcement of the declaration of independence over the radio on 26 March 1971 . 26 March 1971 is considered the official Independence Day of Bangladesh , and the name Bangladesh was in effect henceforth . In July 1971 , Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi openly referred to the former East Pakistan as Bangladesh . Some Pakistani and Indian officials continued to use the name " East Pakistan " until 16 December 1971 . Liberation war . March – June . At first , resistance was spontaneous and disorganised , and was not expected to be prolonged . However , when the Pakistani Army cracked down upon the population , resistance grew . The Mukti Bahini became increasingly active . The Pakistani military sought to quell them , but increasing numbers of Bengali soldiers defected to this underground " Bangladesh army " . These Bengali units slowly merged into the Mukti Bahini and bolstered their weaponry with supplies from India . Pakistan responded by airlifting in two infantry divisions and reorganising their forces . They also raised paramilitary forces of Razakars , Al - Badrs and Al - Shams ( who were mostly members of the Muslim League and other Islamist groups ) , as well as other Bengalis who opposed independence , and Bihar i Muslims who had settled during the time of partition . On 17 April 1971 , a provisional government was formed in Meherpur district in western Bangladesh bordering India with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , who was in prison in Pakistan , as President , Syed Nazrul Islam as Acting President , Tajuddin Ahmed as Prime Minister , and General Muhammad Ataul Ghani Osmani as Commander - in - Chief , Bangladesh Forces . As fighting grew between the occupation army and the Bengali Mukti Bahini , an estimated 10 million Bengalis sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal . June – September . Bangladesh forces command was set up on 11 July , with Col . M . A . G . Osmani as commander - in - chief ( C - in - C ) with the status of Cabinet Minister , Lt . Col . , Abdur Rabb as chief of Staff ( COS ) , Group Captain A K Khandker as Deputy Chief of Staff ( DCOS ) and Major A R Chowdhury as Assistant Chief of Staff ( ACOS ) . General Osmani had differences of opinion with the Indian leadership regarding the role of the Mukti Bahini in the conflict . Indian leadership initially envisioned Bengali forces to be trained into a small elite guerrilla force of 8 , 000 members , led by the surviving East Bengal Regiment soldiers operating in small cells around Bangladesh to facilitate the eventual Indian intervention , but with the Bangladesh government in exile , General Osmani favoured a different strategy : Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors in July , each with a commander chosen from defected officers of the Pakistani army who joined the Mukti Bahini to conduct guerrilla operations and train fighters . Most of their training camps were situated near the border area and were operated with assistance from India . The 10th Sector was directly placed under the Commander in Chief ( C - in - C ) General M . A . G . Osmani and included the Naval Commandos and C - in - C ' s special force . Three brigades ( 11 Battalions ) were raised for conventional warfare ; a large guerrilla force ( estimated at 100 , 000 ) was trained . Three brigades ( eight infantry battalions and three artillery batteries ) were put into action between July and September . During June and July , Mukti Bahini had regrouped across the border with Indian aid through Operation Jackpot and began sending 2000 – 5000 guerrillas across the border , the so - called Monsoon Offensive , which for various reasons ( lack of proper training , supply shortage , lack of a proper support network inside Bangladesh ) failed to achieve its objectives . Bengali regular forces also attacked BOPs in Mymensingh , Comilla and Sylhet , but the results were mixed . Pakistani authorities concluded that they had successfully contained the Monsoon Offensive , which proved a near - accurate observation . Guerrilla operations , which slackened during the training phase , picked up after August . Economic and military targets in Dacca were attacked . The major success story was Operation Jackpot , in which naval commandos mined and blew up berthed ships in Chittagong , Mongla , Narayanganj and Chandpur on 15 August 1971 . October – December . Bangladeshi conventional forces attacked border outposts . Kamalpur , Belonia and the Battle of Boyra are a few examples . 90 out of 370 BOPs fell to Bengali forces . Guerrilla attacks intensified , as did Pakistani and Razakar reprisals on civilian populations . Pakistani forces were reinforced by eight battalions from West Pakistan . The Bangladeshi independence fighters even managed to temporarily capture airstrip s at Lalmonirhat and Shalutikar . Both of these were used for flying in supplies and arms from India . Pakistan sent another five battalions from West Pakistan as reinforcements . Indian involvement . Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had concluded that instead of taking in millions of refugees , it was economical to go to war against Pakistan . As early as 28 April 1971 , the Indian Cabinet had asked General Manekshaw ( Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee ) to “ Go into East Pakistan ” . Hostile relations in the past between India and Pakistan added to India ’ s decision to intervene in Pakistan ’ s civil war . Resultantly , the Indian government decided to support the creation of a separate state for ethnic Bengalis by supporting the Mukti Bahini . For this , RAW , helped to organise , train and arm these insurgents . Consequently , the Mukti Bahini succeeded in harassing Pakistani military in East Pakistan , thus creating conditions conducive for a full - scale Indian military intervention in early December . Thus , wary of the growing involvement of India , the Pakistan Air Force ( PAF ) launched a pre - emptive strike on Indian Air Force bases on 3 December 1971 . The attack was modelled on the Israeli Air Force ' s Operation Focus during the Six - Day War , and intended to neutralise the Indian Air Force planes on the ground . The strike was seen by India as an open act of unprovoked aggression . This marked the official start of the Indo - Pakistani War . As a response to the attack , both India and Pakistan formally acknowledged the " existence of a state of war between the two countries " , even though neither government had formally issued a declaration of war . Three Indian corps were involved in the liberation of East Pakistan . They were supported by nearly three brigade s of Mukti Bahini fighting alongside them , and many more fighting irregularly . This was far superior to the Pakistani army of three divisions . The Indians quickly overran the country , selectively engaging or bypassing heavily defended strongholds . Pakistani forces were unable to effectively counter the Indian attack , as they had been deployed in small units around the border to counter guerrilla attacks by the Mukti Bahini . Unable to defend Dacca , the Pakistanis surrendered on 16 December 1971 . Air and naval war . The Indian Air Force carried out several sorties against Pakistan , and within a week , IAF aircraft dominated the skies of East Pakistan . It achieved near - total air supremacy by the end of the first week as the entire Pakistani air contingent in the east , PAF No . 14 Squadron , was grounded because of Indian and Bangladesh airstrikes at Tejgaon , Kurmitolla , Lal Munir Hat and Shamsher Nagar . Sea Hawks from the carrier INS " Vikrant " also struck Chittagong , Barisal and Cox ' s Bazar , destroying the eastern wing of the Pakistan Navy and effectively blockading the East Pakistan ports , thereby cutting off any escape routes for the stranded Pakistani soldiers . The nascent Bangladesh Navy ( comprising officers and sailors who defected from the Pakistani Navy ) aided the Indians in the marine warfare , carrying out attacks , most notably Operation Jackpot . Surrender and aftermath . On 16 December 1971 , Lt . Gen A . A . K . Niazi , CO of Pakistan Army forces located in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of Surrender . At the time of surrender only a few countries had provided diplomatic recognition to the new nation . Over 93 , 000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian forces & Bangladesh Liberation forces , making it the largest surrender since World War II . Bangladesh sought admission in the UN with most voting in its favour , but China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally . The United States , also a key ally of Pakistan , was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition . To ensure a smooth transition , in 1972 the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan . The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognised the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani PoWs . India treated all the PoWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention , rule 1925 . It released more than 93 , 000 Pakistani PoWs in five months . Further , as a gesture of goodwill , nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war crime s by Bengalis were also pardoned by India . The accord also gave back more than of land that Indian troops had seized in West Pakistan during the war , though India retained a few strategic areas ; most notably Kargil ( which would in turn again be the focal point for a war between the two nations in 1999 ) . This was done as a measure of promoting " lasting peace " and was acknowledged by many observers as a sign of maturity by India . However , some in India felt that the treaty had been too lenient to Bhutto , who had pleaded for leniency , arguing that the fragile democracy in Pakistan would crumble if the accord was perceived as being overly harsh by Pakistanis . Reaction in West Pakistan to the war . Reaction to the defeat and dismemberment of half the nation was a shocking loss to top military and civilians alike . Few had expected that they would lose the formal war in under a fortnight , and there was also unsettlement over what was perceived as a meek surrender of the army in East Pakistan . Yahya Khan ' s dictatorship collapsed and gave way to Bhutto , who took the opportunity to rise to power . General Niazi , who surrendered along with 93 , 000 troops , was viewed with suspicion and contempt upon his return to Pakistan . He was shunned and branded a traitor . The war also exposed the shortcomings of Pakistan ' s declared strategic doctrine that the " defence of East Pakistan lay in West Pakistan " . Pakistan also failed to gather international support , and found itself fighting a lone battle with few countries supporting it . This further embittered the Pakistanis , who had faced the worst military defeat of an army in decades . The debacle immediately prompted an enquiry headed by Justice Hamoodur Rahman . Atrocities . During the war there were widespread killings and other atrocities – including the displacement of civilians in Bangladesh ( East Pakistan at the time ) and widespread violations of human rights began with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971 . Members of the Pakistani military and supporting Islamist militia s from Jamaat e Islami killed an estimated 300 , 000 to 3 , 000 , 000 people and raped between 200 , 000 and 400 , 000 Bangladeshi women in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape . Some Islamic clerics issued fatwas in support of raping Bengali women , especially Hindu women , as they considered the conflict a holy war . During the war , a fatwa in Pakistan declared that the Bengali ' freedom fighters ' were Hindus and that their women could be taken as the ' booty of war ' . A large section of the intellectual community of Bangladesh were murdered , mostly by the Al - Shams and Al - Badr forces , at the instruction of the Pakistani Army . Just two days before the surrender , on 14 December 1971 , Pakistan Army and Razakar militia ( local collaborators ) picked up at least 100 physicians , professors , writers and engineers in Dacca , and murdered them , leaving the dead bodies in a mass grave . Many mass graves have been discovered in Bangladesh . The first night of war on Bengalis , which is documented in telegrams from the American Consulate in Dacca to the United States State Department , saw indiscriminate killings of students of Dacca University and other civilians . Numerous women were tortured , raped and killed during the war ; the exact numbers are not known and are a subject of debate . The widespread rape of Bangladeshi women led to birth of thousands of war babies . The Pakistan Army also kept numerous Bengali women as sex - slaves inside the Dacca Cantonment . Most of the girls were captured from Dacca University and private homes . There was significant sectarian violence not only perpetrated and encouraged by the Pakistani army , but also by Bengali nationalists against non - Bengali minorities , especially Biharis . On 16 December 2002 , the George Washington University ' s National Security Archive published a collection of declassified documents , consisting mostly of communications between US embassy officials and United States Information Service centres in Dacca and India , and officials in Washington , D . C . These documents show that US officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms " selective genocide " and " genocide " ( see The Blood Telegram ) for information on events they had knowledge of at the time . " Genocide " is the term that is still used to describe the event in almost every major publication and newspaper in Bangladesh , although in Pakistan , the accusations against Pakistani forces continue to be disputed . Foreign reaction . United Nations . Though the United Nations condemned the human rights violations during and following Operation Searchlight , it failed to defuse the situation politically before the start of the war . Following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ' s declaration of independence in March 1971 , a world - wide campaign was undertaken by the Provisional Government of Bangladesh to drum up political support for the independence of East Pakistan as well as humanitarian support for the Bengali people . Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi provided extensive diplomatic and political support to the Bangladesh movement . She toured many countries in a bid to create awareness of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis . This effort was to prove vital later during the war , in framing the world ' s context of the war and to justify military action by India . Also , following Pakistan ' s defeat , it ensured prompt recognition of the newly independent state of Bangladesh . Following India ' s entry into the war , Pakistan , fearing certain defeat , made urgent appeals to the United Nations to intervene and force India to agree to a cease fire . The UN Security Council assembled on 4 December 1971 to discuss the hostilities in South Asia . After lengthy discussions on 7 December , the United States made a resolution for " immediate cease - fire and withdrawal of troops " . While supported by the majority , the USSR vetoed the resolution twice . In light of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis , the United Kingdom and France abstained on the resolution . On 12 December , with Pakistan facing imminent defeat , the United States requested that the Security Council be reconvened . Pakistan ' s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister , Zulfikar Ali Bhutto , was rushed to New York City to make the case for a resolution on the cease fire . The council continued deliberations for four days . By the time proposals were finalised , Pakistan ' s forces in the East had surrendered and the war had ended , making the measures merely academic . Bhutto , frustrated by the failure of the resolution and the inaction of the United Nations , ripped up his speech and left the council . Most UN member nations were quick to recognise Bangladesh within months of its independence . Bhutan . As the Bangladesh Liberation War approached the defeat of the Pakistan Army , the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan became the first state in the world to recognise the newly independent country on 6 December 1971 . Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , the first President of Bangladesh visited Bhutan to attend the coronation of Jigme Singye Wangchuck , the fourth King of Bhutan in June 1974 . US and USSR . The US government stood by its old ally Pakistan both politically and materially . US President Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia . Pakistan was a close ally of the People ' s Republic of China , with whom Nixon had been negotiating a " rapprochement " and which he intended to visit in February 1972 . Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region , and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America ' s new tacit ally , China . To demonstrate to China the " bona fides " of the United States as an ally , and in direct violation of the US Congress - imposed sanctions on Pakistan , Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan and routed them through Jordan and Iran , while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan . The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the genocidal activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan , most notably the Blood telegram . Nixon denied getting involved in the situation , saying that it was an internal matter of Pakistan , but when Pakistan ' s defeat seemed certain , Nixon sent the aircraft carrier USS " Enterprise " to the Bay of Bengal , a move deemed by the Indians as a nuclear threat . " Enterprise " arrived on station on 11 December 1971 . On 6 and 13 December , the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of ships , armed with nuclear missiles , from Vladivostok ; they trailed US Task Force 74 in the Indian Ocean from 18 December until 7 January 1972 . The Soviet Union supported Bangladesh and Indian armies , as well as the Mukti Bahini during the war , recognising that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals – the United States and China . It gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed , the USSR would take countermeasures . This was enshrined in the Indo - Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971 . The Soviets also sent a nuclear submarine to ward off the threat posed by USS " Enterprise " in the Indian Ocean . At the end of the war , the Warsaw Pact countries were among the first to recognise Bangladesh . The Soviet Union accorded recognition to Bangladesh on 25 January 1972 . The United States delayed recognition for some months , before according it on 8 April 1972 . China . As a long - standing ally of Pakistan , the People ' s Republic of China reacted with alarm to the evolving situation in East Pakistan and the prospect of India invading West Pakistan and Pakistani - controlled Kashmir . Believing that just such an Indian attack was imminent , Nixon encouraged China to mobilise its armed forces along its border with India to discourage it . The Chinese did not , however , respond to this encouragement , because unlike the 1962 Sino - Indian War when India was caught entirely unaware , this time the Indian Army was prepared and had deployed eight mountain divisions to the Sino - Indian border to guard against such an eventuality . China instead threw its weight behind demands for an immediate ceasefire . When Bangladesh applied for membership to the United Nations in 1972 , China vetoed their application because two United Nations resolutions regarding the repatriation of Pakistani prisoners of war and civilians had not yet been implemented . China was also among the last countries to recognise independent Bangladesh , refusing to do so until 31 August 1975 .