For Pakistan, the 1971 War was an unequal contest in the face of heavy odds, missed opportunities and unrealised objectives. Faced with a full-blown insurgency in East Pakistan, the beleaguered Pakistan Army braved the attacks of the Mukti Bahini insurgents, actively supported by the Indian army from secure bases inside West Bengal. The Indian government, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was keen to seize the historic opportunity to dismember Pakistan, which was offered to her by the political tumult and associated insurgency in East Pakistan.

If India had not militarily intervened, Pakistani political forces could have resolved their differences. But despite being heavily outnumbered and confronted with impossible operational and tactical odds, the Pakistani troops fought valiantly, displaying prodigies of valour which were duly acknowledged by no less than the Indian Army Chief.

Due to a dithering and vacillating Pakistani leadership, the UN-brokered ceasefire did not become a possibility, leaving outnumbered and depleted Pakistani troops in East Pakistan. We owe our future generations a true explanation of the events, warts and all, so that the miasma of negativity shrouding every aspect of the 1971 tragedy is cleared and shows a balanced picture of the political and military reality. Despite several mistakes at the political and military levels, there were shining examples of courage and determination which, if supported by deft politics, could have averted the Indian designs of Pakistan's dismemberment.

A synopsis of war at the tactical, operational and strategic levels is necessary to understand why 1971 was an unequal contest. At the politico-strategic level, Pakistan's political leadership in the West........

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