Instrument of Surrender (1971)
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The Instrument of Surrender was signed at Ramna Race Course in Dhaka at one past five in the evening (1701 hrs), local time, on December 16, 1971, by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, General Officer Commanding in Chief of Eastern Command of the Indian Army and Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, Commander of Pakistani forces in Bangladesh, as the formal act of surrender of all Pakistani forces in erstwhile East Pakistan. Also present during the ceremony were Lieutenant General JFR Jacob, Chief of Staff of the Eastern Command and architect of the plan for the capture of Bangladesh, and, the commanders of Indian Naval and Air Forces in the Eastern Theatre.
The signing of the document ended the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and led to the formation of Bangladesh. The name of the new country, Bangla Desh (later reduced to a single word), was used in the instrument of surrender, which declared: "The Pakistan Eastern Command agree to surrender all Pakistan armed forces in Bangla desh to Lieutenant-General Jagjit Singh Aurora, General Officer Commanding in Chief of the Indian and BANGLA DESH forces in the Eastern Theatre."
Aurora accepted the surrender without a word, while the crowd on the race course started shouting anti-Niazi and anti-Pakistan slogans and abuses.[1] Niazi along with a sizeable number of Pakistani soldiers were taken prisoner (upwards of 90,000). This was the largest number of POWs since World War II and included some government officials.
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[edit] Text of the Instrument
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"The PAKISTAN Eastern Command agree to surrender all PAKISTAN Armed Forces in BANGLA DESH to Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA, General Officer Commanding in Chief of the Indian and BANGLA DESH forces in the Eastern Theatre. This surrender includes all PAKISTAN land, air and naval forces as also all para-military forces and civil armed forces. These forces will lay down their arms and surrender at the places where they are currently located to the nearest regular troops under the command of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA.
The PAKISTAN Eastern Command shall come under the orders of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA as soon as the instrument has been signed. Disobedience of orders will be regarded as a breach of the surrender terms and will be dealt with in accordance with the accepted laws and usages of war. The decision of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA will be final, should any doubt arise as to the meaning or interpretation of the surrender terms.
Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA gives a solemn assurance that personnel who surrender shall be treated with dignity and respect that soldiers are entitled to in accordance with provisions of the GENEVA Convention and guarantees the safety and well-being of all PAKISTAN military and para-military forces who surrender. Protection will be provided to foreign nationals, ethnic minorities and personnel of WEST PAKISTAN origin by the forces under the command of Lieutenant- General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA."
Signed by J.S. Aurora and A.A.K. Niazi on 16 December 1971.
This document can be seen on display in the National Museum in Delhi (as of January 2012)
[edit] In Literature
In Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children, the encounter between the two generals is shown in the chapter Sam and the Tiger
[edit] Sources
INSTRUMENTS OF SURRENDER OF PAKISTANI FORCES IN DACCA Hosted by Ministry of External Affairs, India Virtual Bangladesh
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[edit] References
- ^ Of betrayal and bungling by Kuldip Nayar (Google cache link) - Indian Express 3 February 1998
