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How Dacca fell in the 1971 Indo-Pak war Updated Dec 14, 2020 | 19:48 IST
The word spread rapidly that Indian troops had surrounded Dacca, and Pakistan’s army was cornered. Gen Manekshaw then warned through a radio announcement that the Pakistani army must surrender immediately. Lt. Gen. Niazi signing the instrument of surrender in Dhaka on Dec 16, 1971.
On 16th December 1971, Pakistan faced its darkest hour when its soldiers surrendered at the Race Course in Dacca, cornered by the Indian army’s ‘blitzkrieg’ across East Pakistan, after the war for the liberation of Bangladesh. With over 90,000 prisoners of war, it was by far the largest surrender, by any army, since World War–II. The 1971 Indo-Pak war had formally broken out on 3rd December, when the Pakistani air force had simultaneously attacked as the sun set, several Indian airfields on India’s western front. Pakistan’s aim was to draw India’s maximum forces into battle on India�