Pak. to make 1971 war report public

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, DEC. 20. The Pakistan Government will make public, on December 30, the Hamoodur Rahman Commission report that went into the circumstances which led to the military debacle in the 1971 war with India and creation of Bangladesh, it was announced on Tuesday.

The `secret report' has been gathering dust since 1974. And the Musharraf Government has decided to declassify the document which no Government in the past had even ventured to talk about. The report is a damning indictment of the Army and the Generals in- charge of the then East Pakistan.

The Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was initially reluctant to release the report even as the Bangladesh Government and the Pakistani media and intelligentsia made a strong case for its publication. During his sojourn in New York after the U.N. millennium session, Gen. Musharraf had categorically rejected the demand and urged the people to `forget about the past.'

The General characterised the defeat as a `politico- military debacle' and endorsed the views of a majority of the retired Generals that the Commission's terms of reference were biased. But a sustained campaign in the press compelled his Government to reconsider the decision.

Whatever the motives behind Gen. Musharraf's decision, it is undoubtedly a bold one. Successive Governments in Pakistan since 1974, military and civil, dodged the demand for the report's publication on one pretext or the other.

The contents became a subject of intense debate since an Indian weekly published a substantial portion of the report on August 14, Pakistan's independence day, this year. The debate centred around whether it was the military or the political leadership of the day that was responsible for Pakistan's dismemberment.

The politicians sought to pin the responsibility on the Generals for the humiliating defeat. But the retired Generals hit back saying the failure of political parties led to the dismemberment of the country.

The report also strained the relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Prime Minister, Mrs. Sheikh Hasina, took Pakistan by surprise at the U.N. millennium session when she suggested that the U.N. follow the Commonwealth pattern in dealing with those who came to power by overthrowing elected Governments.

On her return to Dhaka, she openly demanded the prosecution of those involved in excesses in the run-up to the 1971 war.

The recent tension between the two countries is also a direct fallout of the Commission report. (Bangladesh declared the Pakistan Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Irfan ur Rehman Raza, persona non grata on December 15, following his remarks in a seminar, where he described the Bengali freedom fighters as ``miscreants'' and questioned the logic of Bangladesh's demand for an apology from Pakistan for its barbarity during the 1971 war).

Announcing his readiness to release the report in October, General Musharraf had said that portions relating to foreign relations would be withheld.

He also said the portion published by the Indian weekly was selective and gave a misleading picture. However, the announcement on Tuesday did not mention if some portions were being withheld.

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Section  : International
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