Vijay Diwas: How Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw led India’s historic victory during 1971 war

Every year, December 16 is celebrated as 'Vijay Diwas' in memory of the glorious victory achieved under the deft and able leadership of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, regarded as one of the greatest heroes of the Indo-Pakistan war. The historic war led to the liberation of East Pakistan and the formation of Bangladesh.

As India marks 50 years of the 1971 war, we remember Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, under whose command Indian forces conducted victorious campaigns in the Indo-Pakistani War.

Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw was appointed as the eighth Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) on June 8, 1969. It was his strategy, under which the army launched several preparatory operations in erstwhile East Pakistan such as training and equipping the Mukti Bahini, regular Bangladeshi troops, and 75,000 guerrillas with arms and ammunition. These forces were used to harass the Pakistani Army stationed in East Pakistan in the lead up to the war.

1971 war: Sam Manekshaw's four-way attack strategy

When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked Army Chief Manekshaw if he was prepared to go to war with Pakistan, he sought time from the PM and said he could guarantee victory if she allowed him to handle the conflict on his own terms.

After Pakistan waged a war by dropping bombs on Indian Air Force bases, on 3 December 1971, the Army Headquarters, under Manekshaw's leadership, formulated the following strategy:

• II Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Tapishwar Narain Raina (later General and COAS), was to enter from the west;
• IV Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Sagat Singh, was to enter from the east
• XXXIII Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Mohan L. Thapan was to enter from the north 
• The 101 Communication Zone Area, commanded by Maj. Gen. Gurbax Singh was to provide support from the northeast.

The strategy was executed by the Eastern Command, under Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora. The following day, the navy and the air force also initiated full-scale operations on both eastern and western fronts. As the war progressed, Pakistan's resistance crumbled. India captured most of the advantageous positions and isolated the Pakistani forces, which started to surrender or withdraw.

'You surrender or we wipe you out': Manekshaw's warning to Pakistan

Manekshaw addressed the Pakistani troops by radio broadcast on 9, 11, and 15 December, assuring them that they would receive honourable treatment from the Indian troops if they surrendered.

Manekshaw said he would stop the war only if the Pakistani troops surrendered to their Indian counterparts by 09:00 on 16 December. 'You surrender or We wipe you out' was the message given by Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw to Pakistan.

The deadline was extended to 15:00 the same day at the request of East Pakistan Lt. Gen l AAK Niazi, and the instrument of surrender was formally signed on 16 December 1971.

After the war ended, then PM Indira Gandhi asked Manekshaw to go to Dhaka and accept the surrender of Pakistani forces, but he declined, saying that the honour should go to the GOC-in-C Eastern Command, Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora.

More about Sam Manekshaw

A Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Military cross Awardee, Manekshaw became the first Indian Army officer to the promoted to the post of Field Marshal in 1973. The late stalwart led the Indian Army in five different wars but is most notably remembered for the 1971 victory that lead to the creation of Bangladesh.

After his retirement from active military service on January 15, 1973, Manekshaw spent the last three decades of his life in Coonoor, Niligiri Hills along with his wife Seelu. In 2006-07, President APJ Abdul Kalam honoured Manekshaw and made sure the general got dues and benefits that had been unexplainably denied to him.

Manekshaw breathed his last on 27 June 2008, after fighting complications from pneumonia at the Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu.  

A biography on his life titled "Sam Bahadur" starring Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal is currently in the making.