"All unprejudiced persons objectively surveying the grim events in Bangladesh since March 25 have recognised the revolt of 75 million people, a people who were forced to the conclusion that neither their life nor their liberty, to say nothing of the possibility of the pursuit of happiness, was available to them."Indira Gandhi stated these words in a letter to Richard Nixon (then president of the United States of America) addressing the ongoing Bangladesh Liberation War. This moment, this acknowledgement, and this statement have gone down in history as the beginning of an eternal fellowship between our country, India, and our allied neighb0ur, Bangladesh.
Before March 26, 1971, Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan. It was a Pakistani province administered through the authoritarian control of West Pakistan. However, this period was an era of mass repression and exploitation, which led to a struggle for freedom. To suppress upcoming revolts promoting self-rule, West Pakistan launched Operation Spotlight, thus initiating the Bangladesh genocide. The West Pakistani military targeted intellectuals, Bengalis, Hindus, and anyone who appeared to be a threat to West Pakistan’s control over East Pakistan.Soon enough, millions of refugees were crossing the borders of Bangladesh and stepping into India.
That's when India intervened in this war. India had only recently gained independence and was dealing not only with the rise of the Naxalite movement in Bihar and Bengal, but also with an influx of refugees from a country that had previously trained its arms against them. Nevertheless, India stood by Bangladesh throughout, initially passively and then increasingly actively. This was a pivotal moment. The Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, appealed to the western world. However, due to the cold war, the western world did not provide substantial continued support. Here, India took matters into its own hands; Tripura and West Bengal welcomed refugees and shared resources with them. The Indian military fought alongside the resistance military army of Bangladesh. After changing the course of the war, India was the first country to acknowledge Bangladesh as an independent country, and so our bonds of friendship were forged in blood, loss, and struggle.
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