454 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খন্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ১৮২। বাংলাদেশ পাকিস্তানীদের ডেইলি টেলিগ্রাফ ১৪ ডিসেম্বর, ১৯৭১ পরাজয় অবধারিত THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, DECEMBER 14, 1971 LULL ON THE WESTERN FRONT PAKISTAN ARMY HEADS FOR CERTAIN DEFEAT IN EAST DACCA DEFENDERS UNPREPARED AND OUTWITTED By Clare Hollingworth in Dacca The battle for Dacca is not yet over, but the Pakistani Army in Dacca is doomed. The basic reasons for the defeat in the East are that insufficient preparations were made for the campaign. The planners in Islamabad concentrated their energies on Kashmir, while the local Army commander, Lt-Gen. A. K. Niazi, was completely outwitted by his Indian opposite number. The Indians since July have mounted a series of pinprick attacks by the Bangladesh guerrillas along the 1,300-mile frontier with India, while at the same time guerrillas were engaged in terrorist activities and attempting to take over isolated areas inside the country. Apart from giving up a tiny salient here or there, Gen. Niazi strung his troops along the frontier in a desperately over-stretched posture. The Indians then cleverly built up the war so slowly that it was only after the major air raids on Dacca airport on Dec 4, long after the frontier defenses were pierced, that Gen. Niazi ordered the staged withdrawal to pre-arranged defensive positions. Contingency Plans There were also a series of contingency plans for the redeployment of troops in defensive positions to secure Dacca, the capital, as well as Chittagong, the main port, and Khulna. For the past three days, the military spokesman, with little or nothing to say, his practically isolated himself from correspondents. Official communiqués issued in Islamabad are generally 48 hours behind the events and, like military communiqués throughout history they tend to reflect more hopes than facts. Guerrillas wait So far the strict blackout, dusk-to-dawn curfew and well-manned road blocks have prevented any major guerrilla activities in the urban centers but in Dacca alone some hundreds are under cover waiting to rise when the Indian Army approaches, Meanwhile the Indians are using Shamshermager airfield to the south of Sylhet, and it is likely that they have cut off the whole of the north-west salient from Hilli on the western frontier to the Ganges.
