India's Hour Of Glory; A Nation Is Born...

Another season of war widows. The Bangladesh freedom struggle leads to another exodus; 10 million refugees flood India, alarming Indira Gandhi’s government. On March 26, 1971, Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rehman is arrested in Dacca by Pakistani troops after the breakdown of talks with Yahya Khan. Mujib exhorts citizens to rise in revolt. Pakistani troops attack students in Dacca. Indira and India intervene. The Mukti Bahini guerrillas fight pitched battles on Dacca’s streets. An outfit of greenhorn volunteers, it is trained by the Indian army to fight the war and win it. After Mujib takes charge, he adopts Tagore’s ‘Aamar Sonar Bangla’ as Bangladesh’s national anthem.

A wounded Indian soldier is taken to safety in Jessore. On December 3, Pakistan attacks India on the north-western border. India wins the war and, on December 16, Pakistan surrenders—the crowning moment of the Indian armed forces. The Army, Navy, Air Force all excel. Army chief Sam ‘Bahadur’Manekshaw  is elevated to the rank of Field Marshal.