Niswarth Kadam pays tribute to Indian Armed Forces on Victory day(16 December) to commemorate the victory of the Bangladesh forces over the Pakistani forces who laid down their lives in the war in the year 1971. The Commanding officer of the Pakistani Forces General AAK Niazi surrendered with his forces to the allied forces of Bangladesh, which marked the end of the 9 month-long Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 Bangladesh genocide and official secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh. This day and event is also commemorated across India as the “Vijay Diwas” to honor Bangladeshi martyrs.

In 1971 Bangladesh fought the Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan to become an Independent country, which resulted in the secession of East Pakistan from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and established the sovereign nation called Bangladesh. The war pitted East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan, and lasted for a duration of nine months. One of the most violent wars of the 20th century, it witnessed large-scale atrocities, the exodus of 10 million refugees and the killing of 3 million people by the Pakistani armed forces.

On 16 December 1971, Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, CO of Pakistan Armed Forces located in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of Surrender took place at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka . The Instrument of Surrender was a written agreement that enabled the surrender of the Pakistan Eastern Command in the Bangladesh Liberation War, and marked the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in the Eastern Theater. Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi and Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Joint Commander of Indian and Bangladesh Forces, signed the instrument amid thousands of cheering crowds at the racecourse. On behalf of Bangladesh, Air Commodore A. K. Khandker acted as witness to the surrender. Lieutenant Jacob Rafael Jacob, Chief of Staff of the Indian Eastern Command, along with the other commanders of Indian naval and air forces, acted as witnesses on behalf of India. Aurora accepted the surrender without a word, while the crowd on the race course started shouting anti-Nazi and anti-Pakistan slogans.

“The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.” – Minot J. Savage