Niazi taken to comilla
From TARUN GANGULY, TEJGAON AIRPORT, DEC. 18-It was 8-30 in the morning when General Niazi, Commander of the defeated Pak Army in Bangladesh, was brought to this airport. Looking fresh and smiling, he was accompanied by Air ViceMarshal Inam of the Pak Air Force and Rear Admiral Inamul Huq of the Pak Navy.
The Pakistani officers saluted the Indian Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Sagat · Singh, who took them to Comilla in a helicopter.
General Niazi, in full khaki, when interviewed at the airport, said: “Everything is all right now. Nothing can go wrong when two regular Armies come to an agreement.”
He said: “I am being well looked after and I have nothing to complain about.” When told that there were still some snipings, he said, “lots of people have got arms. And you know anyone in khaki here passes for the Army.”
When reminded that he had promised a fight unto the last. Gen. Niazi said “Yes, I had. But at this time, Gen. Sugat Singh took away the Pakistani General for a Chat and the reply was not complete. Meanwhile, my colleague Barun Sengupta brought out a 100-rupee Pakistani note from his pocket which Gen. Niazi signed. He quipped: “This must be a very expensive signature.”
The Pakistani General maintained that criminals who had got arms had initiated the depredations. “You know, 14,000 criminals have been freed from the jails.” At times the tall, hefty General, who sports a small mustache, fumbled with words. He talked partly in Hindustani and partly in English.
A foreign correspondent present nearby commented: “A strange situation.”
Air Vice-Marshal Inam, when asked to comment on the debacle of Pakistani Air Force, said: “Indian numerical superiority was our undoing.” He said : “I had fewer planes to operate. In fact, 9 got no chance of maneuvering my kites. They were finished at the initial stages.”
Both the Air Marshal and the Rear Admiral admitted that they had been well treated.
A sizable crowd had gathered at the airport and some one cried out, “Down with Niazi ” Within a few minutes, the helicopter for Comilla arrived. General Singh took Niazi and two other officers, Rear Admiral and Air Vice Marshal to the runway in a Mercedes Benz, which previously belonged to the Pak Army.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 19.12.1971