Two-tire training for Mukti Bahini
Is variously estimated between 50,000 and 100,000. Whatever the actual strength is, the hard core of the professional soldiers in the Mukti Bahini is not likely to be more than 30,000 including about 5000 men and officers of the EBR and about 10,000 EPR personnels. They are dedicated and determined people trained in sophisticated arms and many of them with specialized training in counter-insurgency. The strength is impressive. Grivans in Cyprus had never more than 400 men ready to use arms and he won.
The more important question is how long Pakistan can survive the battle of attrition? Experts estimate that the Pakistani Army can at best sustain an attrition rate of ten per cent in its fighting element per month and not more.
The number of fighting men is perhaps half of the 100,000 Pakistani troops stationed in Bangladesh. Apparently, the Pakistani Army cannot afford more than 5000 casualties a month. The Mukti Bahini has claimed that more than 25,000 Pakistani troops have been killed as a result of guerilla actions in the last six months. If the claim is not exaggerated, it is obvious that by November or even earlier, the attrition rate will start showing in Pakistan.
There is much talk about liberated areas these days. The very concept of guerilla warfare precludes the possibility of guerilla forces hanging on to any particular stretch of territory for a prolonged period. Any such move would make the guerillas easy targets.
What is termed ‘liberated areas’ are actually the sanctuaries for the liberation forces from where attacks could be launched. These are the strategically important stretches of territory made permanently inaccessible to Pakistani troops.
As the resistance mounts, the army responds with even more harsh reprisals. The Pak Army in fact made feverish preparations to meet the growing guerilla challenge. Two more divisions are being hurriedly raised in West Pakistani and the duration of the officers course in Quetta Staff College has been slashed from two years to one to double the output of the JCOs. Green Berets, a specialised force trained in sabotage, demolition, interrogation and assassination by the US experts, have been inducted in Bangladesh to intensify terror tacties.
And, then there are Razakars – a force of mercenaries about 12,000 strong. Each of them get seven days’ training, a Lee and Enfield rifle, and a daily allowance of Rs. 3. But for them the real incentive is the profits of loot and plunder,
Even then the guerilla activities have hit Yahya where it hurts him most. This is borne by Yahya’s impatience to induct UN observers in Bangladesh to monitor Mukti Bahini activities and to get a breathing space. His use of terror is only adding to the recruitments in the Mukti Bahini.
There is no dearth of recruits. Determined and dedicated young men are vying with each other for supreme sacrifice for the freedom of the country. There are more recruits than the Mukti Bahini can absorb at this moment.
A two-tier training schedule is prescribed for new recruits. The base camp provides rudiments of military training. Only a small fraction graduate in Mukti Bahini camps as regulars. The main constraint is shortage of weapons.
Recruitment is mainly restricted to 18-25 age groups. The preference is for college graduates and educated young men. It is because they are easy to train and learn their lessons quickly. They are excellent combat materials because of a high degree of motivation. Mukti Bahini is perhaps one of the most highly educated armies.
The new recruits carry out bulk of the guerilla attacks. They are trained to mingle with the villagers. They endure enormous hardships and only an indomitable spirit sustains them. They lead a frugal life and live in austere camps. The Mukti Bahini members are rather unconventional in so far as the uniform is concerned. They have shed their khakis and wear ubiquitous lungis.
The guerillas have been able to strike fear in Pakistani troops. Pak soldiers operate only in daylight and that too in heavily fortified concentrations. Heavy machine guns cover the convoys on the move. Mobile fire control units follow to call in artillery fire on the point of ambush.
The Mukti Bahini activities are severely restricted due to shortages of more modern and effective weapons. Even then the guerillas are affecting serious strain on the Pak army. In reprisal, the Pakistani Army is holding the friends and the families of the Mukti Bahini commandos as hostages. The idea is to raise the stake in terms of human lives and thereby restrict the activities of the guerilla forces.
But for Mukti Bahini the only goal is independence. Nothing will deter them. Not even personal considerations. Too many people have been killed, too many atrocities have been committed. Hatred is intense And, nothing but complete independence will satisfy the liberation force.
Reference: Hindustan Standard, 11.10.1971