India Historical Indian War History Thread

[Jackdaws]

Lots of writeups and analysis this year on the Kargil War. Can't believe it's been more than 2 decades.

Video of captured Pak PoWs

 

[Nilgiri]

While i was doing some personal research on anti-tank grenades, i came across this @Jackdaws @Joe Shearer et al:

Jhirad, Bisht, Tarapore, Khan: Four Indian Heroes of the 1965 War

The fact that a Jew, a Parsi and a Muslim were killed alongside their Hindu comrades does not amount to much in the Indian Army, which self-consciously avoids invidious distinctions. But their sacrifice was a bright, shining moment for what was then a teen-aged republic.

thewire.in

 

[Jackdaws]

While i was doing some personal research on anti-tank grenades, i came across this @Jackdaws @Joe Shearer et al:

Jhirad, Bisht, Tarapore, Khan: Four Indian Heroes of the 1965 War

The fact that a Jew, a Parsi and a Muslim were killed alongside their Hindu comrades does not amount to much in the Indian Army, which self-consciously avoids invidious distinctions. But their sacrifice was a bright, shining moment for what was then a teen-aged republic.

thewire.in

Quite a contrast from today's India, no?

 

[Jackdaws]

Sad first person accounts from erstwhile East Pakistan

‘We lay like corpses. Then the raping began’: 52 years on, Bangladesh’s rape camp survivors speak out

In 1971, the Pakistan army began a brutal crackdown against Bengalis in which hundreds of thousands of women were detained and repeatedly brutalised. Only now are their stories beginning to be told

www.theguardian.com

 

[Nilgiri]

@Jackdaws @Zapper @Gary et al,

He is using War Thunder for his videos, quite interesting channel to check out all around if you are into this kind of thing:

@Isa Khan @Afif , he recently dropped one about Saiful Azam:

 

[Gary]

@Jackdaws @Zapper @Gary et al,

He is using War Thunder for his videos, quite interesting channel to check out all around if you are into this kind of thing:

@Isa Khan @Afif , he recently dropped one about Saiful Azam:

I also suggest you watch Dash99er channel for similar content

https://www.youtube.com/@Dash99erOfficial

 

[Ripley]

@Jackdaws @Zapper @Gary et al,

He is using War Thunder for his videos, quite interesting channel to check out all around if you are into this kind of thing:

@Isa Khan @Afif , he recently dropped one about Saiful Azam:

Happens to be one of my favorite channels.
He mostly focuses on ‘other’ conflicts around the world and doing a great job at as much accurate as he can get.

Edit: I thought he was flying DCS, not WT?!

 

[Nilgiri]

Happens to be one of my favorite channels.
He mostly focuses on ‘other’ conflicts around the world and doing a great job at as much accurate as he can get.

Edit: I thought he was flying DCS, not WT?!

Yep you are correct, he uses mostly DCS.

He has started to use WT for the WW2 era stuff from time to time.

 

[Nilgiri]

 

[Nilgiri]

Parts of this archival footage were new to me @Jackdaws

 

[Afif]

I just notice, the majority of the refugees are Hindus in the footage. Corresponding to the historical reality.
I never fully understood why specially go after the Hindus when they weren’t leading the rebellion, nor they were holding lots of critical posts in east Pakistani government.
I don’t think it made any strategic sense for PAK army, but they did it anyway.

Btw, Indira Gandhi was intellIgent and very well spoken. If she was India's leader today, subcontinent probably would’ve been better off.

 

[Jackdaws]

I just notice, the majority of the refugees are Hindus in the footage. Corresponding to the historical reality.
I never fully understood why specially go after the Hindus when they weren’t leading the rebellion, nor they were holding lots of critical posts in east Pakistani government.
I don’t think it made any strategic sense for PAK army, but they did it anyway.

Btw, Indira Gandhi was intellIgent and very well spoken. If she was India's leader today, subcontinent probably would’ve been better off.

It was logical from a West Pakistani perspective. While the population of East Pak was greater than West Pak ; the Muslim population of West Pak was greater than that of East Pak. Also, the West Pakistanis thought that the East Paks had too much Hindu influence with their sarees and Sanskritized Bengali script.

 

[Jackdaws]

Parts of this archival footage were new to me @Jackdaws

To me as well. Bhakts should watch it.

 

[Nilgiri]

I just notice, the majority of the refugees are Hindus in the footage. Corresponding to the historical reality.
I never fully understood why specially go after the Hindus when they weren’t leading the rebellion, nor they were holding lots of critical posts in east Pakistani government.
I don’t think it made any strategic sense for PAK army, but they did it anyway.

Btw, Indira Gandhi was intellIgent and very well spoken. If she was India's leader today, subcontinent probably would’ve been better off.

They were simply the easiest targets. Right when operation searchlight started, they went after intelligentsia in university and also Hindu slum areas of Dhaka. Hinduism has always been identified with India and the enemy in Pak military psyche from its inception.

As for Indira Gandhi, I rank her as average to bad overall....just like every PM after Shastri. Intelligence is subjective in the end as to where you display and prove it. Her nature was highly vindictive, narcissistic and was burdened by megalomania. So any intelligence was not harnessed in the way it should have been....and its impact still costs India to this day.

She after all mentions a "million dead already" in this archive, yet if that was her estimate, she let the war criminals go scot free back to W. Pakistan on some shallow promise given by Bhutto of all people (and his theatrics that led up to the war to begin with). Simply did it for her sense of ego, no matter the injustice. We would see much more of it in later years....treating Indian citizens as pawns that didnt matter much at all to her grossly backfiring economic agenda or even worse power-freak usurping.

She (along with the lingering erosive impact on her party after) singlehandedly set into precedent every single bad habit people complain w.r.t BJP and Bhakts today....at a level they have not done (and point to justify whatever else they do).

Our best Chief minister in TN (whom many of us Tamils remember the older congress party fondly by still to this day) was not well educated or erudite in English....but a fundamentally good person. When you are good, whatever intelligence you have (and he was deeply intelligent) is harnessed properly. That is what matters in the end.

 

[Nilgiri]

 

[Jackdaws]

Niazi not only confident of "holding on" to East Pakistan but also "taking" territory from India. Of course, he along with 91,000 troops surrendered unconditionally.

 

[Afif]

That is debatable tbh, actual troops number being 91,000.

 

[Jackdaws]

That is debatable tbh, actual troops number being 91,000.

91000 troops; not all were combatants though.

 

[GoatsMilk]

Niazi not only confident of "holding on" to East Pakistan but also "taking" territory from India. Of course, he along with 91,000 troops surrendered unconditionally.

before reading your comment i hit play, almost instantly from listening to this guy talk i knew i was listening to someone incompetent. Then i read your comment and i wasn't surprised at all. Intelligent and competent people are generally always measured in how they talk, rarely boastful or arrogant.

 

[Jackdaws]

before reading your comment i hit play, almost instantly from listening to this guy talk i knew i was listening to someone incompetent. Then i read your comment and i wasn't surprised at all. Intelligent and competent people are generally always measured in how they talk, rarely boastful or arrogant.

Must not have been completely incompetent given that he won some accolades fighting the Imperial Japanese at the Burma front.