Why did pakistan attack on east pakistan?
Answers
India fought a disastrous battle against China in the year 1962 that ended with India’s defeat. This was an eye opener for India. India realised that it needs to strengthen its military to avoid any future debacles in wars. Thus began the expansion and modernisation of the Indian military aided by closed ally Soviets and other western nations.
However, Pakistan viewed this as the most opportune moment to attack India and force India to give up Kashmir because India would still be recovering from the wounds of 1962. Pakistan launched an covert operation known as Operation Gibraltar to infiltrate Kashmir and cut off its supply line. Pakistan hoped that this might result in local uprising and ultimately force India to submission. But none of that happened. Infiltrators, who were Pakistani army regulars, were either arrested or killed.
After being defeated, egoistic Pakistan crossed the cease fire line and made advances in Jammu and Kashmir. India responded by attacking Lahore and Sialkot in the Punjab province and thus began the war between India and Pakistan for the second time.
Pakistani Army was carved out from the British Indian Army. Majority of the Army was stationed in West Pakistan while East Pakistan received only one brigade. In the coming years Pakistan military witnessed an exponential increase in its strength. However, East Pakistan was once again neglected and the military growth was meagre. By the beginning of 1965, East Pakistan had only 3 weak brigades, a dozen F-86 Saber planes and a couple of gunboats.
Much of the reluctance to improve military in East Pakistan could be defined from the epic doctrine that was prevailing among the top officials in Pakistan- “The defence of East Pakistan lies in the West”. Most of Pakistan’s top officials and bureaucrats were housed in West Pakistan. Thus major development took place in West Pakistan and it emerged as the region with strategic importance while East Pakistan remained neglected.
Why Pakistan did not open the Eastern Front?
As I have explained above, East Pakistan had almost negligible military establishment. It was not capable enough to either withstand any attack from India or inflicting any severe damage to India.One of the major reasons why East Pakistan did not get involved was because India chose not to attack East Pakistan. It could have been because India was aware that attacking East Pakistan would not yield much result. Punjab was the most prized possession for the Pakistanis. India wanted to attack where it hurts the most and Punjab was the clear winner.The Government of Pakistan used the "Bihari massacre" to justify its deployment of the military in East Pakistan on 25 March, when it initiated its military crackdown. ... Mujib was arrested on the night of 25/26 March 1971 at about 1:30 am (as per Radio Pakistan's news on 29 March 1971) and taken to West Pakistan.