On 7 December 1971, exactly one year after the landslide victory of the Awami League in the general elections, Bangladesh was engaged in fighting for its existence as the West Pakistani power mongers imposed war on the Bengalis, refusing to respect the people’s verdict.

The Allied Forces, comprising the freedom fighters and the Indian army, had cornered the Pakistani occupation forces on all fronts, forcing them to retreat. As a result, the number of free areas in the country was increasing.

On this day, fierce clashes took place in various locations, causing casualties on both sides, but the freedom fighters outplayed the Pakistan army in most of the war zones. Consequently, districts such as Jashore, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Sherpur, and Kurigram were freed from the clutches of the Pakistan army.

The 9th Division of the Indian army reached Jashore Cantonment from the northern side. They entered without resistance and were astonished to find the desolate army establishment.

The Pakistan army had absconded from the cantonment, leaving behind vast quantities of arms, ammunition, and control room maps.

On 7 December 1971, at the break of dawn, Indian paratroopers dropped near Sylhet airport. They attacked the main base of the Pakistan army in Sylhet. By the afternoon, the Pakistani general in charge of Sylhet was compelled to surrender, along with his troops.

A fierce skirmish took place at Bhaluka in Mymensingh as Major Afsar’s troops attacked a police station, a Pakistan army camp, from three sides.

The Allied Forces took control of Chandina and Jafarganj. Turbulent battles continued in Cumilla and Laksham. A violent bloodshed between the two forces, centred around the Kartowa Bridge on the Bogura-Rangpur highway, rocked the area.

As the War of Independence reached its climax, Pakistan’s President Yahya Khan appointed Nurul Amin, a leader of Bangladeshi origin, as Prime Minister in his final attempt to save Pakistan. He also sent a message to US President Richard Nixon, pleading for US support to resist the “aggression”.

“The military situation in East Pakistan has deteriorated rapidly in the last 24 hours. Our forces there are without adequate artillery and air support. They are also cut off from being supplied and reinforced. They are resisting bravely but they are at a heavy disadvantage,” he wrote in his message.

Slamming India for recognising the “so-called government of Bangladesh”, he blamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) for backing India politically and militarily to divide Pakistan. Yahya told Nixon that if India succeeded in its objective, the loss of “East Pakistan”, with a population of 70 million, would also pose a threat to the security of South Asia. It would bring the regions of Assam, Burma, Thailand, and Malaysia under Soviet domination, the message stated.

Yahya’s special envoy, Pakistan People’s Party President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, while visiting China, said the threat from India had reached such a level that it had become essential for Pakistan to consult its allies.

On the other hand, the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had reached Paris from Washington on this day to meet the French President Georges Pompidou and Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

On 7 December 1971, the UN General Assembly, by a vote of 104 to 11 with 10 abstentions, called on India and Pakistan to institute an immediate ceasefire and withdraw troops from each other’s territory. Pakistan accepted the resolution, but India refused.

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev urged for a peaceful solution to the war without the intervention of any outsiders. The US decided to stop providing financial aid to India.

The New York Times observed on the day that the image of the American nation had been largely tarnished due to the naked support extended by Washington to Islamabad.