Getting entrapped between the cross fires of Pakistan and Bangladesh Forces:
It was 1971. The War in Bangladesh for independence had just broken out. Radhakrishnan was invited to be a member of an international group of journalists to visit some of the places where Pakistani Forces were alleged to have committed excesses. The places chosen were Dakka, Jessore, Lahore and some other areas on behalf of one of the leading groups of Freedom Fighters, Mukti Bahini.
A group of sixteen journalists of whom nine were Indians were assisted by Lt. Abdul Rehman, a deputy to General Osman who was in-charge of the operations in Jessore area and they were taken on a conducted visit to some of the worst hit areas of East Pakistan, riow Bangladesh. After having spent five days in and around Chittagong area the group was taken to the Dakka University area which had witnessed police brutalities, killing several hundred students and Faculty members. At 2.00 a.m. on 12th April, 1971-the group was rudely awoken in their sleep and asked to get into the waiting jeeps since there was a possibility of attack on their hiding place. Radhakrishnan remembers:
“We hurriedly packed and left and there was intermittent and forceful firing and shelling as we drove past along the Dakka-Jessore Highway. The weather was very cold and chilling and the escorts and convoy vehicles accompanying and leading us came under very serious firing and after a drive of two hours or so we were told there was no possibility for us to go forward or even to retreat as we were almost surrounded by enemy forces. Perhaps the only possibility was to forgo the vehicles and hide under the main Jessore - Dakka Bridge while the Mukti Bahini forces would fight.
We were asked to take our belongings and move towards a bunker under the Bridge. We were lucky not to have yet got ourselves caught in the crossfire. Hardly had we got out of the jeeps, shells started coming towards us with devastating effect, hurting the correspondent of Manchester Guardian. Deafening and frightening firing continued while we were pushed into a small bunker which could accommodate not more than ten persons. We were sixteen. It was all dark outside excepting the blistering shells flying in all directions. The day was yet to break.
By the day break, when we could come out to look up and find out what was happening, we were informed that the Mukti Bahini forces which were protecting us were heavily outnumbered and the enemy forces had an upper-hand and we should be prepared to be caught unless reinforcements came to push the rivals far beyond. The fighting continued up the bridge from both sides while we sat helpless below. By eight in the morning we could hear announcements in Bengali and English language from Pakistan soldiers asking us to surrender in which case they would extend us all courtesies as per international standards.
Our hosts in the meantime brought us some breads and fruits and advised us to remain calm and not lose hope. We were also told that additional forces might reach any time. In the meantime we learnt that there were quite a few casualties on the side of our hosts. The boys told us a little later that they had more casualties but would not yield and were prepared to fight to the last. Prof. Saifudin Chaudhari, the Bengali interpreter in our group asked for our views since there were signs of deterioration in the situation. There was a proposal to get away from the undercover in ones and twos and walk back two or three kilo metres and take shelter in nearby houses. The idea was given up when it was explained that it was more dangerous since there were large number of informers of Pakistan Force in that area.
In the meantime we could see reinforcements for both the sides reaching from their respective areas and fierce shelling and firing breaking out. We also learnt that a section of the Pakistan force was trying to move below from their side to reach us and capture us. This led to eruption of fighting in more places and we feared we were getting entrapped with very little chance of escape. If the Mukti Bahini was able to push back their rivals, we had a chance. By afternoon, we realised that chances for this was bleak and we should be prepared to be caught by the Pakistan Force who outnumbered the Bangladeshi fighters in far larger numbers.
As the fight continued we could see the number of casualties increasing in the Bangladesh side and two shells fired by Pakistan soldiers landing very close to where we had taken shelter. This was a warning to us and we were also frightened. All of us who constituted the journalists’ team were of not the same mettle. There were some who got frightened and started chanting or reciting from their scriptures while the majority was prepared to face any eventuality. What worried most of us was not the prospect of being captured by the Pakistan Army but the mounting number of Bangla boys who were getting killed up the bridge to protect us and not to surrender.
This pained us considerably. Some of us asked the others to consider whether our lives were more precious than those heroic boys who were risking their lives and sacrificing their lives in their attempts to protect us. We were prepared to let the Pakistan Army know that we could surrender in order to stop the fierce encounter. We conveyed this idea to the leader of the Bangla Mukti Bahini who seemed to have become angry with this proposal. Jamal Au, one of the leaders came running and shouted us to behave and conveyed their decision to fight till the last boy and we should think of giving up only after all of them were killed. He confident of victory and asked us to pray for their victory.
The general situation in our assessment was grim. The fight was becoming more intense as time went by. Even a minute appeared to be longer than an hour and war cries, shrieks and shelling, firing and pounding of cannons filled the air and we counted every fraction of a second praying fervently. As a miracle by 7' 0 clock or so we could notice more vehicles and large number of Mukti Bahini boys rushing to the spot which signalled another spell of fierce fighting. While this was going on up the bridge we could spot three or four Pakistan soldiers managing to scale down the high wall from their sides and rushing to us with menacing intentions. One of them, fired at us from a distance and Sukumar Sen, a freelancer from Calcutta was hit on his right thigh before the assailant was killed by one of the boys guarding us. We repeated our desire to surrender to prevent further bloodshed. The boys said it was their battle and we should not betray their cause. One shouted, “Freedom is costly. We die in order that others might live in dignity.”
This seemed to have a salutary effect on many of us. As we were debating, we could notice how the boys, who were joined by a large number of villagers by this time with country guns were advancing and gradually pushing the rivals from their earlier position of advantage and where they had entrenched. There were soon victory shots and shouts and the Bangla boys registered a resounding victory over the Pakistani Force. We were asked to come out and join the victory shouts which meant a new lease of life for all of us who were holed up for more than a day time while fierce battle waged between two opposing forces. A defeat of Bangla Forces would have meant our capture, torture and unforeseen consequences. The agony and anxiety experienced during this uncertain period also put into many of us a profound-respect and concern for the value of life. I was equally concerned with those boys who fought bravely and died heroically to save us from capture by the rival forces.”[Diary of a Shantisainik]
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