There are always small battles within battles. These small battles re-define history but fail to engrave itself in the human memory. The heroics of the people, who fought these battles, though are for everyone to admire who take the pain to read their names and stories, written in fine prints of the history books.
Lt. Gen J F R Jacob, who passed away on 13th of January this year, left a legacy that redefined the way military can operate under pressure. A charismatic and a celebrated officer across the globe, Jacob, AKA Jake, was an expert war game analyzer. He was audacious in his moves during the war and employed some of the most unimaginable and stunning tactics in 1971 war against Pakistan. Though these executions were far from what was asked from him by his superiors, he seldom gave them a chance to complain.
To analyze and understand Jake’s contribution as a soldier to India, one just has to have a cursory glance at the most celebrated picture in the Indian military archives, the surrender of East Pakistan(as in the picture). Even as Pakistan’s Army general, A A K Niazi signing the surrender document for India’s Lt Gen. Aurora, is etched in the memory of millions, it is hard to imagine what the calm head in the far right of the frame is thinking.
Born in Israeli Jewish family in West Bengal, Jake joined the Indian Army at the age of 19. He served India in the Second World War and 1965 war with Pakistan. By 1969, the veteran was the chief of staff, eastern command of the Indian Army.
During the war, against the wishes of his superiors, Gen Jacob lead his assault on the East Pakistan(Now Bangladesh). With all the major towns and cities being well protected and fortified, his idea to bypass them all and use the countryside roads to reach the Dhaka turned out to be a masterstroke. It reduced the time needed for India to take over East Pakistn(Now Bangladesh) completely. It also saved thousands of lives on both Pakistani and Indian side.
On reaching Dhaka, with no backup and only 3000 men deep inside the enemy territory, Gen Jacob showed the audacity of dealing with the head of Pakistan’s Army in Bangladesh, Niazi, head on. He successfully faked the number of Indian soldiers on the ground to be much higher and went out with Niazi for lunch.
At the lunch table, while Niazi didn’t even drink a glass of water, unarmed Jake along with few journalists were being served food in shining silverwares. Jake coolly handed him an instrument of surrender, which Niazi refused to sign. At that time, Pakistan had 35,000 soldiers in Dhaka capable of holding the Indians back for at least 4 to 6 weeks. It was enough time, as ceasefire would have been called by that time by the UN. This is where the tactical and negotiating skills of Jake came into play.
Though no one knows for sure what Jake said to Niazi, but a BBC reporter later said that he saw Gen. Jacob pacing up and down an empty room smoking his pipe, humming a song. After half hour, when he went back to Niazi, the Pakistani general was in tears and agreed to sign the surrender document. Gen Jacob later admitted that, at that time, he saw many Pakistani officers in the room giving him wild and hateful stares. He rubbed the salt to the injury by asking Niazi to sign the surrender instrument in public at Dhaka’s racecourse ground and insisted that he surrender his service revolver as well.
Though Niazi later accused Gen Jacob for blackmailing him of dire consequences awaiting his family and Army if the surrender does not take place, it is hard to not to admire the brazen guts of gen Jacob, who went into the den of the enemy camp un-armed and negotiate a surrender agreement of this magnitude in such an electric atmosphere.
What took place four hours later that day was to become the history that every Indian can take pride of. It was unique. The only public surrender in the history where the ceasefire was converted into surrender. India now had more than 90,000 prisoners of war.
Niazi though played it dirty again. The service gun he surrendered was actually a random gun belonging to a lower ranked officer. Though it hardly made a difference as the world saw the fall of one and raise of another nation on that day.
The true patriotic by heart, he replied once to the invitation to move to Israel where his family roots can be traced to, “I have never experienced any anti-Semitism in India, none whatsoever. When everyone asked me why I did not go to Israel, I tell them- I was born in India, India gave me everything, I will die in India”.
Indian Weekender salutes this war craftsmen.