Personal Recollections of the India-Pakistan 1971 War

[Meengla]

In the interests of sharing, for historical reasons, what I saw as a child when India and Pakistan had the war in December 1971. I am sharing these based on vague memories of those days but I am trying to recall as honestly as I can. I was barely a 6 year old child then and the war happened so long ago that hard to recall much. Be as it may, here is what I remember of those days living in a nice upper middle class Urdu Speaking household of Karachi's great North Nazimabad town.

This thread is not about blaming this or that. Just personal recollections of a child while I am still able to recall some of what I saw. Feel free to share your own memories here.

1) Pakistanis had mobilized to support the troops against India. We kids used our pocket money to create small packets of items like Gud (brown sugar stuff) and a few more edibles with long shelf life to send to the troops.
2) We used the Urdu newspaper Jang's paper to glue on the windows to reduce light from the house seen from outside. There were many windows.
3) There was no love for the 'Bangalis'; on the contrary.
4) There was supposed to be blackouts: No lights from the house to be seen outside. No headlights on at night. That was to avoid the Indian jets from bombing the targets--strange thing because now I see no reason for Indians to waste ammos on some harmless civilian houses and cars. But then it was war.
5) My dad was a 'Razakaar': His job was to make sure the road in front of our house had no vehicles with headlights on. We saw him once shouting at a lone motorcycle rider; the road were empty at night because of curfew. We were told our dad threw a rock to smash the motorcycle's headlight but that maybe just a made up story.
6) No one shed a tear in the Karachi community when Pakistan lost and Bangladesh was formed. There was some mention of why the Paan leaves were not available because the supply from 'Dhaka' had stopped.
7) General Yahya Khan as well as Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto were disliked by the Urdu speaking community but the 'Bangalis' were even more disliked.
8) Our family house was large and had a full 'Teh Khana' (basement) with bunker beds. The entire household--maybe 10-15 people-- moved there at night. It used to be full of books owned by an uncle (Ibn e Safi novels), which were moved away. We used kerosene lamps for light. Even an aunt from the more central part of Karachi moved in with her kids and only then we realize they were our cousins.
9) We could hear loud aircrafts in the sky and even after the war ended, low flying loud PAF jets continued to fly.
10) We were shown a fist sized shrapnel from a bomb, presumably dropped by the Indians.

 

[Meengla]

I clearly remember, right around the time when the war ended, an ill tempered younger uncle who lived in the family house once yelled at my mom: "Ooye, Bangali!".

 

[Hussain]

you dont remember the air raid sirens?

 

[El Sidd]

A 6 year old was reading Safi novels in a basement during war.

Karachi can now claim their own version of Anne-Frank who survived.

This is some creative writing.

 

[El Sidd]

I clearly remember, right around the time when the war ended, an ill tempered younger uncle who lived in the family house once yelled at my mom: "Ooye, Bangali!".

Unkil lived through Mahabharata as well.

 

[Meengla]

you dont remember the air raid sirens?

No, I don't remember air raid sirens. Maybe they happened in the port/refinery area but North Nazimabad was a good distance inland.

A 6 year old was reading Safi novels in a basement during war.
Karachi can now claim their own version of Anne-Frank who survived.
This is some creative writing.

The Ibn e Safi novels belonged to an uncle who was living in the same house. And from what I recall, those (Imran Series?) were a little too juicy for the youngens and we were not supposed to have the access to them as kids.

 

[El Sidd]

The Ibn e Safi novels belonged to an uncle who was living in the same house. And from what I recall, those (Imran Series?) were a little too juicy for the youngens and we were not supposed to have the access to them as kids.

Even if you were born a child prodigy, there's no way you can remember these things let alone provide comprehensible commentary upon it.

 

[Meengla]

Even if you were born a child prodigy, there's no way you can remember these things let alone provide comprehensible commentary upon it.

Actually, I remember too little for a 6 year old. I should have remembered more. But, yes, the Imran Series novels were forbidden from us kids due to 'adult' content until some years later in life and, boy, they were so good to read. Stacks and stacks of books!

 

[El Sidd]

Actually, I remember too little for a 6 year old. I should have remembered more. But, yes, the Imran Series novels were forbidden from us kids due to 'adult' content until some years later in life and, boy, they were so good to read. Stacks and stacks of books!

Exactly. Whatever you wrote down is a recollection shaped way past the witnessed event.

A 6 year would not know who Yahya, Mujib or Bhutto were or any comprehension of war let alone have necessary skills to grasp ethnic tensions of the given environment. 6 year olds still do not know if there's a Salajit shortage in the city.

 

[Meengla]

Exactly. Whatever you wrote down is a recollection shaped way past the witnessed event.

A 6 year would not know who Yahya, Mujib or Bhutto were or any comprehension of war let alone have necessary skills to grasp ethnic tensions of the given environment. 6 year olds still do not know if there's a Salajit shortage in the city.

Actually, the accounts of the days of the war--during the war-- are different than from the subsequent few years that followed. So on that, you are right. Such memories bleed into each other after half a century of trying to recall. But the general perceptions in the early 70s of Bhutto or Yahya or East Pakistan or things like the Paan leaves were missed are correct per my memory; similarly, those Ibn e Safi books as we discovered in the basement during the war were not given access to until a few years later.